Category: Music

Today in 1975, the Bee Gees hit number one, even though they were just just just …

Birthdays start with Harry Mills of the Mills Brothers:

Billy Henderson of the Spinners (sometimes called the Detroit Spinners in contrast to a British group of the same name):

Two anniversaries today demonstrate the fickle nature of the pop charts. This is the number one song today in 1960:

Three years later, the Kingsmen released “Louie Louie.” Some radio stations refused to play it because they claimed it was obscene. Which is ridiculous, because the lyrics were not obscene, merely incomprehensible:

Today in 1969, while the Beatles were wrapping up work on “Abbey Road,” they shot the album cover:

One year later, Blood Sweat & Tears’ “Blood Sweat & Tears 3” hit number one:

Birthdays start with Philip Baisley, one of the Statler Brothers:

Jay David of Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show:

Airrion Love of the Stylistics:

Ali Score played drums for A Flock of Seagulls:

Chris Foreman of Madness:

Ricki Rockett of Poison:

Who is Dave Evans? The Edge of U2:

Birthdays today start with the singer of perhaps the most inappropriate song for a Western in the history of movies, B.J. Thomas:

Kerry Chater of Gary Puckett and the Union Gap:

Richard Joswick of the one-hit-wonder Bo Donaldson and the Heywoods (and exactly which war does this song refer to?):

Bruce Dickinson (not this Bruce Dickinson) of Iron Maiden:

Jacquie O’Sullivan of Bananarama:

One death anniversary: Esther Phillips, today in 1984:

Today in 1965, the Beatles sought “Help” in purchasing an album:

Birthdays start with Green Bay native Pat Macdonald of Timbuk 3, which formed in Madison and found that …

Randy DeBarge of DeBarge:

First, a non-rock anniversary: Today is the 90th anniversary of the first broadcasted baseball game, on KDKA in Pittsburgh: Harold Arlen described Pittsburgh’s 8–0 win over Philadelphia.

Today in 1966, the Beatles recorded “Yellow Submarine” …

… and “Eleanor Rigby” …

… while also releasing their “Revolver” album.

One year later, the pirate rock radio station Radio London, eight miles off the British coast in the ship MV Galaxy, broadcasted for the final time after the British Parliament passed a law making it illegal:

Today in 1974, Joan Jett formed the Runaways:

Birthdays begin with Rick Huxley, one of the Dave Clark Five:

Sammi Smith was a one-crossover-hit wonder:

Who is Rick Zehringer? You know him better as Rick Derringer …

Another one-hit wonder: Samantha Sang, who sang …

Pete Burns of Dead or Alive:

Mike Nocito of Johnny Hates Jazz:

Two deaths of note: Jeff Porcaro, drummer for Toto, in 1992 …

… and the Real Don Steele in 1997:

The first birthday today isn’t a rock music birthday, but fans of the trumpet have to recognize Louis Armstrong:

Elsbeary Hobbs of (the Ben E. King iteration of) the Drifters:

Who is Frank Guzzo? Frankie Ford, who invited you to go on …

Paul Leyton of the Seekers:

Robbin Crosby of Ratt:

The Paul Williams with a birthday today isn’t the short ’70s songwriter who played Little Enos in the “Smokey and the Bandit” movies; he is the Paul Williams who played guitar for A Flock of Seagulls:

Today in 1963, two years and one day after the Beatles started as the house band for the Cavern Club in Liverpool, the Beatles performed there for the last time.

Three years later, the South African government banned Beatles records.

Five years later and one year removed from the Beatles, Paul McCartney formed Wings.

Today in 1974, guitarist Jeff “Skunk” Baxter left Steely Dan for the Doobie Brothers, later to be followed by Michael McDonald.

In my first post-college job, when he went on vacation, the newspaper owner instructed us that whatever happened while he was gone — computer dying on production day, presses struck by lightning, building destroyed by a meteor, whatever — we were to get out a newspaper as scheduled, even if it was one typewritten page. So by that standard, today in 1990 Radio Kuwait failed its listeners, because it left the air due to Kuwait’s invasion by Iraq.

Birthdays start with Tony Bennett — no, not the former Packers linebacker or former UW–Green Bay basketball player:

Beverly Lee of the Shirelles:

Morris “B.B.” Dickerson played bass for War:

Jon Graham of Earth Wind & Fire:

Who is Leon Drucker? Lee Rucker, bass player for the Stray Cats:

James Hetfield of Metallica:

Today in 1961, the Beatles made their debut as the house band of the Cavern Club in Liverpool, before they had recorded music of their own creation.

Birthdays start with Edward Pattern, one of Gladys Knight’s Pips …

… born one year before Doris Kenner of the Shirelles:

Garth Hudson played keyboards for The Band:

Andrew Gold was Linda Ronstadt’s guitarist before his solo career:

Today in 1972, Brian Cole, singer of The Association, died of an overdose at 29:

Today in 1964, the Beatles’ “A Hard Day’s Night” went to number one and stayed there for longer than a hard day’s night — two weeks:

If you are of my age, this was a big moment in 1981:

Today in 1994, while the Beatles were long gone, the Rolling Stones started their Voodoo Lounge tour:

Birthdays start with Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead, who is in fact dead:

Denis Paxton, one of the Dave Clark Five:

Rick Anderson played bass for The Tubes:

Joe Elliot of Def Leppard:

Today in 1964, a Rolling Stones concert in Ireland was stopped due to a riot, 12 minutes after the concert began.

Today in 1966, Alabamans burned Beatles products in protest of John Lennon’s remark that the Beatles were “bigger than Jesus.” The irony was that several years earlier, Lennon met Paul McCartney at a church dinner.

Other than my mother (who was a singer, but never recorded any records, unlike my father’s band, which released a couple of them), birthdays today include Kent Lavoie, better known as Lobo:

Bob Welch, who before his solo career was in Fleetwood Mac before they became big:

Karl Greene of Herman’s Hermits:

Hugh McDowell played cello for Electric Light Orchestra:

REM drummer Bill Berry: