Today in 1967, the Beatles mixed “I Am the Walrus,” which combined three songs John Lennon had been writing. The song includes the sounds of a radio going up and down the dial, ending at a BBC presentation of William Shakespeare’s “King Lear.” Lennon had read that a teacher at his primary school was having his students analyze Beatles lyrics, Lennon reportedly added one nonsensical verse, although arguably none of the verses make much sense:
Today in 1965, Roger Daltrey was fired from The Who after he punched out drummer Keith Moon. Fortunately for Daltrey and the Who, he was unfired the next day. (Daltrey and Pete Townshend reportedly have had more fistfights than Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier.)
The number one album today in 1980 was the Go-Gos’ “Beauty and the Beat,” in which they reminded us …
The number one album today in 1981:
The number one album today in 1987:
Birthdays start with singer and NASCAR racer Marty Robbins:
Before Julie London was Nurse Dixie McCall on “Emergency!”, she was a singer:
George, one of the Chambers Brothers:
Joe Bauer, drummer for the Youngbloods:
Bryan Ferry of Roxy Music:
Olivia Newton-John:
Craig Chaquico of Jefferson Starship …
… was born the same day as Cesar Rosas of Los Lobos:
The number one song today in 1965 was this pleasant-sounding, upbeat ditty:
That was on the same day that ABC-TV premiered a cartoon, “The Beatles”:
The number one British song today in 1968:
Today in 1970 was the premiere of a sitcom based on the Cowsills:
Unlike the Cowsills, only two members of the on-camera Partridge Family performed with the Partridge Family band (which were a group of session musicians): David Cassidy, who sang lead, and Shirley Jones, who sang backup vocals.
Today in 1975, singer Jackie Wilson suffered a heart attack while singing “Lonely Teardrops” in a casino in New Jersey. The heart attack caused brain damage, and Wilson died in 1984.
Today in 1982, viewers of NBC-TV’s “Saturday Night Live” got to see Queen:
Today in 1989, viewers of “Saturday Night Live” got to see Neil Young:
Britain’s number one single today in 2006 wasn’t from a British act:
Birthdays start with John Locke (not the philosopher) of Spirit:
Owen “Onnie” McIntyre of the Average White Band:
Burleigh Drummond played, what else, drums for Ambrosia:
Two deaths of note: today in 1980, John “Bonzo” Bonham, drummer for Led Zeppelin, died of a vodka overdose:
Today in 1999, Stephen Canaday of the Ozark Mountain Daredevils died when his World War II plane stalled and crashed into a tree:
We begin with an odd moment today in 1962: Elvis Presley’s manager, Col. Tom Parker, declined an invitation on Presley’s behalf for an appearance before the Royal Family. Declining wasn’t due to conflicting film schedules (the stated reason) or anti-royalism — it was because Parker was an illegal immigrant to the U.S. from the Netherlands (his real name was Andreas Cornelis van Kuijk), and he was afraid he wouldn’t be allowed back into the U.S.
Number one in Britain today in 1964:
Number one in Britain …
… and in the U.S. today in 1983:
The number one British single today in 1988 was recorded by a group whose previous number one single was 25 years earlier. The song, recorded 19 years earlier with someone named Elton John on piano, became a number one because it was in a beer commercial:
Birthdays begin with Mel Taylor, drummer for the Ventures:
The late Linda McCartney, Paul’s wife …
… who was born the same day as Gerry Marsden of Gerry and the Pacemakers:
Today in 1969, the Northern Star, the Northern Illinois University student newspaper, passed on the rumor that Paul McCartney had died in a car crash in 1966 and been impersonated in public ever since then. A Detroit radio station picked up the rumor, and then McCartney himself had to appear in public to report that, to quote Mark Twain, rumors of his death had been exaggerated.
(Thirty-five years to the day later, in 2004, Slipknot’s Corey Taylor issued a statement denying his death after a Des Moines radio station announced he had died from a drug overdose, then correcting to say Taylor had died in a car crash.)
The number one song today in 1972:
Today in 1980, Bob Marley collapsed during a concert in Pittsburgh:
That was Marley’s last concert. He died of cancer the following May.
The number one song today in 1989 was Milli Vanilli’s “Girl I’m Gonna Miss You.” But I’m not going to play it because Milli Vanilli didn’t actually exist.
The number one British single today in 2001:
Birthdays begin with Ray Charles, with whom, as you know, my father once played:
One-hit wonder Toni Basil …
… was born the same day as Steve Boone of the Lovin’ Spoonful:
Today in 1967, a few days after their first and last appearance on CBS-TV’s “Ed Sullivan Show,” the Doors appeared on the Murray the K show on WPIX-TV in New York:
Today in 1969, ABC-TV premiered “Music Scene” against CBS-TV’s “Gunsmoke” and NBC-TV’s “Laugh-In”:
The number one British album today in 1973 was the Rolling Stones’ “Goats Head Soup,” despite (or perhaps because of) the BBC’s ban of one of its songs, “Star Star”:
Gary Numan had Britain’s number one single and album today in 1979:
Today is an anniversary for two notable concerts. Today in 1979, the first of the two No Nukes concerts was held at Madison Square Garden in New York:
Today in 1985, the first Farm Aid concert was held at the University of Illinois:
Birthdays begin with David Coverdale of Whitesnake:
Richard Fairbrass of the one-hit-wonder Right Said Fred:
The number one British single today in 1969 wasn’t from Britain:
The number one U.S. single today in 1969 came from a cartoon:
The number one British album today in 1969 was from the supergroup Blind Faith, which, given its membership (Eric Clapton, Ginger Baker of Cream and Steve Winwood), was less than the sum of its parts:
Today in 1970, Jim Morrison of the Doors was found not guilty of lewd and lascivious behavior, but guilty of indecent exposure and profanity, after dropping trou at the Cocoanut Grove nightclub in Miami. Morrison was sentenced to eight months hard labor and fined $500. He neither served nor paid his sentence after appealing and then, well, dying.
The number one single here today in 1975:
Birthdays begin with one-hit-wonder Gogi Grant:
Michael Oldroyd of Manfred Mann:
The first set of twins today: Chuck and John Pannazzo of Styx:
Allanah Curie of the (unrelated) Thompson Twins (trio):
Jeff Jones of Red Rider:
The other set of today’s twins: Gunnar and Matthew Nelson of Nelson:
One death of note: Jim Croce went to Rock and Roll Heaven, where you know they got a hell of a band, today in 1973 after a plane crash:
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