March 31st

Musical birthdays today include Shirley Jones (81), Herb Alpert (80), film score composer Arthur B. Rubinstein (77), original Mott the Hoople frontman Mick Ralphs (71), AC/DC lead guitarist Angus Young (60), ex-Stiff Little Fingers bassist Ali McMordie (56), Placebo bassist Stefan Olsdal (41), Garfunkel & Oates singer Kate Micucci (35), Ryan Bingham (34), Cobra Starship lead guitarist Ryan Blackinton (33), Fun lead guitarist Jack Antonoff (31), and Tokio Hotel bassist Georg Listing (28). 

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for Johann Sebastian Bach, born on this date in 1685... for Franz Josef Haydn, born in 1732... for blueswoman Etta Baker, born in 1913... for country singer Lefty Frizzell, who would have been 87 today... for Anita Carter, who would have been 82... for Isley Brother O'Kelly Isley Jr., who died on this date in 1986... for Selena Quintanilla-Pérez AKA Selena, who was murdered today in 1995 at the age of 23... and for saxophonist and bandleader Jackie McLean, who left us today in 2006. 

Also on March 31st: On his 62nd birthday, Haydn conducts the premiere performance of his 100th Symphony in the Queen's Concert Rooms, Hanover Square, London (1794)... Dvořák's opera Rusalka is performed for the first time at the National Theatre in Prague (1904)... The Vienna Concert Society riots during a performance of modernist music by Arnold Schoenberg, Alban Berg, Anton von Webern and others. The audience reaction brings a premature end to the concert as chairs as well as punches are thrown. The incident is still referred to in Austria as the 'Skandalkonzert' (1913)... RCA Victor introduce the 45 RPM single record, which has been in development since 1940. The 7-inch disc is designed to compete with the Long Playing record introduced by Columbia last year. Both formats offer higher fidelity and longer playing time than the 78 RPM record that is currently in use. Advertisements for new record players boast that with 45s, the listener can hear up to ten records with speedy, nearly silent and hardly noticeable changes. The first 45 disc, 'Texarkana Baby' by country & western singer Eddy Arnold, is issued by RCA in the US. It is made of green vinyl, as part of an attempt to colour-code singles according to the genre of music they featured. Others include red for classical music and yellow for children's songs (1949)... Chuck Berry's 'Johnny B. Goode' single is released. The song's original lyrics referred to Johnny as a 'colored boy', but Berry later acknowledges that he changed the words to 'country boy' to ensure radio play (1958)... Lonnie Donegan becomes the first British artist to enter the UK singles chart at № 1 with 'My Old Man's a Dustman'. The only previous singer to achieve the feat was Elvis Presley (1960)... The Beatles play their first gig in the south of England when they open for The Rebel Rousers in Stroud, Gloucs. (1962)... Filming for A Hard Day's Night, The Beatles give a 'live television performance' in front of a studio of screaming fans, one of whom is played by a 13-year-old extra named Phil Collins (1964)... Jimi Hendrix sets fire to his guitar live on stage for the first time during a show at the Astoria in London, on the opening night of a 24-date tour with The Walker Brothers, Cat Stevens and Engelbert Humperdinck. In 2008, the Fender Stratocaster burnt by Hendrix on this occasion will sell for £280,000 at a London auction of rock memorabilia (1967)... The Beatles Official Fan Club ceases operations... Deep Purple release Machine Head (1972)... Led Zeppelin release Presence, their seventh studio album (1976)... Kenny Loggins is at № 1 in the US with 'Footloose' (1984)... The Smiths' valedictory compilation album Louder Than Bombs is released in the US (1987)... Madonna appears on The Late Show With David Letterman. The network will have to delete 13 offending words from the interview before the show airs. Madonna also hands the host a pair of her panties and tells him to sniff them ~ Letterman politely declines and stuffs them into his desk drawer (1994)... Jimmy Page escapes being knifed when a fan rushes the stage at a Page and Plant gig in Auburn Hills, MI. The fan is intercepted by two security guards, whom he stabs instead, inflicting minor wounds. After his arrest, the assailant tells police that he wanted to kill the guitarist because of the 'Satanic vibrations' in the music he was playing (1995)... Whitney Houston and husband Bobby Brown are banned for life from the Bel Air hotel in Los Angeles after wrecking their room. Hotel employees say a TV was smashed, two doors were ripped from their hinges, and the walls and carpets stained with alcohol. It is reported that Whitney called in her lawyers to plead with the hotel management not to call the police. The suite is so badly damaged that it will be shut for five days for repair (2001)... A new world record for the longest non-stop concert is set by several hundred musicians in Japan. The performance began on the evening of 23 March in the city of Omi, with 650 musicians aged between 6 and 96 taking turns ~ over 2,000 tunes will be performed in a little more than 182 hours. Organisers praise the musicians, one of whom carried on despite a major earthquake during her piano piece. The previous world record was set in Canada in 2001 at 181 hours (2007).

March 30th

Musical birthdays today include Astrud Gilberto (75), Moody Blues drummer Graeme Edge (74), Eric Clapton (70), MC Hammer (53), Tracy Chapman (51), former Queens of the Stone Age drummer Joey Castillo (49), Celine Dion (47), Snow Patrol bassist Mark McLelland (39), Norah Jones (36), Blue vocalist Simon Webbe (36), and singer-songwriter Anna Nalick (31). 

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for Frankie Laine, born on this day in 1913... for Sonny Boy Williamson I, born in 1914... for former Surfaris bassist Ken Forssi, R&B singer Al Goodman, and Jay and the Americans frontman Jay Traynor, all of whom would have been 72... for Randy van Warmer, who would have been 60... for ex-Lagwagon drummer Derrick Plourde, who took his own life today in 2005 at the age of 33... and for producer Phil Ramone, who left us two years ago today.  

Also on March 30th: Richard Strauss' 1st Symphony receives its premiere in Munich (1881)... The Julliard Musical Foundation is incorporated in NYC (1920)... Buddy Knox becomes the first artist of the rock era to write his own № 1 hit, when his song 'Party Doll' tops the US singles chart (1957)... The Chiffons start a four week run at № 1 on the US singles chart with ‘He’s So Fine’. In 1971 George Harrison will be taken to court for allegedly plagiarizing the song on his 1970 hit‘My Sweet Lord’ and ordered to pay $587,000 to the writers... 16-year-old Lesley Gore records 'It's My Party' (1963)... During an appearance by Jimi Hendrix on 'Top Of The Pops', a technician puts on the backing track of Alan Price's 'Simon Smith and His Amazing Dancing Bear', to which Hendrix responds "I don't know the words to this one man"... The photo session for the cover of Sgt. Pepper takes place at Chelsea Manor studios in London with Michael Cooper. After the shoot, The Beatles resume work at Abbey Road on ‘With a Little Help From My Friends’, adding guitars, bass, tambourine, and backing vocals. The session begins at 11:00 pm and ends at 7:30 am (1967)... John Denver has the № 1 single in the US with 'Sunshine on My Shoulders' (1974)... The Sex Pistols play their first show at the 100 Club in London. They will begin a weekly residency at the venue in June (1976)... Paul Simonon and Nicky Headon of The Clash are arrested in Camden Town, London after shooting down racing pigeons with air guns from the roof of Chalk Farm Studios. Four police cars and a helicopter are required to make the collar. The fines total £800 (1978)... R.E.M. begin recording Automatic for the People at Bearsville Studios in Woodstock, NY (1992)... Pink Floyd release their final studio album, The Division Bell (1994)... Mick Jagger makes a nostalgic visit to his old school to open the new arts centre named after him at Dartford Grammar. The singer says he spent 'the worst years of his life' at the school (2000)... A man is arrested by police and detained under the Mental Health Act after trying to force his way into Paul McCartney’s mansion, screaming "I must get to him!" The middle-aged man burst through security patrols into McCartney’s isolated Sussex estate; guards who feared an assassination attempt were scrambled to intercept him as he sped towards the front door. He was finally halted by trees and a fence just yards from Sir Paul’s six-bedroom home at Peasmarsh (2007). 

