Today in 1959, the four members of the Platters, who had been arrested in Cincinnati Aug. 10 on drug and prostitution charges, were acquitted.
Still, unlike perhaps today, the acquittal didn’t undo the damage the charges caused to the group’s career.
The number one single on both sides of the Atlantic today in 1964:
The number one single on both sides of the Atlantic today in 1966:
The number one British album today in 1983 was the first “Now That’s What I Call Music” compilation:
The short list of birthdays begins with Chad Stuart of Chad and Jeremy:
Ralph Tavares of Tavares:
Producer and one-hit-wonder Paul Hardcastle:
Two deaths of note: Sam Cooke, killed in a motel at 33 today in 1964 …
… and Otis Redding, Jimmy King, Ron Caldwell, Phalin Jones and Carl Cunningham of the Bar-Kays, whose plane crashed into Lake Monona in Madison the afternoon before their scheduled concert today in 1967, leaving trumpet player Ben Cauley as the lone survivor:
Imagine having the opportunity to see Johnny Cash, with Elvis Presley his opening act, in concert at a high school. The concert was at Arkansas High School in Swifton, Ark., today in 1955:
Today in 1961, the Beatles played a concert at the Palais Ballroom in Aldershot, Great Britain. Because the local newspaper wouldn’t accept the promoter’s check for advertising, the concert wasn’t publicized, and attendance totaled 18.
After the concert, the Beatles reportedly were ordered out of town by local police due to their rowdiness.
That, however, doesn’t compare to what happened in New Haven, Conn., today in 1967. Before the Doors concert in the New Haven Arena, a policeman discovered singer Jim Morrison making out in a backstage shower with an 18-year-old girl.
The officer, unaware that he had discovered the lead singer of the concert, told Morrison and the woman to leave. After an argument, in which Morrison told the officer to “eat it,” the officer sprayed Morrison and his new friend with Mace. The concert was delayed one hour while Morrison recovered.
Halfway through the first set, Morrison decided to express his opinion about the New Haven police, daring them to arrest him. They did, on charges of inciting a riot, public obscenity and decency. The charges were later dropped for lack of evidence.
The number one album today in 1972 was the Moody Blues’ “Seventh Sojourn”:
The number one single today in 1978:
Today in 1988, a poll was released on the subject of the best background music for sex. Number three was Luther Vandross …
… number two was Beethoven …
… and number one was Neil Diamond.
Neil Diamond?
The number one single today in 1989:
Today in 2003, Ozzy Osbourne crashed his ATV at his home, breaking his collarbone, eight ribs and a vertebra in his neck.
Birthdays begin with Sam Strain of the Imperials and the O’Jays:
Today in 1940, the first NFL championship game was broadcast nationally on Mutual radio. Before long, Mutual announcer Red Barber probably wondered why they’d bothered.
Today in 1963, Frank Sinatra Jr. was kidnapped from a Lake Tahoe hotel. He was released two days later after his father paid $240,000 ransom. The kidnappers were arrested and sentenced to prison.
The top selling 8-track today in 1971:
The number one single today in 1984 …
… on the same day that Patrick Cavanaugh, former manager of the Coasters, was convicted of the murder of Coaster Buster Wilson, whose partially dismembered body was found in Modesto, Calif., four years earlier.
The number one British single today in 2003:
Birthdays begin with Bobby Elliot, drummer of the Hollies …
… who was born one year before Jim Morrison of the Doors:
Graham Knight of Marmalade …
… was born one year before Geoff Daking, drummer of the Blues Magoos …
… and Gregg Allman:
Dan Hartman was in the Edgar Winter Group before his solo career:
Phil Collen of Def Leppard:
Paul Rutherford of Frankie Goes to Hollywood:
Two deaths of note today: Gary Thain, bass player for Uriah Heep, today in 1975 …
The number one British album today in 1963 will be at number one for 21 weeks — “Meet the Beatles”:
The number one single here today in 1963 certainly was not a traditional pop song:
Today in 1967, Otis Redding recorded a song before heading on a concert tour that included Madison:
The number one British album today in 1968 was the Beatles’ “White Album”:
The number one British single today in 1974 was originally a country song:
See the comment from 1963 about the number one single today in 1974:
The number one song today in 1985:
The number one British song today in 1991:
The number one album today in 1991 was U2’s “Achtung Baby”:
The number one single today in 2003:
Only one birthday of note today: Tom Waits, whose voice was described as “like it was soaked in a vat of bourbon, left hanging in the smokehouse for a few months, and then taken outside and run over with a car” makes him better known as writing for others:
On that day, a free festival in Altamont, Calif., featured the Rolling Stones, Jefferson Airplane, Santana, the Flying Burrito Brothers and Crosby Stills Nash & Young.
