October 16th

Musical birthdays today include former BTO bassist Fred Turner (73), Grateful Dead founding member Bob Weir (69), Greek pop singer Eleftheria Arvanitaki (58), Spandau Ballet guitarist Gary Kemp (57), ex-Hüsker Dü leader Bob Mould (56), Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Michael 'Flea' Balzary (54), Wilson Phillips vocalist Wendy Wilson (47) and John Mayer (39). 

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for Christa Päffgen, AKA Nico, who would have been 78 today... for former Parliament-Funkadelic bassist Cordell 'Boogie' Mosson, who would have been 75... for Leonard Chess, founder of the pioneering rock and R&B label of the same name, who died on this date in 1969... for swing drummer Gene Krupa, who passed  away in 1973... and for Art Blakey, who left us today in 1990. 

Also on October 16: Schoenberg's Pierrot Lunaire for speaking voices and chamber orchestra premieres in Berlin after six weeks of daily rehearsals (1912)... Concert pianist Paul Wittgenstein, who lost his right arm in WW I, premieres Richard Strauss' Parergon to the Symphonia Domestica for left hand alone and orchestra in Dresden (1925)... 18-year-old Richard Penniman, who is already using the stage name Little Richard, makes his first recordings for the RCA Camden label in the studios of Atlanta radio station WGST (1951)... The Beatles record 'Day Tripper' (1965)... At San Francisco's Fillmore West, Grace Slick performs publicly as lead singer of Jefferson Airplane for the first time (1966)... Creedence Clearwater Revival announce that they have disbanded (1972)... The № 1 song in the US today is 'Disco Duck' by Rick Dees & His Cast of Idiots (1976)... Culture Club perform 'Do You Really Want to Hurt Me?' on Top of the Pops, where they are a last-minute replacement for Shakin' Stevens, who had suddenly fallen ill on the day of the taping (1982)... Eric Clapton, Keith Richards and Robert Cray join Chuck Berry on stage in St. Louis for the concert that will be filmed for the documentary 'Hail Hail! Rock & Roll' (1986)... A tribute concert to Bob Dylan on the 30th anniversary of the release of his first Columbia album takes place at Madison Square Garden. Guest performers include Neil Young, Roger McGuinn, George Harrison, Tom Petty, Ron Wood and Eric Clapton. Dylan himself appears for group renditions of 'My Back Pages' and 'Knockin' on Heaven's Door' before closing the proceedings with a solo 'Girl from the North Country' (1992)... Simon & Garfunkel kick off their Old Friends reunion tour with a show in Wilkes-Barre, PA (2003)... Legendary NYC club CBGB closes with a performance by Patti Smith, one of many artists who first came to fame on its stage. The venue was opened in 1973 with the full name CBGB-OMFUG, standing for 'Country, Bluegrass, Blues and Other Music for Uplifting Gormandizers' (2006).

October 15th

Musical birthdays today include Barry McGuire (79), Richard Carpenter (70), Chris de Burgh (68), Tito Jackson (63), Beautiful South drummer Dave Stead (50), heavy metal guitarist Dax Riggs (43), R&B singer Jessie Ware (32), and latter-day flower child, Jane Asher lookalike and US folk music ambassador to Ecuador Kirsten Hannan (21). 

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for blueswoman Victoria Spivey, born on this date in 1906... for jazz pianist & vocalist Nellie Lutcher, born in 1912...  for big band trombonist Paul Tanner, born in 1917... for R&B duo Mickey & Sylvia's Mickey Baker, boen in 1925... for Fela Kuti, who would have been 78... and for Cole Porter, who left us today in 1964. 

