April 28th

Musical birthdays today include folk singer Jean Redpath (82), chansonnier Jacques Dutronc (76), conductor Jeffrey Tate (76), former Allman Brothers Band keyboardist Chuck Leavell (67), ex-Sonic Youth lead singer Kim Gordon (66), jazz-rock violinist Eddie Jobson (64), former Cold Chisel frontman Jimmy Barnes (63), Jesus and Mary Chain bassist Phil King (59), rapper Todd 'Too $hort' Shaw (53), Take That vocalist Howard Donald (51), Marilyn Manson guitarist Scott Putesky (51), and Insane Clown Posse rapper Joseph 'Violent J' Bruce (47). 

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for folk revivalist John Jacob Niles, born on this day in 1892... for jazz singer Blossom Dearie [her real name], born in 1924... for jazz drummer Oliver 'Bops Junior' Jackson, who would have been 86... for Charley Patton, who died on this date in 1934... for original Marshall Tucker Band frontman Tommy Caldwell, who was killed in a car crash today in 1980 at the age of 30... for T Rex bassist Steve Currie, also killed in a road accident today in 1981 at the age of 33... for country singer B.W. Stevenson, who died in 1988... for Modern Jazz Quartet bassist Percy Heath, who passed away in 2005... and for saxophonist & bandleader Tommy Newsom, who left us in 2007. 

Also on April 28th: Meyerbeer's final opera L'Africaine premieres in Paris (1848)... The Beatles record the TV special ‘Around The Beatles’ at Wembley studios in London. As well as performing songs they play Act V Scene 1 of Shakespeare’s ‘A Midsummer Nights Dream’ with John playing the female role of Thisbe, Paul as Pyramus, George as Moonshine and Ringo as Lion. Paul later names his cat Thisbe (1964)... 'Hair' opens on Broadway at the Biltmore Theater. The show features the songs 'Aquarius / Let the Sun Shine In', 'Good Morning Starshine' and the title song. The production will run for 1,729 performances, finally closing on July 1st, 1972 (1968)... Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon hits № 1 on the Billboard Top 200 album chart, and will remain in the listings for another 741 weeks in a row (1973)...  The California State Assembly consumer protection committee hear testimony from 'experts' who claim that when  played backwards, 'Stairway To Heaven' contains the words 'I sing because I live with Satan. The Lord turns me off, there's no escaping it. Here's to my sweet Satan, whose power is Satan. He will give you 666. I live for Satan' (1982)... Axl Rose married Don Everly's daughter Erin at the Cupid Wedding Chapel in Las Vegas. The couple will file for divorce nine months later... Sinead O'Connor hits № 1 on the US album chart with I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got...  'A Chorus Line' closes on Broadway after 6,137 performances (1990)... Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers receive a start on the Hollywood Walk of Fame (1999)... Apple Computer Inc. launches the iTunes store (2003).