The festival, attended by 300,000, also featured one concertgoer being stabbed to death by a member of the Hell’s Angels hired for security, plus a drowning and two men dying in a hit-and-run crash.
The number one album today in 1975 was Paul Simon’s “Still Crazy after All These Years”:
The number one British single today in 1986:
Birthdays start with Dave Brubeck:
Mike Smith, lead singer of the Dave Clark Five …
… was born one year before one-hit-wonder Jonathan King:
The number one album today in 1960 was Elvis Presley’s “G.I. Blues” …
… which is probably unrelated to what Beatles Paul McCartney and Pete Best did in West Germany that day: They were arrested for pinning a condom to a brick wall and igniting it. Their sentence was deportation.
The number one single today in 1964:
The number one single today in 1965 wasn’t a single:
The number one British single today in 1981:
The number one British single today in 2004 was a remake of the original:
The number one British album today in 2004 was U2’s “How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb”:
So who shares a birthday with our youngest son? “Little Richard” Penniman:
Eduardo Delgado of ? and the Mysterians:
Jim Messina of Buffalo Springfield and Loggins and Messina:
Jack Russell of Great White …
… was born the same day as Les Nemes of Haircut 100:
Two deaths of note today: Doug Hopkins, cofounder of the Gin Blossoms, in 1993 …
Imagine being a fly on the wall at Sun Studios in Memphis today in 1956, and listening to the Million Dollar Jam Session with Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash and Carl Perkins.
The number one single today in 1965:
The number one British album today in 1971 was Led Zeppelin’s ” “, alternatively known as “Four Symbols” or “IV” …
… while here it was T Rex’s “Electric Warrior”:
The number one British album today in 1982 was “The John Lennon Collection”:
Today in 1988, Roy Orbison played his final concert, in Cleveland.
Birthdays begin with Freddy “Boom Boom” Cannon:
Chris Hillman of the aforementioned Byrds:
Dennis Wilson of the Beach Boys:
Gary Rossington played guitar for Lynyrd Skynyrd and the Rossington–Collins Band:
One death of note, today in 1993: Frank Zappa, who was survived by his wife Adelaide and their four children, Moon Unit, Dweezil, Ahmet Emuuhkha Rodan and Diva Thin Muffin Pegeen.
We begin with what is not a music anniversary: Today in 1950, Paul Harvey began his national radio broadcast.
The number one song today in 1956:
The number one British single today in 1964:
The most ironic anniversary comes today in 1969, when John Lennon, who famously said the Beatles were “bigger than Jesus,” was offered the lead role in “Jesus Christ Superstar.”
Birthdays begin with Andy Williams:
John Michael “Ozzy” Osbourne:
John Michael “Mickey” Thomas of Elvin Bishop, Jefferson Starship and (Jeffersonless) Starship:
Don Barnes of .38 Special …
… was born the same day as Duane Roland of Molly Hatchet:
The instrumental has been popular on and off throughout the history of rock music, particularly at the beginning.
As it happens, the first record I purchased was an instrumental, Rhythm Heritage’s “Theme from S.W.A.T.”:
The record, which got to number one, did better than the TV series, which was canceled after one season.
Anyone who’s played in a high school marching band has probably played all of these instrumentals:
The challenge with instrumentals is that it’s hard to find them if you don’t know the title. As far as I know, there is no software that allows you to hum the song into your computer to identify the name of the song.
A few acts were known for nothing but instrumentals:
Other groups have used instrumentals (technically different songs) as the open for better-known songs:
Some groups have used instrumentals to show off the playing skills of their members:
Movies and TV shows were the source of instrumentals that sold records as well, either in their original or adapted versions:
Billy Preston played on the Beatles’ “Get Back.” Though his biggest hit was “Nothing from Nothing,” he did two instrumentals that got radio airplay, both with an outer space theme:
These next two are from groups that did record songs with words, but they decided to extend themselves with interesting instrumentals (particularly the second one):
Many radio or TV stations used instrumentals as bumper or theme music. For instance, WLS in Chicago used these two instrumentals for, respectively, top-of-the-hour music and contest music:
CBS-TV used these as theme music for its “CBS Sports Spectacular”:
Music from within movies (that is, songs other than the themes) can make great sports music too:
This piece just scratched the surface of rock instrumentals, so we’ll end by demonstrating the heights or depths to which someone — even one person — recording an instrumental can go to:
Steve Prestegard.com: The Presteblog 