# The Captain has gone down. Daryl Dragon dead at 76 **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 2, 2019, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-captain-has-gone-down-daryl-dragon-dead-at-76/827116 "2019-01-02T22:23:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2019, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-captain-has-gone-down-daryl-dragon-dead-at-76/827116/1 "2019-01-02T22:23:24Z")
[Daryl Dragon](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/daryl-dragon-dead-captain-captain-tennille-was-76-1172534), the Captain of The Captain And Tennile, has died of renal failure at the age of 76. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2019, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-captain-has-gone-down-daryl-dragon-dead-at-76/827116/2 "2019-01-02T22:27:07Z")
I always thought they should have used him in those Captain Morgan commercials. ---
**Author:** ![Pork\_Rind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pork_rind/32/111_2.png) [@Pork\_Rind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pork_Rind)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2019, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-captain-has-gone-down-daryl-dragon-dead-at-76/827116/3 "2019-01-03T00:07:40Z")
> [@Omar\_Little](#): > > I always thought they should have used him in those Captain Morgan commercials. [I don’t know about that.](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0236742/mediaviewer/rm3355473152) ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2019, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-captain-has-gone-down-daryl-dragon-dead-at-76/827116/4 "2019-01-03T00:22:05Z")
I used to watch The Captain and Tennille Show on TV every week, and I bought their greatest hits album, which I still have. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2019, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-captain-has-gone-down-daryl-dragon-dead-at-76/827116/5 "2019-01-03T00:24:46Z")
They got divorced a few years ago, after a 40-plus year childless marriage. Didn’t he also have Parkinson’s? RIP, Daryl. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2019, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-captain-has-gone-down-daryl-dragon-dead-at-76/827116/6 "2019-01-03T00:31:18Z")
If you asked me, I would have said that he died a while back, but it looks like they got divorced in 2014. I’m sure that’s what I was thinking about. @nearwildheaven. It looks like he had a “Neurological condition” that caused debilitating tremors. I’m guessing that’s what you’re referring to. Not looking any further than his wiki page, it makes no mention of Parkinson’s. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2019, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-captain-has-gone-down-daryl-dragon-dead-at-76/827116/7 "2019-01-03T00:37:25Z")
Shows how old I am when I tell you that the music of his father, Carmen Dragon, used to be played on The Standard School Broadcast over the PA system when I was in grade school. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2019, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-captain-has-gone-down-daryl-dragon-dead-at-76/827116/8 "2019-01-03T00:44:49Z")
76 is the new 27. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2019, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-captain-has-gone-down-daryl-dragon-dead-at-76/827116/9 "2019-01-03T00:53:47Z")
I watched the Captain & Tennille variety show. I enjoyed it at the time. He was a talented keyboardist. RIP Captain ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2019, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-captain-has-gone-down-daryl-dragon-dead-at-76/827116/10 "2019-01-03T01:45:45Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > If you asked me, I would have said that he died a while back, but it looks like they got divorced in 2014. So it looks like love couldn’t keep them together. RIP, Cap’n. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2019, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-captain-has-gone-down-daryl-dragon-dead-at-76/827116/11 "2019-01-03T01:51:21Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > 76 is the new 27. Death as a career move. It has worked for others. Not sure how well it worked for Hotblack Desiato. ---
**Author:** ![installLSC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/54ee81/32.png) [@installLSC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/installLSC)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2019, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-captain-has-gone-down-daryl-dragon-dead-at-76/827116/12 "2019-01-03T02:29:42Z")
[The Captain and Tennille on Soul Train(!!!).](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8Q3valIEr4) ---
**Author:** ![Drum\_God](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drum_god/32/44_2.png) [@Drum\_God](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drum_God)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2019, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-captain-has-gone-down-daryl-dragon-dead-at-76/827116/13 "2019-01-03T02:56:33Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Shows how old I am when I tell you that the music of his father, Carmen Dragon, used to be played on The Standard School Broadcast over the PA system when I was in grade school. I didn’t know Carmen Dragon was the Captain’s dad. The Dragon arrangement of _America the Beautiful_ is the standard school band version of that well-known piece. ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2019, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-captain-has-gone-down-daryl-dragon-dead-at-76/827116/14 "2019-01-03T03:56:28Z")
> [@Spiderman](#): > > So it looks like love couldn’t keep them together. > > RIP, Cap’n. I think I read once that the divorce was for financial reasons. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2019, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-captain-has-gone-down-daryl-dragon-dead-at-76/827116/15 "2019-01-03T04:16:27Z")
> [@E-DUB](#): > > I think I read once that the divorce was for financial reasons. [Not quite.](https://www.today.com/popculture/toni-tennille-reveals-personal-reason-why-she-divorced-daryl-dragon-t85916) Still, they remained close and Tenille was with him at the end. > [@](#): > > The pair, who were married for 39 years before splitting in early 2014, did have big success in their careers, but Tennille says their relationship failed due to intimacy issues. > > “Sex is not love, sex is not intimacy,” she said. “He just couldn’t be affectionate, he couldn’t just give me a hug. … And I don’t blame him because he came from a very, very difficult family and he had a famous but overbearing father.” (Dragon’s dad was conductor and composer Carmen Dragon.) > > “He was raised quite differently than I was,” she added. “None of this is his fault.” ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2019, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-captain-has-gone-down-daryl-dragon-dead-at-76/827116/16 "2019-01-03T16:02:37Z")
> [@E-DUB](#): > > I think I read once that the divorce was for financial reasons. Back when they divorced in 2014, Toni Tennille gave some sort of confusing explanation that Dragon’s worsening medical expenses could be better handled if they were divorced. Couple years later in her book she changed the reason to his lack of intimacy. At one point there was a story about his illness making him abusive. I guess you can say there were multiple factors, and it depends on which way Toni is feeling when she does an interview. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2019, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-captain-has-gone-down-daryl-dragon-dead-at-76/827116/17 "2019-01-03T16:29:22Z")
Heard an old American Top-40 replay the other day which recapped the biggest songs of 1980. I remember “Do That To Me One More Time”, but had no idea it was the third biggest song of that year. ([Wiki has the song ranked 5th](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billboard_Year-End_Hot_100_singles_of_1980), but Casey Kasem had it 3rd.) (For those of you interested, “Call Me” was the biggest song of 1980, “Another Brick in the Wall” was #2.) ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2019, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-captain-has-gone-down-daryl-dragon-dead-at-76/827116/18 "2019-01-05T01:57:22Z")
Boy, the guy pretty much wins the lottery as far as cool last names, then embraces a genre of music where his cool last name is really kind of wasted. Life doesn’t make sense sometimes.