Also on October 15: Commissioned by Catherine de Medici, Le Ballet Comique de la Reine, widely considered to be the first ballet, is staged in Paris (1581)... ASCAP [American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers] is founded (1914)... The War Memorial Opera House in San Francisco, the first municipally owned opera palace in the United States, opens with a production of Tosca (1932)... Buddy Holly opens for Elvis Presley at the Big D Jamboree, held at the Cotton Club in Lubbock, Texas. Talent scout Eddie Crandall, who is in the audience, will arrange an audition for the bespectacled guitarist with Decca Records (1955)... The Beatles [minus Pete Best] and two members of Rory Storm's backing band the Hurricanes [Ringo Starr and Lou Walters] record a version of 'Summertime' in a Hamburg recording studio. The track, which is cut onto a 78 RPM disc, is the first known session with John, Paul, George and Ringo playing together (1960)... Jimi Hendrix signs his first recording contract in the UK ~ according to the terms, he will receive $1 and a 1% royalty on all of his sales... Pink Floyd [who are paid £15 for the gig], The Move, Denny Laine, Soft Machine, Yoko Ono and a West Indian steel drum band all play the London Roundhouse launch of the International Times, which will become Britain's longest-running underground. newspaper. Paul McCartney attends as a spectator in Bedouin robes (1966)... The Four Tops have the № 1 single in both the US and the UK with 'Reach out and I'll Be There' (1967)... Led Zeppelin give their debut performance in the UK under their new name at Surrey University (1968)... Keith Richards is found guilty of trafficking cannabis by a court in Nice. The guitarist is given a one-year suspended sentence, fined 5,000 FF, and banned from entering France for two years (1973)... Debby Boone's 'You Light up My Life' begins a 10-week run at  № 1 on the Billboard singles chart, a new record for the rock era (1977)... Abba play their first North American concert, in Vancouver (1979)... In Los Angeles, Bob Dylan shoots the first video of his career, for 'Sweetheart like You' (1983)... Paul and Linda McCartney are the guest voices for an episode of the Simpsons entitled 'Lisa the Vegetarian'. Macca's stipulation for appearing was that Lisa's decision to become a vegetarian be a permanent character change, to which the show's producers agreed (1995)... Michael Jackson plays the last show on the HIStory tour, at King's Park Rugby Stadium in Durban, South Africa During the tour, Jackson performed 82 concerts in 58 cities to over 4.5 million fans, visiting 5 continents and 35 countries (1997)... Jon Bon Jovi becomes the latest musician to disapprove of the use of his songs in John McCain's US presidential run. Vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin had been using 'Who Says You Can't Go Home' in her rallies. Foo Fighters, Heart and Jackson Browne have already taken legal action to prevent their songs from being used by the senator's presidential campaign (2008).

October 14th

Musical birthdays today include New Orleans R&B singer Robert Parker (86), Cliff Richard (76), jazz-rock bassist Colin Hodgkinson (71), Moody Blues frontman Justin Hayward (70), Nazareth lead singer Dan McCafferty (70), Boney M vocalist Marcia Barrett (68), bluesman Kenny Neal (59), Thomas Dolby (58), Twisted Sister drummer A.J. Pero (57), Dixie Chicks lead singer Natalie Maines (42), and singer-songwriter Savannah Outen (24). 

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for Bing Crosby, who died on this date in 1977... for Leonard Bernstein, who passed away in 1990... and for Freddy Fender, who left us today in 2006.

Also on October 14: Mendelssohn's overture for A Midsummer Night's Dream is performed for the first time at Potsdam for Frederick William IV, King of Prussia (1843)... The 16-year-old Stravinsky finishes his first surviving composition, an unpublished Tarantella for piano (1898)... BMI [Broadcast Music, Inc.] is founded to compete with ASCAP [American Society of Composers and Publishers] (1939)... The Everly Brothers have their first US № 1 with 'Wake up, Little Susie', and Elvis releases 'Jailhouse Rock' (1957)... Pink Floyd play their first ever 'underground' set, at All Saints Hall in Notting Hill (1966)... Joan Baez is arrested at a sit-in at the US Army induction center in Oakland, California (1967)... The Jackson Five make their national TV debut on ABC's variety show 'Hollywood Palace' (1968)... The New Jersey State Police issue an arrest warrant for Frank Sinatra in relation to his alleged Mafia connections (1969)... The music publishing firm Arco Industries file a $500,0o0 lawsuit against John Fogerty, claiming that the Creedence Clearwater Revival hit 'Travelin' Band' 'contains substantial material copied from' Little Richard's 'Good Golly Miss Molly'. The suit is eventually thrown out (1971)... Michael Jackson has his first solo US № 1 with 'Ben' (1972)... Def Leppard become the first act in chart history to sell seven million or more copies of two consecutive LPs, as Hysteria. the follow-up to the 1983 hit Pyromania tops the album charts on both sides of the Atlantic (1987)... Eric Clapton is suspended from driving in France after being pulled over for speeding ~ at 210 km/hr (135 MPH) ~ on the A6 Autoroute near Merceuil in Burgundy. He is given a €750 fine and his UK license is confiscated. After paying his fine, Clapton poses for photographs with the members of the local gendarmerie and leaves again in the Porsche ~ with his personal assistant at the wheel (2004).

October 13th

Musical birthdays include jazzman Lee Konitz (89), Nana Mouskouri (82), Pharoah Sanders (76), Paul Simon (75), Chicago founding member & songwriter Robert Hamm (72), Sammy Hagar (69), Soft Machine saxophonist Alan Wakeman (69), John Ford Coley (68), operatic soprano Leona Mitchell (67), Fairport Convention multi-instrumentalist Simon Nicol (66), Marie Osmond (57), Anthrax lead singer Joey Belladonna (56), Broken Social Scene drummer Justin Peroff (39), and Ashanti (36). 

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for Art Tatum, born on this date in 1909... for Yves Montand, born in 1921... for jazz percussionist Johnny Lytle, who would have been 84... for Ed Sullivan, who died on this date in 1974... and for Earth, Wind & Fire founding member Wade Flemons, who left us in 1993.

Also on October 13: Six-year-old Wolfgang Mozart gives a recital for Empress Maria Theresa of Austria at the Schonbrunn Palace in Vienna. Also attending is Princess Maria Antonia [the future Marie Antoinette] (1762)...  The Beatles make their debut on ITV's 'Sunday Night at the Palladium', topping the bill in a show broadcast to an estimated 15 million viewers. An article promoting the appearance in today's 'Daily Mirror' also contains the first recorded appearance in print of the term 'Beatlemania' (1963)... The Who record 'My Generation' at Pye Studios in London (1965)... Janis Joplin's ashes are scattered on Stinson Beach in Marin County, CA in a small private ceremony (1970)... The Rolling Stones have the № 1 album in the US with Goats Head Soup (1973)... Neil Young has polyps removed from his vocal chords at a Los Angeles hospital (1975)... Led Zeppelin convene at Headley Grange to begin rehearsing the songs that will go on the In through the Out Door album (1978)... U2 score their first UK № 1 album with the Unforgettable Fire. In the US, Stevie Wonder's 'I Just Called to Say I Love You' tops the singles chart (1984)... Bob Dylan plays a show at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. True to form, he opens the show with 'Masters of War' (1990)... Billy Joel appears live on NPR's 'Performance Today' program to play his new sonata entitled 'Reverie' (1997)... UK tabloids report that Toni Braxton pulled out of this year's MOBO awards in the US because one of her breast implants ruptured. A spokesman for her Arista record label says "We don't comment on the personal lives of our artistes" (2000)... British rock group Muse files for an injunction to keep Celine Dion from going forward with plans to call her forthcoming Las Vegas review 'Muse'. Lead singer Matt Bellamy says "We don't want anyone to think that we're Celine Dion's backing band" (2002)... In a video message on his website, Ringo Starr announces that he no longer has time to sign autographs, and asks fans not to send him any mail at all. "No more fan mail, and no objects of any kind to be signed, please. Nothing" (2008).

October 12th

Musical birthdays today include Sam Moore [of Sam & Dave] (81), Status Quo guitarist Rick Parfitt (68), The Damned frontman David Lett (60), jazz trumpeter Chris Botti (54), Dixie Chicks fiddle player Martie McGuire (47), and New Found Glory lead singer Jordan Pundik (37).

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for composer Ralph Vaughn Williams, born on this date in 1872... for James 'Sugar Boy' Crawford, New Orleans R&B pianist and songwriter, who would have been 82 today... for Luciano Pavarotti, who would have been 81... for longtime Temptations vocalist Melvin Franklin, who would have been 74... for Gene Vincent, who died today in 1971 at the age of 46... for original B-52's guitarist Ricky Wilson, who passed away today in 1985 at 32... for John Denver, who died in an airplane crash today in 1997... for bandleader Ray Coniff, who died in 2002... and for Blue Cheer frontman Dickie Peterson, who left us in 2009. 

