Friday, 17 January 2025

January 17th

 

Musical birthdays today include classical violinist Ulf Hoelscher (83), Chris Montez (82), former Rolling Stones lead guitarist Mick Taylor (76), Yellow Magic Orchestra co-founder Ryuichi Sakamoto (73), jazz fusion bassist Jeff Berlin (72), Steve Earle (70), Paul Young (69), Susanna Hoffs (66), former Berlin guitarist John Crawford (65), Magnetic Fields lead singer Stephin Merritt (60), Richard Hawley (58/span>), Kid Rock (54), and Kaiser Chiefs lead singer Ricky Wilson (47). 

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for Betty White [she sang, too!], born on this day in 1923... for Eartha Kitt, born in 1928... for Dalida, born in 1933... for Françoise Hardy, who would have been 81 today... for for Slits lead singer Ariane 'Ari Up' Forster, who would have been 63... for composer Tomaso Albinoni, who died on this date in 1751... for early country fiddler Blind Alfred Reed, who died in 1956... for scat singer Billy Stewart, who was killed in a road accident on this day in 1970 at the age of 32... for rock impresario & TV presenter Don Kirshner, who passed away in 2011... and for Johnny Otis, 'The Godfather of Rhythm and Blues', who left us today in 2012. 

Also on January 17th: Massenet's opera Manon premieres at the Opéra Comique in Paris (1884)...  The Beatles play at the Cavern Club at lunchtime and in the evening at the Majestic Ballroom, Birkenhead. The latter show sells out completely, leaving 500 disappointed fans waiting outside... The Rolling Stones are the first of two opening acts for The Velvets at London's Marquee Club ~ tickets at the door are 4 shillings [$0.56] (1963)... The Rolling Stones release their first EP, which includes ‘You Better Move On’, ‘Poison Ivy’, ‘Bye Bye Johnny’ and ‘Money’ (1964)... Simon & Garfunkel release the Sounds of Silence album... NBC buys The Monkees series, placing it on the autumn schedule (1966)... The Daily Mail runs a story about a local council survey in Blackburn, Lancashire that has found 4,000 potholes in the local roads ~ the article catches John Lennon's eye...  40-year-old London Symphony Orchestra member David Mason records the piccolo trumpet solo for The Beatles' 'Penny Lane' at Abbey Road Studios. He is paid £27, 10 shillings ($42) for his performance. In August, 1987, the trumpet he used sold at a Sotheby's auction for $10,846...  The Jimi Hendrix Experience record a session for Radio Luxembourg's program  'Ready Steady Radio'. The band run up a bar bill of £2.5 shillings, ($6.21), which they were unable to pay (1967)... The Beatles release the Yellow Submarine soundtrack album in Britain, and Led Zeppelin I comes out in America (1969)... A section of Bellevue Boulevard in Memphis is renamed Elvis Presley Boulevard. The remaining length of road keeps its original name after protests from the Bellevue Baptist Church (1972)... Bob Dylan & the Band release Planet Waves... Joni Mitchell releases Court and Spark... Dean Martin's son Dino is arrested after attempting to sell two AK-47 assault rifles to an undercover FBI agent (1974)... Barry Manilow has the № 1 single in the US with 'I Write the Songs' (1976)... Donny Osmond takes part in a charity boxing match held in Chicago against former Partridge Family member Danny Bonaduce ~ Donny is knocked out in the third round (1994)... A long-lost recording featuring John Lennon and Mick Jagger is set to spark a bidding war at a forthcoming London auction. The acetate record was recorded in 1974 with Jagger singing the blues song 'Too Many Cooks' and Lennon playing guitar. The track had never been released because the two artists were signed to different record companies (2003).

Thursday, 16 January 2025

January 16th

 Musical birthdays today include operatic soprano Marilyn Horne (91), Ronnie Milsap (79), Sade Adu (66), former Talk Talk bassist Paul Webb (63), ex-En Vogue vocalist Maxine Jones (60), Fozzy lead guitarist Rich Ward (56), former Teenage Fanclub drummer Brendan O'Hare (54), Mastodon guitarist Brent Hinds (51), Strokes lead guitarist Nick Valensi (44), Ordinary Boys lead singer Samuel Preston (43), Front Line Assembly guitarist Jared Slingerland (41), A Lot Like Birds led singer Kurt Travis (41), and Slovenian pop singer Maja Keuc (33). 

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for Ethel Merman, born on this day in 1908... for rockabilly singer Mac Curtis, who would have been 86 today... for Aaliyah, who would have been 43... for conductor Arturo Toscanini, who died on this date in 1957... for Alvin and the Chipmunks creator and producer Ross Bagdasarian, who passed away in 1972... for former Coasters bass singer Will 'Dub' Jones, who died in 2000... and for Van der Graaf Generator bassist Nic Potter, who passed away in 2013... and for Phil Spector, who left us two years ago today.

Also on January 16th: With John Hammond as organizer and producer, the inaugural 'From Spirituals to Swing' evening takes place at Carnegie Hall, the first time that the venue hosts a jazz concert (1938)... Tennessee Ernie Ford has the 1 single in the UK with 'Sixteen Tons' (1956)... The Cavern Club opens in Liverpool (1957)... The Beatles play two shows at the Olympia Theatre in Paris, the first of an 18-show engagement. Opening night is attended mostly by members of Parisian 'high society' dressed in formal evening attire. The French press has little good to say about The Beatles in the next day's papers, but the Fab Four don't care, since they have just received the news that their single 'I Want to Hold Your Hand' has hit in the US, selling 10,000 copies an hour in New York City alone (1964)... Fleetwood Mac, Creedence Clearwater Revival and Albert Collins all appear on the bill at the Fillmore West (1969)... Two days after it opened, the Bag One Gallery in London, England is raided by Scotland Yard. The police remove eight John Lennon lithographs under the Obscene Publications Act (1970)... ZZ Top's debut album, the ingeniously named ZZ Top's First Album, is released (1971)... Blue Öyster Cult's eponymous debut album is released... (1972)... Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band appear at Villanova University, Philadelphia before an audience of 25 people. Due to a strike at the time by the campus newspaper The Villanovan, the concert had gone unadvertised ~ as far as is known, it is the smallest paying crowd Springsteen has played in front of since signing a Columbia Records contract in 1972 (1973)... Bob Dylan releases the album Desire (1976)... Sid Vicious ODs on heroin, falls through a ground floor window at the Sex Pistols' San Francisco hotel, and is rushed to hospital (1978)... Paul McCartney is jailed for nine days in Tokyo for marijuana possession after being found with 219g on his arrival at Narita Airport (1980)... David Bowie's schizophrenic half-brother Terry Burnes commits suicide by lying down on the railway lines at the Coulsdon South station in the London network. He is killed instantly by a passing train ~ he was 47 (1985)...  Presenter Jools Holland is suspended from UK Channel 4's music show The Tube for 6 weeks after using the phrase 'groovy fuckers' during a live trailer broadcast in a children's hour (1987)... 24 years after The Beatles first topped the chart, George Harrison goes to on the US singles chart with 'Got My Mind Set On You' an old favourite of George's that was originally recorded by James Ray in 1962. In the UK, Belinda Carlisle is at 1 
with 'Heaven Is a Place on Earth'... Tina Turner earns herself a place in the record books when she performs in Rio de Janeiro before an audience of 182,000, the largest crowd ever to gather in South America to hear a single artist (1988)... Eric Clapton records his Unplugged session for MTV (1992)... Reports appear in the British press that Mick Jagger has lost the chance of a knighthood because of his philandering ways, British Prime Minister Tony Blair having doubts about the message it would send with regard to family values (2000)... Michael Jackson appears in court and pleads not guilty to seven charges of child molestation. The singer, who arrived 20 minutes late, is told off by the Santa Barbara judge, who says 'Mr Jackson, you have started out on the wrong foot here ~it is an insult to the court' (2004)... Bob Dylan and his brother David Zimmerman buy Aultmore House, a mansion in the Scottish Cairngorms National Park, near Nethybridge, Invernessshire (2007).

Wednesday, 15 January 2025

January 15th

Musical birthdays today include classical pianist Ruth Slenczynska (100), Louisiana Creole accordionist Queen Ida (96), producer & DJ Pete Waterman (78), reggae singer Sister Carol (66), Marillion bassist Pete Trawavas (66), Venom lead singer Conrad Lant AKA Cronos (62), Tool guitarist Adam Jones (60), Cult Jam leader Lisa Velez AKA Lisa Lisa (58), rapper Patrick '9th Wonder' Douthit (50), rapper D'Juan 'Young Dro' Hart (45), singer-songwriter Howie Day (44), rapper Armando 'Pitbull' Pérez (44), and singer-songwriter & electronic musician Sonny John Moore AKA Skrillex (37). Shoutout to the Great Beyond for British song & dance man Ivor Novello, born on this day in 1893... for jazz drummer Gene Krupa, born on this day in 1909... for Don van Vliet AKA Captain Beefheart, who would have been 83 today... for Lynyrd Skynyrd co-founder Ronnie van Zant, who would have been 77... for jazz trombonist Jack Teagarden, who died on this date in 1964... for song & dance man Ray 'The Scarecrow' Bolger, who passed away in 1987... for bassist and longtime Elton John sideman Dee Murray, who died on this day in 1992... for songwriter Sammy Cahn, who died in 1993... for Harry Nilsson, who passed away in 1994... for pianist and songwriter Les Baxter, died in 1996... for Kim Fowley, who died in 2016... for Cranberries lead singer Dolores O'Riordan, who passed away in 2018... and for Carol Channing, who left today in 2019. Also on January 15th: Smetana's first opera Braniboři v Čechách [The Brandenburgers in Bohemia] premieres in Prague (1863)... The Everly Brothers make their US television debut on The Perry Como Show (1958)... At Berry Gordy's insistence, The Primettes change their name to The Supremes before signing their first Motown contract (1961)... Before an audience of around 2,000, The Beatles make their French live debut at the Cinema Cyrano in Versailles as a warm-up for their three week run at the Olympia in Paris beginning tomorrow (1964)... The Who release their first single, 'I Can't Explain'. Session man Jimmy Page accompanied Pete Townshend on the recording (1965)... Having returned to the studio, George Harrison has a five-hour meeting with John, Paul and Ringo in which he makes it clear that he is fully prepared to quit The Beatles for good. Harrison is unhappy with plans for live performances and with the current Let It Be film project (1969)... The MC 5's Back in the USA, today considered one of the watershed proto-punk albums, is released (1970)... Don McLean's 'American Pie' goes to № 1 in the USA. Meanwhile, Led Zeppelin's 'Black Dog' make its debut on the singles chart. The group's third stateside 45, it will peak at No.15. The song's title is a reference to a nameless black Labrador retriever that was wandering around the Headley Grange studio during recording (1972)... The Police kick off the North American leg of their 119-date Ghost In The Machine world tour at Boston Garden, with The Go-Go's as their opening act (1982)... Sean Lennon's updated version of his father's 'Give Peace A Chance' is released to coincide with the United Nation's midnight deadline for Iraq to withdraw from Kuwait (1991)... Benjamin Brafman, the lawyer who defended P Diddy against weapons possession charges, joins the legal team of Michael Jackson. The King of Pop is accused of several counts of child molestation (2004).

Tuesday, 14 January 2025

January 14th

 Musical birthdays today include T-Bone Burnett (77), French rocker Étienne Daho (69), former Queensrÿche lead singer Geoff Tate (66), White Lion frontman Mike Tramp (64), singer-songwriter Ellis Paul (60), LL Cool J (59), Black Label Society frontman Zakk Wylde (58), Dave Grohl (56), and The Saturdays vocalist Frankie Sanford (36). 

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for jazz trumpeter & bandleader Billy Butterfield, born on this day in 1917... for harpsichordist Zuzana Růžičková, born in 1926... for jazz trumpeter Kenny Wheeler, born in 1930... for producer Allen Toussaint, who would have been 87...  for former Be-Bop Deluxe bassist Charlie Tumahai, and former Allman Brothers Band bassist Lamar Williams, both of whom would have been 76... for film musical actress Jeanette MacDonald, who passed away in 1965... and for New York Dolls drummer Jerry Nolan, who left us today in 1992. 

Also on January 14th: Mozart completes his String Quartet No. 19 in C Major, commonly known as the 'Dissonance Quartet' because of its unusually slow introductory movement (1785)... Puccini's opera Tosca premieres in Rome (1900)... Alban Berg's atonal opera Wozzeck premieres in Berlin (1925)... Charlie Watts makes his live debut with The Rolling Stones at the Flamingo Club in Soho, London (1963)... The Beatles make their French debut, arriving in Paris to begin an 18-night stand at the Olympia (1964)... Bob Dylan continues work on what will become the Bringing It All Back Home album; among other songs, he finally records 'Mr Tambourine Man', which he has been performing live since the Newport Festival of the previous July (1965)... David Jones legally changes his name to David Bowie in order to avoid confusion with Davy Jones of the Monkees, just in time for the release of his single 'Can't Help Thinking about Me'. He would later say that he chose the name because he liked "That big American bear-killin' knife" (1966)... Over 25,000 people attend 'The Human Be-In: A Gathering Of The Tribes' at San Francisco's Golden Gate Park. The event is a harbinger of the Summer of Love, as well as of major outdoor rock concerts to come, and features The Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, Quicksilver Messenger Service and Big Brother And The Holding Company (1967)... At the Frontier Hotel in Las Vegas, Diana Ross makes her final appearance with The Supremes. During the show, Diana introduces her replacement, Jean Terrell, who will lead the group to seven more Top 40 hits, including the Top 10 entries 'Up The Ladder To The Roof' and 'Stoned Love' later in the year (1970)... Paul Simon releases his self-titled debut solo album (1972)... Elvis Presley's concert 'Aloha from Hawaii' is transmitted live via satellite, and sets a record for the most watched broadcast by an individual entertainer in television history (1973)... David Bowie releases Low, the first of the Berlin Trilogy albums (1977)... The Sex Pistols play their last live gig, at the Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco (1978)... Paul McCartney is at  1 on the UK singles chart with 'Pipes Of Peace.' With this release, Macca makes chart history by becoming the first artist to have a  1 as a solo artist, in a duo [with Stevie Wonder], in a trio [with Wings], and in a quartet [with The Beatles] (1984)... Bob Dylan gives the first public performance of his new song 'Wiggle Wiggle' to a bemused audience in State College, PA (1990)... Garth Brooks appears on Sesame Street, performing 'Together We Make Music' with a chorus of Muppets (1999)... A $100,000 statue honouring the late Johnny Ramone is unveiled by his widow Linda at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery. Johnny died from prostate cancer in September 2004 at the age of 55. Hundreds turn out for the ceremony, including Tommy Ramone, the only surviving band member. Dee Dee died of a drugs overdose in 2002, and Joey succumbed in 2001 to lymphatic cancer (2005).

