October 7th

Musical birthdays today include former 10cc drummer Kevin Godley (73), original Kansas bassist Dave Hope (69), John Cougar Mellencamp (67), Bon Jovi drummer Tico Torres (65), cellist Yo-Yo Ma (63), Simon Cowell (59), Toni Braxton (51), ex-Auteurs frontman Luke Haines (51), Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke (50), OK Go frontman Damian Kulash (43), Deerhunter multi-instrumentalist Lockett Punkt (36), and Chvrches lead singer Lauren Mayberry (31). 

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for jazz trumpeter & singer Vaughn Monroe, born on this date in 1911... for Dino Valenti [founding member of the Quicksilver Messenger Service and writer of the '60s classic 'Get Together'), who would have been 80 today... for Judee Sill, who would have been 74... for Sir Hubert Parry [composer of the hymn 'Jerusalem'] who died on this date in 1918... for Mario Lanza, who passed away today in 1959... and for early British rocker Johnny Kidd (UK no. 1 in 1960 with 'Shakin' All over'] killed in a car crash on his way to a gig today in 1966.

Also on October 7: Utopia, Limited or the Flowers of Progress, Gilbert and Sullivan's penultimate operetta, premieres at London's Savoy Theatre (1893)... The Rolling Stones record the Lennon & McCartney song 'I Wanna Be Your Man' at De Lane Lea studios in London... The Beach Boys release their fourth album, Little Deuce Coupe (1963)... Bob Dylan meets a group of itinerant Indian minstrels called the Benghal Bauls, who are staying in a converted barn on the estate of his manager Albert Grossman in Woodstock, NY. A black & white photo of Dylan with troupe members Purna and Lakhsman Das will grace the cover of the album John Wesley Harding (1967)... After years of travails with the US government, John Lennon is awarded his green card (1975)... Dire Straits release their eponymous debut album (1978)... Jimmy Page is sentenced to 1 year's probation after being found guilty by a London court of cocaine possession (1982)... Paula Abdul's Forever Your Girl finally hits № 1 on the Billboard album chart, after spending 164 weeks in the Top 200, setting a record for longest ascension to the top spot (1989)... The № 1 album in America today in Alanis Morissette's Jagged Little Pill, which still holds the US record for biggest selling record by a female solo artist... David Bowie releases Outside, his first album with Brian Eno producing since their collaborations in Berlin in the late '70s (1995)... Michael Jackson performs before an audience of 60,000 at the El Menzah Stadium in Tunis, his first ever show in Africa (1996)... Continuing a verbal sparring match which began earlier in the month, Elton John replies to Keith Richards' charge that the pianist's only claim to fame is "writing ditties for dead blondes" by saying "Keith, he's so pathetic, poor thing. He's like a monkey with arthritis, trying to go onstage and look young" (1997)... Mick Jagger donates £100,000 to his boyhood grammar school in Dartford, Kent, to help pay to hire a director of musical studies and to buy instruments (2002)... Bruce Springsteen's latest release Magic is the № 1 album on both sides of the Atlantic (2007).

October 6th

Musical birthdays today include composer and guitarist Glenn Branca (70), Commodores lead guitarist Thomas McClary (69), REO Speedwagon lead singer Kevin Cronin (67), Los Lobos guitarist & singer David Hidalgo (64), ex-Skids lead singer Richard Jobson (58), guitarist Matthew Sweet (54), Anathema guitarist Danny Cavanagh (46), and Arcade Fire multi-instrumentalist William Butler (36).

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for soprano Jenny 'The Swedish Nightingale' Lind, born on this day in 1820... and for band leader Nelson Riddle, who died today in 1985. 