March 29th

Musical birthdays today include Evangelis Papathanassiou AKA Vangelis (72), Terry Jacks (71), original Toto frontman Bobby Kimball (68), Stranglers keyboardist Dave Greenfield (66), Jane's Addiction lead singer Perry Farrell (56), Blues Traveler frontman John Popper (48), and Cansei de Ser Sexy guitarist Luiza Sá (34). 

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for organ virtuoso E. Power Biggs, born on this day in 1906... for Pearl Bailey, born in 1918... for Parliament/Funkadelic bass vocalist Ray Davis, who would have been 75 today... for Australian rocker Billy Thorpe, who would have been 69... for jazzman Michael Brecker, who would have been 66... for Waitresses lead singer Patty Donahue, who would have been 59... for conductor Annunzio Montovani, who died on this date in 1980... for composer Carl Orff, who left us today in 1982... and for Jeanine 'The Singing Nun' Deckers, who took her own life today in 1985 at the age of 52. 

Also on March 29th: Vivaldi is dismissed from his position as a music teacher at the Ospedale della Pietà in Venice for spending too much time on his own operas (1716)... 24-year-old Ludwig van Beethoven makes his concert debut at the Vienna Burgtheater, introducing his 1st Piano Concerto (1795)... Beethoven's funeral in Vienna is attended by Schubert, Czerny, Kreutzer and other musical luminaries (1827)... The Royal Albert Hall opens in London with Queen Victoria in attendance (1871)... Tchaikovsky's opera Eugene Onegin premieres at Moscow's Maly Theatre (1879)... Mick Jagger requires 8 stitches to close a gash in his head after a fan throws a chair at the stage during a gig in Marseille (1966)... At Abbey Road, the Beatles finish recording 'Good Morning, Good Morning', and then go to work on a new song with the working title of 'Bad Finger Boogie', which they will soon change to 'With a Little Help from My Friends' (1967)... Diana!, the soundtrack LP of Diana Ross' first solo TV special, is released (1971)... Dr Hook and The Medicine Show get their picture on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine after their hit 'The Cover of Rolling Stone' reaches № 6 on the US singles chart. According to members of the group, they really did buy five copies for their mothers, as per the lyrics of the song (1973)... King Crimson release the album Starless and Bible Black (1974)... All six Led Zeppelin LPs to date are now in the Bilboard Top 100 albums chart, including their most recent release Physical Graffiti at № 1 (1975)... David Bowie kicks off his Low/Heroes 77-date world tour at the San Diego Sports Arena (1978)... After attending a Dire Straits show during their residency at the Roxy in Los Angeles, Bob Dylan asks Mark Knopfler and drummer Pick Withers to play on the sessions for his next LP. Slow Train Coming will be the album, recorded in Muscle Shoals, AL in May of 1979, with Jerry Wexler producing. Dylan had first heard Dire Straits' Mark Knopfler when his assistant Arthur Rosato played him the single 'Sultans of Swing' (1979)... Pink Floyd’s The Dark Side Of The Moon album spends its 303rd week on the US album chart, beating the record set by Carole King's 1971 № 1 album Tapestry. The album remains in the US Billboard charts for 741 discontinuous weeks from 1973 to 1988, longer than any other album in chart history. After moving to the Billboard Top Pop Catalog Chart, the album notches up a further 759 weeks, and will reach a total of over 1,500 weeks on the combined charts by May 2006 (1980)... U2 play the final gig of their 29-date War tour at London's Hammersmith Palais (1983)... Falco is at the top of both the US and UK singles charts with 'Rock Me Amadeus', making him the first German-speaking artist to score an American № 1 (1986)... 
The David Bowie Internet Radio Network broadcasts its first show for Rolling Stone Radio, a selection of Bowie's favourite songs with the singer introducing each track (1999)... Brian Wilson is honored in a three hour tribute at New York's Radio City Music Hall. Guest performers include Billy Joel, Paul Simon, The Go-Gos and the trio of Carly Simon, David Crosby and Jimmy Webb. Also singing Beach Boy songs are Ann and Nancy Wilson, Elton John and Aimee Mann. Brian Wilson himself joins the festivities when he takes the stage for the final three songs, 'Barbara Ann', 'Surfin' U.S.A.' and 'Fun, Fun, Fun' (2001)... A court in Lithuania sentences French rock star Bertrand Cantat, lead singer of the group Noir Desir, to eight years in prison for killing his actress girlfriend during a domestic quarrel. Cantat was convicted of fatally beating Marie Trintignant in a Vilnius hotel room in 2003. Cantat admitted killing Ms Trintignant but maintained it was an accident (2004)... Neil Young is operated on for a brain aneurysm at a hospital in New York. Doctors expect the 59- year-old to make a full recovery. The aneurysm was discovered when Young complained of blurry vision and then collapsed after the induction ceremony for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame last month (2005).

March 28th

Musical birthdays today include operatic soprano Elizabeth Bainbridge (85), former Jethro Tull keyboardist John Evan (67), Reba McIntire (60), Cheryl 'Salt' James (49), country singer Rodney Atkins (46), Lost Boyz rapper Terrence 'Mr. Cheeks' Kelly (44), The Killers lead guitarist Dave Keuning (39), music blogger & cigar-chomping man about town William Ruben Helms (36), and Stefani Germanotta AKA Lady Gaga (29). 

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for bandleader Paul Whiteman, born on this day in 1890... for classical pianist Rudolf Serkin, born in 1903... for jazz trumpeter Thad Jones, born in 1923... for Commodores keyboardist Milan Williams, who would have been 67 today... for original Feeder drummer Jon Lee, who would have been 47... for composer Modest Mussorgsky, who died on this date in 1881... for Sergei Rachmaninoff, who passed away in 1943... for W.C. Handy, the 'Father of the Blues', who died in 1958... for bluesman Arthur 'Big Boy' Crudup, who died in 1974... for film score composer Maurice Jarre, who passed away in 2009... and for bluegrass banjo legend Earl Scruggs, who left us three years ago today. 

Also on March 28th: Classical music-formatted WQXR in NYC, owned by The New York Times, bans all singing commercials from its airwaves as of this day (1944)... Art Pepper records Art Pepper + 11, his only album as a leader in the big band format (1959)... Madame Tussaud's unveils the waxwork images of The Beatles, making them the first pop stars ever to be so honoured... Pirate Radio Caroline begins broadcasting from the former Danish ferry 'Fredericia' in the North Sea off the English coast (1964)... Working on the Sgt. Pepper sessions at Abbey Road studios in London, John Lennon records his lead vocal for ‘Good Morning Good Morning’, and Paul McCartney added a lead guitar solo to the track. Lennon has decided he wants to end the song with animal sound effects, and asks that they be sequenced in such a way that each successive animal be capable of scaring or eating the preceding one (1967)... Simon & Garfunkel have their only UK № 1 with 'Bridge over Troubled Water' (1970)... Led Zeppelin's Houses of the Holy is released. The album title is a dedication by the band to their fans who appeared at venues they dubbed 'Houses of the Holy' (1973)... In Buffalo, NY, Genesis kick off their first North American tour since Peter Gabriel's departure as lead singer. Phil Collins now tkes over the position (1976)... Blondie hit № 1 on the US singles chart with 'Rapture', the group's fourth stateside chart-topper (1981)... David Crosby is arrested after crashing his car on the San Diego Freeway. Police also find cocaine and a pistol in the CS&N star's car. When the police ask Crosby why he carries the gun, he replies, "John Lennon" (1982)... Run DMC release their self-titled debut album (1984)... Over $100,000 worth of damage is caused to the Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre in Orange Co., CA when Ozzy Osbourne invites the first two rows of the audience to come on stage. Several others take up the offer and the band are forced to flee (1992)... Wilco release their debut album A.M. (1995)... Jimmy Page accepts substantial undisclosed libel damages from a magazine which claimed he caused or contributed to the death of his Led Zeppelin bandmate John Bonham. Page's solicitor Norman Chapman told High Court Judge Mr Justice Morland that the feature in Ministry magazine printed in 1999 claimed Page was more concerned with keeping vomit off his bed than with saving his friend's life, and that he stood over Bonham wearing Satanist robes and performing a useless spell (2000).

