Category: Music

First, today in history, from the National Weather Service: Today in 1870, one week after the creation of the meteorological division of the Signal Service (which became the National Weather Service), the first “cautionary storm signal” was issued for an impending Great Lakes storm. They’re called storm warnings now.

The number one single today in 1969:

The number one single today in 1975 …

… on the day David Bowie made his U.S. TV debut on Cher’s show …

… and Elton John’s “Rock of the Westies” debuted on the album chart at number one:

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Today in 1967, DJM Publishing in London signed two young songwriting talents, Reginald Dwight and Bernie Taupin. You know Dwight better as Elton John.

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Today in 1814, Adolph Sax was born in Belgium. Sax would fashion from brass and a clarinet reed the saxophone, a major part of early rock and jazz.

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Today in 1956, Nat King Cole became the first black man to host a TV show, on NBC:

The number one single today in 1966:

Today in 1971, Elvis Presley performed at the Met Center in Bloomington, Minn. To get the fans to leave after repeated encore requests, announcer Al Dvorin announced, “Elvis has left the building.”

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Today in 1963, John Lennon showed his ability to generate publicity at the Beatles’ performance at the Royal Variety Show at the Prince of Wales Theatre in London. The Queen Mother and Princess Margaret were in attendance, so perhaps they were the target of Lennon’s comment, “In the cheaper seats you clap your hands. The rest of you, just rattle your jewelry.”

The number one single today in 1965:

The number one single today in 1972:

Today in 1990, Melissa Ethridge and her “life partner” Julie Cypher appeared on the cover of Newsweek magazine for its cover story on gay parenting.

I bring this up only to point out that Etheridge and Cypher no longer are life partners, Cypher (the ex-wife of actor Lou Diamond Phillips) is now married to another man, and Etheridge became engaged to another woman, but they split before their planned California wedding. And, by the way, Cypher had two children from the “contribution” of David Crosby, and Etheridge’s second woman had children from another man. Draw your own conclusions.

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The number one single today in 1956:

Britain’s number one single today in 1960:

The number one single today in 1962:

Today in 1964, a fan at a Rolling Stones concert in Cleveland fell out of the balcony. That prompted Cleveland Mayor Ralph Locker to ban pop music concerts in the city, saying, “Such groups do not add to the community’s culture or entertainment.” Kind of ironic that the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ended up in Cleveland.

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Wisconsinites know that the first radio station was what now is WHA in Madison. Today in 1920, the nation’s first commercial radio station, KDKA in Pittsburgh, went on the air.

The number one British single today in 1956 is the only number one song cowritten by a vice president, Charles Dawes:

The number one song today in 1974:

The number one British album today in 1985 was Simple Minds’ “Once Upon a Time” …

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We begin with a non-music anniversary: Today in 1870, the U.S. Weather Bureau was created, later to become the National Weather Service.

Tomorrow in 1870, the first complaints were made about the Weather Bureau’s being wrong about its forecast.

Today in 1946, two New York radio stations changed call letters. WABC, owned by CBS, became (natch) WCBS, paving the way for WJZ, owned by ABC, to become (natch) WABC seven years later. WEAF changed its call letters to WNBC.

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Today in 1963, Ed Sullivan was at Heathrow Airport in London just as the Beatles deplaned to a crowd of screaming fans and a mob of journalists and photographers.

Intrigued, Sullivan decided to investigate getting the Beatles onto his show.

Today in 1964, Ray Charles was arrested at Logan Airport in Boston and charged with heroin. Charles was sentenced to one year probation after he kicked the horse.

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The number one album and single today in 1971:

A low, low moment in rock history: Today in 1978, NBC-TV broadcast “Kiss Meets the Phantom of the Park”:

(The entire movie, believe it or don’t, can be viewed on YouTube.)

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