October 15th

 

Musical birthdays today include Barry McGuire (85), Richard Carpenter (76), Chris de Burgh (74), Tito Jackson (69), Beautiful South drummer Dave Stead (56), heavy metal guitarist Dax Riggs (49), and R&B singer Jessie Ware (38).  

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for blueswoman Victoria Spivey, born on this date in 1906... for jazz pianist & vocalist Nellie Lutcher, born in 1912...  for big band trombonist Paul Tanner, born in 1917... for R&B duo Mickey & Sylvia's Mickey Baker, born in 1925... for Fela Kuti, who would have been 84... and for Cole Porter, who left us today in 1964. 

Also on October 15: Commissioned by Catherine de Medici, Le Ballet Comique de la Reine, widely considered to be the first ballet, is staged in Paris (1581)... ASCAP [American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers] is founded (1914)... The War Memorial Opera House in San Francisco, the first municipally owned opera palace in the United States, opens with a production of Tosca (1932)... Buddy Holly opens for Elvis Presley at the Big D Jamboree, held at the Cotton Club in Lubbock, Texas. Talent scout Eddie Crandall, who is in the audience, will arrange an audition for the bespectacled guitarist with Decca Records (1955)... The Beatles [minus Pete Best] and two members of Rory Storm's backing band the Hurricanes [Ringo Starr and Lou Walters] record a version of 'Summertime' in a Hamburg recording studio. The track, which is cut onto a 78 RPM disc, is the first known session with John, Paul, George and Ringo playing together (1960)... Jimi Hendrix signs his first recording contract in the UK ~ according to the terms, he will receive $1 and a 1% royalty on all of his sales... Pink Floyd [who are paid £15 for the gig], The Move, Denny Laine, Soft Machine, Yoko Ono and a West Indian steel drum band all play the London Roundhouse launch of the International Times, which will become Britain's longest-running underground. newspaper. Paul McCartney attends as a spectator in Bedouin robes (1966)... The Four Tops have the № 1 single in both the US and the UK with 'Reach out and I'll Be There' (1967)... Led Zeppelin give their debut performance in the UK under their new name at Surrey University (1968)... Keith Richards is found guilty of trafficking cannabis by a court in Nice. The guitarist is given a one-year suspended sentence, fined 5,000 FF, and banned from entering France for two years (1973)... Debby Boone's 'You Light up My Life' begins a 10-week run at  № 1 on the Billboard singles chart, a new record for the rock era (1977)... Abba play their first North American concert, in Vancouver (1979)... In Los Angeles, Bob Dylan shoots the first video of his career, for 'Sweetheart like You' (1983)... Paul and Linda McCartney are the guest voices for an episode of the Simpsons entitled 'Lisa the Vegetarian'. Macca's stipulation for appearing was that Lisa's decision to become a vegetarian be a permanent character change, to which the show's producers agreed (1995)... Michael Jackson plays the last show on the HIStory tour, at King's Park Rugby Stadium in Durban, South Africa During the tour, Jackson performed 82 concerts in 58 cities to over 4.5 million fans, visiting 5 continents and 35 countries (1997)... Jon Bon Jovi becomes the latest musician to disapprove of the use of his songs in John McCain's US presidential run. Vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin had been using 'Who Says You Can't Go Home' in her rallies. Foo Fighters, Heart and Jackson Browne have already taken legal action to prevent their songs from being used by the senator's presidential campaign (2008).