Monday, 13 January 2025

January 13th

 

Musical birthdays today include operatic baritone Renato Bruson (89), santoor virtuoso Shivkumar Sharma (87), Yes vocalist Trevor Rabin (71), Megadeath bassist James LoMenzo (66), Flaming Lips lead singer Wayne Coyne (64), Madness frontman Graham 'Suggs' McPherson (64), Trace Adkins (63), 3OH!3 singer Nathaniel Motte (41), and ex-Vanilla Ninja vocalist Triinu Kivilaan (36). 

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for classical violinist Nathan Milstein, born on this day in 1904... for jazz guitarist Joe Pass, born in 1929... for Stephen Foster, who died on this date in 1864... for Donny Hathaway, who took his own life today in 1979 at the age of 33... for Michael Brecker, who passed away in 2007... and for Teddy Pendergrass, who left us today in 2011.   

Also on January 13th: Wagner completes his final opera Parsifal (1882)... The first public radio broadcast takes place when a performance of Mascagni's Cavalleria rusticana is sent out over the airwaves from the Metropolitan Opera House in NYC (1910)... The first country music television show, 'Midwestern Hayride', goes on the air at WLW in Cincinnati, OH (1948)... Chubby Checker takes 'The Twist' to № 1 for the second time [the first was in September, 1960], a unique feat in the history of the Billboard chart (1962)... Bob Dylan releases the album The Times They Are A-Changin' (1964)... Dylan begins recording the landmark album Bringing It All Back Home at Columbia Studio A in NYC. Accompanied by just producer Tom Wilson and John Sebastian on bass, he spends most of the day laying down acoustic tracks (1965)... The Rolling Stones appear on The Ed Sullivan Show to perform their new single 'Let's Spend the Night Together'. The producers insist that Mick Jagger sing the words 'Let's spend some time together' instead... Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr are both in the audience for a Jimi Hendrix Experience gig at the Bag O'Nails club in London (1967)... Johnny Cash records the Live at Folsom Prison album (1968)... The Beatles release the Yellow Submarine soundtrack album... Elvis Presley goes into American Sound Studios in Memphis to begin the sessions that will produce 'Suspicious Minds', his final US № 1. It is the first time that Elvis has recorded in his adopted hometown since his Sun Records debut in 1956 (1969)... Steel Mill featuring Bruce Springsteen become the unplanned headliners at the Matrix in San Francisco when scheduled lead act Boz Scaggs falls ill. Philip Elwood, rock critic for the SF Examiner who came to review Scaggs, writes a rave review of Steel Mill instead (1970)... Sarah Caldwell takes up the baton and becomes the first woman to conduct the NY Metropolitan Opera orchestra, leading the musicians in a performance of La Traviata (1976)... With a budget of only £1,500 borrowed from Stewart Copeland's brother Miles, The Police begin recording their debut album at Surrey Sound Studios outside of London with producer Nigel Gray (1978)... BBC Radio 1 announce a ban on 'Relax' by Frankie Goes To Hollywood, after DJ Mike Read calls it 'obscene'; a BBC TV ban also follows. The song will go on to become a UK № 1 and spends a total of 48 weeks on the national singles chart (1984)... The off-Broadway musical 'The Fantasticks' closes after a run of 17,162 performances over nearly 42 years (2002)... An article in the New Musical Express says that more songs have been written about Elvis Presley than any other recording artist. It lists over 220 songs including: ‘Graceland’ by Paul Simon, ‘A Room at the Heartbreak Hotel’ by U2, ‘Calling Elvis’ by Dire Straits, ‘Happy Birthday Elvis’, by Loudon Wainwright III, ‘There's a Guy Works down the Chip Shop Swears He's Elvis’ by Kirsty MacColl, ‘I Saw Elvis in a UFO’ by Ray Stevens, ‘Elvis Has Left the Building’ by Frank Zappa, and 'My Dog Thinks I'm Elvis' by Ray Herndon (2005).

Sunday, 12 January 2025

January 12th

Musical birthdays today include classical pianist & composer Raimonds Pauls (89), Oak Ridge Boys vocalist William Lee Golden (86), former Stone the Crows lead singer Maggie Bell (80), ex-Sly & the Family Stone trumpeter Cynthia Robinson (79), jazz guitarist John Etheridge (77), former Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds guitarist Blixa Bargeld (66), Os Infernais frontman Nando Reis (62), former White Zombie lead singer Robert 'Rob Zombie' Cummings (60), former Rage against the Machine frontman Zack de la Rocha (55), Raekwon (55), ex-Reel Big Fish bassist Matthew Wong (52), Melanie 'Mel C' Chisholm (51), producer & session multi-instrumentalist Jason Freese (50), and ex-One Direction vocalist Zayne Malik (32). 

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for Delta bluesman Mississippi Fred McDowell, born on this day in 1904... for country singer Tex Ritter, born in 1905... for jazz pianist & singer Jay McShann, born in 1916... for country singer Ray Price, born in 1926... for folk singer & former Limeliter Glenn Yarbrough, born in 1930... for jazz drummer Ronald Shannon Jackson, who would have been 85... for fusion keyboardist George Duke, who would have been 79... for NRBQ drummer Tom Ardolino, who would have been 70... for Traffic percussionist Rebop Kwaaku Baah, who died on this date in 1983... for Maurice Gibb, who passed away in 2003... for singer-songwriter Randy Van Warmer, who died in 2004... and for Alice Coltrane, who died in 2007... and for Ronnie Spector, who left us three years ago today. 

