November 20

Musical birthdays today include stage singer Kaye Ballard (88), Norman Greenbaum (71), Meredith Monk (71), producer Mike Vernon (69), former Poco drummer George Grantham (66), Joe Walsh (66), operatic soprano Barbara Hendricks (65), Beastie Boys rapper Mike D (48), Cypress Hill rapper Sen Dog (48), AFI lead singer Davey Havok (38), In Flames drummer Daniel Svensson (36), ex-Girls Aloud vocalist Kimberley Walsh (32), and Bring Me the Horizon lead singer Oliver Sykes (27). 

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for classical pianist Ruth Laredo, who would have been 76 today... for Duane Allman, who would have been 67... for producer and multi-instrumentalist Kevin Gilbert, who would have been 47... for pianist and composer Anton Rubenstein, who died on this date in 1894... for Section 25 lead singer Jenny Ross, who passed away in 2004... and for blues & rock guitarist Chris Whitley, who left us today in 2005. 

Also on November 20: The rock era in Britain officially begins as 'Rock around the Clock' by Bill Haley & His Comets goes to no. 1 on the national chart... In America, Bo Diddley appears on The Ed Sullivan Show. The producers requested that he sing his version of ‘Sixteen Tons’, but, when he appears on stage, he sings his own song ‘Bo Diddley’, resulting in him being banned from further appearances on the program (1955)... Bob Dylan enters Columbia Studios in NYC for the first time. Over the next two days, he records his eponymous debut album for a cost of $471 (1961)... The Yardbirds release Having a Rave-Up (1965)... Strawberry Alarm Clock hit no. 1 on the Billboard singles chart with 'Incense and Peppermints' (1967)... The Monkees film 'Head' opens in six US cities. Reviews are harsh and the picture will be a box office disaster (1968)...  Sly and the Family Stone release There's a Riot Goin' on, while Isaac Hayes starts a two week run at No. 1 on the US singles chart with 'Theme From Shaft' (1971)... Keith Moon collapses during a concert by the Who at the Cow Palace in San Francisco after downing a pre-show drink spiked with horse tranquilizer. 19 year-old audience member Scott Halpin volunteers to replace him on drums for the remaining three numbers (1973)... Paul Simon hosts NBC's Saturday Night Live, and performs live with George Harrison on ‘Here Comes The Sun’ and ‘Homeward Bound’. John Lennon and Paul McCartney, watching the show from the former's apartment in the Dakota on Central Park West, briefly discuss the idea of taking a taxi to NBC Studios to try to crash the telecast, but think better of the idea (1976)... Barbra Streisand and Donna Summer top the American singles chart with their duet 'No More Tears [Enough Is Enough] (1979)...  Prince kicks off his 56-date North American ‘Controversy’ tour with a show at the Stanley Theater in Pittsburgh (1981)... A study comparing noise levels of rock music finds that older people rate the music much higher on a loudness scale than younger people. The research carried out at Ohio State University tested people age 18 to 21 and people ranging in age from 51 to 58. The study asked participants to rate the loudness of rock music played at nine intensities, ranging from 10 decibels to 90 decibels. Participants listened to ‘Heartbreaker’ by Led Zeppelin for 10 seconds at different intensities. At each intensity, the older subjects gave the music higher numerical ratings based on loudness than the younger subjects (1998)...  Spice Girl Mel C announces she is quitting the group during an interview on ITV's Frank Skinner Show (2000)... Madonna's childhood home in Oakland County Michigan, sells at an auction in just 12 minutes. The house, along with a few items of Rock memorabilia goes for $331,000 (2001)...  Michael Jackson flies to Santa Barbara to surrender himself for arrest. He is seen being taken into the police station in handcuffs. The singer has his mug shot and fingerprints taken before being freed on $3 million bail (2003)... Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke admits that he was among the thousands of people who paid nothing to download the band's latest album In Rainbows. Speaking to BBC 6 Music's Steve Lamacq, Yorke said: "There wasn't any point. I just move some money from one pocket to the other". According to one survey, three in five people paid nothing at all for it. Yorke added that no one was allowed to have copies of the master recording in case it was leaked beforehand (2007). 

November 19

Musical birthdays include composer Slavko Avsenik (84), ex-Blood, Sweat & Tears saxophonist Fred Lipsius (70), former Guns 'N Roses drummer Matt Sorum (53), Tool bassist Justin Chancellor (42), The Old Ceremony frontman Django Haskins (40), and rapper Tyga (24). 