Also on October 12: G.F. Handel completes his oratorio Samson (1742)... The Chrysler Corporation launches high fidelity record players for their 1956 line of cars. The unit measures 4 inches wide and just under a foot high and is mounted under the instrument panel. The 7-inch discs spin at 16 2/3 RPM and require 3 times as many grooves per inch as an LP. The players will be discontinued as an option in 1961 (1955)... During a tour Down Under, Little Richard gives a press conference in Sydney to announce that he has renounced rock 'n' roll and embraced God, telling the assembled journalists a story of dreaming of his own damnation after praying when one of the engines of a plane he was on caught fire. The singer will perform nothing but gospel for the next 5 years, but then returns to rock (1957)... Working on what will be the Rubber Soul album at Abbey Road, the Beatles lay down 'Run for Your Life' [John Lennon will later admit to lifting two lines from Elvis' 'Come on Baby, Let's Play House'] and 'Norwegian Wood', with the sitar making its debut on a western pop song in the hands of George Harrison (1965)... Big Brother and the Holding Company have the № 1 album in the US with Cheap Thrills (1968)... Jesus Christ Superstar premieres on Broadway (1971)... The Who release Odds & Sods (1974)... Rod Stewart makes his final appearance as frontman for The Faces in a show at Nassau Coliseum, NY (1975)... Sid Vicious stabs his girlfriend Nancy Spungen to death at the Chelsea Hotel (1978)... U2 release October, their second studio album (1981)... Jennifer Rush becomes the first to hit № 1 with the diva standard 'The Power of Love', topping the UK charts (1985)... Nirvana are the musical guests on Saturday Night Live (1991)... Pink Floyd play the first of a scheduled 15-night run at Earl's Court, London. A minute into 'Shine on You Crazy Diamond', a scaffolding stand holding 1,200 spectators collapses, hurling them 20 feet to the ground. It takes over an hour to free everyone from the wreckage ~ 36 will have to be hospitalised. The band send a free t-shirt and a handwritten note of apology to all those seated in the faulty bleachers, and the show is rescheduled (1994)... The Backstreet Boys are forced to cancel a show in Madrid after 7,000 fans show up for a 5,000 seat performance and a riot breaks out (1997)... Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young appear at Madison Square Garden to announce a forthcoming album and their 'CSNY2K' tour (1999)... Oasis go to № 1 on the UK album chart with Dig Out Your Soul, the group's final studio LP (2008).

October 11th

Musical birthdays today include country singer Gene Watson (73), Daryl Hall (70), Jean-Jacques Goldman (65), country singer Paulette Carlson (64), ex-Hanoi Rocks lead guitarist Andy McCoy (54), rock violinist Petra Haden (45), Limp Bizkit guitarist Mike Smith (43), and Mogwait bassist Dominic Aitchison (40). 

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for Art Blakey, born on this day in 1919... for jazzman Curtis Amy, who would have been 87... for country legend Dottie West, who would have been 84... for Marshall Tucker Band guitarist George McCorkle, who would have been 69... for composer Anton Bruckner, who died on this date in 1896... and for Werner von Trapp of the Trapp Family Singers [of The Sound of Music fame], who left us today in 2009. 

Also on October 11: In Warsaw, Chopin gives the first performance of his own Piano Concerto in e minor (1830)... Leopold Stokowski conducts the Philadelphia Symphony for the first time (1912)... Sam Phillips' Sun Records releases its first LP, Johnny Cash's debut album Johnny Cash with His Hot and Blue Guitar (1957)... The Beatles make their first appearance on the UK singles chart, as 'Love Me Do' cracks the top 40. It will eventually rise as high as № 4 (1962)... Marianne Faithfull records a version of 'Yesterday' at Decca Studios in London with Paul McCartney observing in the control booth (1965)... The Doors appear at Danbury High School in Connecticut. Before the group comes on stage, the school principal warns the audience that anyone leaving their seat during the performance will be escorted from the hall (1967)... George Harrison recruits six saxophonists to get the sound he wants on 'Savoy Truffle', as work on the White Album continues (1968)... Elvis and Priscilla Presley's divorce becomes final (1973)... The Police have the № 1 album in the UK today with Zenyatta Mondatta (1980)... Dave Grohl plays his first public show with Nirvana, as the band appear at the North Shore Surf Club in Olympia, WA (1990)... Elton John has the № 1 single in the US with the version of 'Candle in the Wind' re-written to commemorate Princess Diana's death... Across the Atlantic. the Verve go to the top of the UK album chart with Urban Hymns (1997)... Mojo magazine readers vote Elvis Presley's session for 'That's Alright' the most important moment in rock history. Coming in second is Bob Dylan's electric debut at Newport in 1965, and № 3 is the release of the Clash's eponymous debut album in 1977 (2003)... Bruce Springsteen, Dixie Chicks, R.E.M. and Pearl Jam wrap up the Vote for Change Tour at the MCI Center in Washington, D.C. (2004)... Radiohead release their latest album In Rainbows as a download via a pay-what-you-want model (2007). 

