May 11th

Musical birthdays today include Eric Burdon (84), former Gerry and the Pacemakers bassist Ken Chadwick (82), Allman Brothers Band drummer Butch Trucks (78), chansonnier Renaud Séchan (73), ex-Afghan Wigs guitarist Greg Dulli (60), Rammstein drummer Christoph Schneider (59/span>), and Enation frontman Jonathan Jackson (43).

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for Irving Berlin, born on this day in 1888... for free jazz pianist Carla Bley, who would have been 89 today... for jazz saxophonist Johnny Hodges, who died on this date in 1970... for Bob Marley, who died in 1981... for Jimi Hendrix Experience bassist Noel Redding, who passed away in 2003... for singer-songwriter and producer John Whitehead, who was shot to death in 2007 at the age of 57... and for original Rush drummer John Rutsey, who left us today in 2008. 

Also on May 11th: Connie Francis tops the UK singles chart with a cover of the 1923 song 'Who's Sorry Now', making her Francis the first female rock 'n' roll star to reach № 1 in Britain (1958)... The Beatles start a 30 week run at № 1 on the UK album charts with their debut LP Please Please Me, making it the longest running chart-topping album by a group ever. The band's follow-up, With The Beatles, replaces it at the sales summit on the 7th of December 1963 and stays there for 21 weeks (1963)... During a UK tour, The Rolling Stones are refused lunch at The Grand Hotel, Bristol where they are staying because they are not wearing jackets and ties. The following day, the Daily Express run the story with the headline, 'The Rolling Stones Gather No Lunch' (1964)... Small Faces release their eponymous debut album on the Decca label (1966)... The Bee Gees make their UK television debut performing 'New York Mining Disaster 1941' on Top of the Pops (1967)... The triple album of the soundtrack of Woodstock is released in the US, and goes gold within two weeks (1970)... John Lennon, appearing on The Dick Cavett Show, claims he is under surveillance by the FBI (1972)... Wings kick off their 15-date debut UK tour at the Bristol Hippodrome (1973)... Led Zeppelin attend an Elvis Presley show at the Los Angeles Forum. After a shaky start to the show, the King stops the band and jokingly says "Wait a minute, let's see if we can start together, fellas, because we’ve got Led Zeppelin out there. Let's try to look like we know what we're doing." All four members of Zeppelin meet with Elvis after the show, spending over 2 hours backstage. Elvis asks for all the group members' autographs for his daughter Lisa Marie (1974)... Bruce Springsteen and a small group of friends go for a boy’s night out in Lake Oswego, OR two nights before his wedding to Julianne Phillips. Drinking in the Gemini pub, Springsteen sings a number of songs, karaoke-style, to his own records in the jukebox (1985)... 
Over 500 Michael Jackson fans hold a demonstration outside the Sony records building in Berlin, complaining that the label has not sufficiently promoted the singer's latest album 'Invincible' (2002)... One of the rarest rock t-shirts in the world sells for $10,000, the largest sum ever paid for a vintage t. The record-setting sale of a 1979 Led Zeppelin shirt on eBay is made by Kyle Ermatinger of Stormcrow Vintage (2011).

May 10th

Musical birthdays today includeSpinners vocalist Henry Fambrough (87), Carl Douglas (83), Donovan (79), 10cc guitarist Graham Gouldman (79), Dave Mason (79), ex-Spirit keyboardist Jay Ferguson (78/span>), session drummer Sly Dunbar (73), Bono (65), Tool drummer Danny Carey (64), rapper Marvin 'Young M.C.' Young (58), Mogwai lead guitarist Stuart Braithwaite (49), and We Are Scientists frontman Keith Murray (48). 

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle, composer of 'La Marseillaise', born on this day in 1760... for film score composer Max Steiner, born in 1888... for film score composer Dmitri Tiomkin, born in 1894... For Fred Astaire, born in 1899... for Maybelle Carter, born in 1909... for jazz guitarist Bert Wheedon, born in 1920... for R&B singer-songwriter Larry Williams and for composer Harold Budd,both of whom would have been 89 today... for Danny & the Juniors leader Danny Frapp, who would have been 84. for Jackie Lomax, who would have been 81... for Sid Vicious, who would have been 68... for jazz singer Sylvia Syms, who died on this date in 1992... and for pop singer Soraya, who left us today in 2006. 

Also on May 10th: Wagner’s Centennial Inaugural March is performed for the first time at the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia, PA. The composer was paid $5,000 for the piece, conducted by Theodore Thomas (1876)... Bill Haley & His Comets release 'Rock around the Clock', an event that is often considered to be the beginning of the rock era (1954)... Bob Dylan arrives in Britain for his first major UK tour including a show at London's Royal Festival Hall on the 17th of this month (1964)... The Rolling Stones record a version of '(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction' at Chess Studios in Chicago, with Brian Jones on harmonica. The group re-record it two days later at RCA Studios in Hollywood, with a different beat and using the Gibson Maestro fuzzbox that Keith Richards recently acquired, adding sustain to the sound of the guitar riff. (1965)... At the request of presidential daughter Tricia Nixon, The Turtles give a special performance at the White House. Unconfirmed rumours continue to circulate that members of the group snorted cocaine off Abraham Lincoln's desk (1969)... Chrysalis Records release Jethro Tull's Thick as a Brick (1972)... The Go-Go's announce that they are disbanding (1986)... Falco is at № 1 on both sides of the Atlantic with 'Rock Me Amadeus' (1987)... The Apollo Theater begins installing bronze plaques dedicated to legends who had close ties to the establishment on the sidewalk in front of the building. Among the first to be so honoured are James Brown, Michael Jackson, Smokey Robinson and Ella Fitzgerald (2010)... The ornate iron gates of a children's home which inspired John Lennon's psychedelic Beatles anthem Strawberry Fields Forever are removed after the Salvation Army, which owns the former home, decides to put the red Victorian gates into storage. Beatles fans who pass the Liverpool site now are met with 10ft (3m) high replicas. The original gates are being taken to a secret location for storage, and will eventually be auctioned off (2011).

May 9th

Musical birthdays today include former Crickets frontman [replacing Buddy Holly after his death] Sonny Curtis (88), former Freddie & the Dreamers bassist Pete Birrell (84), Tommy Roe (83), Richie Furay (81), Blood, Sweat & Tears guitarist Steve Katz (80), Billy Joel (76), Cheap Trick bassist Tom Petersson (75), operatic mezzo-soprano Anne Sofie von Otter (70), Depeche Mode lead singer Dave Gahan (63), former Housemartins & Beautiful South lead singer Paul Heaton (63), pop singer Marie-Claire Cremers, AKA Amber (56), Wu Tang Clan rapper Dennis Coles AKA Ghostface Killah (55), Oasis bassist Paul McGuigan (54)), and Simple Plan lead singer Pierre Bouvier (45). 

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for composer Giovanni Pierluigi de Palestrina, born on this day in 1525... for country legend Hank Snow, born in 1914... for Soviet-era dissident bard Bulat Okudzhava, born in 1924... for Dave Prater [of Sam & Dave], who would have been 87... for composer & organ virtuoso Dieterich Buxtehude, who died on this date in 1707... for country singer Keith Whitley, who died in 1989 at the age of 34... for song & dance woman Alice Faye, who passed away in 1998... for chansonnier Pascal Sevran, who died in 2008... for Lena Horne, who died in 2010... and for the Rev. Richard Penniman, AKA Little Richard, who left us three years ago today.

Also on May 9th: In Linz, Austria, Anton Bruckner's 1st Symphony is performed for the first time, with the composer conducting (1868)... Vladimir Horowitz plays his first public concert in 12 years, returning to Carnegie Hall. When the pianist appears on stage, he receives a 30 minute standing ovation (1963)... Chuck Berry begins his first ever UK tour at the Astoria Theatre in London. Opening acts include The Animals, The Swinging Blue Jeans, and Karl Denver & the Nashville Teens... Louis Armstrong goes to № 1 on the US singles chart with 'Hello Dolly' making him at the age of 62 the oldest artist to hit the top (1964)... The Beatles attend their first Bob Dylan concert, the first of two sold out nights at the Royal Albert Hall (1965)... The Doors play the Whisky A Go Go in West Hollywood, auditioning for the position of the venue's house band (1966)... Sandie Shaw is at № 1 on the UK singles chart with 'Puppet On A String'. This week's two highest new entries are Jimi Hendrix with 'The Wind Cries Mary' and The Kinks with 'Waterloo Sunset' (1967)... Zapple Records releases George Harrison's debut solo album Electronic Sounds (1969)... The Guess Who start a three-week run at № 1 on the US singles chart with 'American Woman', the group's sixth Top 30 hit and only chart topper. The song was born by accident when guitarist Randy Bachman was playing a heavy riff on stage after he had broken a string, and the other members joined in on the jam. A fan in the audience who had bootlegged the show presented his tape to the group after the show and they developed the riff into a full song (1970)... Mick Jagger adds $150,000 of his own money to the $350,000 raised by a Rolling Stones benefit concert on January for victims of the recent Nicaraguan earthquake (1973)... Bonnie Raitt plays two shows at Harvard Square Theatre in Cambridge, MA; her opening act is Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band. Rolling Stone critic Jon Landau is in the audience Springsteen and writes a review that includes the line 'I saw rock and roll future, and its name is Bruce Springsteen' (1974)... 'I Don't Like Mondays' by The Boomtown Rats wins in the Best Pop Song and Outstanding British Lyric categories at the 25th Ivor Novello Awards, while Supertramp's 'The Logical Song' wins Best Song Musically and Lyrically. Boomtown Rats lead singer Bob Geldoff was inspired to write  the song after reading about the tragic shooting spree of 16-year-old Brenda Spencer, who killed two people and wounded nine others when she fired from her house across the street at the entrance of San Diego's Grover Cleveland Elementary School (1980)... Bruce Springsteen makes his North American TV debut as the musical guest on Saturday Night Live (1992)... Jimmy Page appears on SNL with rapper Sean 'Puffy' Combs and performs 'Come With Me' from the 'Godzilla' movie soundtrack. The song samples the guitar riff from Led Zeppelin's 'Kashmir' (1998)... Country star Kenny Chesney marries Renee Zellweger (2005)... David Bowie's latest video, which stars Gary Oldman and Marion Cotillard, is temporarily pulled from YouTube because of its graphic content. 'The Next Day' features heavy religious imagery, including Cotillard bleeding from stigmata marks. The video sees Bowie performing in a basement bar, surrounded by religious figures, while Oldman, dressed as a priest, punches a beggar before dancing with a prostitute, played by Oscar-winner Cotillard. YouTube admitted making the 'wrong call' in removing the video, and reinstated it with an adult content warning (2013).

May 8th

Musical birthdays today include Toni Tenille (85), original Yardbirds bassist Paul Samwell-Smith (82), Gary Glitter (81), former T-Rex drummer Bill Legend (81), pianist Keith Jarrett (80), Philip Bailey (74), Talking Heads drummer Chris Frantz (74), ex-Fleetwood Mac guitarist Billy Burnett (72), Alex Van Halen (72), Blur drummer Dave Rowntree (61), former Savage Garden frontman Darren Hayes (53), Enrique Iglesias (50), Martha Wainwright (49), bluesman Joe Bonamassa (48), and former Busted guitarist Matt Willis (42). 

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for jazz cornettist & bandleader Ernie 'Red' Nichols, born on this day in 1905... for Robert Johnson, born in 1911... for Ricky Nelson, who would have been 85 today... for John Fred, who would have been 84.. for hip hop artist Paul 'Bad News Brown' Frappier, who would have been&nbs8;47... for composer Dame Ethel Smyth, who died on  this date in 1944...  for Andrews Sister Laverne, who died in 1967... for Graham Bond, who took his own life today in 1974 at the age of 36... for producer and Casablanca Records founder Neil Bogart, who died in 1982... for classical pianist Rudolf Serkin, who passed away in 1991... for country legend Eddy Arnold, who died in 2008... and for Help Yourself bassist Ken Whaley, who left us today in 2014.

Also on May 8th: Aaron Copland wins the Pulitzer Prize for music for his Appalachian Spring ballet score (1945)... BBC radio bans the Johnny Ray song ‘Such a Night’ after listeners complain about its 'suggestiveness'. Ray was famous for his emotional stage act, which included beating up his piano, and writhing on the floor (1954)...  The Beatles have now held the № 1 position on the US singles chart for fourteen weeks with three chart-toppers in succession: 'I Want To Hold Your Hand' for seven weeks, 'She Loves You' for two weeks and 'Can't Buy Me Love' for five weeks (1964)... The promotional clip for Bob Dylan’s 'Subterranean Homesick Blues' is filmed in an alley behind the Savoy Hotel in London. Allen Ginsberg and Dylan sidekick Bob Neuwirth can be seen in the background. The short film is considered one of the forerunners of the modern music video. The original clip was actually the opening segment of D. A. Pennebaker's film 'Don't Look Back' a documentary of Dylan's 1965 tour of England. The cue cards that Bob holds up were written by Donovan, Ginsberg, Neuwirth and Dylan himself (1965)... John, George and Ringo sign a management contract with Allen Klein and his company ABKCO, while Paul refuses, preferring to let the Eastmans represent his interests (1969)... Let It Be is released (1970)... Vangelis is at № 1 on the US singles chart with 'Chariots of Fire' (1982)... Roger Waters releases his first solo album, The Pros and Cons of Hitchhiking (1984)... Mark Knopfler receives an honorary music doctorate from Newcastle University (1993)... Bruce Springsteen has the № 1 album in America for the 13th time with Devils & Dust (2005)... The Rolling Stones call off their forthcoming European tour after guitarist Keith Richards undergoes neurosurgery. The 62 year-old guitarist suffered what his publicist described as a 'mild concussion' when he fell out of a coconut tree whilst on holiday in Fiji (2006).

May 7th

Musical birthdays today include Christy Moore (79), Thelma Houston (78), former Grateful Dead drummer Bill Kreutzmann (78), ex-Whitesnake guitarist Bernie Marsden (73), former Art of Noise keyboardist Anne Dudley (68), Motörhead lead guitarist Phil Campbell (63), Trans-Siberian Orchestra Johnny Lee Middleton (61), trip hop singer Martin Topley-Bird (49), Arctic Monkeys drummer Matt Helden (38), and Natalie Mejia (36). 

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for Johannes Brahms, born on this day in 1833... for Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, born in 1840... for DJ & early rock singer Jim Lowe, born in 1924... for jazz & pop singer Teresa Brewer, born in 1932... for soul singer Jimmy Ruffin, who would have been 89 today... for Johnny Maestro, who would have been 85... for New York Dolls drummer Jerry Nolan, who would have been 79... for composer Antonio Salieri, who died on this date in 1825... for big band drummer & Glenn Miller sideman Ray McKinley, who died in 1995... for country singer Eddie Rabbitt, who passed away in 1998... and for pop singer Teri Moïse, who took her own life today in 2018 at the age of 43. 