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for bandleader Tommy Dorsey, born on this date in 1905... for Mothers of Invention vocalist and Frank Zappa collaborator Ray Collins, who would have been 77... for Israeli singer Ofra Haza, who would have been 56... for composer Franz Schubert, who died on this day in 1828... for ex-Badfinger guitarist and songwriter Tom Evans, who hanged himself at the age of 36 in 1983... for former Byrds producer Terry Melcher, who left us today in 2004... and for Quiet Riot lead singer Kevin DuBrow, who died of a drug overdose in 2005. 

Also on November 19: Carl Perkins records 'Blue Suede Shoes' at Sun Studios (1955)... The Supremes become the first all-female group to have a UK no. 1, when 'Baby Love' tops the charts (1964)... Emerson, Lake & Palmer release Brain Salad Surgery (1973)... The British music weekly 'Sounds' makes the Sex Pistols' debut single 'Anarchy in the UK' its Single of the Week (1976)... Led Zeppelin release their final studio album, Coda (1982)... Tina Turner makes her first American chart appearance in twelve years with her version of the Al Green hit 'Let's Stay Together' (1983)... U2 release Achtung Baby (1991)... David Crosby had a successful liver transplant operation at Dumont-UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles. Crosby's liver was deteriorated from years of alcohol and drug abuse, as well as hepatitis-C (1994)... The Beatles start an eleven-week run at No. 1 on the UK album chart with The Beatles 1. The album features virtually every number-one single released by the band from 1962 to 1970. Issued on the 30th anniversary of the their break-up, it was their first compilation available on one CD. The world's best-selling album of the 21st century, 1 has sold over 31 million copies worldwide (2000)... Michael Jackson is widely criticized after dangling his baby from the third-floor balcony of a Berlin hotel. The singer is in the German capital for an awards ceremony and was showing off his nine-month old baby to fans outside the hotel (2003)...  Former glam rock star Gary Glitter is arrested in Vietnam after being detained at Ho Chi Minh airport as he tries to board a plane to Bangkok. Police say Glitter is being held under suspicion of committing lewd acts with two girls under the age of 18 (2005). 

 

November 18

Musical birthdays today include jazz singer Sheila Jordan (85), operatic soprano Gianna d'Angelo (84), Graham Parker (63), Queensrÿche bassist Rudy Sarzo (63), John Parr (59), film score composer Carter Burwell (58), jazz & rock drummer Cindy Blackman (54), Kim Wilde (53), Metallica lead guitarist Kirk Hammett (51), Polyphonic Spree lead singer Tim DeLaughter (48), Duncan Sheik (44), country singer Jessi Alexander (37), Thrice frontman Dustin Kensrue (33), and Avenged Sevenfold bassist Johnny Christ (29). 

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for pianist and composer Jan Paderewski, born on this date in 1860... for violinist and conductor Eugene Ormandy, born in 1899... for Buena Vista Social Club guitarist Compay Segundo, born in 1907... for songwriter Johnny Mercer, born in 1909... for Hank Ballard, who would have been 86... for Don Cherry, who would have been 77... for Crazy Horse guitarist Danny Whitten, who died of a drug overdose at the age of 29 on this day in 1972... for Cab Calloway, who left us in 1994... and for folk rock singer & guitarist Doug Sahm, who passed away in 1999. 

Also on November 18:  Fats Domino appears on the Ed Sullivan Show performing 'Blueberry Hill'. Before the song became a rock and roll standard it had been recorded by various artists including Louis Armstrong, The Glenn Miller Orchestra, Gene Autry and Jimmy Dorsey (1956)... The Beatles receive silver LP discs for 'Please Please Me' and 'With the Beatles' at a ceremony held at EMI House in London. They also receive a silver EP for 'Twist and Shout' and a silver single for 'She Loves You'. The band then attend a cocktail party and a formal lunch in the EMI boardroom with company executives and invited guests (1963)... Cat Stevens starts a three-week run at No.1 on the US album chart with Catch Bull At Four. The title was taken from one of the Ten Bulls of Zen, a series of short poems and accompanying pictures that are intended to illustrate the stages of a Buddhist practitioner's progression towards enlightenment (1972)... Genesis release The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway. The double album is the group's final LP with Peter Gabriel as lead singer (1974)... Bruce Springsteen makes his live debut in the UK at London's Hammersmith Odeon (1975)... The Jam release This Is the Modern World (1977)... R.E.M. make their first appearance outside the US when they are guests on the Channel 4 UK TV show 'The Tube'. The following night they make their live UK debut when they play at Dingwalls, London (1983)... Nirvana record their MTV Unplugged special at Sony Studios, New York. The band play a setlist composed of mainly lesser-known material and cover versions of songs by The Vaselines, David Bowie, Meat Puppets and Lead Belly. The album will win the Grammy for Best Alternative Music Album in 1996 (1993)... Britney Spears scores her third US No. 1 album with 'Britney.' The album's success makes her the first female artist in music history to have her first three studio albums debut at the No. 1 spot. This record however will later be broken by Spears herself with her 4th studio album In the Zone which charted in the same position (2001)... Following allegations of the sexual abuse of a 12-year old boy, police raid Michael Jackson's Neverland ranch. Jackson denies the allegations; the search comes on the day that his latest greatest hits album, Number Ones, was released in the US (2003)... 