March 27th

Musical birthdays today include producer & recording industry executive Mo Ostin (88), former Shadows keyboardist Alan Hawkshaw (78), Status Quo bassist Andy Bown (69), Genesis keyboardist Tony Banks (65), multi-instrumentalist & longtime Paul McCartney sideman Paul Wickens (57), former INXS keyboardist & principal songwriter Andrew Farriss (56), former Gun Club and Nick Cave guitarist Brian 'Kid Congo Powers' Tristan (56), Johnny Hates Jazz lead singer Clark Datchler (51), jazz singer Stacey Kent (47), ex-Time Frequency lead singer Mary Kiani (46), Mariah Carey (45), Blues Traveler drummer Brendan Hill (45), Procol Harum bassist Matt Pegg (34), Black Eyed Peas lead singer Fergie Duhamel (40), Dillinger Escape Plan frontman Greg Puciato (35), and pop singer Laura Critchley (31). 

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for Sarah Vaughn, born on this day in 1924... for cellist Mstislav Rostropovich, who would have been 88... for bluesman Johnny Copeland, who would have been 78... for rockabilly & country singer Janis Martin, who would have been 75... for former Genesis drummer John Mayhew, who would have been 68... for Associates vocalist Billy Mackenzie, who would have been 58... for jazz saxophonist Clifford Jordan, who died on this date in 1993... for Rolling Thunder Revue drummer Howie Wyeth, who passed away in 1996... for Ian Dury, who died in 2000... and for Dudley Moore, who left us in 2002. 

Also on March 27th: Franz Joseph Haydn makes his last public appearance at a performance of his oratorio The Creation in Vienna to mark the composer's 76th birthday. Beethoven and Antonio Salieri are also in attendance (1808)... CBS Laboratories announce a new stereophonic Long Playing (LP) record that is playable on ordinary monaural LP phonographs (1958)... Beatlemania continues to take the world by storm, as the Fab Four now occupy the top 6 positions on the Australian pop chart (1964)... The Supremes score their fourth US № 1 with 'Stop! In the Name of Love' (1965)... Fats Domino makes his UK debut at London's Saville Theatre with The Bee Gees and Gerry & the Pacemakers opening for him... Columbia Records release the first Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits package (1967)... The Beatles have their final UK № 1 on the Parlophone EMI label with 'Lady Madonna' (1968)... Ringo Starr becomes the first of the Beatles to release a solo album that is neither a film soundtrack nor an avant-garde experiment, as Sentimental Journey hits the shops (1970)... At RCA Studios in Memphis, Elvis records what will prove to be his last top ten hit, 'Burning Love' (1972)... Rolling Stone magazine reports that after becoming a disciple of Sri Chinmoy, Carlos Santana changed his name to 'Devadip', which means 'the lamp of the light of the Supreme' (1973)... Eric Clapton and Patti Harrison married in Tucson, AZ (1979)... Former Small Faces and Faces bassist Ronnie Lane is diagnosed with multiple sclerosis [He will succumb to the disease in 1997] (1982)... Van Halen kick off a 112 date North American tour at the Hirsch Memorial Coliseum in Shreveport, LA. It is the band's first tour with Sammy Hagar on lead vocals (1986)... U2 perform from the roof of a store in downtown L.A. to make the video for 'Where The Streets Have No Name', attracting thousands of spectators and bringing traffic to a standstill. The police eventually stop the shoot (1987)... The wife of Velvet Revolver singer Scott Weiland is arrested on suspicion of burning over $10,000 of his belongings outside their home after police in Los Angeles find a bin of smouldering clothes. Earlier that day, the couple left two rooms vandalised after an argument at a luxury hotel (2007)... X Factor winner Leona Lewis becomes the first British woman to top the US pop chart in more than 20 years with her single ‘Bleeding Love.’ Kim Wilde was the last UK female to top the Billboard Hot 100, with her 1987 cover version of the Supremes hit ‘You Keep Me Hangin' On’. Petula Clark was the first, with her 1965 track ‘Downtown' (2008)... David Bowie's landmark album Ziggy Stardust is celebrated with a blue plaque in central London. Former Spandau Ballet frontman Gary Kemp unveils the marker at the spot where the iconic cover shot of the 1972 release was taken. The location in Heddon Street, just off Regent Street, is now a pedestrianised area filled with bars and restaurants (2012). 

March 26th

Musical birthdays today include film score composer Harry Rabinowitz (99), Pierre Boulez (90), Diana Ross (71), Plastic People of the Universe violinist Jiří Kabeš (69), ELO keyboardist Richard Tandy (67), Steven Tyler (67), former Boston bassist Fran Sheehan (66), film score composer Alan Silvestri (65), ex-Communards multi-instrumentalist Richard Coles (53), Acadian singer-songwriter Roch Voisine (52), Kenny Chesney (47), ex-Smashing Pumpkins guitarist James Iha (47), producer Thomas 'Tommie Sunshine' Lorello (44), and folk singer & multi-instrumentalist Seth Lakeman (38). 

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for saxophonist James Moody, who would have been 90 today... for Teddy Pendergrass, who would have been 65... for Ludwig van Beethoven, who died on this date in 1827... for Noël Coward, who passed away today in 1973... for Eric Wright AKA Eazy-E, who died in 1995... for former Mötley Crüe drummer Randy Castillo, who died in 2002... for Jan Berry [of Jan & Dean fame], who succumbed today in 2004 to long-term health problems that had plagued him ever since a near-fatal car crash in 1966... and for guitarist and music journalist Adrian Godfrey AKA Nikki Sudden, who left us in 2006. 

Also on March 26th: On a Good Friday, J.S. Bach conducts the first performance of his St. John Passion at the Thomaskirche in Leipzig (1723)... At Rudy Van Gelder's studio in Hackensack, NJ, John Coltrane and sidemen record the tracks that will become the Settin' the Pace album when released on the Prestige label three years later. Coltrane, who had moved on to Atlantic by then, did not approve the final mix (1958)... The Beatles perform at the Casbah Coffee Club, West Derby, Liverpool, their last performance before travelling to Hamburg for their second visit (1961)... Mick Jagger, Brian Jones and Bill Wyman all receive electric shocks from a faulty microphone on stage during a Rolling Stones show in Denmark. Wyman is knocked unconscious for several minutes... John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers release their debut album, John Mayall Plays John Mayall (1965)... In Vancouver, Bob Dylan plays his final North American gig on his current world tour. After 'Ballad of a Thin Man', Dylan tells the crowd "Mr. Jones lives in Lincoln, Nebraska... He hangs round bowling alleys there. He also owns watermill rights, but we don't talk about that when we're in Nebraska. We just let Mr. Jones have his little way" (1966)... 
Marvin Gaye is at № 1 on the UK singles chart with 'I Heard It Through The Grapevine'. The song was first recorded by The Miracles, and had also been a million seller in 1967 for Gladys Knight and the Pips (1969)... Peter Yarrow of Peter, Paul and Mary pleads guilty to 'taking immoral liberties' with a 14 year old girl in Washington D.C. and is sentenced to ninety days in jail. Just days earlier, the trio had won a Grammy Award for Best Recording for Children for their album Peter, Paul and Mommy (1970)... Hall and Oates have their first US № 1 single with 'Rich Girl' (1978)... With a one-off concert, The Police become the first western rock group since 1968 to play in Bombay, India (1980)... Duran Duran top the UK singles chart for the first time with 'Is There Something I Should Know'. On this day, they are greeted by 5,000 screaming fans in NYC as they make a promotional appearance at a midtown Manhattan branch of Sam Goody's (1983)... Radio stations in South Africa ban all of Stevie Wonder's records after he dedicated the Oscar he won the night before to Nelson Mandela (1985)... Morrissey's Viva Hate is the № 1 album in the UK (1988)... An action figure of Eminem is facing a ban from UK shops. Woolworth's and other major chains are refusing to stock the dolls after public warnings from psychologists that  parents who buy the dolls for children will be inadvertently giving their approval to bad language (2001)... Total Guitar magazine publishes the results of a readers poll voting the solo by Jimmy Page in 'Stairway To Heaven' as the greatest guitar solo of all time. The 1971 track comes in ahead of tracks by Van Halen, Queen, Jimi Hendrix and The Eagles. On the 20th anniversary of the original release of the song, it was announced via US radio sources that the song had logged an estimated 2,874,000 radio plays, which, run back to back, would amount to 44 years (2006)... The Los Angeles Times publishes an apology for claiming rap mogul Sean 'Diddy' Combs was involved in the 1994 shooting of hip-hop star Tupac Shakur. The Times, which published the original story on its website, initially said its claims were based on FBI records, witness accounts and other unnamed sources. The apology follows a claim that the newspaper was conned by a prisoner who doctored the documents used (2008).

March 25th

Musical birthdays include country-pop singer Bonnie Guitar (92), jazz pianist Cecil Taylor (86), Aretha Franklin (73), Elton John (68), Boney M singer Maizie Williams (64), Spandau Ballet multi-instrumentalist Steve Norman (55), All Saints vocalist Melanie Blatt (40), Cellist Natalie Clein (38), and rapper Sean Anderson AKA Big Sean (27). 

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for Arturo Toscanini, born on this day in 1867... for Béla Bartók, born in 1881... for bandleader Frankie 'The Wizard of the Keyboard' Carle, born in 1903... for operatic soprano Magda Olivero, born in 1910... for jazz drummer Paul Motian, and former Bob Dylan and Velvet Underground producer Tom Wilson, both of whom would have been 84 today... for rockabilly singer Johnny Burnette, who would have been 81... for Shadowfax leader & producer Chuck Greenberg, who would have been 65... for chanteuse Teri Moïse, who would have been 45... for Claude Debussy, who died on this date in 1918... for ballet director Robert Joffrey, who passed away in 1988... and for Buck Owens, who left us today in 2006. 

Also on March 25th: Having been sworn in as Private 53310761 the previous day, Elvis receives the regulation short back and sides haircut from army barber James Peterson. Presley will earn $78 per month as an Army enlisted man... Buddy Holly plays the Gaumont Theatre in London, the final date on his first and only British tour (1958)... The Beatles make their debut on 'Top of the Pops', performing 'Can't Buy Me Love' and 'You Can't Do That' (1964)... At a photo session at Bob Whitaker's studio in London, The Beatles pose in white coats using sides of meat with mutilated and butchered dolls for the cover of their next American album, 'Yesterday and Today'. After advance copies are sent to disc jockeys and record reviewers, negative reaction to the cover photo is so strong that Capitol recall 750,000 copies from distributors to replace the cover. The total cost to the company to replace the cover and promotional materials comes to $250,000, wiping out their initial profit (1966)... The Turtles go to № 1 in the US with 'Happy Together'... The Who and Cream both make their U.S. concert debut at the RKO 58th Street Theatre in NYC as part of a rock & roll extravaganza promoted by DJ Murray the K. (1967)... John and Yoko start their week long 'bed-in for peace' in the presidential suite at the Amsterdam Hilton hotel. The couple invite the world's press into their hotel room every day to talk about promoting world peace (1969)... Capitol Records release Band of Gypsys, Jimi Hendrix's first LP since the dissolution of the Experience, and the last album that he will authorise in his lifetime (1970)... Motown Records celebrate their 25th anniversary with a concert in Pasadena, CA, featuring The Supremes, Stevie Wonder, The Temptations, The Four Tops, Martha Reeves, Jr. Walker, The Commodores, Marvin Gaye, Smokey Robinson and The Jackson 5 (1983)... Guns N' Roses sign a worldwide deal with Geffen Records (1986)... Madonna is at № 1 on the UK singles chart with 'Like A Prayer' ~ it will also go to № 1 in the US the following week, knocking 'The Living Years' by Mike and the Mechanics out of the top spot. The song is accompanied by a highly controversial music video, which in 2005 will be voted the 'Most Groundbreaking Music Video of All Time' in an MTV viewers poll (1989)... Eddie Vedder is rescued by lifeguards when a sudden riptide carries him 300 feet offshore in New Zealand (1995)... Former Bay City Rollers drummer Derek Longmuir is sentenced to 300 hours community service after being caught with a stash of child pornography including 150 videos and 70 floppy disks (2000)... Bono makes a appearance at the London air rage trial of R.E.M. guitarist Peter Buck, telling the court "I came to court because Peter is actually famously known for being a peaceable person. I once had to twist his arm to get him to a boxing match." Buck is later cleared of all charges. He was accused of attacking two cabin staff and covering them in yoghurt, knocking over a trolley, and trying to steal a knife (2002)... Justin Bieber's manager is arrested after police claim he failed to warn fans on Twitter about overcrowding at a shopping centre event. Police say they asked Scott Braun to tell fans through Twitter that Bieber would not be appearing because of fears over safety after hundreds turned up ~ five people were taken to hospital with minor injuries. Police maintain that Mr. Braun refused to send the message until 90 minutes later. He pleads not guilty to charges including reckless endangerment related to November's event at Roosevelt Field Mall (2010).

March 24th

Musical birthdays today include classical pianist Byron Janis (87), session bassist Carol Kaye (80), harmonica player & designer Lee Oskar (67), former April Wine bassist Steve Lang (66), Nick Lowe (66), ex-Supertramp bassist Dougie Thomson (64), Gabriele Kerner AKA Nena (55), and Sharon Corr (45). 

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for hymn composer Fanny Crosby [best remembered for 'Blessed Assurance' and 'To God Be the Glory'], born on this day in 1820... for Russian popular singer Klavdiya Shulzhenko, born in 1906... for scat singer & pianist Billy Stewart, who would have been 78 today... for former Kraftwerk guitarist Klaus Dinger, who would have been 69... for jazz pianist & bandleader Jean Goldkette, who died on this date in 1962... for ex-Brooklyn Bridge lead singer Johnny Maestro, who passed away in 2010... and for Motown writer & producer Deke Richards, who left us today in 2013. 

Also on March 24th: J.S. Bach completes the last of a group of six chamber orchestra pieces and dedicates them to Christian Ludwig, Margrave of Brandenburg-Schwedt. The compositions have since become popularly known as the Brandenburg Concertos (1721)... Billboard Magazine publishes its first US LP chart ~ Nat King Cole is at №  1 with A Collection of Favorites (1945)...  Elvis Presley reports to the Memphis draft board for induction into the US Army. He and 12 other recruits are taken by bus to the Kennedy Veterans Memorial Hospital for their physical, after which the singer is assigned serial number 53310761 (1958)... The Beatles continue filming 'Help!' at Twickenham Studios near London. They shoot the interior temple scenes, including one in which they 'dive through a hollow sacrificial altar and into water'. That scene is then edited into the swimming pool sequence filmed in the Bahamas on February 23 (1965)... Simon and Garfunkel make their UK singles chart debut with 'Homeward Bound.' Simon is said to have written the song at Farnworth railway station in Widnes, Cheshire while stranded overnight waiting for a train. A plaque is displayed in the station to commemorate this, although memorabilia hunters have stolen it repeatedly. The song describes Simon's longing to return home, both to his then girlfriend Kathy Chitty in Brentwood, Essex, and to the United States (1966)... Alice Cooper has the №  1 album on both sides of the Atlantic with Billion Dollar Babies... During a Lou Reed concert in Buffalo, NY, a man jumps on stage and bites the singer on the left buttock. The attacker is thrown out of the theatre, and Reed completes the show before being examined at a local hospital (1973)... Lionel Richie tops the singles charts in both America and Britain with 'Hello' (1984)... The Black Crowes are fired as the opening act on ZZ Top's current US tour after repeatedly criticising tour sponsor Miller Beer (1991)...  A Chicago court settles the Milli Vanilli class action suit by approving cash rebates of up to $3 to anyone who can prove that they bought the group’s music before November 27 1990, the date the lip synching scandal broke. Milli Vanilli won the 1989 best new artist Grammy after hits like 'Blame it on the Rain' and 'Girl, You Know It's True,' sold 30 million singles and 14 million albums. But in late 1990, the performers were stripped of the award after it was revealed that neither actually sang on the Milli Vanilli album (1992)... Sir Elton John's latter-day version of Aida opens on Broadway (2000)... A stretch of road on Highway 19 in Macon, GA is named Duane Allman Boulevard, as it includes the spot where the Allman Brothers guitarist died aged 24 in a motorcycle crash on October 29, 1971 (2001)... The prosecutor in the Phil Spector murder retrial tells the jury that the defendant is a "demonic maniac" when he drinks and "a very dangerous man" around women. Deputy District Attorney Truc Do urges jurors to find the music producer guilty of murdering Hollywood actress Lana Clarkson in 2003. During her closing argument, she also accuses Mr Spector of demonstrating a "conscious disregard for human life" (2009)... Pictures of The Beatles' 1965 Shea Stadium concert taken by an amateur photographer who bluffed his way backstage sell at auction in London. Marc Weinstein used a fake press pass to get next to the stage for the historic New York show. His 61 black and white images with copyright fetch £30,680; the successful bidder is a South American businessman currently living in Washington, D.C. who is an avid collector of Beatles memorabilia (2013).

