March 23rd

Musical birthdays today include operatic bass-baritone Norman Bailey (85), Groundhogs frontman Tony McPhee (74), composer Michael Nyman (74), singer-songwriter David Olney (70), Cars frontman Ric Ocasek (69), Chaka Khan (65), Wet Wet Wet lead singer Marti Pellow (53), Damon Albarn (50), and Seether drummer John Humphrey (48). 

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for Mentors drummer Eldon 'El Duce' Hoke, who would have been 61 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).