Also on October 6: Jacopo Peri's Euridice, the earliest surviving opera, premieres in Florence. This is often considered the beginning of the Baroque period in classical music (1600)... Beethoven files his will, the Heiligenstadt Testament, to be opened after his death (1802)... Ralph Vaughan Williams' Symphony № 1 has its first performance in Leeds (1910)... The Jazz Singer, the first film with a musical soundtrack, premieres in NYC (1927)... The Beatles record 'Eight Days a Week' in the afternoon, then spend the evening partying with the Ronettes and Mick Jagger at London's Ad Lib Club (1965)... The Jimi Hendrix Experience record a session for the BBC Radio show 'Top Gear'. Stevie Wonder, also appearing on the program, jams with the group afterwards... Pink Floyd play at the Miss Teenage Brighton beauty pageant, providing the musical interlude during the contest... The SFPD raid the Matrix Club in Haight-Ashbury while Big Brother & the Holding Company are on stage (1967)... George Harrison gets his first A side single, as the Beatles release 'Something' (1969)... The Buzzcocks open for Joy Division at the Odeon Theatre in Edinburgh ~ admission is £2.50... Bob Dylan has his 12th US top 40 hit, as 'Gotta Serve Somebody' enters the chart. Meanwhile, Led Zeppelin's In through the Out Door is the № 1 album (1979)... Michael Jackson gives away the bride at Elizabeth Taylor's seventh wedding, to construction worker Larry Fortensky. The nuptials are held at the singer's Never Neverland Ranch (1991)... 'Grind', the first single from Alice in Chains' eponymous debut album, is released to radio via satellite uplink to stem the proliferation of taped copies of the song (1995)... The Jack Black comedy School of Rock goes on general release in US cinemas (2003)... Bruce Springsteen is served with notice that he is being sued for $850,000 by a man who claims he backed out of a contract to buy a horse. Springsteen and his wife Patti Scialfa are both named in legal documents filed in Florida by Todd Minikus. He claims that the singer and his wife reneged on a $650,000 deal to buy a horse of his named Pavarotti (2007)... A set of John Lennon's fingerprints are seized by the FBI from a NYC memorabilia dealer who intended to auction them off for a $100,000 minimum bid. The prints were taken at a NYPD precinct in 1976 when the former Beatle applied for permanent US residence. The Bureau states that they believe the card is still US government property, and are investigating how it ended up in private hands (2009)... Rolling Stone Magazine publishes the results of its poll of readers and critics to determine the worst song of the 1980s. Rounding out the top 5 are: 1) 'We Built this City' ~ Starship. 2) 'The Final Countdown' ~ Europe. 3) 'Lady in Red' ~ Chris de Burgh. 4) 'Wake Me up (before You Go Go)' ~ Wham! 5) 'The Safety Dance' ~ Men without Hats (2011).

October 5th

Musical birthdays today include Glynis Johns (95), bluesman Roy Book Binder (75), Steve Miller (75), Henry Cow saxophonist Geoff Leigh (73), AC/DC lead singer Brian Johnson (71), original Funkadelic rhythm guitarist Lucius 'Tawl' Ross (70), Bob Geldof (67), Madness saxophonist Lee Thompson (61), Decemberists frontman Colin Meloy (44), Maroon 5 lead guitarist James Valentine (40), Good Charlotte bassist Paul Thomas (38), and Girls Aloud vocalist Nicola Roberts (33).

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for R&B singer Billy Scott, and for Temptations vocalist Richard Street, both of whom would have been 76 today... for former Sweet lead singer Brian Connolly, who would have been 73... for opera composer Jacques Offenbach, who died on this date in 1880... for Temptations founding member Eddie Kendricks, who passed away in 1992... and for Bert Jansch, who left us today in 2011. 

Also on October 5: The New York Philharmonic begins its series of Sunday afternoon radio broadcasts from Carnegie Hall (1930)... A year after launching the cool jazz movement with Birth of the Cool, Miles Davis turns away from the sound, going into Apex Studios in NYC with Sonny Rollins to record the post-bop album Dig (1951)... Cliff Richard and the Shadows play their first live show, at the Victoria Hall in Hanley, Staffs. (1958)... The Beatles release their first single in the UK, 'Love Me Do' (1962)... Johnny Cash is arrested in El Paso, TX as he attempts to return to the United States from Mexico with a guitar case full of pills. He receives  a suspended sentence and is fined $1,000 (1965)... Jimi Hendrix, Noel Redding and Mitch Mitchell have their first rehearsal together and form the Jimi Hendrix Experience (1966)... The Who, Small Faces, Joe Cocker and The Crazy World of Arthur Brown launch a package tour of the UK in London (1968)... Violinist Papa John Creach officially joins Jefferson Airplane... Atlantic Records release Led Zeppelin III (1970)... The № 1 song in the UK today is Mike Oldfield's 'Tubular Bells [Theme from the Exorcist]'. Across the Atlantic, Olivia Newton-John is atop the American charts with 'I Honestly Love You'... Randy Newman plays  show at Atlanta Symphony Hall backed by an 87-piece orchestra conducted by his uncle Emil (1974)... Bob Marley, Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer, the three original Wailers, perform together for the last time, at a benefit for the Jamaican Institute for the Blind. Also joining the trio on stage is Stevie Wonder... Willie Nelson has his first № 1 hit on the Billboard Country chart with 'Blue Eyes Crying the Rain' (1975)... Defying an international artists' boycott, Queen open a 10-day residency at Sun City, South Africa (1984)... Former Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr begins rehearsals with the Pretenders as they prepare to open for U2 on the N. American leg of the Joshua Tree tour (1987)... Roger Daltrey announces that the Who are reforming, and that their first show, which will also be broadcast live on the Internet, will be in Las Vegas on the 29th of this month (1999)... Madonna visits an orphanage in Malawi. Her publicist denies rumours that the star is planning to adopt a local child (2006).

October 4th

Musical birthdays today include country singer Leroy van Dyke (89), jazz bassist Steve Swallow (78), Sweet Honey in the Rock founder Bernice Johnson Reagon (76), singer-songwriter Bridget St John (72), French chansonnier Julien Clerc (71), Blood, Sweat & Tears bassist Jim Fielder (71), Triumph drummer Gil Moore (67), harpist Andreas Vollenweider (65), Def Jam record label founder Russell Simmons (61), Pet Shop Boy Chris Lowe (59), and Arcade Fire multi-instrumentalist Richard Parry (41). 

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for  Janis Joplin, who died of a drug overdose today in 1970 at the age of 27... for classical pianist Glenn Gould, who passed away in 1982... and for Argentine diva Mercedes Sosa, who left us today in 2009. 

Also on October 4: Aaron Copland's orchestral suite from the ballet Appalachian Spring has its premiere at Carnegie Hall (1945)... The Tornadoes become the first British band to score a № 1 on the Billboard singles chart with the instrumental 'Telstar' (1962)... The Beatles make their first appearance on the UK ITV pop show Ready, Steady, Go! (1963)... Creedence Clearwater Revival have their first US № 1 album with Green River (1969)... John Lennon releases the album Walls and Bridges (1974)... Pink Floyd's Wish You Were Here is the № 1 album on both sides of the Atlantic. For the album's cover shot, two stuntmen were used, one of whom was dressed in a fire retardant costume underneath a business suit (1975)... Tammy Wynette is abducted, beaten, and held in her car for two hours by a kidnapper wearing a ski mask. She is forced to drive 90 miles from Nashville before she is released ~ her abductor will never be caught (1978)... Stevie Nicks, Lindsay Buckingham and Mick Fleetwood present the USC Trojans marching band with a platinum record for their contribution to Fleetwood Mac's hit single 'Tusk' (1980)... Miles Davis concludes a world tour, his first in 5 years, in Tokyo. The show is recorded for inclusion in the live album We Want Miles (1981)... The Smiths play their first live gig, as the opening act for Blue Rondo a la Turk at the Ritz in Manchester... Philip Glass' score for Koyaanisqatsi is heard publicly for the first time when the film premieres at Radio City Music Hall in NYC (1982)... Ringo Starr and wife Barbara Bach fly together to Tucson, AZ to enter alcohol rehab (1988)... Van Halen announce that former Extreme lead singer Gary Cherone has replaced Sammy Hagar as the group's frontman (1996)... Barbra Streisand's tour-opening performance at the Wachovia Center in Philadelphia, PA becomes the highest grossing event in the venue's history (2006).

October 3rd

Musical birthdays today include composer Steve Reich (82), Chubby Checker (77), Lindsey Buckingham (69), bluesman Keb' Mo' (67), Tommy Lee (56), Gwen Stefani (49), Backstreet Boys vocalist Kevin Richardson (47), Scissor Sisters lead singer Jake Shears (40), Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist Josh Klinghoffer (39), and Ashlee Simpson (34). 

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for Eddie Cochran, who would have been 80 today... for Alan O'Day [of 'Undercover Angel' fame], who would have been 78... for Stevie Ray Vaughn, who would have been 64... for former Allman Brothers sideman Allen Woody, who would have been 62... for Woody Guthrie, who lost his long battle with Huntington's Disease today in 1967... for blues singer Victoria Spivey, who died on this date in 1976... for Benjamin Orr, lead singer of the Cars, who passed away in 2000... and for bluesman Skip James, who left us in 2002. 

Also on October 3: Beethoven finishes his final string quartet, op. 135 in F Major (1826)... Gilbert and Sullivan's Yeoman of the Guard premieres at London's Savoy Theatre (1888)... The New York City Opera is founded (1943)... A 10-year-old Elvis Presley makes his first recorded public appearance as a singer, performing 'Old Shep' at the talent contest of the Mississippi-Alabama Dairy Show. The future King comes in second (1945)... In Los Angeles, Frank Sinatra finishes recording his first album with the Count Basie Orchestra, An Historical Musical First (1962)... Working at London's Trident Studios, the Beatles lay down the basic tracks for George's 'Savoy Truffle'. The song was inspired by Eric Clapton's love of sweets, especially Mackintosh's Good News chocolates (1968)... Janis Joplin goes into a recording studio for the last time to listen to a playback of the instrumental track for 'Buried Alive in the Blues', which will be included on Pearl, the album on which she is currently working (1970)... George Harrison releases his final album on the Apple label, Extra Texture (Read All about It) (1975)... Aerosmith pay the bail for thirty of their fans who were busted for smoking marijuana at their concert in Fort Wayne, IN (1978)... Bruce Springsteen's tour in support of the album The River gets off to an inauspicious start in Ann Arbor, MI when the Boss forgets the words to 'Born to Run'. His memory is jogged when the audience sing the lyrics to him en masse (1980)... The documentary John Lennon: Imagine, compiled from more than 240 hours of unreleased footage, has its world premiere in Los Angeles (1988)... Texas governor Anne Richards proclaims this day 'Stevie Ray Vaughn Day', in honour of the Lone Star State native's 37th birthday (1991)... Sinead O'Connor rips up a picture of Pope John Paul II during her appearance on Saturday Night Live as a protest over sexual abuse in the Roman Catholic Church. The incident, which stuns the studio audience to silence and prompts the NBC network to go immediately to commercial, results in a $2.5 million fine from the Federal Communications Commission (1992)... Tom Jones is at № 1 on the UK album chart with Reload, making him at 59 the oldest artist to top the British chart with new material (1999)... Mark David Chapman is denied parole after having served 20 years of his life sentence for murdering John Lennon (2001)... Scientific researchers declare 'We Are the Champions' by Queen the catchiest song ever written. Musicologist Dr. Alison Pawley of the University of London and her staff conducted research into what makes a song memorable, and compiled a list of the ten 'catchiest' songs of all time. They obtained the results by observing thousands of volunteers singing a list of selected tracks. They discovered that popular sing-along tunes contained four elements: long and detailed musical phrases, multiple pitch modulations in a  song's 'hook', male vocalists, and upper range male voices making a noticeable effort. Also on the list are 'YMCA' by the Village People, Sum 41's 'Fat Lip', and Europe's 'The Final Countdown' (2011).

October 2nd

Musical birthdays today include Don McLean (73), Cajun musician Jo-El Sonnier (72), Richard Hell [né Richard Meyers] (69), Mike Rutherford (68), Sting (67), Human League frontman Philip Oakey (63), ex-Dream Academy multi-instrumentalist Kate St John (61), Glass Tiger lead guitarist Al Connelly (58), ex-Sugarcubes drummer Sigtryggur Baldursson (54), Gillian Welch (51), Damon 'Badly Drawn Boy' Gough (49), Slipknot guitarist Jim Root (46), Aqua lead singer Lene Nystrøm (45), and The Sounds lead singer Maja Ivarsson (39). 

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for jazz guitarist Howard Roberts, who would have been 89 today... for rapper Proof [né DeShaun Holton], who would have been 45... and for cowboy singer and entertainer Gene Autry, who left us today in 1998. 

Also on October 2: The NY Academy of Music opens at 14th St. & Irving Place in Manhattan with a performance of Bellini's Norma. It will be the centre of opera in the city until the creation of the Met (1854)... Leonard Bernstein arrives in Tel Aviv to begin conducting the newly renamed Israel Philharmonic in a month-long concert series (1948)... 'Stay' by Maurice Williams and the Zodiacs is the № 1 song in America today. At 1:37, it remains the shortest US chart-topper ever (1959)... 15 Elvis Presley fans are arrested in Leipzig, East Germany, after marching through the city streets shouting "Long live Elvis!" along with derogatory remarks about German music (1959)... Phil Spector and his partner Lester Sill release their first single on their new label Philles, The Crystals' 'Oh Yeah, Maybe Baby' (1961)... The Kinks' eponymous debut albumn is released (1964)... The McCoys have the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100 with 'Hang on Sloopy' (1965)... All six members of the Grateful Dead are arrested for possession of marijuana after an SFPD raid on their house at 710 Ashbury St. (1967)... Pink Floyd release their fifth album, Atom Heart Mother (1970)... Following several attempts at grave robbery, the remains of Elvis and his mother Gladys are disinterred from the Memphis cemetery and moved to Graceland (1977)... Peter Gabriel performs with Genesis for the first time since leaving the band in 1975. Phil Collins and company join their former lead singer on stage in a concert to benefit WOMAD [World of Music, Art and Dance], the festival organizing body that is Gabriel's current project (1982)... Bruce Springsteen's Born in the USA world tour ends with the last of 4 sold out shows at L.A.'s Memorial Coliseum (1985)... The Everly Brothers receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame (1986)... Journey announce that they have decided to re-form (1995)...  In Galway, Ireland, former Led Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones plays his first solo concert (1999)... Kevin Spacey is the MC for 'Come Together: A Night for John Lennon's Words and Music' at New York's Radio City Music Hall. Among those performing are Alanis Morissette, Moby, Stone Temple Pilots and the Dave Matthews Band. The evening closes with an invitation to the audience to sing along on 'Give Peace a Chance' (2002)... Robbie Williams signs with EMI for £80 million, the most lucrative record deal in British history to date. When asked what he's going to do with all the money, the singer replies "Count it" (2002)... Billy Joel marries 23-year-old Kate Lee at his Centre Island, New York mansion. It is the singer's third trip to the altar (2004).

October 1st

Musical birthdays today include Julie Andrews (83), Cajun accordion master Marc Savoy (78), Herb Fame [of Peaches & Herb] (76), ex-Sly & the Family Stone saxophonist Jerry Martini (75), former Wishbone Ash bassist Martin Turner (71), April Wine guitarist Brian Greenway (67), OMD keyboardist Martin Cooper (60), Youssou N'Dour (59), Better Than Ezra frontman Kevin Griffin (50), Suede guitarist Richard Oakes (42), and rapper Dizzee Rascal [né Dylan Mills] (33). 

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for Vladimir Horowitz, born on this date in 1903... for pioneering doo-wop singer Grady Chapman and for country singer Bonnie Owens, both of whom would have been 89... for bluesman Albert Collins, who would have been 86... for Brownsville Station frontman Cub Koda, who would have been 70... for Booker T & the M.G.s drummer Al Jackson, Jr., who was murdered in a home robbery today in 1975 at the age of 40... and for former Buffalo Springfield bassist Bruce Palmer, who left us today in 2004. 

Also on October 1: John Phillip Sousa is appointed conductor of the US Marine Band (1880)... The Curtis Institute of Music opens in Philadelphia with a $12 million endowment from Mary-Louise Curtis Bok, heiress to the Saturday Evening Post publishing fortune (1924)... Following an overwhelmingly negative reaction from screening audiences to Elvis Presley's death at the end of the film Love Me Tender, the King is called back to re-shoot the scene. In the new ending, the hero lives (1956)... Shostakovich's Symphony № 12 in D Minor, subtitled The Year of 1917, premieres in Leningrad (1961)... Brian Epstein signs a 15-year management contract with the Beatles (1962)... Bob Dylan plays his first electric show at Carnegie Hall, backed by Levon & the Hawks... At Camelot Sound Studios in Lynwood, WA, John Coltrane and sidemen record the album Om, which will be released posthumously. Controversy persists to this day as to whether or not Coltrane and fellow saxophonist Pharaoh Sanders were under the influence of LSD at the time (1965)... Jimi Hendrix plays live in the UK for the first time when he is invited onstage by Cream to jam with them at a gig at London Polytechnic (1966)... Pink Floyd arrive at JFK airport to begin their first US tour (1967)... Jimi Hendrix is laid to rest in the Greenwood Cemetery, over the road from the Dunlop Baptist Church in Seattle. Among the graveside mourners are Miles Davis, Eric Burdon and Johnny Winter (1970)... The Pretenders are forced to cancel the remaining shows on their current US tour after drummer Martin Chambers punches out a windowpane, severing tendons and nicking an artery in the process (1981)... Sony unveils the CDP-101, the world's first commercially released Compact Disc Player. The system retails for 168,000 yen, or c. $1,730 in today's dollars (1982)... Robert Plant wraps up his first solo North American tour at the PNE Coliseum in Vancouver, BC (1983)... British tabloid The Daily Mirror publishes a cover photo of Michael Jackson in a scoutmaster's uniform along with 5 young scouts. A spokesman for the Boy Scouts makes a statement the next day that the singer has no association with the organization (1994)... The surviving members of Nirvana release From the Muddy Banks of the Wishkah, a compilation of live recordings made between 1989 and 1994 (1996)... The № 1 album in America today is Madonna's latest release, Music (2000)... The Lord Mayor of Melbourne, Australia officially unveils the street sign for the newly named AC/DC Way. The local council ordered two dozen of the signs in anticipation of future thefts... As part of the John Kerry campaign in swing states, Bruce Springsteen, R.E.M., John Fogerty and Bright Eyes kick off the Vote for Change tour in Philadelphia (2004)... The Spice Girls London reunion concert sells out in 38 seconds after fans are informed that tickets have gone on sale. More than one million people in the UK had pre-registered for notification. The show is scheduled for December 15 at the O2 Arena (2007).