September 17

Musical birthdays today include jazz pianist Ralph Sharon  (90), Fifth Dimension founding member Lamonte McLemore (74), Five Man Electrical Band guitarist Les Emmerson (69), Tubes frontman Fee Waybill (63), Budgie drummer Steve Williams (60), Ned's Atomic Dustbin lead singer Jonn Penney (45), Prodigy singer Keith Flint (44), Simple Plan drummer Chuck Comeau (34), and ex-Panic! At the Disco bassist Jon Walker (28). 

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for Hank Williams on the 90th anniversary of his birth... for Jeanine Deckers, AKA the Singing Nun, who would have been 80 today... for original Steely Dan drummer Jim Hodder, who would have been 66... for pioneering boogie-woogie pianist Jimmy Yancey, who died on this day in 1951... for former MC5 lead singer Rob Tyner, who passed away in 1991 at the age of 47... and for British cabaret singer Frankie Vaughn, who left us in 1999. 

Also on September 17: The first 33 1/3 RPM vinyl LP, a recording of Beethoven's 5th Symphony, is demonstrated at the Savoy Plaza Hotel in NYC by RCA Victor. The venture proves impractical owing to the high cost of the record players ($95, or approximately $1150 in today's dollars). The project is shelved, and will not be revived until 1948 (1931)... The Beatles set a new American record for payment for a single show when they receive $150,000 to play Kansas City's Municipal Stadium (1964)... The Doors are banned from the Ed Sullivan Show after Jim Morrison breaks his promise to the producers to drop 'Girl, we couldn't get much higher' from 'Light My Fire' by singing the offending line anyway. The group also perform their new single 'People Are Strange' (1967)... Newspaper on both sides of the Atlantic run headline stories of Paul McCartney's reported demise. The Beatles bassist was supposedly killed in a car accident in Scotland on the 9th of November, 1966, and a double has been taking his place for public appearances ever since. McCartney tells journalists "Believe me, if I were dead, I'd be the last to know" and that he and Jane Asher were in Kenya at the time of the alleged mishap (1969)... The Sex Pistols play a show for the inmates at Chelmsford Prison, Essex (1976)... The video for Queen's single 'Bicycle Race' is filmed at Wimbledon Stadium, London. It features 65 female models pedalling around the track in the nude on bicycles that were hired for the day. The rental company will reportedly demand payment for all the saddles when they learn how the cycles were used (1978)... Over 4 million copies of the Guns N' Roses albums use Your Illusion I and Use Your Illusion II are simultaneously released for retail sale, making it the largest ship-out in US pop history (1991)... An inebriated 19-year-old man is taken off  plane in Denver, CO after harassing members of Hootie and the Blowfish, who are travelling in the first class section (1991)... Barry Manilow cancels his appearance on The View because he refuses to be interviewed by conservative co-host Elisabeth Hasselbeck. Manilow says that he will speak only to co-hosts Joy Behar, Barbara Walters or Whoopi Gioldberg, a demand that the show's producers reject as 'completely disrespectful' (2007). 

September 16

Musical birthdays today include scat singer Jon Hendricks (92), B.B. King (88), George Chakiris [leader of the Sharks in the film version of West Side Story] (79), blues harmonica player Billy Boy Arnold (78), World Saxophone Quartet founding member Hamiet Bluiett (73), Lovin' Spoonful drummer Joe Butler (72), ex-Hollies bassist Bernie Calvert (71), Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers bassist Ron Blair (65), former Small Faces and The Who drummer Kenney Jones (65), singer-songwriter Vince Bell (62), jazz guitarist Earl Klugh (60), Wire frontman Colin Newman (59), ex-Runaways bassist Victory Tischler-Blue (59), My Bloody Valentine singer & guitarist Bilinda Butcher (52), former Elastica lead singer Justine Frischmann (44), Katie Melua (29), and Nick Jonas (21). 

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for jazz guitarist Charlie Byrd, who would have been 88 today... for boogie-woogie pianist Little Willie Littlefield, who would have been 82... for blues sax player Dick Heckstall-Smith, who would have been 79... for Jamaican session drummer Winston Grennan, who would have been 69... for Dead Milkmen bassist Dave Schulthise, who would have been 57... for Marc Bolan, who was killed in an automobile accident at the age of 29 today in 1977, and for opera singer Maria Callas who died on the same day... for Motown producer and songwriter Norman Whitfield, who passed away in 2008... and for Mary Travers, who left us today in 2009. 

