April 3rd

Musical birthdays today include songwriter Jeff Barry (87), Wayne Newton (83), Tony Orlando (81), Richard Thompson (76), Rocket 88s pianist & leader Mitch Woods (74), New Orleans bluesman John Mooney (70), Social Distortion frontman Mike Ness (63), R&B singer Kelly Price (52), Switchfoot guitarist Drew Shirley (51), Outlawz rapper Bruce Washington AKA Hussein Fatal (48), Suburban Legends trumpeter Aaron Bertram (44), and Leona Lewis (40). 

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for Dooley Wilson, born on this day in 1886... for Doris Day, born in 1922... for country singer-songwriter Don Gibson, born in 1928... for saxophonist & jazz flautist Harold Vick, who would have been 88... for Jan Berry and for former Spinners vocalist Phillipé Wynne, both of whom would have been 84... for Richard Manuel of The Band, who would have been 82... for Procol Harum bassist Dee Murray, who would have been 77... for Johannes Brahms, who died on this date in 1897... for Kurt Weill, who died in 1950... and for Sarah Vaughn, who left us today in 1990.

Also on April 3rd: Handel's oratorio Israel in Egypt premieres at the King's Theatre in London. The work, the composer's first use of Biblical texts in a theatrical setting, is not well received, and the performance run closes three nights later (1739)... Smetana's The Moldau is performed for the first time in Prague. The composer, now totally deaf, hears neither the music nor the audience's reaction (1875)... Arturo Toscanini conducts his last concert of the NBC Orchestra at Carnegie Hall 10 days after his 87th birthday. He then announces his retirement, ending his 17-year association with the ensemble (1954)... Elvis appears on ABC's 'The Milton Berle Show', live from the flight deck of the  aircraft carrier USS Hancock in San Diego. It is estimated the next day that 1 in every 4 American households with a television watched the broadcast (1956)... The Marcels go to № 1 in both America and Britain with their version of the Rodgers & Hart standard 'Blue Moon' (1961)... Bob Dylan makes his first appearance on the UK singles chart as 'The Times They Are A-changin'' enters the top 100 ~ it will eventually rise as high as № 5 (1964)... At Abbey Road, George Harrison adds his lead vocal to 'Within You Without You', then sitar (1967)... Simon & Garfunkel's Bookends is released (1968)... Jim Morrison turns himself in at the FBI field office in Los Angeles. He was wanted on six charges of lewd behavior and public exposure at a Doors concert in Miami on March 2nd. He is later released on $2000 bail (1969)... The Temptations score their second US № 1 with 'Just My Imagination (Running away with Me)' (1971)... In Los Angeles, Steve Miller is charged with setting fire to the clothes of ex-girlfriend Benita Diorio. When police arrived at Miller's house, Diorio was putting out the flames; Miller then got into a scuffle with some of the policemen and was charged with resisting arrest (1975)... A hitherto unknown band called The Sex Pistols open for the 101ers ~ now remembered as the group Joe Strummer left to help form The Clash ~ at the Nashville Rooms in London (1976)... Kate Bush kicks off her 'Tree of Life' tour at Liverpool's Empire Theatre. Bush will play 28 dates, and then retire from touring for the next 35 years (1979)... Depeche Mode have their first UK № 1 album with Songs of Faith and Devotion (1993)... Nirvana and Hole cancel their forthcoming tour amid mounting speculation about Kurt Cobain's drug problems (1994)... Michael Jackson's daughter Paris is born (1998)... Mariah Carey is admitted to Massachusetts General Hospital with food poisoning after eating raw oysters (2000)... Keith Richards denies that he snorted the ashes of his late father during a drugs binge. Jane Rose, Richards' manager, tells MTV News that the remarks were made ‘in jest’, and that she could not believe they were taken seriously. Richards had said in an interview with the NME: ‘He was cremated and I couldn't resist grinding him up with a little bit of blow.’ But NME interviewer Mark Beaumont was convinced that Richards was not joking when speaking to him about the alleged incident. ‘He did seem to be quite honest about it. There were too many details for him to be making it up,’ he later told BBC News (2007).