October 10th

Musical birthdays today include singer-songwriter John Prine (70), song & dance man Ben Vereen (70), Radiators singer & keyboardist Ed Volker (70), ex-Ultravox frontman James 'Midge' Ure (63), David Lee Roth (62), Tanya Tucker (58), Casbah Club frontman Simon Townshend [yes, he's related to Pete ~ he's his younger brother] (56), Spandau Ballet bassist Martin Kemp (55), ex-.38 Special Drummer Scott Hoffman (55), Crystal Waters (52), Rebecca Pidgeon (51), Goo Goo Dolls drummer Mike Malinin (51), classical pianist Evgeny Kissin (45), Collective Soul guitarist Dean Roland (44), Bluetones bassist Scott Morriss (43), and Marina Diamandis (31).

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for Giuseppe Verdi, born on this day in 1813... for R&B singer Ivory Joe Hunter, born in 1914... for Count Basie sideman Harry 'Sweets' Edison, on the centennial of his birth... for Thelonious Monk, born on in 1917... for Edith Piaf, who died on this date in 1963... for song & dance man Eddie Cantor, who died in 1964... for Boyzone vocalist Stephen Gately, who passed away today in 2009 at the age of 33 from undetermined causes... and for operatic soprano Joan Sutherland, who left us today in 2010. 

Also on October 10: The Gibson Mandolin & Guitar Company is incorporated (1902)... Porgy and Bess opens on Broadway at the Alvin Theater (1935)... The real Eleanor Rigby dies in her sleep of undetermined causes at the age of 44. Paul McCartney's first draft of the song was called 'Miss Daisy Hawkins', but he changed it after spotting Ms. Rigby's name on a tombstone during a nostalgic walk around the cemetery of St. Peter's Parish Church in Liverpool, where he and John Lennon first met in 1957 (1939)... Elvis Presley's 'Love Me Tender' enters the Billboard Hot 100 ~ it will stay on the charts for 19 weeks, and become the King's first national no.1 for 5 (1956)... The Beatles appear at De Monfort Hall, Leicester, on their current UK tour. Ringo, who has just taken delivery of a new Vagel Vega sportscar, drives himself to the gig from Liverpool, running late. By his account, the drummer will reach speeds of up to 140 MPH during the trip (1964)... The Monkees release their eponymous debut LP... The Beach Boys release the 'Good Vibrations' single (1966)... King Crimson release their debut album, In the Court of the Crimson King (1969)...  The Carpenters enter the US top 10 with 'We've Only Just Begun', which Richard Carpenter originally wrote as a jingle for a local savings bank (1970)... Jesus Christ Superstar premieres on Broadway (1971)... Steve Tyler and Joe Perry suffer minor injuries after a cherry bomb is tossed on stage during an Aerosmith gig in Philadelphia. The band will perform behind a protective fence for the remainder of the tour (1978)... The Rose, starring Bette Midler [in her screen debut] as a character transparently based on Janis Joplin, has its world premier in Los Angeles (1979)... John Bonham is laid to rest in the cemetery of St. Michael's Church  in his hometown of Rushock, Worcs. (1980)... R.E.M. have the no. 1 album on both sides of the Atlantic with 'Automatic for the People' (1992)... Britney Spears makes her live debut in the UK when she plays the first of three sold out dates at Wembley Stadium (2000)... the latest issue Blender contains the results of a poll the magazine conducted to determine the worst rock lyricist of all time. Rounding out the top of the list are: 1) Sting [for such transgressions as name-checking Vladimir Nabokov, and quoting bumperstickers, Chaucer, St. Augustine and Shakespeare] 2) Rush drummer Neil Peart 3) Creed frontman Scott Stapleton and 4) Oasis guitarist Noel Gallagher ['He seems incapable of following a metaphor through a single line, let alone a whole verse', according to the publication] (2007)... Paul McCartney marries New Yorker Nancy Shevell in a civil ceremony at Old Marylebone Town Hall, London (2011).