 

 

November 17

Musical birthdays today include film & television score composer Robert Drasnin (86), Gordon Lightfoot (75), Four Seasons keyboardist and songwriter Bob Gaudio (72), Jethro Tull lead guitarist Martin Barre (67), Dead Kennedys guitarist East Bay Ray (55), Primal Fear drummer Randy Black (50), Moldy Peaches singer-songwriter Kimya Dawson (41), rapper Lord Infamous (38), Isaac Hanson (33), and former Girls Aloud vocalist Sarah Harding (32). 

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for classical violinist Leonid Kogan, who would have been 89 today... for original Byrds member Gene Clark, who would have been 69... for Jeff Buckley, who would have been 47... for choral composer Thomas Ford, who died on this day in 1648... for former Jethro Tull bassist John Glascock, who died today in 1979 at the age of 28 from a congenital heart defect... and for country singer-songwriter Don Gibson, who left us today in 2003. 

Also on November 17: Harry Belafonte is at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Mary's Boy Child,' the first 45 RPM to sell over 1 million copies in the country. It will stay in the top spot for seven weeks making it this years Christmas No.1 (1957)... John Weightman, headmaster of a Grammar School in Croydon, Surrey bans all pupils from having Beatle haircuts saying, "This ridiculous style brings out the worst in boys physically. It makes them look like morons" (1963)... A 16 date UK package tour with Jimi Hendrix, Pink Floyd, The Move, The Nice and Amen Corner stops at the City Hall, Sheffield. A review in the Sheffield Star noted: 'Like an electrified golliwog, Jimi Hendrix threw himself into a live-wire act that featured his intricate guitar interpretation. Quite an Experience'. Pink Floyd also release their third single, 'Apples And Oranges' in Britain (1967)... Slade are at the top of the UK singles chart with 'Coz I Luv You', the group's first of six British No. 1s Deliberately misspelt song titles become a trademark for Slade, causing a great furore among teachers up and down the country... In America, Bob Dylan releases volume 2 of his Greatest Hits, and Laura Nyro releases Gonna Take a Miracle (1971)... John Lennon releases Double Fantasy (1980)... Mariah Carey is forced to abandon a performance on Rome's historic Spanish Steps after crowds of tourists overwhelm security and swamp her. She takes shelter in a local shop before being given an escort by riot police to safety (1999)... The NME reports that Andy White, who played drums on The Beatles track 'Love Me Do' which is featured on the new Beatles Greatest Hits album will not earn enough from it to buy his own copy. White is to receive no more than his original session fee of £7 (2000)... Britney Spears announces that her first boyfriend Justin Timberlake was a huge disappointment in the endowment department. Talking during an MTV interview, Spears says  "Forget trousersnake, it's more like a trouser worm" when referring to her ex (2003). 




 

November 16

Musical birthdays today include soul singer Garnet Mimms (80), singer-songwriter & producer Dan Penn (71), original AC/DC drummer Colin Burgess (67), jazz drummer Luis Conte (59), Stone Roses bassist Gary 'Mani' Mountfield (51), Diana Krall (49), Rammstein keyboardist Christian Lorenz (47), ex-Machine Head guitarist Logan Mader (43), Modest Mouse bassist Eric Judy (39), singer-songwriter Allison Crowe (32), and The Wanted vocalist Siva Kaneswaran (25). 

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for composer & violin virtuoso Rodolphe Kreutzer, born on this date in 1766... for operatic soprano Minnie Hauk, born in 1851... for W.C. Handy, 'The Father of the Blues', born in 1873... for composer Paul Hindemith, born in 1895... for jazz guitarist Eddie Condon, born in 1905... for Cajun accordionist Alphonse 'Bois Sec' Ardoin, born in 1915... for jazz pianist & Dexter Gordon sideman Dolo Coker, who would have been 86 today... for blues guitarist and Howlin' Wolf sideman Hubert Sumlin, who would have been 82... for operatic soprano Lucia Popp, who died today in 1993... for Quicksilver Messenger Service guitarist Chet Powers (AKA Dino Valenti in his solo career), who passed away in 1994... for DJ & rapper DJ Screw, who died of a drug overdose at the age of 29 on this day in 2000... and for jazz pianist Tommy Flanagan, who left us in 2001. 