April 2nd

Musical birthdays today include DJ Barry Hansen AKA Dr. Demento (84), Emmylou Harris (78), ex-Cars drummer David Robinson (76), soul singer & producer Gregory Abbott (71), Bananarama vocalist Keren Woodward (64), country singer Billy Dean (63), former Smashmouth frontman Greg Camp (58), and Maroon 5 keyboardist Jesse Carmichael (46). 

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for Serge Gainsbourg, born on this day in 1928... for jazz trumpeter Booker Little, who would have been 87... for Marvin Gaye, who would have been 85... for Leon Russell, who would have been 82... for jazz guitarist Larry Coryell, who would have been 81... for Guess Who guitarist Kurt Winter, who would have been 78... for original Lynyrd Skynyrd bassist Leon Wilkeson, who would have been 73... for Buddy Rich, who died on this date in 1987... for Edwin Starr, who passed away in 2003... for saxophonist and Stan Kenton sideman Bud Shank, who died in 2009... and for classical flautist Linda Vogt, who left us today in 2013.

Also on April 2nd: Beethoven conducts the first performance of his 1st Symphony in Vienna (1800)... The New York Philharmonic Orchestra, the oldest symphony in the United States, is founded in Manhattan (1842)... The Beach Boys record 'I Get around' (1964)... The Who make their radio debut on the BBC's 'Joe Loss Pop Show' (1965)... Bob Dylan attends a screening of 'Don't Look back', D.A. Pennebaker's cinema verité documentary of the singer's 1965 UK tour. Following the private showing in Hollywood, Dylan tells the director that he has several changes in mind that he will point out if he can see the film again. After another screening the next day, however, Dylan decides that the movie is fine as it is (1966)... Bruce Springsteen's new band Child make their live debut at the Pandemonium Club in Wanamassa, NJ (1969)... Phil Spector finishes editing and mixing Let It Be from the 'Get Back' studio tapes (1970)... Donny Hathaway's eponymous debut album is released (1971)... ABBA top the UK singles chart with 'Knowing Me, Knowing You', while Frank Sinatra's Portrait of Sinatra gives him his first British № 1 album... In America, the № 1 LP is Fleetwood Mac's Rumours (1977)... U2 kick off the 29-date US leg of their Joshua Tree tour at the Arizona State Activity Center (1987)...  Nirvana go into Smart Studios in Madison, Wisconsin and start work on demo versions of ‘In Bloom’, ‘Dive’, ‘Lithium’, ‘Pay To Play’, ‘Imodium’, ‘Sappy’ and ‘Polly’ with Butch Vig producing (1990)...Joni Mitchell is reunited with Kilauren Gibb, the daughter whom she gave up for adoption 34 years earlier (1997)... Mariah Carey signs the most lucrative recording deal in history. The 31-year old singer inks a contract with Virgin for three albums worth £60m. The singer has sold over 120 million records worldwide, scoring 14 US № 1 singles (2001)... One of John Lennon's schoolbook containing the 12-year-old's illustrations of Lewis Carroll's poem The Walrus and the Carpenter sells at auction in London for £126,500. Also sold for £12,000 was a ship's log book written by Lennon during a stormy trip to Bermuda in 1980, while a letter from Paul McCartney to his three bandmates fails to reach its £50,000 reserve price (2006)... A fully restored grand piano used in the Motown Records studios is put on display at a museum dedicated to the legendary record label in Detroit. Sir Paul McCartney helped fund the refurbishment of the 1877 Steinway, which was originally in Motown's Studio B. and was used to create hits for names including Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder and Edwin Starr... Coldplay beat the likes of Pink Floyd and The Beatles to the top of a BBC Radio 2 poll to find listeners' favourite album of all time. A Rush Of Blood To The Head, Coldplay's second collection, which was released in 2002, comes top of the list. Keane's Hopes And Fears takes second place, with Duran Duran's Rio in third. Dark Side Of The Moon finished fourth, while Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band' could only manage eighth place. The poll was held to tie in with the recent BBC season The Golden Age of the Album (2013).

April 1st

Musical birthdays today include Rudolph Isley (86), The Tokens drummer & vocalist Phil Margo (83), former Turtles drummer Johnny Barbata (80), M lead singer Robin Scott (78), Jimmy Cliff (77), Susan Boyle (64), ex-ABC guitarist Mark White (64), Clifford Smith AKA Method Man (54), ex-Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist Jesse Tobias (53), Bijou Phillips (45), and Lady A lead singer Hilary Scott (39). 

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for Sergei Rachmaninoff, born on this day in 1873... for Alberta Hunter, born in 1895... for Arthur 'Guitar Boogie' Smith, born in 1921... for jazz saxophonist Kathy Stobart, born in 1924... for R&B singer Amos Milburn, born in 1928... for Debbie Reynolds, born in 1932... for country singer Jim Ed Brown, born today in 1934... for Ronnie Lane, who would have been 78... for Gil Scott-Heron, who would have been 76... for Toto drummer Jeff Porcaro, who would have been 71... for Scott Joplin, who died on this date in 1917... for Marvin Gaye, who was shot to death by his father at the age of 43 today in 1984... for Martha Graham, who passed away in 1991... for The Cult drummer Nigel Preston, who died of a drug overdose today in 1992 at the age of 32... and for Zombies guitarist Paul Atkinson, who left us today in 2004.

Also on April 1st: Handel's oratorio Judas Maccabeus is performed for the first time at Covent Garden (1747)... Paul Whiteman and His Orchestra make their Carnegie Hall debut (1924)... George Martin becomes head of A&R for EMI's Parlophone label (1955)... Elvis is given his first Hollywood screen test at Paramount Studios (1956)... Atlantic Records release John Coltrane's Giant Steps (1959)... The Beatles begin a three-month residency at Hamburg's Top Ten Club, playing 92 straight nights. The group play for seven hours a night on weekdays and eight hours at weekends with a fifteen-minute break every hour. It is during this visit that Astrid Kirchherr cuts Stuart Sutcliffe's hair into the style destined to become known as the 'Beatle haircut' which the band later adopt themselves (1961)... The Who record an appearance for Top of the Pops at the BBC's Manchester studio. The band then play a gig opening for Donovan at The Town Hall, Wembley, with Rod Stewart appearing at the bottom of the bill (1965)... Pye Records release David Bowie's first solo single, 'Do Anything You Say'. Bowie had previously recorded as David Jones and The Lower Third... The Troggs record 'Wild Thing' at Regency Sound Studios in London... John Lennon buys a copy of Timothy Leary's 'The Psychedelic Experience' and The Tibetan Book Of The Dead, where he reads near the beginning of the book's introduction 'When in doubt, relax, turn off your mind, float downstream...' (1966)... The Beach Boys announce that they are suing Capitol Records for $2 million in unpaid royalties (1969)... 50 musicians record the orchestral scores for The Beatles tracks 'The Long And Winding Road' and 'Across The Universe' for the Phil Spector produced sessions. The bill for the 50 musicians comes to £1,126 and 5 shillings... As an April Fool's joke, John Lennon and Yoko Ono issue a statement to the press that they are planning to have dual sex change operations (1970)... AC/DC make their live UK debut at the Red Cow in Hammersmith, London... The Buzzcocks play their first live gig at the Bolton Institute of Technology. The power is turned off by school authorities after three numbers (1976)... David Lee Roth announces that he is leaving Van Halen, on the same day that his version of The Beach Boys' 'California Girls' is released (1985)... Madonna's Like a Prayer is at № 1 on both the American and British album charts... Topping the singles rankings on both sides of the Atlantic is The Bangles' 'Eternal Flame' (1989)... Modest Mouse are at № 1  on the US album chart with We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank. featuring former Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr who joined the band in May 2006 (2007).

March 31st

Musical birthdays today include Shirley Jones (91), Herb Alpert (90), film score composer Arthur B. Rubinstein (87), original Mott the Hoople frontman Mick Ralphs (81), AC/DC lead guitarist Angus Young (70), ex-Stiff Little Fingers bassist Ali McMordie (66), Placebo bassist Stefan Olsdal (51), Garfunkel & Oates singer Kate Micucci (45), Ryan Bingham (44), Cobra Starship lead guitarist Ryan Blackinton (43), Fun lead guitarist Jack Antonoff (41), and Tokio Hotel bassist Georg Listing (38). 