Also on September 16: She Loves You is released in the US on the Swan label. Although the song is currently no.1 in the UK, it will be dormant on the US charts until the Beatles visit America for the first time in February of the following year (1963)... The new Metropolitan Opera at Lincoln Center opens with the world premiere of Samuel Barber's 'Antony and Cleopatra' (1966)... MP Tom Drilberg asks the House of Commons to officially deplore the actions of a London magistrate who the day before called the Rolling Stones "...complete morons who wear filthy clothes" (1966)... The Beatles continue to work on 'Your Mother Should Know' at Abbey Road Studios (1967)... Led Zeppelin are voted group of the year in a Melody Maker readers' poll. For the first time in 8 years, the honour goes to a band other than the Beatles (1970)... Jimi Hendrix joins Eric Burdon on stage at Ronnie Scott's in London for what would prove to be the guitarist's final public appearance (1970)... The Sugar Hill Gang's 'Rapper's Delight', often considered the song that first popularized hip-hop in the US and subsequently around the world, is released (1979)... U2 jam with B.B. King on a yacht in Sydney Harbour rented for the blues legend's 64th birthday (1989)... Pearl Jam kick off their 'No Code' tour at the Key Arena in Seattle, WA. Because of the band's refusal to play in Ticketmaster's venue areas, they are forced to use alternate ticketing companies, wh0 book the shows in halls which fans complain are remote and hard to get to (1996)... For the first time in 30 years, Bob Dylan has the no. 1 album in the US, with 'Modern Times'. The last time the singer achieved the feat was in 1976, with 'Desire'. Dylan also sets a record as the oldest performer to date to top the Billboard album chart, at the age of 65 (2006). 

September 15

Musical birthdays today include original Jefferson Airplane lead singer Signe Toly Anderson (72), ex-Night Ranger drummer Kelly Keagy (61), Bad Brains guitarist Gary 'Dr. Know' Miller (55), Super Furry Animals lead guitarist Huw Bunford (46), Franz Ferdinnd drummer Paul Thomson (37), and Clare Maguire (26). 

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for early country star Roy Acuff, born 110 years ago today... for Preservation Hall Jazz Band trumpeter George 'Kid Sheik' Colar, born in 1908... for cabaret singer Bobby Short, who would have been 89 today... for jazz legend Cannonball Adderley, who would have been 85... for Iron Butterfly bassist Lee Dorman, who would have been 71... for ABBA drummer Ola Brunkert, who would have been 67... for composer Anton Webern, who died on this date in 1945... for Miles Davis collaborator and pianist Bill Evans, who passed away in 1980... for Johnny Ramone, who died of cancer in 2004... and for Pink Floyd keyboardist Rick Wright, who left us 5 years ago today. 

Also on September 15: Elvis hits no. 1 on the Billboard chart with 'Don't Be Cruel' (1956)... John Coltrane goes into the studio to begin recording 'Blue Train', his only album for the Blue Note label (1957)... A group from Hawthorne, California calling themselves The Pendletones go into the Hite Morgan Studio in L.A. to record the single 'Surfin'. Leader Brian Wilson decides soon after that The Beach Boys is a more suitable name for the outfit (1961)... The Four Seasons become the first American act to have three no.1 singles in succession when 'Sherry' tops the charts (1963)... A Beatles concert at the Public Auditorium in Cleveland, OH is halted when fans engulf the stage midway through the performance. After police succeed in getting the group safely back to their dressing room, publicist Derek Taylor goes on the PA system and pleads for order to be restored so that the show does not have to be cancelled (1964)... The Ford Motor Company become the first automakers to offer an 8-track tape player as an option for the entire line of vehicles on sale in the US (1965)... Shooting for the Magical Mystery Tour today consists of filming the Beatles having lunch at James and Amy Smedley's fish & chips shop in Taunton, Somerset (1967)... The Doors are forced to play as an instrumental trio in Amsterdam after Jim Morrison collapses while dancing during the Jefferson Airplane's opening set (1968)... Pink Floyd release 'Wish You Were Here' in the US (1975)... Bob Dylan kicks off the longest US tour of his career thus far in Augusta, Maine, playing the first of 65 gigs in 62 cities (1978)... Frankie Goes to Hollywood's 'Relax' enters its 40th week on the UK singles charts (1984)... A reel to reel tape of the Quarrymen performing at a St. Peter's Parish Church garden party in Liverpool in 1957 sells for £69,000 at auction in London (1994).

