Category: Music

Today in 1945, Billboard magazine published the first album chart, which makes Nat King Cole’s “The King Cole Trio” the number one number one album.

The number one British album today in 1973 was Alice Cooper’s “Billion Dollar Babies”:

The number one single today in 1973:

The number one single today in 1979:

The number one British single today in 1985:

The number one single today in 1990:

Today in 1992, a Chicago judge approved a settlement in a class action lawsuit against Milli Vanilli, with cash rebates of up to $3 to anyone who could prove they purchased a Milli Vanilli song before Nov.  27,  1990.

Nov. 27, 1990 is the date that the winners of the 1989 Grammy Award for Best New Artist were revealed to have lip-synched all their songs, after 30 million singles and 14 million albums sold.

Today in 2001, a section of Georgia 19 in Macon, Ga., was named Duane Allman Boulevard:

Birthdays begin with Lee Oskar of War:

Dougie Thompson played bass for Supertramp:

Nena:

Sharon Corr of the Corrs:

Two deaths of note today: Harold Melvin in 1997 …

… and Motown drummer Uriel Jones in 2009:

And, by the way, happy birthday to San Francisco Police Lt. Frank Bullitt:

The number one British single today in 1961:

The number one single today in 1963:

Today in 1973, the Immigration and Naturalization Service ordered John Lennon to leave the U.S. within  60 days.

More than three years later, Lennon won his appeal and stayed in the U.S. the rest of his life.

The number one single today in 1974:

Today in 1985, Billy Joel married Christie Brinkley on a boat moored at the Statue of Liberty.

Joel and Brinkley divorced in 1993.

The number one album today in 1985:

The number one British album today in 1991 was REM’s “Out of Time”:

Birthdays begin with Ric Ocasek of The Cars:

Who is Yvette Marie Stevens?  You know her as Chaka Khan Chaka Khan Chaka Khan Chaka Khan:

Mark McLoughlin of Wet Wet Wet:

One death of note today in 1995: Alan Barton of Black Lace, which recorded either the number two single in Britain in 1984, or the worst song of all time as determined in a Q Magazine music writers poll:

Today in 1956, a car in which Carl Perkins was a passenger on the way to New York for appearances on the Ed Sullivan and Perry Como shows was involved in a crash. Perkins was in a hospital for several months, and his brother, Jay, was killed.

Today in 1971, members of the Allman Brothers Band were arrested on charges of possessing marijuana and heroin.

The number one single today in 1975:

The number one album today in 1975 was Led Zeppelin’s “Physical Graffiti”:

The number one British album today in 1975 was Tom Jones’ “20 Greatest Hits”:

The number one single today in 1980:

Birthdays begin with Roger Whittaker, whose possibly best known U.S. single might be familiar to 1970s viewers of WGN-TV in Chicago:

George Benson:

Keith Reif sang for the Yardbirds:

Harry Vanda of the Easybeats:

Patrick Olive of Hot Chocolate:

Randy Hobbs of the Johnny Winter Group and the McCoys:

Susanne Sulley sang for the Human League:

Two deaths of note today: Dan Hartman in 1994 …

… and Rod Price of Foghat in 2005:

Today in 1965, the Beatles replaced themselves atop the British single charts:

Today in 1973, the BBC banned all teen acts from “Top of the Pops” after a riot that followed a performance by … David Cassidy.

The number one single today in 1981:

The number one British album today in 1987 was U2’s “The Joshua Tree”:

The number one single today in 1992:

Today in 2004, Yahoo News released a poll on which celebrity should represent Britons in their first contact with aliens:

Birthdays begin with Viv Stanshall of the Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band:

Rosemary Stone of Sly and the Family Stone:

Ray Dorset of Mungo Jerry:

Roger Hodgson of Supertramp:

Conrad Lozano of Los Lobos:

Russell Thompkins Jr. of the Stylistics:

Robert Johnson of KC and the Sunshine Band:

One death of note today in 1991: Leo Fender, creator of the Fender Telecaster …

… and Stratocaster guitars:

The number one single today in 1961 was based on the Italian song “Return to Sorrento”:

Today in 1964, the Beatles appeared on the BBC’s “Ready Steady Go!”

During the show, Billboard magazine presented an award for the Beatles’ having the top three singles of that week.

Today in 1968, Eric Clapton, Neil Young, Richie Furay and Jim Messina were all arrested by Los Angeles police not for possession of …

… but for being at a place where marijuana use was suspected.

Clapton was acquitted; the others paid fines.

Two wedding anniversaries today: John Lennon and Yoko Ono in 1969 …

… and David and Angela Bowie in 1970:

Today in 1971, the Rolling Stones paid for this ad in British music publications:

The number one single today in 1971, sung by a singer who had died five months earlier:

The number one British single today in 1973:

Today in 1977, Lou Reed was banned from appearing at the Palladium in London because of his punk image.

Today in 1978, a 28-year-old man held up the office of Asylum Records in New York, demanding to see either Jackson Browne or the Eagles so he could ask them to fund his trucking company.

The man was told none were in the office, so he surrendered.

The number one single today in 1982:

Birthdays begin with Jerry Reed:

Jimmie Vaughan of the Fabulous Thunderbirds:

Carl Palmer played drums for Emerson Lake & Palmer and Asia:

Richard Drummie of Go West:

Slim Jim Phantom played drums for the Stray Cats:

Alex Kapranos of Franz Ferdinand:

One death of note today in 1991: Conor Clapton, Eric’s 4-year-old son:

Today in 1965, Britain’s Tailor and Cutter Magazine ran a column asking the Rolling Stones to start wearing ties.  The magazine claimed that their male fans’ emulating the Stones’ refusal to wear ties was threatening financial ruin for tiemakers.

To that, Mick Jagger replied:

“The trouble with a tie is that it could dangle in the soup. It is also something extra to which a fan can hang when you are trying to get in and out of a theater.”

Jagger is a graduate of the London School of Economics. Smart guy.

Today in 1974, Jefferson Airplane …

… became Jefferson Starship.

That name remained until Jefferson ______’s Paul Kantner left the group and threatened to sue the group if it used its name, so the group changed to Starship.

The number one single today in 1981:

In the world of premature celebrity deaths, this might be the most stupid: Today in 1982, Ozzy Osbourne and his band stopped at a small airstrip near Leesburg, Fla., on the way to Orlando, Fla., after a most-of-the-night drive following a concert in Knoxville, Tenn.

The bus driver talked keyboard player Don Airey into taking a flight in a 1955 Beachcraft Bonanza. After Airey’s flight landed, the driver took up guitarist Randy Rhoads and Rachel Youngblood, a hairdresser and seamstress on the tour, on another flight. This time, the bus driver/pilot decided to try to buzz the bus. On buzz number three, the plane’s left wing clipped the bus, the plane spiraled and crashed into a house and burst into flames. Rhoads’, Youngblood’s and the pilot’s bodies were burned beyond recognition.

The number one album today in 1995 was Bruce Springsteen’s “Greatest Hits”:

In 2006, Shakira released a single only via a Verizon download:

Birthdays begin with Paul “Don’t Call Me Fort” Atkinson (that’s a Wisconsin joke, by the way) of the Zombies:

Ruth Pointer of the Pointer Sisters:

Derek Longmuir of the Bay City Rollers:

Ricky Wilson of the B-52s:

Billy Sheehan played bass guitar for Mr. Big:

Bruce Willis, more proof that singers can act but actors usually can’t sing:

Terry Hall of Fun B0y Three:

Two other deaths of note today: Paul Kossoff of Free in 1976 …

… and Luther Ingram in 2007:

Today in 1965, the members of the Rolling Stones were fined £5 for urinating in a public place, specifically a gas station after a concert in Romford, England.

Today in 1967, Britain’s New Musical Express magazine announced that Steve Winwood, formerly of the Spencer Davis Group, was forming a group with Jim Capaldi, Chris Wood and Dave Mason, to be called Traffic.

