Category: Music

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:

The number one single today in 1966:

The Beatles had an interesting day today in 1969. Paul McCartney married Linda Eastman …

… while George Harrison and wife Patti Boyd were arrested on charges of possessing 120 marijuana joints.

Today in 1974, John Lennon celebrated the McCartneys’ fifth wedding anniversary at the Troubadour Club in Los Angeles by hurling insults at the Smothers Brothers during their concert, then punching their manager.

Lennon and Harry Nilsson, who were — surprise! — drinking heavily, were ejected.

Today in 1981, Bow Wow Wow was scheduled to begin a British tour, but canceled the tour after the Greater London Council announced that lead singer Annabella Lwin, 15, would be arrested for truancy.

The number one British album today in 1983 was U2’s “War”:

The number one British single today in 1983:

The number one single today in 1988:

The song of the 20th century, announced today in 2001 by the Recording Industry Association in a poll of musicians, music critics and fans:

Besides Clyde “Coffee” Downing, the longtime morning  DJ for the legendary WISM radio in Madison, birthdays begin with Leonard Chess, founder of Chess Records:

James Taylor:

Steve Harris played bass for Iron Maiden:

Marlon Jackson of the Jackson Five:

The number one British single today in 1965:

The number one single today in 1967:

Today in 1968, this song went gold after its singer died in a plane crash in Lake Monona:

The Grammy Awards today in 1970 were given for song of the year …

… best new artist …

… and Record of the Year:

The number one album on both sides of the Atlantic today in 1972 was Neil Young’s “”Harvest”:

Birthdays begin with Ric Rothwell, drummer for Wayne Fontana and the Mindbenders:

Mark Stein of Vanilla Fudge:

George Kooymans played guitar for Golden Earring:

Bobby McFerrin:

Bruce Watson played guitar for Big Country:

Mike Percy of Dead or Alive:

Lisa Loeb:

Rami Jaffee played keyboards for the Wallflowers:

Today in 1956, RCA records purchased a half-page ad in that week’s Billboard magazine claiming that Elvis Presley was …

Ordinarily, if you have to tell someone something like that, the ad probably doesn’t measure up to the standards of accuracy. In this case, the hype was accurate.

Today in 1960, Britain’s Record Retailer printed the country’s first Extended Play and LP chart. Number one on the EP chart:

The number one single today in 1962:

Today in 1964, Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel recorded “The Sounds of Silence” with just acoustic guitars.

More than a year later, the song was released after producers added electric guitar, bass and drums without telling Simon and Garfunkel.

The number one album today in 1967 was “More of the Monkees”:

Today in 1973, Pink Floyd released “Dark Side of the Moon” in the U.S.

It was on the U.S. album charts for 740 weeks over 14 years.

The number one single today in 1979:

The number one single today in 1984:

Today in 2000, Chrissie Hynde of the Pretenders was arrested for leading an animal rights protest in front of a Manhattan Gap store.

Birthdays begin with Dean Torrence of Jan and Dean:

Tom Scholz played guitar for Boston:

Bunny Debarge of Debarge:

Gary Clark sang for Danny Wilson:

Two Pearl Jam birthdays — bass player Jeff Ament and drummer Dave Krusen:

Edie Brickell of the New Bohemians, wife of the aforementioned Simon:

John Charles LeCompt played guitar for Evanescence:

One death of note today in 1988: Andy Gibb:

Today in 1963, the Beatles appeared in a concert at the East Ham Granada in London … as third billing after Tommy Roe and Chris Montez.

Today in 1964, Capitol Records released the Four Preps’ “Letter to the Beatles.”

The song started at number 85. And then Capitol withdrew the song to avoid a lawsuit because the song included a bit of “I Want to Hold Your Hand.”

The number one British album today in 1968 was Bob Dylan’s “John Wesley Harding”:

To prove that popularity does not always equal quality, I present the number one single today in 1975:

The number one British single today in 1985:

The number one  British single today in 1991 was recorded nine years earlier, but returned to popularity after its use in a Levi’s TV commercial:

The number one British album today in 1991 was Chris Rea’s “Auberge”:

Today in 2004, Tom Jones was banned from wearing tight leather pants by his son and manager, Mark, who said it was time for his 63-year-old father to dress his age.

Birthdays begin with Lloyd Price:

Mickey Gilley:

Mark Lindsay of Paul Revere and the Raiders:

Ron Wilson played drums for the Surfaris:

Robin Trower played guitar for Procol Harum:

Chris Thompson sang for Manfred Mann’s Earth Band:

Jimmy Fadden of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band:

Frank Rodriguez of ? and the Mysterians:

Martin Fry of ABC:

Two deaths of note today: Danny Joe Brown, lead singer of Molly Hatchet, in 2005 …

… and Brad Delp, lead singer of Boston, in 2007:

Today in 1965, Bob Dylan’s “Subterranean Homesick Blues” was released. Other than the run-on nature of the lyrics, the song was one of the first to have an accompanying “promo film,” now known as a “music video”:

Today in 1971, Radio Hanoi played the Star Spangled Banner, presumably not as a compliment:

Today in 1973, Paul McCartney was fined £100 for growing marijuana at his farm in Campbelltown, Scotland.

McCartney’s excuse was that he didn’t know the seeds he claimed to have been given would actually grow.

The number one single today in 1975:

Today in  2003, Mark Knopfler, formerly of Dire Straits, discovered that in a conflict between his Honda motorcycle and a Fiat Punto, the bike loses — or, more accurately, the bike and its rider lose.

Birthdays begin with Ralph Ellis of the Swinging Blue Jeans:

Andrew Semple of the Fortunes:

Michael “Mickey” Dolenz of the Monkees:

Songwriter Carole Bayer Sager:

Randy Meisner played guitar for the Eagles:

Mike Allsup played guitar for Three Dog Night:

Mel Galley played guitar for Whitesnake:

Clive Burr played drums for Iron Maiden:

Gary Numan:

Richard Darbyshire of Living in a Box:

Peter Gill played drums for Frankie Goes to Hollywood:

Tom Chaplin of Keane:

Today in 1973, Ron “Pigpen” McKernen, keyboard player for the Grateful Dead, really was dead.

Today in 1962, the Beatles recorded their first radio appearance, on the BBC’s “Teenagers’ Turn — Here We Go”:

Proving that there is no accounting for taste, I present Britain’s number one single today in 1970:

The number one single over here today in 1970 was by an act that had already broken up:

Today in 1994, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its ruling in Luther R. Campbell aka Luke Skyywalker, et al., Petitioners v. Acuff-Rose Music, Incorporated. Campbell and the rest of 2 Live Crew took Roy Orbison’s “Oh Pretty Woman” …

… and turned it into 2 Live Crew’s “Pretty Woman”:

Since 2 Live Crew hadn’t gotten Acuff–Rose’s permission (though they had asked), Acuff–Rose sued Campbell et al. The Supremes upheld the original U.S. District Court decision that parodies may be protected fair use under Chapter 107 of the Copyright Act of 1976.

Birthdays begin with Chris White, who played bass for the Zombies:

Matthew Fisher played keyboards for Procol Harum:

Peter Wolf sang for the J. Geils Band:

Ernie Isley of the Isley Brothers:

Matt Frenette played drums for Loverboy:

One death of note today in 1988: Gordon Huntley, pedal steel guitarist of Matthews Southern Comfort:

The number one British album today in 1965 was “The Rolling Stones No. 2”:

The number one single today in 1965:

Today in 1970, an album was released to pay for the defense in a California murder trial. You didn’t know Charles Manson was a recording “artist,” did you?

The number one British single today in 1973:

The number one album today in 1982 was the Go-Gos’ “Beauty and the Beat”:

Today in 2004, David Crosby was arrested and charged with possession of a weapon and marijuana after he left his bag in his New York hotel room.

Today in 2008, a British charity claimed that nine of 10 young people had experienced hearing loss due to loud music. The nine all replied, “What?”

Birthdays begin with Sylvia Robinson, of Mickey and Sylvia:

David Gilmour of Pink Floyd:

Mary Wilson of the Supremes …

… was born one year before Hugh Grundy, drummer for the Zombies:

Who is Pauline Matthews? You know her as Kiki Dee, backup singer for Elton John:

Today in 1955, Elvis Presley made his TV debut, on “Louisiana Hayride” on KWKH-TV in Shreveport, La.

The number one album today in 1966 was Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass’ “Going Places”:

The number one single today in 1966:

The number one single today in 1983:

The 1992 Rolling Stone Music Awards Best Single and Best Video:

Birthdays begin with Murray Seafield Saint-George Head:

Alan Clark played keyboards for Dire Straits:

Teena Marie:

Andy Gibb:

Craig and Charlie Reed, better known as the Proclaimers:

John Frusciante played guitar for the Red Hot Chili Peppers:

Two deaths of note today in 1963: Patsy Cline and Hawkshaw Hawkins in a plane crash in Dyersburg, Va., on the way to a benefit for a DJ who had died in a car crash.

Two more deaths of note: John Belushi today in 1982 …

… and Viv Stanshall of the Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band in 1995:

The Grammy Awards premiered today in 1959. The Record of the Year came from a TV series:

Today in 1966, John Lennon demonstrated the ability to get publicity, if not positive publicity, when the London Evening Standard printed a story in which Lennon said:

Christianity will go. It will vanish and shrink. I needn’t argue with that; I’m right and I will be proved right. We’re more popular than Jesus now; I don’t know which will go first — rock and roll or Christianity. Jesus was all right, but his disciples were thick and ordinary. It’s them twisting it that ruins it for me.

Lennon’s comment prompted Bible Belt protests, including burning Beatles records. Of course, as the band pointed out, to burn Beatles records requires purchasing them first.

The number one single today in 1967:

Today in 1973, Pink Floyd began its 19-date North American tour at the Dane County Coliseum in Madison.

Today in 1994,  Kurt Cobain of Nirvana was hospitalized in Rome after overdosing on Rohypnol and champagne.

Today in 2003, a woman in Porth, Wales, was fined £1,000, had her stereo system impounded and was banned from playing loud music after playing too loudly the music of Cliff Richard.

Birthdays begin with one-hit-wonder Paul Mauriat:

Eric Allandale of the Foundations:

Bobby Womack:

Chris Squire played bass for Yes:

Emilio Estefan of the Miami Sound Machine:

Chris Rea:

Boon Gould of Level 42:

Jason Newsted played bass for Metallica:

Actress Patsy Kensit was married to Jim Kerr of Simple Minds and Liam Gallagher of Oasis:

Feargal Lawlor played drums for the Cranberries:

Two deaths of note today: Richard Manuel of The Band in 1986 …

… and Glenn Hughes, the first biker on the Village People, in 2001: