December 17th

 

Musical birthdays today include early British rock 'n roller Tommy Steele (86), Art Neville (85), Paul Rodgers (73), Bad Brains drummer Earl Hudson (65), ex-R.E.M. bassist Mike Mills (64), Bananarama vocalist Sara Dallin (61), Wildhearts frontman Ginger (58), Supergrass guitarist Mick Quinn (53), Beautiful Small Machines lead singer Bree Sharp (47), Three Days Grace drummer Neil Sanderson (44), Yellowcard lead singer Ryan Key (43), MGMT songwriter & keyboardist Benjamin Goldwasser (40), and Paramore guitarist Taylor York (33). 

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for former Boston Pops conductor Arthur Fiedler, born on this day in 1894... for composer and conductor Fernando Lopes-Graça, born in 1906... for Screaming Lord Sutch drummer Carlo Little, who would have been 84 today... for Temptations vocalist Eddie Kendricks, who would have been 83... for Paul Butterfield, who would have been 80... for Delta bluesman Big Joe Williams, who died in 1983... for smooth jazz saxophonist Grover Washington, Jr., who passed away today in 1999... and for Don van Vliet, AKA Captain Beefheart, who left us in 2010. 

Also on December 17: The 'Unfinished Symphony' in C Major of Franz Schubert [who died in 1831] premieres in Vienna (1865)... Benny Goodman plays his first recorded clarinet solo, sitting in on a Chicago session with Ben Pollack and His Californians on the tune 'He's the Last Word' (1926)... Bob Dylan arrives in London for the first time (1962)... James Carroll at WWDC in Washington, DC becomes the first disc jockey to broadcast a Beatles record on American radio. Carroll plays 'I Want To Hold Your Hand', which he had obtained from his flight attendant girlfriend, who brought the single back from the UK. Due to listener demand, the song is played hourly for the next few days. Since it has not been released yet in the States, Capitol Records initially consider court action, but instead release the single earlier than planned (1963)... David Bowie releases the album Hunky Dory, which is the first to feature all the members of the band that will become known the following year as Ziggy Stardust's Spiders From Mars (1971)... Mr. David Ackroyd of Reading, Berks. purchases the one millionth copy of Wings' 'Mull Of Kintyre' in the UK and becomes the first record buyer to receive a Gold Disc (1977)... Standing in for the Sex Pistols on Saturday Night Live, Elvis Costello stops his performance of 'Less Than Zero' after a few seconds, saying "There's no reason to do this", and launches into 'Radio Radio' which he had been told not to sing... George Harrison plays an impromptu live set for the regulars at his local pub in Henley-On-Thames (1977)...  Already seriously ill, Karen Carpenter makes her last live appearance when she performs with her brother Richard in Sherman, CA (1982)... A remixed version of The Four Seasons' 'December, 1963 (Oh, What A Night)' re-enters the Billboard Hot 100, where it will stay for another  27 weeks, just as it did when it first charted in 1976. The combined run will establish a record for the longest total appearance in US chart history (1994)...  A statue of the late Frank Zappa is unveiled in a park across the street from parliament in Vilnius, the capital of the Republic Of Lithuania. The event was organised by Zappa national fan club President Saulius Pauksty (1995)...  Sir Paul McCartney performs an intimate lunchtime gig at an historic music venue threatened with closure, the 100 Club on Oxford Street in London. 300 fans are treated to a set lasting almost two hours, in what is McCartney’s smallest gig in the UK for nearly 10 years. A campaign to keep the 100 Club open had attracted support from Sir Mick Jagger and Primal Scream's Bobby Gillespie (2010).