March 23rd

Musical birthdays today include operatic bass-baritone Norman Bailey (82), Groundhogs frontman Tony McPhee (71), composer Michael Nyman (71), singer-songwriter David Olney (67), Ric Ocasek (66), Chaka Khan (62), Wet Wet Wet lead singer Marti Pellow (50), Damon Albarn (47), and Seether drummer John Humphrey (45). 

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for Mentors drummer Eldon 'El Duce' Hoke, who would have been 58 today... for English cabaret singer-songwriter Donald Swann, who died on this date in 1994... for longtime Beatles road manager and personal assistant Neil Aspinall, who passed away in 2008... and for David Eric Lowen of the songwriting team Lowen & Navarro [best remembered for the Pat Benatar hit 'We Belong'], who left us today in 2012. 

Also on March 23rd: 25-year-old Antonio Vivaldi is ordained as a priest in Venice (1703)... Bach's St. Mark Passion is performed for the first time in Leipzig at Good Friday Vespers (1731)... With King George II in attendance, Handel's Messiah has its London premiere. At the close of the Hallelujah Chorus, the King leaps to his feet, establishing a  tradition (1743)... RCA Records release Elvis Presley's eponymous debut album (1956)... John Lennon's book of verse and stream of consciousness prose 'In His Own Write' is published in the UK (1964)... The film of The Concert For Bangladesh featuring George Harrison, Bob Dylan and Eric Clapton premieres in New York. The event is the first benefit concert of this magnitude in rock history. The concert raised $243,418.51 for Bangladesh relief, which was administered by UNICEF. Sales of the album and DVD continue to benefit the George Harrison Fund for UNICEF (1972)... King Crimson release the LP Larks' Tongues in Aspic (1973)... Cher is at № 1 on the US singles chart with 'Dark Lady' (1974)... Elvis kicks off what will turn out to be his last tour ever with a show at Arizona State University in Tempe, AZ (1977)... The Smiths make their London debut with a show at The Rock Garden (1983)... Billy Joel marries Christie Brinkley on a yacht moored alongside the Statue of Liberty... Former CCR frontman John Fogerty goes to № 1 on the Billboard album chart with Centerfield (1985)... Janet Jackson signs a $16 million deal with Virgin Records (1992)... Pete Townshend tells Uncut magazine that he regrets ever forming The Who. "What would I have done differently? I would never have joined a band. Even though I am quite a good gang member and a good trooper on the road, I am bad at creative collaboration" (2011). 

March 22nd

Musical birthdays today include Stephen Sondheim (85), Jeremy Clyde [of Chad & Jeremy] (74), George Benson (72), Andrew Lloyd Webber (67), The Church drummer Jay Dee Daugherty (63), country singer James House (60), The Mighty Wah! frontman Pete Wylie (57), soul singer Beverley Knight (42), Limp Bizkit drummer John Otto (38), and Danity Kane vocalist Shannon Bex (35). 

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for Yardbirds lead singer Keith Relf, who would have been 72 today... for McCoys bassist Randy Jo Hobbs, who would have been 67... for composer Jean-Baptiste Lully, who died on this date in 1687... for banjo player & early Grand Ole Opry star Uncle Dave Macon, who died in 1952... for Kingston Trio founding member Dave Guard, who passed away in 1991... for former Bill Haley & the Comets guitarist Billy Williamson, who died in 1996... and for Foghat guitarist Rod Price, who left us today in 2005. 

Also on March 22nd: The Great Opera House of Frankfurt is destroyed in an RAF air raid (1944)... En route to New York for an appearance on the Perry Como Show, the car that Carl Perkins in travelling in is involved in an accident. Carl sustains injuries that will keep him in hospital for several months, while his brother Jay, who is driving, is killed (1956)... Ornette Coleman goes into Atlantic Studios in NYC with his sidemen. Unusually, Coleman is playing the tenor saxophone rather than his usual alto, so the album that will emerge from the session today and from one five days from now will be called, unsurprisingly, Ornette on Tenor. It is also Jimmy Garrison's last date with the group before leaving to join John Coltrane's quartet (1961)... The Beatles' debut album Please Please Me is released in Britain (1963)... Bob Dylan's transitional album Bringing It All Back Home is released (1965)... Led Zeppelin start a six-week run at № 1 on the US album chart with Physical Graffiti, the group's fourth chart-topping LP. On its first day of release in the US, the album shipped a million copies – no other album in the history of Atlantic records had generated so many sales. Physical Graffiti has since been certified 16 times Platinum by the RIAA (1975)... The Police sign their first contract with A&M Records (1978)... The Rutles' 'All You Need Is Cash', an affectionate mockumentary spoofing The Beatles' career, is broadcast for the first time on NBC (1978)... Pink Floyd's 'Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2)' is the № 1 single in the US... In the UK, the Jam's latest single 'Going Underground' debuts at the top of the chart for their first № 1 in their home country (1980)... With the L.A. Latino punk rockers The Plugz as his backing band, Bob Dylan appears on the David Letterman Show, performing the Sonny Boy Williamson classic 'Don't Start Me Talking', along with 'License to Kill' and 'Jokerman' from his latest album Infidels... Queen film the video for ‘I Want To Break Free’ at Limehouse Studio in London. Directed by David Mallet, it is a parody of the British soap opera Coronation Street, with the band members dressed in drag. Guitarist Brian May will later say that the video, which is initially banned by MTV, ruined the band in America (1984)... Polygram Records officially announce that Tears for Fears have split up (1992)... Puff Daddy scores his first US № 1 with 'Can't Nobody Hold Me Down' (1997)... Yusuf Islam, i.e. the former Cat Stevens, joins the campaign to preserve a law banning the 'promotion of homosexuality' in UK schools. He praises peers in the House of Lords for fighting the government's plans to scrap Section 28, as the measure is officially known (2000)... A new book claims that Elvis Presley's ancestors came from a small village called Lonmay in N.E. Scotland. Author Allan Morrison says he found evidence that the King's great-great-great-great-great-great grandfather was married in the village 300 years ago (2004). 

March 21st

Musical birthdays today include jazz pianist 'Sir' Charles Thompson (97), jazz pianist Amina Myers (73), David Lindley (71), former Sly & the Family Stone singer & keyboardist Rose Stone (70), Mungo Jerry frontman Ray Dorset (69), Eddie Money (66), ex-Supertramp lead singer Roger Hodgson (65), former Stylistics lead singer Russell Thompkins, Jr. (64), House of Love singer & guitarist Guy Chadwick (59), Stray Cats drummer James McDonnell AKA Slim Jim Phantom (54), Ace of Base songwriter & producer Jonas Berggren (48), Prodigy rapper Keith Palmer AKA Maxim Reality (48), Dope lead singer Brian Ebejer AKA Edsel Dope (41), Kaiser Chiefs keyboardist Nick Baines (37), Outlawz rapper Rufus Cooper III AKA Young Noble (37), Sum 41 frontman Deryck Whibley (35), and Saturdays vocalist Rochelle Humes (26). 

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for composer Modeste Mussorgsky, born on this day in 1842... for Appalachian traditional musician Bascomb Lamar Lunsford, born in 1882... for Son House, born in 1902... for bouzouki virtuoso Manlois Chiotis, born in 1920 [and who died on his birthday in 1970]... for Otis Spann, who would have been 85 today... for Solomon Burke, who would have been 75... for Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band co-founder & songwriter Vivian Stanshall, who would have been 72... for Leo Fender, founder of the musical instrument corporation bearing his name, who died on this date in 1991... for Bobby Short, who passed away in 2005... and for gospel singer Loleatta Holloway, who left us in 2011. 

Also on March 21st: Beethoven's final string quartet, Op. 130 in Bb, is premiered in Vienna by the Schuppanzigh Quartet (1826)... Richard Strauss conducts the Wetzler Symphony Orchestra at Carnegie Hall in the world premiere of his Simfonia Domestica (1904)... Kate Smith records the original version of 'God Bless America' (1939)... The Beatles play their first ever evening show at the Cavern Club, as the opening act for The Swinging Blue Jeans (1961)... At Rudy Van Gelder's studio with Eric Dolphy sitting in, Andrew Hill records the album Point of Departure for Blue Note... 'She Loves You' replaces 'I Want to Hold Your Hand' as the № 1 song in the US, the latter having held the top spot for the last 7 weeks (1964)... Al Green's debut album Back Up Train is released (1967)... The Faces, formed from the ashes of The Small Faces and The Jeff Beck Group, release their first album, First Step (1970)... Following a riot by David Cassidy fans at the singer's performance on 'Top of the Pops', the BBC imposes an indefinite ban on appearances on the show by acts whose fans the network deem to be composed primarily of teenage girls (1973)... 14 years into their career, REO Speedwagon's first US Top 40 hit is a № 1, 'Keep on Lovin' You' (1981)... Bob Dylan and his new band convene in NYC for their final rehearsal before their appearance on the David Letterman Show tomorrow night... Strawberry Fields, an area in Central Park bought by Yoko Ono as a memorial to her husband, opens to the public (1984)... Released just 12 days ago, U2's The Joshua Tree is already the № 1 album in both the US and the UK. It is also the first album ever to sell a million copies in the CD format (1987)... Bruce Springsteen wins the Best Song Oscar for 'Streets of Philadelphia' (1994)... Blur join Simply Red and R.E.M. as the only acts to have 4 UK № 1 albums in the '90s, when their new release 13 tops the chart (1999)... Michael Jackson's interior decorator tells The Times of London newspaper that the singer keeps 17 life size dolls, in both adult and child sizes, all fully dressed in his bedroom for 'company' (2000)... In an online poll organized by Yahoo!, Ozzy Osbourne is named favourite ambassador to welcome aliens to planet earth. The 55-year-old singer came top of a poll asking people whom they would want to represent them to alien life. The inquiry into the wishes of internet users was carried out following the discovery of signs of water on Mars. Ozzy won 26 per cent of the vote, while Simon Cowell came in last on the list, with just three per cent. A spokesman for Yahoo! News said: "As the world waits desperately for signs of alien life, we decided to ask our users who they thought was best suited for this most auspicious of roles. Ozzy is a great choice but I'm not sure what the Martians would make of his individual approach to the English language" (2004)... A five-year legal row over the use of the Beach Boys' name is settled by two former members of the group. Mike Love had argued he was the only person allowed to perform under the name of the band and sued Al Jardine, whom he claimed was appearing as an unlicensed Beach Boys act. Mr Jardine's lawyer says "a friendly settlement" has been reached that allows them to focus on the talent and future of this iconic American band (2008). 

March 20th

Musical birthdays today include Vera Lynn (98), bandleader Larry Elgart (93), reggae producer Lee 'Scratch' Perry (79), rockabilly singer Robin Luke (73), Carl Palmer (65), Fabulous Thunderbirds guitarist Jimmy Vaughn (64), ex-James lead guitarist Adrian Oxaal (50), rapper Byron Thomas AKA Mannie Fresh (46), Franz Ferdinand frontman Alex Kapranos (43), and Linkin Park lead singer Chester Bennington (39). 

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for bandleader & singer Ozzie Nelson, born on this day in 1906... for classical pianist Sviatoslav Richter, born in 1915... for blues singer Marva Wright, who would have been 67 today... for French film score composer Georges Delerue, who died on this date in 1992... and for operatic mezzo-soprano Risë Stevens, who left us two years ago today a few weeks short of her 100th birthday. 

Also on March 20th: Bartók's Fourth String Quartet is premiered by the Waldbauer Quartet in Budapest (1929)... Following the lifting of a Musicians' Union ban on TV performances, Eugene Ormandy conducts the Philadelphia Orchestra playing Beethoven's 5th live on CBS in the first symphony concert to be televised in the United States. 90 minutes later, NBC carries Arturo Toscanini and the NBC Symphony Orchestra performing compositions by Richard Wagner live at Carnegie Hall (1948)... Elvis begins his first recordings since being discharged from the Army. A 12-hour session in a Nashville studio produces his next single, 'Stuck on You'. Scotty Moore and Bill Black, who quit the King's touring band in 1957, are with him in the studio for the last time (1960)... At CBS Studios on 30th St. in Manhattan, Hank Mobley plays his only session with the Miles Davis Quintet, one of three that will produce the album Someday My Prince Will Come (1961)... The Beatles appear live on the UK television program Ready Steady Go!, lip-synching to ‘It Won't Be Long’, ‘You Can't Do That’, and ‘Can't Buy Me Love’. They are also presented with a special award from Billboard, in recognition of The Beatles having the top three singles on the US chart simultaneously... Motown Records release Meet the Temptations, the group's debut album (1964)... Eric Clapton, Neil Young, Richie Furay and Jim Mesina, are all arrested in Los Angeles for 'being at a place where it was suspected marijuana was being used.' Clapton is later found innocent, while the others pay small fines (1968)... John Lennon and Yoko Ono are married at the British Consulate in Gibraltar (1969)... David Bowie and Angela Barnett are married at the Beckenham Registry Office in London (1970)... Janis Joplin goes to № 1 on the US singles chart posthumously with 'Me and Bobby McGee' (1971)... The management of the London Palladium cancel a show by Lou Reed on the grounds of the singer's current 'punk appearance'... T-Rex play their final gig at the Locarno in Portsmouth, Hants. (1977)... 28-year-old Joseph Riviera holds up the Asylum Records office in NYC at gunpoint and demands to see either Jackson Browne or The Eagles. Riviera wants to talk to them to see if they will refinance his failing trucking operation. He flees the scene when told that neither act is in the office, but surrenders to police a short distance away (1980)... Joan Jett & the Blackhearts begin a 7-week run at № 1 on the US singles chart with 'I Love Rock 'n' Roll' (1982)... Gloria Estefan's tour bus is rammed by a tractor-trailer on the way to a concert. Emilio Estefan and their son Nayib receive cuts and bruises, while Gloria sustains a serious back injury which will require surgery two days later (1990)... Eric Clapton's four year old son Conor falls to his death from the 53rd story of a New York City apartment building after a housekeeper who is cleaning the room leaves a window open. The boy was in the custody of his mother, Italian actress Lori Del Santo, and the pair were visiting a friend's apartment. Clapton was staying in a nearby hotel after taking his son to the circus the previous evening. The tragedy inspires his song ‘Tears in Heaven’... Michael Jackson signs a $1 billion contract with Sony (1991)... Geri Halliwell tops the British charts for the third time with her single 'Bag It Up'. It makes the former Spice Girl the first woman in UK chart history to have 10 № 1 hits (2000)... The Daily Mail newspaper reports that Robbie Williams has become a priest. He was ordained via the Internet by the non-denominational Universal Ministries and officiated the wedding of Billy Morrison of The Cult and Jennifer Holliday (2002). 

March 19th

Musical birthdays today include Broadway musical star Patricia Morison (100), R&B singer Clarence 'Frogman' Henry (78), singer-songwriter Richard Dobson (73), cellist Myung-wha Chung (71), Ruth Pointer (69), jazz pianist Chris Brubeck (63), Mr. Big bassist Billy Sheehan (62), Specials lead singer Terry Hall (56), singer-songwriter Gary Jules (46), rapper Bernard Freeman AKA Bun B (42), and Mastodon drummer Brann Dailor (40). 

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for early country singer Martha Carson, born on this day in 1921... for former Zombies guitarist Paul Atkinson, who would have been 69 today... for original B-52's guitarist Ricky Wilson, who would have been 62... for Free lead guitarist Paul Kosoff, who died on this date in 1976... for Quiet Riot guitarist Randy Rhoads, who was killed in a private plane crash today in 1982 at the age of 25... for french horn player Alan Civil, who passed away in 1989... and for Luther Ingram, who left us in 2007. 

Also on March 19th: Haydn's oratorio Die Schöpfung [The Creation] premieres in Vienna (1789)... Charles Gounod's opera Faust has its premiere at the Théâtre Lyrique in Paris (1859)... Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Suite is performed for the first time in St. Petersburg, with the composer himself conducting (1892)... In NYC, the Met gives Mussorgsky's Boris Godunov its first American performance (1913)... Bob Dylan's self-titled debut album is released by Columbia Records (1962)... UK Prime Minister Harold Wilson presents The Beatles with their awards for show business personalities of the year for 1963 at London's Dorchester Hotel (1964)... Britain's Tailor and Cutter Magazine runs an article asking The Rolling Stones to start wearing ties. The current fashion does not include wearing ties with shirts, and many tie-makers are facing financial ruin. Mick Jagger says of the appeal, "The trouble with a tie is that it could dangle in the soup. It is also something extra to which a fan can hang when you are trying to get in and out of a theatre (1965)... Jethro Tull's album Aqualung is released (1971)... Jefferson Airplane re-name themselves and become Jefferson Starship. The new line-up includes Paul Kantner, Grace Slick, drummer Johnny Barbata, David Freiberg, Peter Kaukonen, Craig Chaquico and Papa John Creach (1974)... The J Geils Band are at № 1 on the US singles chart with 'Centerfold'. Roxy Music occupy the top spot in the UK with 'Jealous Guy' (1981)... The second Beatles Anthology series is released. The album features 'Real Love', a track the remaining members of the Beatles recorded using an old demo track of John Lennon's. The song was first recorded by Lennon in 1977 with a handheld tape recorder on his piano at home; it originated as part of an unfinished stage play that Lennon was working on at the time entitled 'The Ballad of John and Yoko' (1996)... Former Spice Girl Geri Halliwell's London home is broken into. The intruders leave obscene notes on the walls, steals the singer's computer and hi-fi, and throws milk and Ribena fruit drink on the walls. They also steal a necklace that once belonged to Elizabeth Taylor (2001)... 50 Cent becomes the first solo artist to have three singles in the US Top 5. 'Candy Shop' is at № 1, with 'How We Do' by The Game, (a member of his G-Unit group) at № 4 and 'Disco Inferno' at № 5 (2005)... Shakira is set to become the first pop star to release a single only in the form of a mobile download. The singer's forthcoming release 'Hips Don't Lie' will not be issued in the US as a CD or as a download via the internet but will be available to phone users connected to Verizon (2006). 

March 18th

Musical birthdays today include musical theatre composer John Kander (88), Charley Pride (77), former Doobie Brothers drummer John Hartman (65), session guitarist Bernie Tormé (63), Irene Cara (56), ex-Hüsker Dü drummer Grant Hart (54), singer-songwriter James McMurtry (53), Alice in Chains lead guitarist Jerry Cantrell (49), ex-Lush guitarist Miki Berenyi (48), Dana Owens AKA Queen Latifah (45), Evan and Jaron Lowenstein (41), original Jamiroquai bassist Stuart Zender (41), Sutton Foster (40), ex-LFO vocalist Devin Lima (38), Maroon 5 lead singer Adam Levine (36), Trevor Powers AKA Youth Lagoon (26), and multi-instrumentalist and composer Dylan Mattingly (24). 

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for composer Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, born on this day in 1844... for country singer-songwriter Lester 'Smiley' Burnette', born in 1911... for jazz trumpeter Pat Halcox, who would have been 85 today... for Wilson Pickett, who would have been 74... for Alan Parsons Project founder Eric Woolfson, who would have been 70... for ex-Procol Harum drummer B.J. Wilson, who would have been 68... and for The Mamas and the Papas co-founder John Phillips, who left us today in 2001. 

Also on March 18th: Arnold Schoenberg's string sextet Verklärte Nacht, considered one of the most influential pieces in  early 20th century orchestral music, premieres in Vienna... In a Milan hotel room, Enrico Caruso makes the first surviving recording of classical opera. He sings 109 arias for The Grammophone Company and is paid $5000 (1902)... 
In NYC, the Met performs its first opera by an American composer, The Pipe of Desire by Frank Shepherd Converse (1910)... Frank Sinatra makes his first studio recording, a demo of the song 'Our Love' with The Frank Mane Band (1939)... At A&R Studios in NYC, Stan Getz, João Gilberto and collaborators hold the first of two days of sessions that will become the Getz/Gilberto album, the success of which is credited with launching the international popularity of the bossa nova style (1965)... The UK music magazine New Musical Express announces that former Spencer Davis Group lead vocalist Steve Winwood is planning to form a new group with Jim Capaldi, Chris Wood and Dave Mason. [The ensemble  choose the name Traffic]... The Beatles score their 13th US № 1 single with the double A-side 'Penny Lane'/'Strawberry Fields Forever' (1967)... Neil Young hits № 1 in America with 'Heart of Gold', his only stateside Top 20 as a solo performer to date. Meanwhile, Paul Simon's eponymous debut solo effort is at the top of the album chart... T-Rex play the first of two sold-out shows at Wembley's Empire Pool. Ringo Starr films the gig for the Apple documentary 'Born to Boogie' (1972)... The Clash release their first UK single, 'White Riot' (1977)... The Bee Gees have the top 3 entries on the US singles chart, with 'Night Fever' at № 1, '(Love is) Thicker Than Water', written by brother Andy at № 2, and 'Emotion' by Samantha Song written and produced by The Bee Gees at № 3 (1978)... After having produced the sessions for his Empire Burlesque album himself, Bob Dylan makes what is to many the surprising announcement that he has asked hip hop producer Arthur Baker to do the final mix (1985)...  A radio station in Fresno, CA announces that it has arranged to have all of its Cat Stevens records destroyed by having a steamroller run over them;  the former singer, now a convert to Islam, recently made remarks in an appearance at a British university that were widely interpreted as supportive of the Ayatollah Khomeini's fatwa against Salman Rushdie (1989)...
After attending an in-store promo appearance at Dublin's Virgin Megastore, the four members of U2 are fined £500 each after being found guilty of selling condoms in the establishment illegally (1991)... At the 100 Club in London, the Sex Pistols announce that they are reuniting nearly 20 years after their split (1996)... The remains of the Notorious B.I.G. are laid to rest in Inglewood, NJ (1997)... During a promotional appearance by British boy band A1 in a record store in the Indonesian capital of Jakarta,  four girls are killed and two others seriously injured when the crowd breaks into a stampede (2001)... Eddie Vedder inducts The Ramones into the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame (2002)... Courtney Love exposes her breasts during an appearance on David Letterman's TV talk show. The singer, who has her back to the audience, flashes the host while singing the song Danny Boy. After the taping, she goes on to perform a surprise gig at the Plaid nightclub in Manhattan, where she is alleged to have injured a spectator by throwing a microphone stand into the crowd. Ms. Love is charged with assault and reckless endangerment (2004)... Organisers of an attempt to reunite 19 people who watched The Beatles play in a town hall in 1963 receive claims from 24 people who said they were there. Billy Shanks is helping to lead the search for the audience members of the gig in Dingwall, Ross-shire, Scotland 48 years earlier. He said that some who turned up thought the music was rubbish and left to join an audience of 1,200 watching a local band in nearby Strathpeffer (2011)... David Bowie's first album in a decade becomes the fastest seller of the year, hitting the No.1 spot in the UK in its first week of release. The Next Day is the 66-year-old's first № 1 since 1993's Black Tie White Noise, and has sold 94,000 copies in the first week (2013). 

March 17th

Musical birthdays today include jazz flautist Paul Horn (85), '60s pop star Adam Wade (80), Paul Kantner (74), John Sebastian (71), former War drummer Adam Brown (69), producer Patrick Adams (65), ex-Thin Lizzy guitarist Scott Gorham (64), former L.A. Guns lead singer Paul Black (56), ex-Altered Images lead singer Claire Grogan (53), VALIS frontman Van Conner (48), Billy Corgan (48), former Hole bassist Melissa Auf der Maur (43), Corrs drummer Caroline Corr (42), The Darkness frontman Justin Hawkins (40), and Last Shadow Puppets guitarist Miles Kane (29). 

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for Sayed Darwish, [often called the Father of modern Egyptian popular music], born on this day in 1892... for Nat King Cole, born in 1919... for former Platters vocalist Zola Taylor, who would have been 77 today... for former The Call frontman Michael Been, who would have been 65... for former Boyzone vocalist Stephen Gately, who would have been 39... for ex-Traffic and Blind Faith bassist Ric Grech, who died on this date in 1990 at the age of 43... for longtime ABBA drummer Ola Brunkert, who was found dead in his Majorca home with his throat cut today in 2008 ~ he was 62... and for former Box Tops lead singer Alex Chilton, who left us five years ago today. 

Also on March 17th: In Warsaw, 20-year-old Frédéric Chopin makes his concert debut. Among the pieces on the program is the composer's own Piano Concerto in f minor (1830)... Tchaikovsky's opera Eugene Onegin premieres in Moscow (1879)... Elvis buys the Graceland mansion from Mrs. Ruth Brown-Moore for $102,500. The original building was at one time a place of worship, and was given its name by the Graceland Baptist Church (1957)... With Rudy Van Gelder producing, John Coltrane has his final studio session, recording the title track for Expression, the last album he approved for release before his death... Harpist Sheila Bromberg becomes the first woman to play on a Beatles recording when she adds her part to the Sgt. pepper track 'She's Leaving Home'... The Grateful Dead's eponymous debut album is released (1967)... The Bee Gees make their US television debut on The Ed Sullivan Show (1968)... Eric Weissberg & Deliverance go to № 1 on the Billboard singles chart with 'Duellin' Banjos' (1973)... U2 win £500 and a chance to audition for CBS Ireland in a talent contest in Dublin (1978)... Van Halen's 'Jump' hits № 1 in the US. Over the years, David Lee Roth has given various explanations of the lyrics, but has most often said they came to him while watching live TV news coverage of a man threatening to kill himself by leaping off a building (1984)...  Ray Davies receives his CBE medal from the Queen at Buckingham Palace (2004)... The Smiths, who split acrimoniously in 1987, turn down a $5 million offer from the promoters of Coachella to reunite for a one-off performance at this year's festival (2006)... John Lennon and George Harrison are honoured with a blue Heritage Plaque at the site of the former Apple Boutique at 94 Baker St., London (2013). 

March 16th

Musical birthdays today include operatic soprano Christa Ludwig (87), former Jordanaires vocalist Ray Walker (81), free jazz guitarist Keith Rowe (75), Jerry Jeff Walker (73), Kazakh accordionist & composer Ramzan Paskayev (68), Asleep at the Wheel frontman Ray Benson (64), Nancy Wilson (61), William Drayton, Jr. AKA Flavor Flav (56), Dokken drummer Jimmy DeGrasso (52), Scooter frontman H.P. Baxxter (51), Tracy Bonham (48), Mountain Goats lead singer John Darnielle (48), R&B and soul singer Tiffany Cobb AKA Blue Cantrell (39), and Wolfgang Van Halen (24). 

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for New Orleans Rhythm Kings clarinetist Leon Roppolo, born on this day in 1902... for jazz trumpeter Reuben 'Ruby' Braff, who would have been 88 today... for jazz pianist Tommy Flanagan, who would have been 85... for singer-songwriter Fred Neil [best remembered for 'Everybody's Talkin'], who would have been 79... for Tammi Terrell, who died of a malignant brain tumour on this day in 1970 at the age of 24... for T-Bone Walker, who died in 1975... for former Bonham lead singer Daniel McMaster, who passed away in 2008... and for former Spinners vocalist Bobby Smith, who left us two years ago today. 

Also on March 16th: Handel's oratorio Theodora premieres at Covent Garden (1750)... The NY Philharmonic are the first orchestra to play Anton Bruckner's 4th Symphony (1888)... At Rudy Van Gelder's studio in Hackensack, NJ, Miles Davis records the final tracks on what will become the album Collectors' Items (1956)... The Platters are at № 1 in both Britain and America with 'Smoke Gets in Your Eyes' (1959)... 
The Beatles set a new record for advance sales in the US with 2.1 million copies of their latest single 'Can't Buy Me Love' (1964)... The Rolling Stones have their first UK № 1 with a song written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards when 'The Last Time' tops the chart (1965)... The Beatles finish shooting the 'ski lift' segment of Help! in Innsbruck, Austria (1966)... 
 Fleetwood Mac, The Move, Amen Corner, Peter Sarstedt, The Tymes, Harmony Grass and Geno Washington all appear at 'Pop World 69' at London's Wembley Empire Pool (1969)... Simon and Garfunkel win both Song and Album of the Year at the Grammys, for Bridge over Troubled Water (1971)... John Lennon is served with a deportation order by the US Immigration & Naturalization Service, and immediately lodges an appeal with the New York office (1972)... Elvis plays live in Memphis for the first time since 1961 when he kicks off a four-night residency at the Mid-South Coliseum (1974)... After being with the label for just six days, The Sex Pistols are fired from A&M due to pressure from the company's other artists and its Los Angeles head office. 25,000 copies of 'God Save The Queen' were pressed and the band made £75,000 ($127,500) from the deal... Pink Floyd play the first of 5 sold-out nights at the Empire Pool, Wembley, performing their new album Animals in its entirety (1977)... The Who release Face Dances, their first album since the death of Keith Moon (1981)... MTV America launches a contest to give away Jon Bon Jovi's childhood home in Perth Amboy, NJ (1989)...  Seven members of country singer Reba McEntire's band and her road manager are among 10 people who are killed when their private jet crashes in California just north of the Mexican border. McEntire, who had given a private concert in San Diego for IBM employees the night before, was not on the plane (1991)... In Buenos Aires, The Ramones play what they say will be their final live show (1996)... The Hollies are inducted into the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame along with Genesis and ABBA... A previously unknown Led Zeppelin recording from the group's 1971 gig at St Matthew's Baths Hall in Ipswich is unearthed at a rummage sale. The bootleg copy of the audio from the group's gig on November 16th 1971 was picked up for just "two or three pounds" by music fan Vic Kemp. "I was going through a stand of CDs at the car boot at Portman Road and the guy who was selling them said, 'You might be interested in this,'" Kemp told the Evening Star. "It must have been recorded by someone standing at the front with a microphone. You can hear Robert Plant talking to the audience quite clearly" (2010).