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:
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 …
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 …
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:
The texting shorthand term “smh” (“shakes my head”) didn’t exist in 1955 because texting didn’t exist in 1955.
But surely “smh” was invented for things like this: Today in 1955, CBS talent scout Arthur Godfrey made a signing decision between Elvis Presley and Pat Boone.
Godfrey chose Boone.
The number one British single today in 1963:
Today in 1968, the BBC’s “Top of the Pops” showed the promotional film for the Beatles’ “Lady Madonna.”
Well, the audio is from “Lady Madonna.” The video was from a different song:
The number one single today in 1973:
Today in 1985, Dead or Alive was kicked off the British TV show “The Tube” because they admitted they were incapable of playing, well, alive.
The number one British album today in 1987 was “The Very Best of Hot Chocolate”:
The number one single today in 1998:
Birthdays start with Quincy Jones:
Walter Parazaider is the saxophone player (hey, that rhymes … I think) and one of the four original members of Chicago:
James O’Rourke played guitar for John Fred and His Playboy Band:
Two deaths of note today: Linda Jones in 1972 …
and Jerome Solon Felder, better known as songwriter Doc Pomus, in 1991:
The number one single on both sides of the Atlantic today in 1960:
Today in 1965, Eric Clapton quit the Yardbirds because he wanted to continue playing the blues, while the other members wanted to sell records, as in …
The number one single today in 1965:
Today in 1967, the Beatles hired Sounds, Inc. for horn work:
The number one single today in 1976:
The number one single today in 1993 should have been on my blog on The Worst Music of All Time:
The number one album today in 1993 was Eric Clapton’s “Unplugged”:
The number one British album today in 1993 was from Lenny Kravitz:
Birthdays begin with Mike Stoller of the Leiber and Stoller songwriting team:
Neil Sedaka:
Adam Clayton plays bass for U2:
One death of note today in 2002: Marc Moreland, guitarist for Wall of Voodoo:
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