Wednesday 2 October 2013

October 2

Musical birthdays today include Don McLean (68), Cajun musician Jo-El Sonnier (67), Richard Hell (64), Mike Rutherford (63), Sting (62), Human League frontman Philip Oakey (58), ex-Dream Academy multi-instrumentalist Kate St John (56), Glass Tiger lead guitarist Al Connelly (53), ex-Sugarcubes drummer Sigtryggur Baldursson (51), Gillian Welch (46), Damon 'Badly Drawn Boy' Gough (44), Slipknot guitarist Jim Root (41), Aqua lead singer Lene NystrΓΈm (40), and The Sounds lead singer Maja Ivarsson (34). 

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for jazz guitarist Howard Roberts, who would have been 84 today... for rapper Proof, who would have been 40... and for cowboy singer and entertainer Gene Autry, who left us today in 1998. 

Also on October 2: 'Stay' by Maurice Williams and the Zodiacs is the no.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 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 a San Francisco police 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 where they are buried and moved to Graceland (1977)... Bonnie Tyler becomes the only Welsh singer to score a US no.1 single with 'Total Eclipse of the Heart' (1983)... 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). 

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