Also on November 16: Arturo Toscanini makes his debut as conductor of the NY Metropolitan Opera (1908)... Johnny Cash makes first appearance in the Billboard Top 40 with 'Cry Cry Cry' (1955)... The Sound of Music premieres on Broadway (1959)... The Jim Hendrix Experience top the US album chart with Electric Ladyland... Meanwhile, Led Zeppelin play their first ever show in the north of England when they appear at Manchester College of Science & Technology. The band are paid £225 for the gig (1968)... Frank Zappa appears on this week's edition of the UK TV music show 'The Old Grey Whistle Test', playing live and showing clips from his film 200 Motels (1971)... John Lennon is at No.1 in the US singles chart with 'Whatever Gets You Through The Night.' Elton John played on the session and made a deal with Lennon that if the song reached No.1, Lennon would have to appear on stage live with him (1974)... On The Old Grey Whistle Test, reclusive Beach Boy Brian Wilson gives his first televised interview in 8 years (1976)... Former Undertones singer Feargal Sharkey has his only UK No.1 single with the Maria McKee song 'A Good Heart', written about her relationship with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers' keyboard player Benmont Tench. Sharkey will follow up the single with the Tench-penned 'You Little Thief', his take on his relationship with McKee... In the US, Starship hit no. 1 with 'We Built This City' (1985)... Texan billionaire David Bonderman hires The Rolling Stones to play at his 60th birthday party held at the Hard Rock Hotel in Las Vegas. The band's fee is $7.9 million (2002)... The Beatles' catalogue becomes available on iTunes, after years of negotiations. For the first time consumers will now be able to purchase some of the Fab Four's most popular songs via the store. Apple and record label EMI have been in talks for years about getting the catalogue online. Apple chief executive and Beatles fan Steve Jobs says it has "been a long and winding road to get here. We love the Beatles and are honoured and thrilled to welcome them to iTunes" (2010).  
 

November 15

Musical birthdays today include country singer C.W. McCall (85), Petula Clark (81), former Steeleye Span bassist Rick Kemp (72), conductor and classical pianist Daniel Barenboim (71), former ABBA vocalist Frida Lyngstad (68), former Henry Cow bassist Georgina Born (58), ex-Parliament/Funkadelic guitarist Michael Hampton (57), Tonight Show band leader Kevin Eubanks (56), rapper E-40 (46), Elysian Fields co-founder & vocalist Jennifer Charles (45), country singer Jack Ingram (43), Nickelback frontman Jack Kroeger (39), Glass Cloud lead singer Jerry Roush, and rapper B.o.B. (25).  

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for pianist and ragtime composer Artie Matthews, born on this date in 1888... for pop orchestra conductor Annunzio Mantovani, born in 1905... for jazzman Seldon Powell, who would have been 85 today... for soul singer Joe Hinton, who would have been 84... for Drifters vocalist Clyde McPhatter, who would have been 81... for R&B singer Little Willie John, who would have been 76... for Wu-Tang Clan founding member Russell 'ODB' Jones, who would have been 45... for The Velvet Teen drummer Logan Whitehurst, who would have been 36... for composer Christoph Willibald Gluck, who died on this day in 1787... and for jazz and prog rock multi-instrumentalist John Grimaldi, who died of MS at the age of 28 today in 1983. 

