December 29th

Musical birthdays today include former Moody Blues winds player Ray Thomas (78), Marianne Faithfull (73), singer-songwriter Yvonne Elliman (68), Jesus and Mary Chain lead singer Jim Reid (58), Offspring lead singer Dexter Holland (54), Six Feet Under lyricist & singer Chris Barnes (53), Biohazard bassist Evan Seinfeld (52), Toad the Wet Sprocket frontman Glen Phillips (49), rapper Asheru (45), film score composer Ryan Shore (45), Hard-Fi drummer Steve Kemp (41), country singer Jessica Andrews (36), and Alexa Ray Joel (34). 

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for cello virtuoso Pablo Casals, born on this day in 1876... for jazz pianist Billy Tipton, born in 1914... for doo wop singer Virgil Johnson, who would have been 84 today... for Rick Danko, who would have been 77... for drummer Cozy Powell, who would have been 72... for one hit wonder Roger 'Get Used to It' Voudouris, who would have been 65... for rapper Pimp C, who would have been 46... for bandleader Paul Whiteman, who died on this date in 1967... for singer-songwriter Tim Hardin, who passed away in 1980... and for jazz trumpeter Freddie Hubbard, who left us today in 2006. 

Also on December 28:  Elvis Presley makes chart history by having 10 songs on Billboard's Hot 100 for the week ending December 29th (1956)... Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gormé
 wed in Las Vegas (1957)... The latest stop on Bob Dylan's tour of small London clubs is The Troubador in Holborn (1962)... The Liverpool Youth Employment Service announce that some school leavers are finding it difficult to get jobs because their 'Beatle' style haircuts and clothing are unacceptable to employers (1964)... Zubin Mehta conducts the Metropolitan Opera orchestra for the first time (1965)... The Jimi Hendrix Experience make their debut on Top Of The Pops performing 'Hey Joe'... Working at Abbey Road studios, Paul McCartney begins work on his new song ‘Penny Lane’, recording six takes of keyboard tracks and various percussion effects. The song's title was derived from the name of a street near John Lennon's house. McCartney and Lennon would meet at Penny Lane junction in the Mossley Hill area to catch a bus into the centre of Liverpool... Pink Floyd and Syn (featuring bassist Chris Squire who will soon join the nascent Yes), appear at The Marquee in Wardour Street (1966)... Guitarist and singer Dave Mason quits Traffic after a series of differences of musical opinion. Mason wrote 'Hole in My Shoe', a psychedelic pop song that became a hit in for the band earlier this year (1967)... Grand Funk Railroad release their eponymous debut album (1969)... Jim Croce scores a posthumous US № 1 with 'Time in a Bottle'. The singer-songwriter was killed in a plane crash on the 20th of September (1973)... A set of commemorative postage stamps in memory of Bob Marley is issued in Jamaica (1982)... Madonna is at № 1 on the Billboard chart with 'Like a Virgin' ~ across the Atlantic, the top spot is occupied by Band Aid's 'Do They Know It's Christmas?' (1984)... Three ferrets named Beckham, Posh Spice and Baby Spice are used to lay power cables for a New Year's Eve concert being held in Greenwich, London, workers having been forbidden to dig up the turf at the Royal Park. Organizers found that rods could not push the cables through the tiny tunnels, which frequently bend and dog-leg. The ferrets were eased into tiny nylon harnesses with wires which were then attached to a rope; the animals ran into a series of ducts which were dug under the stage like rabbit runs, leading the cables with them. Ferrets instinctively make for any hole in the ground and can be enticed to the end of a duct by a slab of decaying meat. The concert features Simply Red, Eurythmics and Bryan Ferry (1999).