Also on January 12: Georg Friedrich Händel's opera Ottone premieres at the King's Theatre in London (1723)... Berry Gordy, Jr. founds Tamla Records in Detroit. When the label is incorporated in April, 1960, the name will be changed to Motown Records, Inc. (1959)... Led Zeppelin's debut album is released in the UK. Recorded at Olympic Studios in Barnes, London, the album took only about 36 hours of studio time to complete at a cost of just £1,782, most of the tracks being recorded 'live' in the studio with almost no overdubs (1969)... The Steve Miller Band have the № 1 single in the USA with 'The Joker' (1974)... EMI Records issue a statement saying that they feel unable to promote The Sex Pistols records in view of the adverse publicity the group has generated over the last two months... Keith Richards is fined £750 for possession of cocaine found in his car after he was involved in an automobile collision the previous November... The Police have their first rehearsal at the London flat of drummer Stewart Copeland, with Henry Padovani on guitar (1977)... The Washington Post reports that the outgoing Carter administration has added albums by Bob Dylan, Kiss and The Sex Pistols to the official White House record library (1981)... Van Morrison fails to turn up at the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame induction dinner, making him the first living honoree not to attend (1993)... British Airways staff file a formal complaint against Oasis singer Liam Gallagher after he had grabbed a flight attendant's bottom, refused to stop smoking and thrown food around the 1st Class cabin during a flight from London to Rio De Janeiro (2001)... It is announced by the City of Liverpool that the Strawberry Field Children's Home immortalised by The Beatles is to close. The  establishment in Woolton  was made famous when John Lennon wrote 'Strawberry Fields Forever' from his memories of playing there as a child (2005).

Saturday, 11 January 2025

January 11th

 

Musical birthdays today include former Yes keyboardist Tony Kaye (79), ex-Dire Straits drummer Terry Williams (77), jazz guitarist Lee Ritenour (73), Americana singer-songwriter Robert Earl Keen (69), former Bangle Vicki Peterson (67), deathrock singer Eva O (64), No Doubt guitarist Tom Dumont (57), Chemical Brother Tom Rowlands (54), Bus Station Loonies lead singer Chris Willsher (54), Aquabats lead singer Christian 'The MC Bat Commander' Jacobs (52), Kasabian lead singer Tom Meighan (43), singer-songwriter Newton Faulkner (40), and pop singer Cody Simpson (28).

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for Laurens Hammond, inventor of the organ that bears his name, born on this date in 1895... for composer Maurice Duruflé, born in 1902... for blues harmonica virtuoso Slim Harpo and cabaret singer Don Cherry, both born in 1924... for former Willie Nelson sideman Jody Payne, who would have been 89 today... for Clarence Clemons, who would have been 83... for Naomi Judd, who would have been 79... for Francis Scott Key, author of the Star Spangled Banner, who died on this date in 1843... for former T Rex drummer Mickey Finn, who died in 2003... and for songwriter and Bread guitarist Jimmy Griffin, who left us in 2005. 

Also on January 11th: German composer Paul Hindemith becomes a US citizen (1946)... The release date for the Elvis Presley single 'Jailhouse Rock' is put back a week after the Decca Records pressing plant in the UK is unable to meet the advance orders of 250,000 copies (1958)... Howlin' Wolf's eponymous second album is released (1962)...The Beatles record their first British national TV appearance, on 'Thank Your Lucky Stars'. They lip-synch to their new single 'Please Please Me' which is released on this day (1963)... Ring of Fire by Johnny Cash becomes the first country album to go to  1 on the Billboard album chart. The  1 single is 'Louie Louie' by The Kingsmen  (1964)...Bob Dylan makes a surprise appearance at The Playhouse on MacDougall Street, performing some of the material that will appear on the album Bringing It All Back Home... The Righteous Brothers arrive in Britain for a promotional visit. They are slated to appear on three TV shows, 'Ready Steady Go!',  'Scene At 6.30',and 'Discs A Go-Go' (1965)... The Jimi Hendrix Experience record 'Purple Haze' at London's De Lane Lea Studios (1967)... Janis Joplin's final album Pearl is released posthumously (1971)... DJ Alan Freeman of BBC Radio 1 broadcasts a Pink Floyd show recorded at the Empire Pool, Wembley the previous 16th of November. The band played four nights at Wembley on their Dark Side Of The Moon tour, and tapes from these shows have been remixed... Led Zeppelin play their first concert in 18 months, appearing at the Ahoy, Rotterdam, Holland, in one of two warm-up shows for their forthcoming North American tour. The set list included the as yet unheard songs 'Sick Again', 'The Rain Song', 'Kashmir', 'No Quarter' and 'Trampled Under Foot' (1975)... Frankie Goes to Hollywood kick off what will prove to be their final UK tour with a show at the G-Mex in Manchester (1987)... On the same day that their album Nevermind goes to  1 on the US charts, Nirvana appear on Saturday Night Live, performing 'Smells like Teen Spirit' and 'Territorial Pissings' (1992)... Pete Townshend issues a public statement denying that he is a paedophile after his name is linked with a police Internet porn inquiry. But The Who guitarist admits studying child pornography for research into a campaign against it (2003)... Ringo Starr helps launch the celebrations for Liverpool's year as European Capital of Culture. He is joined by acrobats who dangle on wires from cranes as the opening party kicks off a year-long programme of more than 350 events. Organisers hope the Capital of Culture tag will attract an extra two million visitors to Liverpool and £100 million into the local economy (2008).

Friday, 10 January 2025

January 10th

 Musical birthdays today include Rod Stewart (80), drummer Aynsley Dunbar (79), Steely Dan co-founder Donald Fagen (77), Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers guitarist Scott Thurston (73), Pat Benatar (72), heavy metal guitarist Michael Schenker (70), Shawn Colvin (69), Crash Test Dummies frontman Brad Roberts (61), Flight of the Conchords co-member Jemaine Clement (51), and Shinedown lead singer Brent Smith (47).

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for producer Jerry Wexler, born in this day in 1917... for jazz drummer Max Roach, born in 1924... for Johnnie Ray, born in 1927... for Ronnie 'The Hawk' Hawkins, who would have been 90 today... for Scott McKenzie, who would have been 86... for Jim Croce, who would have been 82... for Frank Sinatra, Jr., who would have been 81... for Howlin' Wolf, who died on this date in 1976... for Anton Karas [composer and performer of the zither score in the film The Third Man], who passed away in 1985... for former Jefferson Airplane and New Riders of the Purple Sage drummer Spencer Dryden, who died in 2005... for Claude Nobs, the founder and general manager of the Montreux Jazz Festival, who died in 2012. During a 1971 Frank Zappa concert, at the Montreux Casino the venue caught fire. Nobs saved several young people who had hidden in the casino, thinking they would be sheltered from the flames. This act earned him a mention as Funky Claude in the  line 'Funky Claude was running in and out pulling kids out the ground' in the Deep Purple song 'Smoke on the Water', which is about the incident... and for David Bowie, who left us five years ago today.

Also on January 10th: In her first Columbia session, Bessie Smith records 'Easy Come, Easy Go Blues' (1924)... Big band singer Jo Stafford becomes the first woman to have a № 1 on the UK singles chart with 'You Belong to Me' (1953)... Elvis Presley makes his first recordings for RCA, including 'Heartbreak Hotel', at Methodist Studios in Memphis (1956)... The first US Beatles album, Introducing The Beatles, is released on Vee-Jay Records. The album cover shows John, Paul and George with their now famous 'mop top' haircuts, with Ringo yet to convert. Vee-Jay will be forced to stop selling the disc by the end of the year because of legal complications, but by then over 1.3 million copies will have been sold (1964)... Having grown tired of Paul's hectoring and instructions on how to play, George storms out of the recording sessions for the album that will become Let It Be and announces that he is quitting the Beatles (1969)... The Ramones release Leave Home, their second studio album (1977)... The Sex Pistols make their US TV debut on the show Variety (1978)... Just over a month after his murder, John Lennon dominates the charts on both sides of the Atlantic. In the UK , the re-release of 'Imagine' is the country's № 1 single. Double Fantasy is tops with both British and American album buyers, and 'Just Like Starting over' is the № 1 single in the USA (1981)... Cyndi Lauper becomes the first female artist since Bobbie Gentry in 1967 to be nominated for 5 Grammys in the same year (1984)... James Brown receives his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame (1997)... Singer Melissa Etheridge reveals that David Crosby was the sperm donor of her two children with girlfriend Julie Cypher (2000)... An Australian woman appears in court in Melbourne charged with repeatedly stabbing her partner with a pair of scissors in the back, shoulder and thigh because he played Elvis Presley's song 'Burning Love' more than 20 times in a row (2006).

Thursday, 9 January 2025

January 9th

 

Musical birthdays today include Joan Baez (84), former Walker Brothers bassist Scott Walker (82), Lovin' Spoonful pianist Jerry Yester (82), Jimmy Page (81), former New York Dolls lead singer David Johansen (75), country singer Crystal Gayle (74), L.A. Guns lead singer Phil Lewis (68), ex-Hole lead guitarist Eric Erlandson (62), Smash Mouth lead singer Steve Hardwell (58), Dave Matthews (58), moe Guitarist Al Schnier (57), rapper MF Doom (54), and Backstreet Boy A.J. McLean (46). 

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for opera impresario Sir Rudolf Bing, born on this day in 1902... for former Modern Jazz Quartet drummer Kenny Clarke, born in 1914... for Cowsills frontman Bill Cowsill, and Lynyrd Skynyrd vocalist Cassie Gaines, both of whom would have been 76... and for Carter Family vocalist and autoharpist Sara Carter, who left us today in 1979. 

Also on January 9th: Richard Strauss' tone poem Tod und Verklärung (Death and Transfiguration) is given its first performance by the NY Philharmonic (1892)... Rosemary Clooney has the  1 single in the UK with her 'Mambo Italiano'. The song performed poorly in the US after it was widely banned by radio stations for being 'below the standards of good taste', in the words of one network spokesman (1955)... Charlie Watts officially joins The Rolling Stones after leaving Blues Incorporated (1963)... Led Zeppelin play the Royal Albert Hall on the night of Jimmy Page's 26th birthday. Among the spectators are John Lennon, Eric Clapton and Jeff Beck. The 2 1/4 hr. set is both recorded and filmed, but will not receive an official release until 2003 (1970)... Mick Jagger is refused a visa for Japan because of his record of drug offences, forcing the Stones to cancel the Japanese leg of their upcoming world tour (1973)... Yes release Tales from Topographic Oceans (1974)... Terry Hall and Jerry Dammers of The Specials are fined £400 each for using 'obscene and threatening language' at a gig in Cambridge the previous week (1981)... David Bowie gives a 50th Birthday Bash concert [the day after his birthday] at Madison Square Garden with guests Frank Black, Sonic Youth, Robert Smith of The Cure, The Foo Fighters, Lou Reed, and Billy Corgan and Placebo. Proceeds from the concert are going to the Save The Children fund (1997).. Apple Computer Inc. unveils its iTunes music management software at the MacWorld Expo in San Francisco (2001)... The Phantom of the Opera becomes the longest-running musical in Broadway history, surpassing 'Cats', which ran for 7,485 performances (2006)... Spice Girl Victoria Beckham is named the world's worst dressed celebrity in an annual list of fashion disasters. Critic Richard Blackwell, who has compiled the poll every year since 1960, says Beckham stepped out during the previous year in "one skinny-mini monstrosity after another". Amy Winehouse's trademark beehive hairdo and tattoos helped earn her second  place on the list (2008).

Wednesday, 8 January 2025

January 8th

 Musical birthdays today include conductor Zdeněk Mácal (89), Dame Shirley Bassey (88), Doors guitarist Robby Krieger (79), former Hollies guitarist Terry Sylvester (78), classical pianist Vladimir Feltsman (73), Loverboy lead singer Mike Reno (70), Little River Band keyboardist Chris Marion (63), R. Kelly (57), Sean Paul (51), rapper DJ Clue? (50), former Rilo Kiley lead singer Jenny Lewis (49), and ex-Donnas drummer Torry Castellano (46). 

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for Chicago bluesman Tampa Red, born on this day in 1904... for operatic soprano Evelyn Lear, born in 1926... for jazz double-bassist Chuck Metcalf and concert promoter Bill Graham, both born in 1931... for Elvis Presley, who would have been 90... for David Bowie, who would have been 78... for Crowded House  drummer Paul Hester, who would have been 66... for former Mother Love Bone lead singer Andrew Wood, who would have been 58... for Def Leppard guitarist Steve Clark, who died today in 1991 at the age of 30... and for composer Michael Tippett, who left us today in 1998. 

Also on January 9th: The Boston Academy of Music, the first institution of tertiary musical education in America, opens its doors (1833)... Bill Haley and His Comets land in Sydney to start Australia's first ever Rock 'n Roll tour (1957)... The Beatles hit № 1 on the US album chart with Rubber Soul, and have the top single with 'We Can Work It Out' as well (1966)... Mick Jagger and Keith Richards are both barred from the exclusive Crillen Hotel in Lima, Peru when they return from a night on the town wearing 'op art' pants and nothing else (1969)... The Canadian government names Rush the country's 'Official Ambassadors of Music' (1979)... A 29-cent U.S. postage stamp bearing the likeness of a '50s era Elvis Presley is issued at a post office near the King's Graceland mansion in Memphis, TN (1993)... A woman who claims that Axl Rose is communicating with her via telepathy is arrested for the second time for stalking the Guns N' Roses singer. Police detain Karen Jane McNeil after she is spotted loitering outside Rose's Los Angeles house (2001)... In a ceremony at a post office in Central London, Jimmy Page launches a new set of British stamps which feature classic album covers from the last 40 years including Led Zeppelin IV, Mike Oldfield's Tubular Bells, The Division Bell by Pink Floyd, A Rush Of Blood To The Head by Coldplay, Power, Corruption And Lies by New Order, Let It Bleed, London Calling, Screamadelica by Primal Scream, The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust and The Spiders From Mars, and Parklife by Blur (2010).