The number one single today in 1967:

Today in 1982, while driving home from a basketball game in Philadelphia, Teddy Pendergrass crashed his Rolls–Royce, resulting in a severed spinal cord and paralysis the rest of his life.

Today in 1989, after the former Cat Stevens announced his approval of the death sentence of The Satanic Verses author Salman Rushdie, a California radio station drove a steamroller over Stevens’ records.

I thought at the time that a more effective strategy would be to follow every Cat Stevens record with this record:

Today in 2004, Courtney Love appeared on CBS-TV’s Late Show with David Letterman:

Birthdays begin with Wilson Pickett:

Barry J. Wilson played drums for Procol Harum:

John Hartman of the Doobie Brothers:

Irene Cara:

Vanessa Williams:

Jerry Cantrell of Alice in Chains:

One death of note today in 2001: John Phillips of the Mamas and the Papas:

This being St. Patrick’s Day, we should have a bit o’ the Irish, including a video I first watched while eating corned beef at an Irish bar in Cuba City today in 1993 …

… plus Van Morrison …

… Thin Lizzy (whose guitarist Scott Gorham has his birthday today)  …

… and U2:

Today in 1957, Elvis Presley paid $102,000 for a 10,000-square-foot 23-room house in Memphis, the former home of Graceland Christian Church.

The number one single today in 1958:

The number one British single today in 1962:

The number one British single today in 1966:

The number one single today in 1973:

The number one British single today in 1979:

The number one British album today in 1979 was the Bee Gees’ “Spirits Having Flown”:

The number one British album today in 1984 was Howard Jones’ “Human’s Lib”:

Birthdays begin with Nat King Cole:

Clarence Collins of Little Anthony and the Imperials:

Paul Kantner played guitar for Jeffersons Airplane and Starship:

John Sebastian of the Lovin’ Spoonful (the first song certainly is appropriate today):

Mike Lindup played keyboards for Level 42:

Melissa Auf der Maur of Hole:

Caroline Corr of the Corrs:

Five deaths of note today: Samuel George Jr., lead singer of the Capitols, in 1982 …

… Rick Grech, bass player for Blind Faith and Traffic, in 1990 …

… one-hit-wonder Jermaine Stewart in 1997 …

… Ola Brunkert, drummer for ABBA, in 2008 …

… and Alex Chilton of the Box Tops in 2010:

The number one British single today in 1959:

Today in 1964, the Beatles set a record for advance sales, even though with 2.1 million sales the group would argue …

The number one single today in 1967:

Winner of the Record, Song and Album of the Year at the 1971 Grammy Awards:

Today in 1972, John Lennon filed an appeal with the Immigration and Naturalization Service after he was served with deportation orders four years after he was convicted of possession of marijuana.

The number one British single today in 1977:

Today in 2005, Billy Joel checked into a rehabilitation facility for alcohol abuse.

Birthdays begin with Jerry Jeff Walker, writer of …

Michael Bruce played guitar for the Alice Cooper band:

Nancy Wilson of Heart:

One death of note today in 1970: Tammi Terrell, at 24 of a brain tumor 2½ years after she collapsed during a concert with Marvin Gaye:

Today being the Ides (Ide?) of March, let’s begin with the Ides of March:

Today in 1955, Elvis Presley signed a management contract with Andreas Cornelis van Kuijk, an illegal immigrant from the Netherlands who named himself Colonel Tom Parker.

The number two single that day:

The number one British album today in 1969 was Cream’s “Goodbye,” which was, duh, their last album:

The number one single today in 1969:

The number one single today in 1973:

The number one British album today in 1975 was Led Zeppelin’s “Physical Graffiti”:

The number one album …

… and single today in 1975:

The number one single today in 1986:

The number two British single today in 1986:

Birthdays begin with Phil Lesh of the Grass Roots and the Grateful Dead:

Mike Love of the Beach Boys:

Sly Stone:

Howard Scott of War:

Dee Snider of Twisted Sister:

Steve Coy of Dead or Alive:

Bret Michaels of Poison: