October 5th

 Musical birthdays today include bluesman Roy Book Binder (83), Steve Miller (83), Henry Cow saxophonist Geoff Leigh (81), former AC/DC lead singer Brian Johnson (79), original Funkadelic rhythm guitarist Lucius 'Tawl' Ross (78), Bob Geldof (75), Madness saxophonist Lee Thompson (69), Decemberists frontman Colin Meloy (52), Maroon 5 lead guitarist James Valentine (48), Good Charlotte bassist Paul Thomas (46), and Girls Aloud vocalist Nicola Roberts (41).

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for Glynis Johns, born on this day in 1923... for R&B singer Billy Scott, and for Temptations vocalist Richard Street, both of whom would have been 84 today... for Sweet lead singer Brian Connolly, who would have been 81... for opera composer Jacques Offenbach, who died on this date in 1880... for Temptations founding member Eddie Kendricks, who passed away in 1992... for Bert Jansch, who died in 2011... and for Eddie van Halen, who left us today in 2020.

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 (97), jazz bassist Steve Swallow (86), Sweet Honey in the Rock founder Bernice Johnson Reagon (84), singer-songwriter Bridget St John (80), French chansonnier Julien Clerc (79), Blood, Sweat & Tears bassist Jim Fielder (79), Triumph drummer Gil Moore (75), harpist Andreas Vollenweider (73), Def Jam record label founder Russell Simmons (69), Pet Shop Boy Chris Lowe (67), and Arcade Fire multi-instrumentalist Richard Parry (49). 

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 (90), Chubby Checker (85), Lindsey Buckingham (77), bluesman Keb' Mo' (75), Tommy Lee (64), Gwen Stefani (57), Backstreet Boys vocalist Kevin Richardson (55), Scissor Sisters lead singer Jake Shears (48), Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist Josh Klinghoffer (47), and Ashlee Simpson (42). 

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for Eddie Cochran, who would have been 87 today... for Alan O'Day [of 'Undercover Angel' fame], who would have been 86... for Stevie Ray Vaughn, who would have been 72... for former Allman Brothers sideman Allen Woody, who would have been 70... 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 (81), Cajun musician Jo-El Sonnier (80), Richard Hell [né Richard Meyers] (77), Mike Rutherford (76), Sting (75), Human League frontman Philip Oakey (71), ex-Dream Academy multi-instrumentalist Kate St John (69), Glass Tiger lead guitarist Al Connelly (66), ex-Sugarcubes drummer Sigtryggur Baldursson (62), Gillian Welch (59), Damon 'Badly Drawn Boy' Gough (57), Slipknot guitarist Jim Root (54), Aqua lead singer Lene Nystrøm (53), and The Sounds lead singer Maja Ivarsson (47). 

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for jazz guitarist Howard Roberts, born on this day in 1929... for rapper Proof, who would have been 53... 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)... The Cranberries release their second album No Need to Argue (1994)... 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 (91), Cajun accordion master Marc Savoy (86), Herb Fame [of Peaches & Herb] (84), ex-Sly & the Family Stone saxophonist Jerry Martini (83), former Wishbone Ash bassist Martin Turner (79), April Wine guitarist Brian Greenway (75), OMD keyboardist Martin Cooper (68), Youssou N'Dour (67), Better Than Ezra frontman Kevin Griffin (59), Suede guitarist Richard Oakes (50), and rapper Dizzee Rascal [né Dylan Mills] (40). 

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 were born in 1929... for bluesman Albert Collins, born in 1932... for Donny Hathaway, who would have been 81 today... for Brownsville Station frontman Cub Koda, who would have been 78... 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 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 5-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).  

 

September 30th

 

Musical birthdays today include soul singer Cissy Houston (93), 5th Dimension vocalist Marilyn McCoo (83), Québecoise pop singer Diane Dufresne (82), 10,000 Maniacs founding member John Lombardo (74), Gov't Mule drummer Matt Abts (73), singer & multi-instrumentalist Patrice Rushen (72), country singer Marty Stuart (67), Phish guitarist Trey Anastasio (62), Goo Goo Dolls original lead singer Robby Takacs (62), ex-Sugababes vocalist Keisha Buchanan (42), and rapper T-Pain [né Faheem Rasheed Najm] (40).  

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for jazz legend Buddy Rich, born on this day in 1917... for English songwriter & pianist Donald Swann [of Flanders & Swann], born in 1923... for Buffalo Springfield drummer Dewey Martin, who would have been 86... for Frankie Lymon, who would have been 84... for Marc Bolan, who would have been 79... for Fabulous Thunderbirds frontman Nick Curran, who would have been 49... for Mary Ford, who died on this date in 1977... for American composer Virgil Thomson, who passed away in 1989... and for songwriter [and sometime Bob Dylan and Roger McGuinn collaborator] Jacques Levy, who left us today in 2004. 