Also on May 7th: Beethoven's Choral 9th Symphony has its premieres at the Kärntnertor Theatre in Vienna. The composer himself, by now totally deaf, keeps time, but the musicians follow the assistant conductor (1824)... RKO Pictures release the film 'Shall We Dance' with a complete George Gershwin score (1937)... Van Cliburn signs his first recording contract with RCA (1958)... The Mamas and the Papas go to № 1 on the Billboard singles chart with 'Monday Monday'. Reportedly, John Phillips was the only member of the group who liked the song (1966)... Jimi Hendrix plays London's Saville Theatre with Ringo Star, Brian Jones and members of The Beach Boys and The Moody Blues in attendance... Pearls Before Swine begin recording an album called One Nation Underground. The LP includes a song called 'Miss Morse', which would be banned in New York when it was discovered that lead singer Tom Rapp was singing F-U-C-K in Morse code. After disc jockey Murray The K played the record on the air, local Boy Scouts correctly interpreted the chorus and phoned in a complaint... In Baltimore, MD, John Coltrane plays his final live gig (1967)... Reginald Dwight legally changes his name to Elton Hercules John (1972)... Led Zeppelin hold a launch party at the Four Seasons Hotel in NYC for their own label, Swan Song Records (1974)... The Eagles have the № 1 single in America with 'Hotel California' (1977)... 90,000 tickets are sold in eight hours for Bob Dylan's forthcoming London dates at Earls Court (1978)... Paul Weller unveils his new group Style Council at an anti-nuclear benefit gig in London (1983)...  Wilson Pickett is arrested after running into an 86 year old man, and for yelling death threats whilst driving his car over the mayor's front lawn in Englewood, NJ. Pickett is also charged with driving with open containers of alcohol in his car (1991)... A leather Jacket worn by John Lennon in the years 1960 to 1963, sells at Christies of London for £24,200 (1992)... A Los Angeles federal jury recommend a $1.5 million award to a British record company that sued rapper-producer Dr Dre for song plagiarism. London-based Minder Music Ltd. sued Dre in 2000, claiming his 1999 song, 'Let's Get High,' used the bass line of The Fatback's 1980 song, 'Backstroking' that was featured on Dre's successful '2001' album, which sold 9 million copies worldwide (2003).

May 6th

Musical birthdays today include bluesman Eddie C. Campbell (86), jazz bassist David Friesen (83), Bob Seger (80), Mary MacGregor (77), They Might Be Giants co-frontman John Flansburgh (75), Fastball lead singer Tony Scalzo (61), Stereolab lead singer Laetitia Sadier (57), Foo Fighters lead guitarist Chris Shiflett (54), and Evile lead singer Matt Drake (44).

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for dance band leader Billy Cotton, born on this day in 1899... for jazz & skiffle guitarist Denny Wright, born in 1924... for former Average White Band drummer Robbie McIntosh, who would have been 75... for jazz violinist & bandleader Ted Weems, who died on this date in 1963... for jazz trombonist Kai Winding, who died in 1983... for Marlene Dietrich, who passed away in 1992... for songwriter Otis Blackwell [best remembered for 'Great Balls of Fire' and 'Don't Be Cruel'], who died in 2002... for Go-Betweens frontman Grant McLennan, who passed away in 2006... and for Kraftwerk co-founder Florian Schneider, who left us two years ago today.

Also on May 6th: At Rudy Van Gelder's studio, Dexter Gordon records Doin' Allright, his first album for Blue Note (1961)... In their Clearwater, Florida hotel room, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards work out the opening guitar riff of 'Satisfaction', following Richard's purchase of a Gibson fuzz-box earlier that day (1965)... At Abbey Road, The Beatles record overdubs for 'I'm Only Sleeping' and experiment with the mixing. The song features then then-unique sound of a reversed guitar duet, with both parts played by George Harrison... Bob Dylan opens the UK leg of his world tour at the ABC Club in Belfast (1966)... Atlantic Records release Roberta Flack & Donny Hathaway's eponymous duet album (1972)... Paul Simon sets out on his first tour without partner Art Garfunkel since 1964, using The Jesse Dixon Singers as a back- up group on stage. Simon's tour of America and Europe will be recorded and released as the album Live Rhymin' (1973)...The Boomtown Rats play their first gig in England, appearing at London's Club 51 (1977)... Oasis score their first UK № 1 single with 'Some Might Say' (1995)... In the wake of the uproar generated by Dixie Chicks member Natalie Maines’ comments about President George W. Bush and the Iraq war, a Pueblo, CO radio station suspends two of its disc jockeys for playing music by the group (2003)... Starbucks bans the sale of Bruce Springsteen's latest album Devils and Dust over concerns about its adult content. A spokesman for the the retailer - which stocks CDs at its branches in the US - says that they will be promoting other albums instead (2006).