Tuesday, 7 January 2025

January 7th

 

Musical birthdays today include Covent Garden orchestral conductor Richard Armstrong (82), Rolling Stone magazine co-founder Jann Wenner (79), Kenny Loggins (77), country singer-songwriter Marshall Chapman (76), film score composer José María Vitier (71), former Go-Go's bassist Kathy Valentine (66), ex-Pop Will Eat Itself frontman Clint Mansell (62), singer-songwriter Vladimir Ondrasik AKA Five for Fighting (60), trumpeter & pop singer David Longoria (54), and Black Veil Brides guitarist Jeremy 'Jinxx' Ferguson (38). 

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for composer Francis Poulenc, born on this day in 1899... for jazz trumpeter Red Allen, born in 1906... for country singer Jack Greene, born in 1929... for classical violinist Iona Brown, who would have been 84... for pioneering British blues harmonica player Cyril Davies, who died at the age of 31 today in 1964... for New Orleans R&B singer Larry Williams, who took his own life in 1980 at age 44... for L.A. session drummer John Guerin, who died in 2004... and for Rush drummer Neil Peart, who left us four years ago today. 

Also on January 7th: Marian Anderson makes her debut with the Metropolitan Opera in New York in Verdi's Un Ballo in Maschera, becoming the first black person to perform there as a company member... 'Rock around the Clock' by Bill Haley & His Comets enters the UK charts for the first time (1955)... Black Sabbath release Paranoid, their second studio album in the US. The collection features the band's best-known signature songs, including the title track, 'Iron Man' and 'War Pigs'. The LP was originally titled War Pigs, but the record company allegedly changed it to Paranoid, fearing backlash from supporters of the ongoing Vietnam War (1971)... James Taylor and Carly Simon and James Taylor become parents when their daughter Sarah Maria is born... Aerosmith kick off their 56-date North American 'Get Your Wings' tour with a show at the Michigan Theater in Detroit (1974)... Pink Floyd release the single 'Another Brick in the Wall (part 2) in the US (1980)... R.E.M. play a Greenpeace Benefit show at the 40 Watt Club in Athens, GA for 500 people. The gig is recorded with a solar powered mobile recording studio (1993)... 'The Beatles Book Monthly' ceases publication after 40 years. Author Sean O'Mahony, who set up the magazine in 1963, says that with only two of the Fab Four left alive, the round number of four decades is a good point to stop (2003).

Monday, 6 January 2025

January 6th

 Musical birthdays today include singer & pianist Paolo Conte (88), Fabulous Thunderbirds frontman Kim Wilson (74), ex-Frankie Goes to Hollywood bassist Mark O'Toole (61), Bowling for Soup drummer Gary Wiseman (54), Uh Huh Her lead singer Camila Grey (44), and Arctic Monkeys frontman Alex Turner (39). 
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Shoutout to the Great Beyond for composer Alexander Scriabin, born on this day in 1872... for bluegrass banjo player Earl Scruggs, born in 1924... for R&B singer-songwriter Doris Troy, who would have been 87... for Syd Barrett, who would have been 79... for Sandy Denny, who would have been 78... for original Widespread Panic guitarist Michael Houser, who would have been 63... for composer and violinist Rodolphe Kreutzer, who died on this date in 1831... for Dizzy Gillespie, who passed away in 1993... for Lou Rawls, who died today in 2006... and for Flying Burrito Brothers pedal steel guitarist Sneaky Pete Kleinow, who left us in 2007. 

Also on January 6th: Elvis Presley performs in the gymnasium of Randolph High School in Randolph, MS. It is the last concert that he will give in a venue that can hold fewer than 5,000 spectators (1956)... Gibson launches the 'Flying V' electric guitar (1958)... Magical Mystery Tour becomes the Beatles' 11th US № 1 album (1968)... Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young make their European live debut at the Royal Albert Hall in London (1970)... Bob Dylan has his first telephone conversation with A.J. Weberman, the obsessive fan and self-styled 'Dylanologist' who has been rummaging through the garbage cans outside the singer's Greenwich Village home for the past several weeks (1971)... Carly Simon's 'You're So Vain' goes to № 1 on the US singles chart (1973)... Pink Floyd begin recording Wish You Were Here at Abbey Road Studios... After waiting overnight in the lobby of the Boston Garden for tickets for Led Zeppelin's February 3rd concert at the venue to go on sale, over a thousand of the group's fans riot when they are informed that the sale will be delayed for several days, and do some $30,000 worth of damage (1975)... Peter Frampton releases Frampton Comes Alive! (1976)... EMI drop the Sex Pistols, paying the band £40,000 and releasing them from their contract (1977)... The Village People score their only UK  1 single with 'YMCA' (1979)... Bill Wyman announces that he is leaving the Rolling Stones (1994)... Two bronze busts worth £50,000 are stolen from a garden at George Harrison's estate in Henley-on- Thames, Oxfordshire. Thieves climbed a 10- foot-wall and cut the figures of two monks from their stone plinths (1997).

Sunday, 5 January 2025

January 5th

 

Musical birthdays today include former Seekers bassist Athol Guy (85), jazz guitarist Louis Stewart (81), Blondie guitarist Chris Stein (75), producer & former Cure bassist Phil Thornalley (65), country singer Iris DeMent (64), ex-Soul Asylum drummer Grant Young (62), Marilyn Manson (56), and Angels & Airwaves bassist Matt Wachter (489. 

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for blueswoman Elizabeth Cotton, born on this day in 1893... for Sun Records founder & owner Sam Phillips, born in 1923... for R&B singer Wilbert Harrison, born in 1929... for blues singer Jo Ann Kelly, who would have been 81... for former Beatles road manager Mal Evans, who was shot by officers of the Los Angeles Police Department today in 1976 at the age of 40. The police were summoned by Evans' girlfriend, who had come home to find him in a distraught state and holding a rifle. When Evans pointed the weapon at the police, they opened fire, killing him instantly...  for Charles Mingus, who left us in 1979... for Sonny Bono, killed in a skiing accident today in 1998... and for Ken Forssi, the original bassist for Love, who left us that same day. 

Also on January 5th: Charles Garnier's new opera house opens in Paris (1875)... Patsy Cline goes into the studio in Nashville to begin recording her debut album (1957)... Decca A&R man Dick Rowe calls Brian Epstein to tell him that the label has decided to turn down the Beatles for a recording contract. The manager will later quote Rowe as saying "Frankly, Mr. Epstein, we don't like your boys' sound. We think that groups of guitarists are on their way out" (1962)... Pink Floyd appear at The Marquee Club, in London. A review in Queen Magazine later says: 'The two guitarists looked moody, the drummer thrashed wildly about and the lights kept flashing. After about twenty minutes it became very boring, and after half an hour I left' ... At Abbey Road Studios, Paul records his vocal track for 'Penny Lane' (1967)... Jimi Hendrix is jailed for one day in Stockholm on charges of being drunk & disorderly after going berserk and destroying everything in his room at the Göteberg Hotel (1968)... Bruce Springsteen releases his debut album Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J. Recorded in a single week, the album will sell fewer than 25,000 copies in the first year of its release. Both 'Blinded By The Light' and 'Spirit In The Night' are released as singles but neither makes a dent in the charts (1973)... Bob Dylan releases Desire (1976)... The Sex Pistols open their maiden US tour with a gig in Atlanta, GA before an estimated audience of 500 people (1978)... Prince makes his live debut at the Capri Theater in Minneapolis, MN  (1979)... Kenny Rogers becomes the last country singer to date to hit № 1 on the singles chart in Britain with 'Coward of the County' (1980)... Iron Maiden go to  1 on the UK singles chart with 'Bring Your Daughter to the Slaughter', even though the record sold only 42,000 copies in its first week of release, the lowest initial sales figure for № 1 song since 1960 (1991)... Kirsty MacColl is laid to rest at a private funeral ceremony, ahead of a public memorial to pay tribute to her life. The singer songwriter was killed in a boating accident on the 18th of December (2001).

