April 15th

Musical birthdays today include pioneering English rocker Marty Wilde (85), Dave Edmunds (80), former Barclay James Harvest keyboardist Stuart 'Wooly' Wolstenholme (77), Russian pop singer Alla Pugacheva (75), ex-Four Non Blondes lead singer Linda Perry (59), Samantha Fox (58), Radiohead guitarist Ed O'Brien (56), All That Remains lead singer Philip Labonte (49), Black Keys drummer Patrick Carney (44), and singer-songwriter Matt Cardle (41). 

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for Bessie Smith, born on this day in 1894... for conductor Neville Marriner, born in 1924... for Roy Clark, who would have been 90 today... for country & rockabilly singer Bob Luman, who would have been 85... for arranger & film score composer Michael Kamen, who would have been 76... for Joey Ramone, who died on this date in 2001... and for former Game Theory frontman Scott Miller, who left us today in 2014. 

Also on April 15th: Serse, Handel's first opera with an Italian libretto, has its premiere performance at the King's Theatre, London (1738)... 'The Music Man' closes on Broadway after 1,375 performances (1961)... Bob Dylan has his first meeting with Tom Wilson, nominated by Dylan's manager Albert Grossman to replace John Hammond, whose removal from the producer's chair at his client's recording sessions Grossman insisted on (1963)... The Beatles film exterior shots at the Scala Theatre in London for 'A Hard Day's Night' (1964)... Decca Records release The Rolling Stones' album Aftermath (1966)... Roberta Flack starts a 6-week run at № 1 on the Billboard singles chart with 'The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face' (1972)... MCA release Lynyrd Skynyrd's second album Second Helping, featuring 'Sweet Home Alabama' (1974)... Billy Joel breaks his left arm in a motorcycle accident near his home on Long Island (1982)... Queen are presented with an award for Outstanding Contribution to British Music at the 32nd annual Ivor Novello Awards held in London (1987)... The Bangles have the № 1 single in Britain  and Australia with 'Eternal Flame.' It will top the US chart next week, dethroning 'She Drives Me Crazy' by Fine Young Cannibals (1989)...  Aerosmith, Velvet Revolver, Placebo, Keane and Evanescence all appear at a festival sponsored by the Quilmes Brewing Co. at the River Football Stadium in Buenos Aires (2007)... After receiving bad reviews and even enduring boos during her performance, Whitney Houston brushes off criticism of her first show in the UK in over eleven years by insisting she had been playing to a "tough crowd." She had recently been hospitalized with chronic rhinopharyngitis, i.e. a bad cold (2010).