May 5th

Musical birthdays today include session guitarist Steve Stevens (79), 
original Black Sabbath drummer Bill Ward (77), Echo & the Bunnymen frontman Ian McCulloch (66), Dream Theater lead singer James LaBrie (62), Megadeath drummer Shawn Drover (59), Gallows frontman Wade MacNeil (41), and Adele (37). 

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for bluesman Blind Willie McTell, born on this day in 1901... for Buena Vista Social Club singer Pío Leyva, born in 1917... for early rock saxophonist John 'Ace' Cannon and for soul singer Johnnie Taylor, both born in 1934... for electronic musician & composer Delia Derbyshire, who would have been 88... for Tammy Wynette, who would have been 82... for the Reverend Gary Davis, who died on this date in 1972... for country singer Jerry Wallace, who passed away in 2008, and for singer & music journalist Greg Quill, who left us today in 2014.  

Also on May 5th: Carnegie Hall opens its doors for the first time, with Tchaikovsky leading the NY Philharmonic in a rendition of his own Marche solenelle. Also on the program is Beethoven's Leonore overture, under the baton of Walter Damrosch, the regular conductor of the Philharmonic (1891)... In Paris, composer Claude Debussy performs in public for the last time, playing the piano for the premiere of his own 1st Violin Sonata (1918)... Elvis scores his first US № 1 single with 'Heartbreak Hotel' (1956)... John Coltrane and bandmates finish recording the Giant Steps album, including 'Naima' (1959)... On a recommendation by George Harrison, Dick Rowe, head of A&R at Decca records (and the man who turned down The Beatles), goes to see The Rolling Stones play at the Crawdaddy Club in London. The band will be signed to the label within a week (1963)... Manfred Mann are at № 1 on the UK singles chart with 'Pretty Flamingo'. The recording features future Cream bassist Jack Bruce, who briefly joined the band in 1965. On their Top Of The Pops appearance, singer Paul Jones performs whilst standing on one leg (1966)... Buffalo Springfield announce that they have disbanded (1968)... The Beatles' single 'Get Back' is released in the US. John will claim in 1980 that "there's some underlying thing about Yoko in there", adding that Paul looked at Yoko in the studio every time he sang the line 'Get back to where you once belonged' (1969)... Columbia records release Paul Simon's second solo album There Goes Rhymin' Simon... David Bowie has first UK № 1 album with Aladdin Sane. Across the Atlantic, Elvis' Aloha from Hawaii via Satellite is the top-selling LP (1973)... Television appear at CBGB with The Stilettoes ~ soon to change their name to Blondie ~ as their opening act (1974)... Simple Minds lead singer Jim Kerr marries Chrissie Hynde in a horse-drawn carriage in NYC's Central Park... Duran Duran have the № 1 single in the US and the UK with 'The Reflex' (1984)... 
Radiohead release 'The Drill EP', their first record in the UK. The band are still called 'On a Friday', the day when the songs on this EP were recorded; they will change their name to Radiohead the following month (1992)... Cranberries singer Dolores O'Riordan receives both a public apology and a donation of £7,500 to the Warchild charity from the German tabloid 'Sport' after they ran a story claiming she had performed a gig in Hamburg whilst wearing no underwear... 
Rage against the Machine have the № 1 album in the US with Evil Empire (1996)... Two disc jockeys from Denver's KRFX-FM, Rick Lewis and Michael Floorwax, stop a live interview with Ted Nugent after the Detroit rocker uses racial slurs against Asians and Blacks. The station receives scores of complaints from listeners (2002)... Justin Timberlake undergoes an operation at Los Angeles' Cedars Sinai Hospital to remove nodules from his vocal chords (2005).