December 7th

 

Musical birthdays today include Tom Waits (74), singer-songwriter Ron Hynes (73), former Bucks Fizz vocalist Mike Nolan (69), Psychedelic Furs bassist Tim Butler (65), ex-The Fall guitarist Craig Scanlon (63), former Juniper multi-instrumentalist Damien Rice (50), Muse drummer Dominic Howard (46), ex-Kumbia Kings singer Frankie J (45), and Sara Bareilles (44). 

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for trumpeter & singer Louis Prima, born on this day in 1910... for fiddler Jean Carignan, born in 1916... for Harry Chapin, who would have been 81 today... for Aaron Carter, who would would have been 36... for Dr. Peter Carl Goldmark, inventor of the microgroove LP vinyl record, who died on this date in 1977... for punk rocker Darby Crash, who took his own life today in 1980 at the age of 22... and for country singer Jerry Scoggins, who left us today in 2004. 

Also on December 7: The Royal Opera House at Covent Garden opens (1732)... Thelonious Monk completes the sessions for his Brilliant Corner album, his first in the Riverside label to contain his own compositions (1956)... The Beatles second album 'With The Beatles' starts a 21-week run at № 1 on the UK album chart. It replaces their first album 'Please Please me' which has been at the top of the charts since its release 30 weeks previously. Also today, all four Beatles appeared on BBC TV's 'Juke Box Jury'. Some of the songs group judge are ‘Kiss Me Quick’ by Elvis Presley, ‘The Hippy Hippy Shake’ by the Swinging Blue Jeans. ‘Did You Have a Happy Birthday’ by Paul Anka and ‘Where Have You Been All My Life’ by Gene Vincent... In America, Jeanine Deckers, AKA The Singing Nun, is at № 1 with 'Dominique' (1963)... Brian Wilson marries Marilyn Rovell in Los Angeles... In Britain, Jerry Lee Lewis ~ on his first tour of the country ~ plays the Town Hall in Birmingham with the Yardbirds as his opening act (1964)... Otis Redding goes into the studio to record '(Sittin' on) The Dock Of The Bay'. The song goes on to be his biggest hit. Redding wrote the first verse of the song, under the abbreviated title 'Dock of the Bay', on a houseboat at Waldo Point in Sausalito, California, a short time after his appearance at the Monterey Pop festival. [Redding's familiar whistling heard before the song's fade was the singer fooling around ~ he had intended to return to the studio at a later date to add words in place of the whistling. When he was killed in a plane crash three days later, the single was mixed as it was and rushed into pressing]... In London, the Beatles' Apple boutique at 94 Baker Street W1 opens its doors (1967)... Paul McCartney & Wings release their debut album Wild Life (1971)... One-hit wonder Carl Douglas starts a two week run at № 1 on the US singles chart with 'Kung Fu Fighting'. The song, which was recorded in 10 minutes, went on to sell over 10 million copies (1974)... Mariah Carey's MTV Unplugged EP becomes the first Sony MiniDisc to be released in the US (1992)... Aretha Franklin's 'Christmas Extravaganza' concert at the Detroit church where her father was once pastor leaves hundreds of fans out in the cold, literally. The New Bethel Baptist Church sold 2,500 tickets but the church's benches and pews can only accommodate 1,500. The church will apologize for the snafu and issue refunds to those who were denied entrance (1996)... At the Children's Television Workshop studios in NYC, B.B. King performs with Elmo and Big Bird for an episode of Sesame Street (2000)... James Brown and Loretta Lynn receive lifetime achievement awards in a ceremony at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC (2003)... The MBE medal that John Lennon returned to the Queen is found in a royal vault at St James' Palace. Lennon sent back the decoration in November, 1969 with an accompanying letter  saying, 'Your Majesty, I am returning my MBE as a protest against Britain's involvement in the Nigeria-Biafra thing, against our support of America in Vietnam and against Cold Turkey slipping down the charts. With Love, John Lennon'. Historians call for the medal to be put on public display (2005).