Also on September 30: Mozart's final opera Die Zauberflöte[The Magic Flute] has its premiere in Vienna (1791)... Donovan makes his US television debut on ABC's Shindig! (1965)... The UK's first national pop radio station, BBC Radio 1, is launched to take over from the pirate radio stations, which had been shut down by the Home Office. The first record played by former pirate DJ Tony Blackburn is The Move's 'Flowers in the Rain' (1967)... David Crosby's girlfriend Christine Hinton is killed in a head-on collision just north of San Francisco (1969)... In Reading, Yes begin their first UK tour with Rick Wakeman at the keyboards (1971)... Foghat play a benefit concert at the Palladium to help the NY Public Library buy a collection of rare blues records for its archives (1977)... Bonnie Tyler's 'Total Eclipse of the Heart' is at № 1 on both sides of the Atlantic (1983)... Steve Earle is arrested in Nashville for failing to report for jury duty (1992)... Kate Pierson of the B-52's is charged with criminal mischief and trespassing after being arrested during an anti-fur demonstration outside Vogue Magazine's New York offices (1993)... Mariah Carey becomes the first female artist to enter the Billboard Hot 100 at № 1 with her latest single 'Fantasy' (1995)... Chris De Burgh's website is closed down after its guestbook is flooded with obscene messages. One of the posts consisted of two four-letter words repeated 3500 times (1999)... Dido releases Life for Rent, her follow-up to her multi-million selling debut album No Angel (2003)... George Strait breaks Conway Twitty's record by scoring his 41st № 1 hit on the Billboard Country chart with 'Give It Away' (2006).

September 29th

 

Musical birthdays today include bluegrass flatpicker Dan Crary (87), jazz-rock violinist Jean-Luc Ponty (84), television theme composer Mike Post [best remembered for 'The Rockford Files' and 'Law & Order'] (82), ex-Grand Funk Railroad frontman Mark Farner (78), Suzzy Roche (70), record label owner & impresario Alan McGee [manager of Oasis and The Jesus and Mary Chain, among others] (66), Primus lead singer & bassist Les Claypool (63), Suede lead singer Brett Anderson (59), jazz and metal guitarist Alex Skolnick (58), rapper AMG (56), and former Much the Same frontman Chris 'Gunner' McGrath (48). 

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for Gene Autry, born on this date in 1907... for Czech conductor and violinist Václav Neumann, born in 1920... for Jerry Lee Lewis, born in 1935... for Tommy Boyce [of the songwriting duo Boyce & Hart), who would have been 87 today... for session player and King Crimson drummer Ian Wallace, who would have been 80... and for songwriter Paul Jabara [best known for Donna Summer's 'Last Dance' and 'It's Raining Men' for the Weather Girls], who left us today in 1992.  

Also on September 29: Handel finished his Concerto Grosso in G, Op. 6, no. 1 (1739)... Gustav Holst's The Planets has its premiere at Queen's Hall, London. It was noted that during rehearsals, custodians would stop work and listen in awe to the work that would bring Holst lasting fame (1918)... Berry Gordy's new label Motown Records release their first single, 'Bad Girl' by The Miracles (1959)... Robert Shelton's glowing review of Bob Dylan's support slot at Gerde's Folk City is published in the New York Times. On the same day, Dylan has his first audition with legendary CBS Records scout John Hammond (1961)... At Abbey Road Studios, the Beatles do the final mix of 'I Am the Walrus', which includes the sound of a radio being tuned through numerous stations and coming to rest on a BBC production of King Lear. John Lennon composed the song by combining three separate fragments that he had been working on, and reportedly made the words as nonsensical as possible when he learnt that a former English teacher of his was giving students Beatles lyrics to analyse... The Rolling Stones officially part ways with their manager Andrew Loog Oldham (1967)... Capitol Records releases Merle Haggard's 'Okie from Muskogee' (1969)... Led Zeppelin close their triumphant first Japanese tour with a show at Osaka's Festival Hall (1971)... Celebrating his birthday somewhat excessively, Jerry Lee Lewis nearly lives up to his nickname of 'the Killer' when he accidentally shoots his bass player Norman Owens in the chest. The piano-pounder was using an office door for target practice. Owens survives, but sues his boss (1976)... Prince has his second US № 1 with 'Let's Go Crazy' (1984)... The Smiths release Strangeways, Here We Come, their final studio album (1987)... While travelling cross country on his motorbike from Los Angeles, Bruce Springsteen calls in at Matt's Saloon in Prescott, AZ and jams with the house band. He also writes a cheque for $10,000 to pay the medical expenses of one of the barmaids who has just returned to work after a long stay in hospital (1989)... Keith Moon's five-piece drum kit, custom made for him in 1968, sells for £125,000 at auction in London to an American collector (1992)... Alanis Morissette plays the final show of her first US tour in Houston, TX (1996)... Ozzy Osbourne announces that he is writing a Broadway musical based on the life of Rasputin (2003).