April 19th

Musical birthdays today include rock singer & producer Genya Ravan (82), Alan Price (80), New Seekers vocalist Eve Graham (79), former Turtles guitarist Mark Volman (75), progressive rock & fusion jazz drummer Rod Morgenstein (69), ex-Black Sabbath lead singer Tony Martin (65), operatic soprano Natalie Dessay (57), record company executive Suge Knight (57), singer-songwriter Dar Williams (55), and Canadian folk singer & multi-instrumentalist Fiona MacGillivray (33). 

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for philanthropist and musical education patron Augustus D. Juilliard, born on this day in 1836... for jazz guitarist Gene Leis, born in 1920... for British blues pioneer Alexis Korner, born in 1928... for producer & parodist Dickie Goodman, who would have been 88... for Dudley Moore, who would have been 87... for Talking Heads sideman Bernie Worrell, who would have been 78... for hymn composer Samuel Sebastian Wesley, who died on this date in 1876... for pianist and arranger Conrad Leonard, who passed away in 2003 at the age of 104 as the oldest musician then working in Britain. His collaborations had ranged from Cole Porter to Petula Clark, and until the age of 103 he played the piano every Thursday lunchtime at the Plantation Café in Twickenham... for former Men at Work saxophonist Greg Ham, and for Levon Helm, both of whom left us today in 2012. 

Also on April 19th: Gluck's opera Iphigénie en Aulide premieres at the Opéra du Palais Royale in Paris. The work is such a departure from the prevailing style of the day that a near riot breaks out in the hall (1774)... 'National Barn Dance', the first country music radio program, goes on the air at station WLS-AM in Chicago (1924)... Rogers & Hammerstein's 'Carousel' premieres on Broadway (1945)... The FCC authorises regular FM stereo broadcasting beginning on June 1st (1961)... The Beatles single 'Ticket to Ride' is released by Capitol Records in the US. The single's label states that the song is from the upcoming movie 'Eight Arms to Hold You' [the original title for 'Help!'] (1965)... John Lennon, George Harrison and their wives leave the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi's ashram in Rishikesh, India two weeks before their course of study is complete. Ringo and Paul have already gone back to England... CBS Records release Odyssey and Oracle by The Zombies (1968)... L.A. Woman, the Doors' final album with Jim Morrison as lead singer, is released(1971)...  Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band appear at the State Theater in New Brunswick, NJ. The gig was unadvertised by its promoter, who gambled that word-of-mouth would be enough to fill the 550-seat venue; only 250 people attend. Tickets cost $4.50 and $5.50 in advance (1974)... Blondie are at № 1 on the US singles chart with 'Call Me'... Brian Johnson officially joins AC/DC, replacing the late Bon Scott as lead singer... For the first time ever, the top five artists on the Billboard country chart are all female ~ Crystal Gayle is at № 1 with 'it's Like We Never Said Goodbye', with Dottie West, Debbie Boone, Emmylou Harris and Tammy Wynette rounding out the Top 5... R.E.M. play their first gig under their new name at the 11:11 Koffee Club in Athens, GA to 150 people. The show ends at 2 a.m. when police raid the unlicensed venue and close it down (1980)... George Michael goes to № 1 in the UK with 'A Different Corner', the singer's second solo № 1 single. Michael becomes the first solo act ever to top the British chart with his first two releases. It is also the first UK № 1 since 'I Just Called To Say I Love You' by Stevie Wonder to have been written, performed, arranged and produced by the same person... In the USA, Prince has the top song with 'Kiss', and also has his name on the № 2 single, as the author of The Bangles' 'Manic Monday' (1986)... Sonny Bono is inaugurated as the mayor of Palm Springs, CA (1988)... On this week's BBC-TV's 'French and Saunders' comedy show, Mark Knopfler, David Gilmour, Mark King of Level 42 and Gary Moore of Thin Lizzy all appear  in a comedy courthouse sketch, which ends with all of the guitarists jamming together in a jail cell (1990)... The Stone Roses play their first gig in five years at a small club in Oslo, Norway (1995)... Michael Jackson attends an unveiling of a wax statue of himself at the Grevin Museum of Wax in Paris. Jackson provided one of his own outfits to dress the figure (1997)... It is announced that two 30-second television commercials designed to attract vacationing families to Graceland to experience the 'real' Elvis will air nationally in the US starting in April 2006. It is the first time in the history of Elvis Presley Enterprises, Inc. that the company has used TV advertising to promote Graceland tourism (2006)... A week after Roman Catholic Church officials published an article in the Vatican's 'L'Osservatore Romano' newspaper that said they forgive John Lennon's remarks about The Beatles being "bigger than Jesus", Ringo Starr rejects their forgiveness. The newspaper's editors had written, 'The Beatles said they were bigger than Jesus and put out mysterious messages that were possibly even Satanic... (but) what would Pop music be like without them?" Ringo, unimpressed, replies "Didn't the Vatican say we were Satanic or possibly Satanic? And they've still forgiven us? I think the Vatican have got more to talk about than the Beatles" (2010).