Month: September 1975

Tragic Story of Ron Tabak

Rock Bands

This is the lead singer of Prism,Ron Tabak.
I was sad to hear of his untimely death in 84.
It was Christmas and a member of the band (Allan Harlow) had invited him over for Christmas dinner. Harlow lived in Kitsilano & Ron lived in Surrey. Ron decided to get some exorcise and rode his bicycle over to his to Al Harlow’s house. However, it was the time of year when the roads were slippery. He didn’t wear a helmet or have a light on. A car must of struck him, knocking him to the ground. He was taken to the hospital. He became abusive and aggressive towards the police, was arrested and put in jail. He was found unconscious in his cell.He died the following day
He had a blood clot which had made him aggressive towards the police. He never regained consciousness and passed away on December 26th,1984.
It was sad and unnecessary.

The Rock world lost a fantastic singer on Dec 25th/84.
(I forget exactly when I shot this concert? So am guessing?)

Update : from Tina Anderson November 9th,2015 –
Thank you for your reply. I could add more detail to your story if you wish.
Ron was hit by a car while riding his motorcycle down Kingsway around the 2700 block on Christmas Eve. He was taken to Burnaby General Hospital, where he became loud and was swearing. Police apparently ran his name and found traffic violations so he was taken to jail. He was found unconscious in his cell and taken back to Burnaby General. From what I read in news articles after his death, it said Burnaby General didn’t have a brain scan machine so he was sent to Vancouver General Hospital. An operation was done to remove a blood clot, but the damage was too severe. He was kept on life support to harvest his organs, and was officially pronounced dead on December 26th 1984. His grave marker says he passed on December 25th, but he was technically brain dead and on life support until the next day. He was 31 when he passed away. The picture I’ve enclosed was from what would have been his 60th birthday, September 25th, 2013.

20151109-unnamed(photo credit T.Anderson)

Update : from Tina Anderson March 10,2019

In the articles I’ve read about this, Al said that he offered to pick Ron up and bring him to his house on Christmas Eve, but Ron wanted to ride his bike and get some exercise. Can’t get exercise riding a motorcycle. Every news story I read said he was riding a bicycle.