Saturday, 4 January 2025

January 4th

 Musical birthdays today include John McLaughlin (83), ex-Henry Cow drummer Chris Cutler (78), avant garde banjoist Eugene Chadbourne (71), former Talk Talk lead singer Mark Hollis (70), Wilco guitarist Nels Cline (69), Bernard Sumner (69), Patty Loveless (68), Michael Stipe (65), Cocteau Twins co-founder Robin Guthrie (63), Rammstein lead singer Till Lindemann (63), Portishead lead singer Beth Gibbons (60), former Pogues bassist Cait O'Riordan (60), country singer Deanna Carter (59), and Spanish pop singer María Isabel (30). 

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for jazz guitarist & singer Slim Gaillard, born on this day in 1916... for operatic soprano Grace Bumbry, who would have been 88 today... for folk & gospel singer-guitarist Precious Bryant, who would have been 83... for soul singer Arthur Conley, who would have been 79... for Thin Lizzy founder & frontman Phil Lynott, who died today in 1985 at the age of 36... for bandleader Les Brown, who passed away in 2001... and for Gerry Rafferty, who left us today in 2011. 

Also on January 4th: Das Reingold, the first opera in Wagner's Ring Cycle, has its American premiere at the Met in NYC (1889)... Billboard Magazine introduces the first pop music chart that ranks records on the basis of national sales; jazz violinist Joe Venuti has the first official US № 1 ever with 'Stop, Look and Listen' (1936)... RCA announce that they will begin producing 33 1/3 RPM records, following the example of Columbia, who first introduced the LP in 1948 (1950)... Elvis Presley has his pre-induction medical check up at Kennedy Veterans Hospital in Memphis, a preliminary to his call up from the US Army (1957)... The Fender Guitar Co. is bought by CBS for $13 million (1965)... The Doors release their eponymous debut album (1967)... The UCLA music department announces that all composition majors will henceforth have to study the songs of the Beatles and the Rolling Stones (1968)... The Beatles (minus John) re-record vocals and a new guitar solo on Paul's song 'Let It Be' at Studio Two, Abbey Road. This session will be the last studio appearance for The Beatles in any configuration. [The final date that all four Beatles were in the studio together was August 20, 1969] (1970)... Yes release the album Fragile (1972)... Bruce Springsteen plays the first of a three night run at Joe's Place in Cambridge, MA, with Peter Johnson & the Manic Depressives as the opening act. On the tickets is printed the proviso 'Because of the energy crisis all our outside lights except for one will be shut off' (1974)... Elton John has the № 1 single in America with his cover of 'Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds', John Lennon guesting on guitar (1975)... The Sex Pistols create yet another incident, spitting and vomiting whilst boarding a flight to Amsterdam at Heathrow Airport (1977)... Paul Simon becomes a father for the second time when wife Edie Brickell gives birth to their son Adrian (1993)... Madame Tussaud's waxworks in London reveals that Oasis singer Liam Gallagher came third in their poll to determine the 'Most Hated Characters' list of exhibits, behind Hitler and Slobodan Milosevic (2001)... Britney Spears has her surprise marriage annulled less than 55 hours after tying the knot at the Little White Wedding Chapel in Las Vegas with childhood friend Jason Alexander. The couple married on a Saturday morning after a night out in Las Vegas; her lawyers immediately filed for an annulment, however, saying Spears 'lacked understanding of her actions to the extent that she was incapable of agreeing to the marriage' (2004)... The house where Johnny Cash lived for 35 years is bought by Barry Gibb of the Bee Gees. The rustic house near Nashville went on the market in June 2005 with an asking price of $2.9 million. Gibb says he plans to preserve the house to honour the Cash memory. Unfortunately Gibb's ownership of the house will be short-lived ~ in April 2007, the house burns to the ground. Gibb is having the house renovated when a flammable spray sealer causes fire to break out during construction (2006)

Friday, 3 January 2025

January 3rd

 

Musical birthdays today include Van Dyke Parks (84), Stephen Stills (80), John Paul Jones (79), Dictators lead guitarist Ross the Boss Friedman (71), Slits original drummer Paloma 'Palmolive' McCardy (70), Daft Punk co-founder Thomas Bangalter (50), Lloyd (39), and KPop singer Kim Seol-hyun (30). 

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for Victor Borge, born 0n this day in 1909...  for Maxene Andrews, born in 1916... for George Martin, born in 1926... for R&B singer-songwriter Zulema Cusseaux, who would have been 78... for classical violinist and conductor János Fürst, who died in 2007... and for Gerry and the Pacemakers founder Gerry Marsden, who left us three years ago today. 

Also on January 3rd: The Symphonic Society of Boston gives the first performance of Brahms' 1st Symphony in America (1878)... Conductor Wilhelm Furtwängler makes his American debut, leading the NY Philharmonic in a performance of Beethoven's 5th and 7th Symphonies at Carnegie Hall (1925)... The Beatles are seen for the first time on US TV when a clip from the BBC's 'The Mersey Sound' showing the group playing 'She Loves You' is broadcast on 'The Jack Paar Show' (1964)... Carl Wilson of the Beach Boys refuses to comply with his draft notice from the US Army and  requests conscientious objector status (1967)... The Byrds release The Notorious Byrd Brothers (1968)... Appearing live on 'The Lulu Show' in the UK, Jimi Hendrix performs 'Voodoo Child', the first of two songs that he was scheduled to sing, then stops in the middle of 'Hey Joe', launching instead into a version Cream's 'Sunshine Of Your Love' as a tribute to the band, who had split a few days earlier. Hendrix then proceeds to continue jamming with the Experience, running over their allocated time slot on the live show, preventing hostess Lulu from closing the show properly (1969)... B.J. Thomas starts a month-long run at № 1 on the US singles chart with 'Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head'. In the UK, Syd Barrett's debut solo album The Madcap Laughs is released  (1970)... Pink Floyd begin two weeks of rehearsals for the forthcoming Dark Side Of The Moon tour at The Bermondsey in London [the club is  owned by The Rolling Stones] (1972)... In Chicago, Bob Dylan and the Band kick off a 39-date US tour. It is Dylan's first full-scale tour in 8 years ~ there were more than 5 million applications for the 660,000 tickets (1974)... The Bay City Rollers have the № 1 
single in America with 'Saturday Night'. Further down the chart is Bob Dylan's 'Hurricane', which is peaking at  33 (1976)... David Bowie closes his run in the play 'The Elephant Man' on Broadway (1981)... Aretha Franklin becomes the first woman inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (1987)... Liam and Noel Gallagher top a poll of 'Celebrities you would least like to live next to', getting 40% of the vote. Readers of Britain's 'Your Home' magazine voted the brothers from Oasis as 'Neighbours From Hell' (2002).

Thursday, 2 January 2025

January 2nd

 Musical birthdays today include classical clarinetist David Shifrin (75), singer-songwriter Christine Lavin (73), funk singer Dawn Silva (71), Tia Carrere (58), Taye Diggs (54), and jazzman Troy 'Trombone Shorty' Andrews (39). 

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for composer Sir Michael Tippett, born on this day in 1905... for cabaret singer Julius La Rosa, born in 1931... for Roger 'King of the the Road' Mitchell, who would have been 88... for cowboy balladeer Tex Ritter, who died on this date in 1974... for Erroll Garner, who passed away in 1977... for former Platters vocalist David Lynch, who died in 1981... and for Spirit guitarist Randy California, who drowned on this day in 1997 at the age of 45 while saving his young son from a rip current in waters off Molokai, Hawaii. 

Also on January 2nd: Richard Wagner's opera Der Fliegende Holländer [The Flying Dutchman] premieres in Dresden (1843)... The first issue of Melody Maker goes on sale in the UK priced at 3 shillings. The monthly magazine is for 'all who are interested in the production of popular music'. The first issue includes Dance Band News, and features on the ukulele and on how to read music by sight (1926)... Eddie Calvert tops the UK singles chart with 'O Mein Papa', the first № 1 to be recorded at Abbey Road Studios (1954)... The entire shipment of John and Yoko's album 'Two Virgins' is seized by  authorities at the port of Bayonne, NJ due to the full frontal nude photograph of the couple on the cover. The album will eventually make it to record stores wrapped in plain brown paper (1968)... Led Zeppelin finally earn stateside headline status, kicking off a four-night stand at the Whisky A Go-Go in Los Angeles with the Alice Cooper Band as their opening act... Filming of the Beatles rehearsing for their projected get Back album begins at Twickenham Studios (1969)... George Harrison's All Things Must Pass is the № 1 album in America, and will remain at the top of the chart for the next 7 weeks (1971)... Sid Vicious goes on trial in NYC on the charge of allegedly murdering his girlfriend Nancy Spungen three months earlier (1979)... Ron Wood marries his girlfriend Jo Karslake in Gerrards Cross, Buckinghamshire. Guests include Keith Richard, Bill Wyman, Charlie Watts, Ringo Starr, Rod Stewart and Jeff Beck (1985)... Brett Anderson of Suede is quoted in a Melody Maker interview as saying  "I honestly think lack of sex is vital to my writing process... I don't know if the same goes for Aerosmith" (1993)... Arrested Development announce that they have disbanded (1996)... Green Day have the № 1 album on both sides of the Atlantic with American Idiot (2005).

Wednesday, 1 January 2025

January 1st

 

Musical birthdays today include Country Joe McDonald (83), ex-Mott the Hoople keyboardist Morgan Fisher (75), Alpha Blondy (72), original Sonic Youth drummer Richard Edson (71), Grandmaster Flash (67), saxophonist & composer Chris Potter (54), and Judas Priest guitarist Richie Faulkner (45). 

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for vibraphonist Milt Jackson, born on this day in 1924... for choreographer Maurice Béjart, born in 1928... for jazz singer Susannah McCorkle, who would have been 78... for  rapper Tim Dog, who would have been 58... for Hank Williams, who died on this date in 1953... for Alexis Korner, who passed away in 1984... for Townes van Zandt, who died in 1997... for former Stooges guitarist Ron Asheton, who died in 2009... and for Patti Page, who left us today in 2013.

Also on January 1st: The hymn that will become known as 'Amazing Grace' [then known as 'I Chronicles 17:16,17] is first sung to accompany a sermon by its author John Newton in Olney, England (1773)... Franz Schubert's Missa Solemnis premieres in Vienna, 35 years after the composer's death (1863)... BBC TV airs the pilot episode of its first rock 'n roll show, 'Cool for Cats'. Host Ker Robertson will soon be replaced by Kent Walton, hitherto know chiefly as a wrestling  commentator (1957)... Johnny Cash gives his first prison concert, at the San Quentin penitentiary (1958)... The Beatles audition for Decca Records in West Hampstead, London. Producer Tony Meehan listens to the group's one hour set and then submits their demo to the label's upper management (1962)... The first edition of Top Of The Pops is transmitted from a church hall in Manchester. Introduced by DJ Jimmy Savile, acts lip synching to their latest releases include The Rolling Stones (I Wanna Be Your Man), The Dave Clark Five (Glad All Over), The Hollies (Stay), and The Swinging Blue Jeans (Hippy Hippy Shake). The first song played is Dusty Springfield's 'I Only Want To Be With You'. Also featured on disc and film are The Beatles (I Want to Hold Your Hand), Freddie & the Dreamers, Cliff Richard &  the Shadows, and Gene Pitney... The Hollies release their debut album Stay with the Hollies (1964)... Simon & Garfunkel go to № 1 on the Billboard singles chart with 'Sounds of Silence' (1966)... The Doors make their first live television appearance performing their debut single 'Break on Through' on 'Shebang', the pop music program presented by KTLA-TV Channel 5 in Los Angeles (1967)... Billboard Magazine reports that 1967 was the first year in which the total number of albums sold in the US was greater than the number of singles (1968)...  The Scottish group Marmalade are at № 1 on the UK singles chart with their version of 'Ob-La-Di Ob-La-Da' (1969)... Radio Luxembourg in the UK airs nearly 8 hours of continuous Beatles music to celebrate the group's tenth year in the music business. The marathon also includes tracks from the Fab Four's solo albums (1971)... The Clash are the first act to play at London's new Roxy Club (1977)... ABBA make their final live appearance as a group when they play a New Year's Day celebration in Stockholm (1982)... Breakdancers Rob Pilatus and Fabrice Morvan sign a contract with Boney M producer Frank Farian, and Milli Vanilli are born (1988)... Nirvana sign a one-year recording contract with Sub Pop records. The Seattle-based label began not as a record label but as a fanzine called Subterranean Pop (1989)... New radio station WKRL in Jacksonville, FL plays 'Stairway To Heaven' on a continuous loop for 24 hours, as a prelude to the launch of an all Zeppelin format (1990)... Eric Clapton marries 25-year old Melia McEnery, the mother of his baby daughter, at a secret ceremony at the 15th Century St Mary Magdalen Church in Ripley, Surrey (2002)... Chuck Berry cuts short a concert at the Congress Theater in Chicago after collapsing on stage an hour into the show. Berry slumped over a keyboard and did not move for a couple of minutes before being helped off stage ~ he returned 15 minutes later only to be forced off again almost immediately. The 84 year-old later re-emerges on stage but tells fans he has no strength to continue performing (2011).