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for Johann Sebastian Bach, born on this date in 1685... for Franz Josef Haydn, born in 1732... for blueswoman Etta Baker, born in 1913... for country singer Lefty Frizzell, born in 1928... for Anita Carter, born in 1933... for Isley Brother O'Kelly Isley Jr., who died on this date in 1986... for Selena Quintanilla-Pérez AKA Selena, who was murdered today in 1995 at the age of 23... and for saxophonist and bandleader Jackie McLean, who left us today in 2006. 

Also on March 31st: On his 62nd birthday, Haydn conducts the premiere performance of his 100th Symphony in the Queen's Concert Rooms, Hanover Square, London (1794)... Dvořák's opera Rusalka is performed for the first time at the National Theatre in Prague (1904)... The Vienna Concert Society riots during a performance of modernist music by Arnold Schoenberg, Alban Berg, Anton von Webern and others. The audience reaction brings a premature end to the concert as chairs as well as punches are thrown. The incident is still referred to in Austria as the 'Skandalkonzert' (1913)... RCA Victor introduce the 45 RPM single record, which has been in development since 1940. The 7-inch disc is designed to compete with the Long Playing record introduced by Columbia last year. Both formats offer higher fidelity and longer playing time than the 78 RPM record that is currently in use. Advertisements for new record players boast that with 45s, the listener can hear up to ten records with speedy, nearly silent and hardly noticeable changes. The first 45 disc, 'Texarkana Baby' by country & western singer Eddy Arnold, is issued by RCA in the US. It is made of green vinyl, as part of an attempt to colour-code singles according to the genre of music they featured. Others include red for classical music and yellow for children's songs (1949)... Chuck Berry's 'Johnny B. Goode' single is released. The song's original lyrics referred to Johnny as a 'colored boy', but Berry later acknowledges that he changed the words to 'country boy' to ensure radio play (1958)... Lonnie Donegan becomes the first British artist to enter the UK singles chart at № 1 with 'My Old Man's a Dustman'. The only previous singer to achieve the feat was Elvis Presley (1960)... The Beatles play their first gig in the south of England when they open for The Rebel Rousers in Stroud, Gloucs. (1962)... Filming for A Hard Day's Night, The Beatles give a 'live television performance' in front of a studio of screaming fans, one of whom is played by a 13-year-old extra named Phil Collins (1964)... Jimi Hendrix sets fire to his guitar live on stage for the first time during a show at the Astoria in London, on the opening night of a 24-date tour with The Walker Brothers, Cat Stevens and Engelbert Humperdinck. In 2008, the Fender Stratocaster burnt by Hendrix on this occasion will sell for £280,000 at a London auction of rock memorabilia (1967)... The Beatles Official Fan Club ceases operations... Deep Purple release Machine Head (1972)... Led Zeppelin release Presence, their seventh studio album (1976)... Kenny Loggins is at № 1 in the US with 'Footloose' (1984)... The Smiths' valedictory compilation album Louder Than Bombs is released in the US (1987)... Madonna appears on The Late Show With David Letterman. The network will have to delete 13 offending words from the interview before the show airs. Madonna also hands the host a pair of her panties and tells him to sniff them ~ Letterman politely declines and stuffs them into his desk drawer (1994)... Jimmy Page escapes being knifed when a fan rushes the stage at a Page and Plant gig in Auburn Hills, MI. The fan is intercepted by two security guards, whom he stabs instead, inflicting minor wounds. After his arrest, the assailant tells police that he wanted to kill the guitarist because of the 'Satanic vibrations' in the music he was playing (1995)... Whitney Houston and husband Bobby Brown are banned for life from the Bel Air hotel in Los Angeles after wrecking their room. Hotel employees say a TV was smashed, two doors were ripped from their hinges, and the walls and carpets stained with alcohol. It is reported that Whitney called in her lawyers to plead with the hotel management not to call the police. The suite is so badly damaged that it will be shut for five days for repair (2001)... A new world record for the longest non-stop concert is set by several hundred musicians in Japan. The performance began on the evening of 23 March in the city of Omi, with 650 musicians aged between 6 and 96 taking turns ~ over 2,000 tunes will be performed in a little more than 182 hours. Organisers praise the musicians, one of whom carried on despite a major earthquake during her piano piece. The previous world record was set in Canada in 2001 at 181 hours (2007).