Also on November 15: Johnny and the Moondogs (the future Beatles) play in the final heat of the 'TV Star Search' competition at the Hippodrome Theatre, Manchester. Judging is done by the volume of applause each group receives when they are called back onto stage at the end of the night. Since the Moondogs have no money to stay overnight in Manchester, they are forced to leave to catch the last train back to Liverpool before they are called back on stage (1959)... Brian Jones is admitted to Passavant Hospital in Chicago with a temperature of 105ºF, causing him to miss the last few dates on the Rolling Stones' current tour (1964)... The Stones make their US TV debut on Hullabaloo, performing ‘Get Off Of My Cloud’. Hullabaloo was an American one-hour musical variety series that ran on NBC from January 1965 through August 1966 (1965)... The Doors officially sign with Elektra Records in a deal for the band to produce seven albums. The band also reluctantly agree to release 'Break On Through' as their first single. The lyric 'She gets high/she gets high/she gets high' is changed to 'She gets/she gets/she gets' in order to secure radio play (1966)... Janis Joplin is arrested during a gig in Tampa, Florida, after using vulgar and indecent language with a policeman. Joplin became upset after police moved into the hall to force fans to move back to their seats. As the singer left the stage she confronted a detective calling him 'a son of a bitch' and told him she would kick his face in. She is released on $504 bail (1969)... Bob Dylan spends much of the day shooting scenes for his film Renaldo and Clara at Niagara Falls. In the evening the Rolling Thunder Revue plays the Niagara Falls Convention Center (1975)... Blondie score their third UK no. 1 of the year with 'The Tide Is High' (1980)... Echo and the Bunnymen release Songs to Learn and Sing (1985)... Pop history is made when the Top 5 UK singles are all by female vocalists: Corinne Drewery from Swing Out Sister, Mel and Kim, Susannah Hoffs from The Bangles, plus Kim Wilde and Terri Nunn from Berlin who are at No.1 with 'Take My Breath Away' (1986)... Ozzy Osbourne announces his retirement from live performance after a gig in California, saying "Who wants to be touring at 46?" (1992)... Michael Abram, the Liverpool man who stabbed George Harrison after breaking into his home, was found not guilty at Oxford's Crown Court. The verdict, however, is returned in view of Abrams' mental history, and he was taken into care at a secure psychiatric facility (2000)... Jay-Z goes to No.1 on the US album chart with American Gangster his 10th No.1 disc. This ties the rapper with Elvis Presley for the most No.1 albums on the chart; only the Beatles have had more, with 19. Since 1998, all eight of Jay-Z's solo studio albums have hit the top spot, in addition to his ‘Collision Course’ project with Linkin Park and his ‘Unfinished Business’ collaboration with R. Kelly (2007). 

 

 

 

 

 
 

November 14

Musical birthdays today include classical pianist Peter Katin (93), jazz pianist Ellis Marsalis, Jr. (79), composer Wendy Carlos (74), Cajun accordionist Buckwheat Zydeco (66), Styx lead guitarist James Young (64), Quiet Riot drummer Frankie Banali (62), singer-songwriter Stephen Bishop (62), ex-Bon Jovi bassist Alec John Such (61), New Age composer Yanni (59), Joseph 'DJ Run' Simmons (49), Veruca Salt guitarist Nina Gordon (46), Raconteurs multi-instrumentalist Brendan Benson (43), hip hop artist Moka Only (40), Blink 182 drummer Travis Barker (38), former Steps vocalist Daye Tozer (38), and rapper Lil Boosie (30). 

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for composer Johann Nepomuk Hummel, born on this date in 1778... for composer Aaron Copland, born in 1900... for crooner Johnny Desmond, who would have been 94 today... for Freddie and the Dreamers frontman Freddie Garrity and Coasters vocalist Cornell Gunter, both of whom would have been 77... for composer and piano craftsman Ignaz Pleyel, who died on this date in 1831... and for former Doll by Doll frontman Jackie Leven, who left us today in 2011. 

Also on November 14: Ray Charles goes to No.1 on the US singles chart with his cover of Hoagy Carmichael's 1930 standard 'Georgia On My Mind' (1960)... Pink Floyd are added to a 16-date UK package tour with Jimi Hendrix, The Move, The Nice, Amen Corner, The Outer Limits and The Eire Apparent. It kicks off on this day at the Royal Albert Hall with only one performance, as opposed to the rest of the dates, which call for two shows per night. The headlining Hendrix is allotted exactly 40 minutes; The Move, who precede him onstage, have just half an hour, and Pink Floyd, who appear between after The Outer Limits, are allowed between 15 and 20 minutes per show (1967)... Syd Barrett releases his first solo album, entitled Barrett (1970)... Queen play the first of two nights at the Empire Theatre in Liverpool, England, the first shows on their 78-date A Night at the Opera World Tour (1975)... George Michael tops the UK album chart with his debut solo album Faith. The album goes on to win several awards including the Grammy for Album of the Year in 1989. To date, the collection has sold over 20 million copies worldwide. Between 1987 and 1988, Faith produced six Top 5 Billboard Hot 100 hits, four of which ('Faith', 'Father Figure', 'One More Try', and 'Monkey') reached No.1, making him the only British male singer to have four No.1 singles from one LP in the US (1987)... Blur bring chaos to traffic in central London when over 3,000 fans turned up for a signing at 'Book's Etc' in Charing Cross Road (1995)... Michael Jackson marries Debbie Rowe in Sydney, Australia. The couple met when he was diagnosed with vitiligo in the mid-1980s, and she was working as his dermatologist's assistant. The couple will divorce in 1999, with Rowe giving full custody rights of the children to Jackson, Rowe receiving an $8-million settlement (1996).