September 14

Musical birthdays today include saxophonist Oliver Lake (71), Nazareth bassist Pete Agnew (67), Strawberry Alarm Clock founding member and guitarist Ed King (64), producer Steve Berlin (58), John Berry (54), former A-Ha lead singer Morten Harket (54), ex-La's bassist John Power (46), former Everclear bassist Craig Montoya (43), Nas (40), ex-Pussycat Dolls singer Ashley Roberts (32), and Big Time Rush's Logan Henderson (24). 

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for operatic singer and philanthropist Alice Tully, born on this day in 1902... for Captain Beefheart sideman Alex St. Clair, who would have been 72 today... for Lynyrd Skynyrd guitarist Steve Gaines, who would have been 64... for Free lead guitarist Paul Kossoff, who would have been 63... for avant-garde cellist Tom Cora, who would have been 60... for Amy Winehouse, who would have been 30... and for blues great Furry Lewis, who passed away today in 1981. 

Also on September 14: Little Richard enters a New Orleans studio to begin two days of recording. Things are going badly when the singer and producer Bumps Blackwell go to a bar & grill across the street for lunch. Little Richard spots an upright piano in the corner and improvises what will become 'Tutti Frutti' on the spot. The song takes 15 minutes to record when work resumes (1955)... The filming of The Magical Mystery Tour continues. The Beatles' attempts to find quiet, secluded fields in which to shoot are repeatedly frustrated by hordes of pursuing fans who track them down (1967)... Roy Orbison's house in Nashville burns down. The two elder sons of the singer, who is currently on tour in the UK, die in the blaze (1968)... The first episode of the adventure of the musical comic strip band The Archies airs on US TV (1968)... The no.1 single in the US today is Eric Clapton's cover of 'I Shot the Sheriff' (1974)... The Rolling Stones play an incognito pre-tour warm-up show at Sir Morgan's Cove Club in Worcester, MA. They are billed as Little Boy Blue & the Cockroaches, but their identity is leaked by a local radio station, and a riot develops outside the club as 4,000 fans try to get into the 350-seat venue. Police will make a dozen arrests (1981)... The first MTV Video Music Awards are held, with Bette Midler and Dan Aykroyd handling MC duties. David Bowie wins Video of the Year for China Girl (1984)... Steve Earle is sentenced to 1 year in prison for possession of crack (1994)... Paul McCartney's original handwritten first draft of the lyrics to 'Getting Better' sells for £161,000 at auction at Sotheby's, London (1995)... A crowd of over 2,000 gather to watch Pete Townshend unveil an English Heritage Blue Plaque at 23 Brook Street, Mayfair, London, to mark the townhouse where Jimi Hendrix lived in 1968-69 (1997)... HMV stores in Canada remove all Bob Dylan CDs from their shelves in protest at the singer's signing of a deal with Starbucks to make the coffee giant the exclusive sellers of his latest release (2005)... The Grateful Dead's original tour bus, newly refurbished, goes on display in an auto museum in the town of Volo, Illinois. The 1965 Gillig bus, dubbed 'Sugar Magnolia' by Jerry Garcia, was used by the band on their frequent cross-country tours between 1967 and 1985 (2005)... Whitney Houston files for divorce from Bobby Brown after 14 years of marriage (2006). 

September 13

Musical birthdays today include Blood Sweat & Tears frontman David Clayton-Thomas (72), Chicago lead singer Peter Cetera (69), Randy 'The Cowboy' Jones of the Village People (61), Don Was (61), The Church lead singer Steve Kilbey (59), drummer Vinny Appice (56), Megadeath and ex-Metallica guitarist Dave Mustaine (52), Zak Starkey (48), Jane's Addiction drummer Stephen Perkins (46), Rascal Flatts lead guitarist Joe Don Rooney (38), and Fiona Apple (37). 

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for composer and pianist Clara Schumann, born on this date in 1819... for composer Arnold Schoenberg, born in 1874... for film score composer Maurice Jarre, who would have been 89 today... for jazz singer Mel Tormé, who would have been 88... for former Stone the Crows guitarist Les Harvey, who would have been 69... for conductor Leopold Stokowski, who died today in 1977... and for Tupac Shakur, shot to death today in 1996 at the age of 25. 

