Category: Music

The number one song today in 1972:

Britain’s number one album today in 1972 was Rod Stewart’s “Never a Dull Moment”:

The title track from the number one album today in 1978:

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Today in 1956, Elvis Presley had his first number one song:

Today in 1965, Ford Motor Co. began offering eight-track tape players in their cars. Since eight-track tape players for home audio weren’t available yet, car owners had to buy eight-track tapes at auto parts stores.

Today in 1970, Vice President Spiro Agnew said in a speech that the youth of America were being “brainwashed into a drug culture” by rock music, movies, books and underground newspapers.

I would say something about how all that ended, but that’s way too easy. (Besides, it would require me to speak ill of a fellow coreligionist.)

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Today in 1968, ABC-TV premiered “The Archies,” created by the creator of the Monkees, Don Kirshner:

The number one single today in 1974 is a confession and correction:

Stevie Wonder had the number one album today in 1974, “Fulfillingness First Finale,” which wasn’t a finale at all:

Today in 1979, the film “Quadrophenia,” based on The Who’s rock opera, premiered:

Paul Young hadn’t had a very long career when he released “From Time to Time — The Singles Collection,” and yet he still had the number one British album today in 1991:

Today in 1994, Steve Earle was sentenced to a year in jail not for shooting the sheriff, but for selling crack cocaine:

Birthdays start with Pete Agnew of Nazareth:

Steve Gaines of Lynyrd Skynyrd:

Paul Kossoff of Free:

Barry Cowsill of the Cowsills:

Steve Berlin of Los Lobos:

Morten Harkett of A-Ha:

Amy Winehouse, whose biggest hit turned out to be prophetic:

Today in Great Britain in the first half of the 1960s was a day for oddities.

Today in 1960, a campaign began to ban the Ray Peterson song “Tell Laura I Love Her” (mentioned here Friday) on the grounds that it was likely to inspire a “glorious death cult” among teens. (The song was about a love-smitten boy who decides to enter a car race to earn money to buy a wedding ring for her girlfriend.  To sum up, that was his first and last race.)

The anti-“Tell Laura” campaign apparently was not based on improving traffic safety. We conclude this from the fact that three years later, Graham Nash of the Hollies leaned against a van door at 40 mph after a performance in Scotland to determine if the door was locked. Nash determined it wasn’t locked on the way to the pavement.

One year later, a concert promoter hired two dozen rugby players to form a human chain around the stage at a Rolling Stones concert at the Empire Theatre in Liverpool. Rugby players are tough, but not tough enough to take on 5,000 spectators.

The number one album today in 1980 was Jackson Browne’s “Hold Out,” Browne’s only number one album:

Birthdays begin with a pair of horn rock legends — David Clayton Thomas of Blood Sweat & Tears …

… and Peter Cetera of Chicago:

Producer Don Was, who formed Was (Not Was) …

… was born the same day as Randy Jones of the Village People:

Steve Kilbey of The Church:

Fiona Apple:

Britain’s number one song today in 1963:

Today in 1966, NBC-TV premiered a show about four Beatle-like musicians:

Britain’s number one song today in 1979:

The number one album today in 1981 was from Journey:

Birthdays begin with George Jones:

One-hit-wonder Maria Muldaur …

… was born one year before Barry White:

Gerry Beckley of America (the country and the rock group):

Neal Peart plays drums for Rush:

Brian Robertson of Thin Lizzy:

One death anniversary of note: Johnny Cash died today in 2003:

Today in 1956, London police were called to break up a crowd of teenagers after the showing of the film “Rock around the Clock” at the Trocadero Cinema.

That prompted a letter to the editor in the Sept. 12, 1956 London Times:

The hypnotic rhythm and the wild gestures have a maddening effect on a rhythm loving age group and the result of its impact is the relaxing of all self control.

The British demonstrated their lack of First Amendment by banning the film in several cities.

The Beatles had the number one album today in 1965 thanks to the help of record-buyers:

The Beatles had the number one U.K. single three years later:

The number one single today in 1976:

The number one single today in 1982:

Today in 1987, Peter Gabriel won several MTV Video Music Awards for …

The anniversary everyone knows about today (more on that in the next post) has one music link. Comic book illustrator Gerard Way was walking to work in New York when he witnessed the World Trade Center attacks. The attacks inspired Way to start the band that would become My Chemical Romance:

Mickey Hart played drums for the Grateful Dead:

Tommy Shaw of Styx:

Jon Moss played drums for Culture Club:

Guitarist Jonny Buckland of Coldplay:

Today in 1962, the BBC banned playing the newly released “Monster Mash” by Bobby “Boris” Pickett on the grounds that it was offensive. To use today’s vernacular, really?

Eleven years later, the BBC banned the Rolling Stones’ “Star Star,” but if you play the clip you can hear why:

The Kinks had the number one song today in 1964:

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Today in 1926, Radio Corporation of America created the National Broadcasting Co.

The number one single in Britain today in 1965:

Today in 1971, five years to the day after John Lennon met Yoko Ono, Lennon released his “Imagine” album:

The number one album today in 1976 was the second time Fleetwood Mac released an album named “Fleetwood Mac”:

The winner of the best video award at today’s 1992 MTV Video Music Awards (made memorable because Nirvana’s Krist Novoselic threw his guitar up in the air, and his guitar knocked him unconscious on the way back down):

Birthdays begin with Otis Redding …

… born one year before Luther Simmons of the Main Ingredient:

Doug Ingle of Iron Butterfly …

… was born one year before Bruce Palmer of Buffalo Springfield:

Freddy Weller was one of Paul Revere’s Raiders:

Dave Stewart of the Eurythmics:

Today in 1956, Harry Belafonte’s “Calypso” went to number one for the next 31 weeks:

Today in 1965, Daily Variety included this ad:

Madness! Running parts for four Insane Boys age 17-21.

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Today in 1963, ABC-TV’s “American Bandstand” moved from every weekday afternoon in Philadelphia to Saturdays in California:

The number one album today in 1968 was the Doors’ “Waiting for the Sun,” their only number one album:

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