KATRINA CLAIMS A COWSILL

The hurricane nearly killed Pete Fountain and Fats Domino. Instead it took another musician -- Barry Cowsill. Oldsters will appreciate the irony.

Cowsill, 51, was a member of The Cowsills, a singing family a la the Partridge Family. Only the Cowsills actually sang. Barry played bass.

From the Associated Press:

Cowsill's body, recovered Dec. 28 from the Chartres Street Wharf, was identified with dental records Tuesday, said Dr. Louis Cataldie, head of the state hurricane morgue in Carville.

The coroner had not determined the cause of death but believed it was related to the devastating storm, which struck the city Aug. 29.

Cowsill, who lived on and off in New Orleans, had not been heard from since he left phone messages for his sister Sept. 1, his family's Web site said.

"They tell us he'd been dead for quite some time," Richard Cowsill, his brother, said in a telephone interview Thursday. "We love him and we're going to miss him, but he's in a much better place, in my mother's arms."

The Cowsills were the inspiration for The Patridge Family. Barry Cowsill played bass in his family's band. His ersatz counterpart, Danny Bonaduce, now enjoys a career playing his own wrecked self. Barry Cowsill's remains were found on a wharf.