Also on September 13: Cliff Richard makes his UK television debut on the variety show 'Oh Boy'. Before he is allowed to appear on the program, Richard is told he must shave his sideburns (1958)... The Federal Communications Act in the US is amended to outlaw payments of cash or gifts in exchange for airplay of records (1960)... After a Hollies gig in Scotland, Graham Nash checks to see if the side door of the group's van is locked properly as they drive along the motorway. It isn't, and Nash falls out as the vehicle is travelling at around 40 MPH. Miraculously, the future CSN&Y superstar has only minor bruises and abrasions (1963)... The Paul McCartney-penned 'Yesterday' comes out as a single in the US. The other 3 Beatles consider the final version so uncharacteristic of the rest of their work hitherto that they veto a UK release [which eventually happens in 1976] (1965)... The Beatles form an electronics company called Fiftyshapes, Ltd, with John Alexis 'Magic Alex' Mardas as director. Alex claims that he is close to perfecting a 72-track tape machine ~ it never materialises ~ and proposes replacing the acoustic baffles around Ringo's drums with an invisible sonic force field. George will later call employing Mardas 'the greatest disaster of all time' (1967)... John and Yoko fly to Canada to perform at the Rock 'n' Roll Revival show in Toronto. Eric Clapton and drummer Alan White were recruited so late that the ensemble have their first rehearsal on the airplane (1969)... The no. 1 single in the US today is Berlin's 'Take My Breath Away' (1986)... Geffen Records give a party at a lower Manhattan hotel to launch Nirvana's single 'Smells like Teen Spirit'. The band members are thrown out of the affair after starting a food fight (1991)... Elton John throws a tantrum when he is set to appear at a sold out show at a casino near Lisbon. Unhappy because the audience are slow in leaving a VIP dinner before the concert and taking their seats, Elton leaves the building and flies back to the UK on his private jet without playing a note (2000)... WalMart refuses to stock the album 'Permission to Land' by the British group Darkness [who sent the disc to the top of the charts in their home country] because the cover contains a shot of a woman's bare bottom (2003)... The childhood home of Jimi Hendrix in Seattle, WA is saved from demolition after a settlement with the city to relocate the structure is reached at the last minute. The James Marshall Hendrix Foundation and the City of Seattle agree to renovate the house into a community centre opposite the cemetery where the guitarist is buried (2005)... The no. 1 album in the UK today is Vera Lynn's career retrospective 'We'll Meet Again: The Very Best of Vera Lynn'. The 92-year-old singer sets a record as the oldest person ever to achieve this feat with an album. The previous mark was set by Bob Dylan when he topped the British charts with 'Together through Life' earlier this year at the comparatively youthful age of 67 (2009). 

September 12

Musical birthdays today include Maria Muldaur (70), Rush drummer Neil Peart (61), former XTC keyboardist Barry Andrews (57), ex-Thin Lizzy guitarist Brian Robertson (57), Mylène Farmer (52), Ben Folds (47), Primus guitarist Larry LaLonde (45), Bizzy Bone (37), James McCartney (36), Jennifer Hudson (32), and Emmy Rossum (27). 

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for George Jones, who would have been 82 today... for Barry White, who would have been 69... for French composer François Couperin, who died on this date in 1733... for Johnny Cash, who left us 10 years ago today... and for Nashville session drummer Kenny Buttrey [noted for his work with Bob Dylan and Neil Young, among many others] who passed away today in 2004. 

Also on September 12th: Mahler's 8th symphony ~ his last to premiere in his lifetime ~ is performed for the first time, in Munich, with 1,028 instrumentalists and singers (1910)... Frank Sinatra has his first no.1 song in the UK with 'Three Coins in a Fountain' (1954)... NBC airs the premiere of The Monkees' TV show. The series will run for a total of 58 episodes (1966)... Filming continues for the Beatles' Magical Mystery Tour. The bus heads for Widecombe on the Moor, in Devon, where a local fair is being held, but driver Alf Manders takes a shortcut to bypass heavy traffic and gets stuck on a bridge. The coach ends up having to drive in reverse for half a mile before it can turn around. It then heads for Plymouth, followed by a 20-car convoy of photographers and journalists (1967)... The no.1 song in the UK is Smokey Robinson & the Miracles' 'Tears of a Clown' (1970)... Public Image Ltd guitarist John McGeoch will need 40 stitches after being struck in the face by a 2-litre wine bottle hurled from the crowd during a show in Vienna (1986)... The soundtrack album to the Richie Valens biopic 'La Bamba' by Los Lobos is at no. 1 on the Billboard chart (1987)... Stevie Nicks and Christine McVie announce that they are leaving Fleetwood Mac at the end of the band's current tour (1990)... Christina Aguilera releases her first Spanish-language album, 'Mi Reflejo' (2000)... The surviving members of Led Zeppelin announce that they will reform for a one-off concert with the late John Bonham's son Jason in the drummer's chair. The show, the first for the group in 18 years, is to honour Atlantic Records founder Ahmet Ertegun, who died last year. All profits from the concert, which will take place at London's O2 arena on the 26th of November and cost £125 per ticket, will go to establishing scholarships in Ertegun's name in the UK, the USA, and his native Turkey (2007). 

