February 9th

 

Musical birthdays today include jazz double-bassist Len Skeat (84), Shadows drummer Brian Bennett (81), Carole King (79), R&B singer Barbara Lewis (78), Flatlanders guitarist Joe Ely (74), former Frankie Goes to Hollywood lead singer Holly Johnson (61), country singer Travis Tritt (58), former Dive lead singer Krister Linder (51), and Asia guitarist Sam Coulson (34). 

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for composer Alban Berg, born on this day in 1885... for Carmen Miranda, born in 1909... for Ernest Tubb, born in 1914... for Canadian country singer 'Stompin' Tom' O'Connors, who would have been 85 today... for R&B singer and former Delfonic Major Harris, who would have been 74... for former Avenged Sevenfold drummer James 'The Rev' Sullivan, who would have been 40... for pop orchestra conductor Percy Faith, who died on this date in 1976... for Bill Haley, who passed away in 1981... for Buena Vista Social Club bassist Orlando 'Cachaito' Lopez, who died in 2010... and for Chick Corea, who left us today.  

Also on February 9th: Verdi's Falstaff has its world premiere at La Scala in Milan (1893)... The Beatles appear at the Cavern Club for the first time under their new name (1961)... Paul and Paula are at № 1 on the US singles chart with 'Hey Paula' (1963)... The Beatles make their US live debut on CBS-TV's 'The Ed Sullivan Show'. They are seen by approximately 73 million people as they perform 5 songs, including their current № 1 'I Want to Hold Your Hand'. The show received over 50,000 requests for the 728 seats in the studio (1964)... The promotional film for the latest Beatles' single 'Penny Lane/'Strawberry Fields Forever' is shown on BBC-TV's 'Top of the Pops'. It is the first single by the Fab Four to fail to go № 1 in the UK since 1963, stalling at № 2 behind Engelbert Humperdinck's 'Please Release Me' (1967)... Hal Cone, former manager of the Monkees, is found guilty of theft, forgery, receiving stolen property, and conspiracy (1968)... Paul McCartney and his new band Wings play the first night of a UK college and university tour in Nottingham. The group arrive unannounced and ask the university's social secretary if she would like them to perform that evening. The band's intended first stop, Ashby-de-la-Zouch, was refused by local authorities, so they drove on to Nottingham. Pub rockers Brinsley Schwarz are the opening act (1972)... More than 10 years after the Concert for Bangladesh, George Harrison presents UNICEF with a cheque for $9 million (£5.3 million) (1982)... Madonna's Like a Virgin goes to № 1 on the US album chart (1985)... Nirvana set out on a short west coast tour opening for Dinosaur Jr. at the Pine Street Theater in Portland, OR (1990)... C&C Music Factory go to № 1 in the US with 'Gonna Make You Sweat' (1991)... Touring the Antipodes for the first and only time, Nirvana make their New Zealand debut at the Logan Campbell Centre in Auckland (1992)... Eminem reinforces security for his UK concert tour following threats from gay rights groups. Campaigners say the rapper is a homophobe who promotes prejudice through his hate-filled lyrics (2001)... Robert Plant takes home five prizes at this year's Grammys for his collaboration with Alison Krauss, including album of the year for Raising Sand, and record of the year for 'Please Read the Letter' (2009).. The White Stripes take on the US Air Force, complaining that one of the group's songs, 'Fell in Love with a Girl' was used in a recruitment advertisement for TV without their permission. In a statement on their website, the duo say that they are '...insulted, and object strongly to the implication that we licensed one of our songs to encourage recruitment during a war that we do not support' (2010).