It is with great sadness that I share the news that my beloved friend of 50 years Ron Haffkine peacefully passed away on October 1, 2023 at 84, says long time friend & multi platinum record producer Joel Diamond. He passed with his loving wife of 37 years Sydney by his side. Ron will be greatly missed but his music legacy that touched millions of people around the globe will live on forever.
LOS ANGELES , Oct. 8, 2023 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- RON HAFFKINE - OBITUARY
It is with great sadness that I share the news that my beloved friend of 50 years Ron Haffkine peacefully passed away on October 1, 2023 at 84, says long time friend Joel Diamond. He passed with his loving wife of 37 years Sydney by his side. Ron will be greatly missed but his music legacy that touched millions of people around the globe will live on forever.
Despite contracting polio at age 12 and being completely paralyzed for 2 years it was fate, among other things, for Ron Haffkine to become a historic figure in rock 'n roll history.
At 21, Ron was a self-professed "average" musician and his love for music drew him to Greenwich Village, in his home town of New York, where he wound up becoming buddies with famed songwriter and book writer Shel Silverstein. After Ron produced his first project, he played it for Shel who was so impressed that he told Ron he needed someone to produce the music he wrote for two films, "Who is Harry Kellerman" starring Dustin Hoffman and "Ned Kelly" starring Mick Jagger.
One scene in the Hoffman film required a band on stage, but Ron didn't like the band they had, so he recommended a band called Dr. Hook & The Medicine Show. This band was first discovered by his new friend and music exec Joel Diamond, who found the group in a small club in NJ playing cover music. Ron was astute enough to know that he had to get a record deal for the band before the movie came out, so Joel, now head of Sony Music publishing and A&R got him in to see president of Columbia Records, Clive Davis. Ron insisted on Dr. Hook & The Medicine Show doing a live showcase in Clive's office. In preparation Ron told the drummer to turn over Clive's wastepaper basket and use it as a drum, the keyboard player to jump up on Clive's desk, and Ray (who wore a legitimate eye- patch) to never sing anymore than a few inches away from Clive's face. Clive was immediately knocked out and signed Dr. Hook & The Medicine Show on the spot.
Ron always knew the difference between good songs and great songs and quickly became Dr. Hook's (the band shortened the name later on) producer and manager. Ron's string of hits with Dr. Hook became legendary including "Sylvia's Mother", "Cover of the Rolling Stone", "Sharing The Night Together", "When You're In Love With A Beautiful Woman", "Sexy Eyes", "Baby Makes Her Blue Jeans Talk," and "A Little Bit More". In all, Ron produced 10 studio albums and 2 live albums on Dr. Hook, which garnered 10 top tens on the pop charts and 67 gold and platinum awards world wide.
Ron also worked with famous artists Waylon Jennings, Lou Rawls, Mac Davis,and Helen Reddy.
Together Haffkine and Silverstein also produced a collection of scatological renaissance style poetry and satire onto vinyl, including "Freakin' at the Freakers' Ball". The record's adult content aptly demonstrated one of Silverstein's most distinguishing lyrical motifs when dealing with controversial material such as a myriad of social taboos, including homosexual incest, prolific marijuana, and cocaine use. Ron also won a Grammy for producing Shel's Award Winning album "Where The Sidewalk Ends" and additionally received a Grammy Nomination for Shel's "A Light in the Attic."
At the time that Joel had his own label at Polydor records, he convinced Ron to throw his hat in the ring as an artist and he released the unique Shel Silverstein quirky song "Do You Want To Boogie or Do You Don't".
"Ron always had an uncanny knack of hearing a hit song in its rawest stage and then had the rare talent to couple it with the best musicians and then top it off with a meticulous performance by the artist," says long time friend Joel Diamond.
In between recording sessions in Nashville, Ron took up golf, a game he loved, and got his first hole-in-one in 1994. In his later years, Ron enjoyed mentoring emerging young writers and artists to help launch their careers.
Several years ago Ron and Sydney moved to Mexico where he enjoyed the "much easier life" (as he so put it) and embraced the Mexican culture he had loved since his first visit in the 1950's. Ron was an extremely loving and caring husband to Sydney and a fiercely loyal friend.
For more information, contact Joel Diamond at [email protected]
Media Contact
818 980-9588, Joel Diamond, 1 +1 818 980-9588, [email protected],
SOURCE Joel Diamond
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