September 11

Musical birthdays today include composer Arvo Pärt (78), Lola Falana (71), Grateful Dead drummer Mickey Hart (71), Leo Kottke (68), former Buckinghams lead singer Dennis Tufano (67), Styx singer/songwriter Tommy Shaw (60), ex-Culture Club drummer Jon Moss (56), Moby (48), Harry Connick, Jr. (46), former Letters to Cleo lead singer Kay Hanley (45), Verve frontman Richard Ashcroft (42), and Coldplay guitarist Jonny Buckland (36). 

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for English composer William Boyce, born on this date in 1711... for bluesman Robert 'Barbecue Bob' Hicks, born in 1902... for British guitarist John Martyn, who would have been 65 today... for composer Anton Bruckner, who died on this date in 1896... for reggae star Peter Tosh, who was murdered in his home during a robbery in 1987... and for Weather Report keyboardist Joe Zawinul, who left us today in 2007. 

Also on September 11: W.C. Handy publishes 'St. Louis Blues' (1914)... Atlantic Records co-founder Ahmet Ertegun takes over as producer of his label's latest signing, 21-year-old Ray Charles, at Atlantic Studios on W. 56th St. in Manhattan (1952)... With session drummer Andy White replacing Ringo at George Martin's insistence, the Beatles make another attempt at recording their first single, 'Love Me Do', at EMI Studios, Abbey Road. The 45 RPM that is released on the 5th of October will be a version including Ringo, the Andy White take ending up on the 'Please Please Me' album (1962)... 'Help!' is the no.1 US album, the 6th time the Beatles have topped the chart (1965)... The Rolling Stones make their first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show (1966)... Filming for 'The Magical Mystery Tour' begins. The Beatles have no shooting script or storyboards of any kind, nor even any clear idea of what they wish to accomplish. The tour bus sets off for the West Country of England with no particular destination, eventually stopping for the night at Teignmouth, Devon, where the Fab Four are greeted by hundreds of fans (1967)... Donny Osmond has his only American no.1 with 'Go Away, Little Girl'. The song was also a chart-topper for Steve Lawrence in 1963 (1971)... The no. 1 single in the US today is KC and the Sunshine Band's '(Shake, Shake, Shake) Shake Your Booty' (1976)... John Cougar Mellencamp becomes the only male artist in American chart history to simultaneously have two singles in the top 10 ['Jack and Diane' and 'Hurts So Good'] and the no.1 album [American Fool] (1982)... Michael Jackson appears at the Aintree Racecourse in Liverpool. Over 3000 fans were treated by Merseyside EMTs for fainting, hysteria, and minor injuries from the crush of the crowd of some 125,000, the largest audience of the 123-date 'Bad' world tour (1988)... Walking to his job in lower Manhattan as a comic book illustrator, Gerard Way witnesses the 9/11 attacks on the WTC. The day's events inspire him to start a band, which will become My Chemical Romance. Meanwhile, Sir Paul McCartney, in an airplane awaiting takeoff at JFK, composes the single 'Freedom' after seeing the burning towers in the distance. All profits from the song will go to the Robin Hood Foundation, a charity set up to aid the families of NYC police and firemen (2001)... Leicester University in the UK releases the results of a study showing that more than a quarter of classical music listeners have tried cannabis. Researchers at the institution have been trying to find out what people's musical tastes reveal about their lifestyles. They find that blues buffs are the most likely to have received a traffic ticket, Hip-hop fans are more likely to have had multiple sex partners and are the biggest drug consumers among the 2,500 people surveyed. The study will be published next month in the journal Psychology of Music (2006).