Category: Music

My favorite Ray Charles song was number one today in 1961:

Today in 1969, the BBC’s “Top of the Pops” refused for the first time to play that week’s number one song because of what singers Serge Gainsbourg and Jane Birkin were supposedly doing while recording “Je T’Aime … Moi Non Plus”:

According to a classmate of mine, Madison radio stations play Britain’s number one single today in 1971 too often:

The number one single today in 1976, which makes wonder if, to paraphrase Chuck Berry, Beethoven would have been rolling over at this:

Birthdays begin with John Lennon:

John Entwistle of the Who:

Jackson Browne:

Terry Balsamo played guitar for Limp Bizkit and Evanescence:

The number one song today in 1955:

The number one British song (which is not from Britain) today in 1964:

Today in 1971, John Lennon released his “Imagine” album:

The number one British single today in 1977 got virtually no American airplay despite its singer:

Birthdays start with Doc Green, the first deep voice of the Drifters:

George Bellamy played guitar for the Tornadoes:

Butch Rillera of Redbone …

… was born the same day as guitarist Ray Royer of Procol Harum:

Tony Wilson of Hot Chocolate:

Who is John Cummings? You knew him as Joey Ramone:

Hamish Stewart of the Average White Band:

Robert Bell was the “Kool” of Kool and the Gang:

Today in 1975, one of the stranger episodes in rock music history ended when John Lennon got permanent resident status, his “green card.” The federal government, at the direction of Richard Nixon, tried to deport Lennon because of his 1968 British arrest for possession of marijuana. A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals ruled that trying to deport Lennon on the basis of an arrest was “contrary to U.S. ideas of due process and was invalid as a means of banishing the former Beatle from America.”

The number one British single today in 1978 came from that day’s number one album:

The number one album today in 1989 was Tears for Fears’ “Seeds of Love”:

The number one album today in 1995 was Alanis Morrisette’s “Jagged Little Pill” (which should have been difficult to fit into a CD player):

Birthdays start with Colin Cooper of the Climax Blues Band, which …

Tony Sylvester of the Main Ingredient, where …

Dino Valenti of Quicksilver Messenger Service:

Kevin Godley of 10cc and Godley and Creme:

David Hope played bass for Kansas:

Perhaps the biggest Indiana Hoosier football fan you’ll find, John Mellencamp:

Tico Torres of Bon Jovi:

The number one song today in 1970:

The number one song today in 1973:

Britain’s number one album today in 1984 was David Bowie’s “Tonight”:

The number one album today in 2002 was “Elvis Presley’s Number One Hits,” despite (or perhaps because of) the fact that Presley had been dead for 25 years:

Just two birthdays of note, and they were on the same day: Kevin Cronin of REO Speedwagon …

… was born the same day as David Hidalgo of Los Lobos:

The number one song today in 1959 came from a German opera:

The number one  British song today in 1961:

The number one British song today in 1974 came from the movie “The Exorcist”:

The number one U.S.  album today in 1974 was a collection of previous Beach Boys hits, “Endless Summer”:

The number one song today in 1991:

Birthdays begin with Carlos Mastrangelo, one of Dion’s Belmonts:

Richard Street of The Temptations …

… was born one year before Milwaukee’s own Steve Miller:

Brian Connolly of Sweet:

Brian Johnson of AC/DC:

Harold Faltermeyer:

Lee Thompson of Madness:

Dave Dederer of Presidents of the United States (though none of the band’s members have ever been president):

Today in 1957, the sixth annual New Music Express poll named Elvis Presley the second most popular singer in Great Britain … behind Pat Boone. That seems as unlikely as, say, Boone’s recording a heavy metal album.

The number one British song today in 1962, coming to you via satellite:

Britain’s number one album today in 1969 was the Beatles’ “Abbey Road”:

The number one album on both sides of the Atlantic today in 1975 was Pink Floyd’s “Wish You Were Here”:

The number one single today in 1980:

Birthdays start with LeRoy Van Dyke, whose number one country and number five pop song in 1961 is not the “Walk on By” you might think it is:

Who is Patricia Holt? You know her better as Patti LaBelle:

Jim Fielder was the original bass player for Blood Sweat & Tears:

Chris Lowe played keyboards for the Pet Shop Boys:

Barbara Kooyman MacDonald, half of Timbuk 3, which claimed …

Two deaths of note today: Janis Joplin in 1970 …

… and Bruce Palmer, who played in the Buffalo Springfield and Crosby Stills Nash & Young, today in 1974:

We begin with this unusual event: Today in 1978, the members of Aerosmith bailed out 30 of their fans who were arrested at their concert in Fort Wayne, Ind., for smoking marijuana:

Britain’s number one single today in 1987:

Today in 1992 on NBC-TV’s “Saturday Night Live,” Sinead O’Connor torpedoed her own career:

The number one British album today in 1999 was Tom Jones’ “Reload,” which made Jones the oldest performer ever to have a number one album with new material:

Birthdays begin with Eddie Cochran:

Who is Ernest Evans? You know him better as Chubby Checker:

Victor Martinez of Los Bravos:

Lindsey Buckingham of Fleetwood Mac:

Ronnie Laws played saxophone for Earth Wind & Fire:

Jack Grondin was one of .38 Special’s two drummers:

Stevie Ray Vaughan:

Gwen Stefani,  no doubt:

One death of note: Benjamin Orr of the Cars died of cancer today in 2000:

Today in 1953, Victor Borge’s “Comedy in Music” opened on Broadway, closing 849 performances later. (Pop.)

Today in 1960, Maurice Williams and the Zodiacs released “Stay,” which would become the shortest number one single of all time:

The number one single today in 1965:

Today in 1971, Rod Stewart had the number one album, “Every Picture Tells a Story,” and single:

Today in 1983, the number one British single was a song whose original title, “Pass the Kutchie,” was changed to avoid its being banned due to drug references.  So, of course, the new song title came to mean the original title:

Today in 2008, Pink had Britain’s number one album, “Funhouse.” The album’s title was changed from its original name for some strange reason:

Birthdays begin with Mike Rutherford of Genesis:

Gordon Sumner is better known as Sting:

Greg Jennings, not of the Packers, but of Restless Heart:

Robbie Nevil:

Today’s final birthday: Back in my first journalism job, I got a news release package from a record company announcing a shopping mall tour for a new female artist. My part-time colleague and I decided this was a stupid idea going nowhere and threw it into the vertical file. Who was the new artist? Tiffany:

I present the number one single today in 1977 to demonstrate that popularity and quality are not always synonymous:

The number one single today in 1983:

Today in 2004, the Lord Mayor of Melbourne officially opened AC/DC Lane, named for the band, to the bagpipes from …

Birthdays begin with actor Richard Harris, who “sang” …

Julie Andrews acted and sang in musicals:

Jerry Martini played saxophone for Sly and the Family Stone:

Herb Fame found fame as the second half of Peaches and Herb:

Barbara Parritt of The Toys, which recorded Christian Petzold’s Minuet in G major in four keys, none of them G major:

Donny Hathaway:

Mariska Veres, leader of the Shocking Blue:

Cub Koda of Brownsville Station, who may have been caught …

Brian Greenway of April Wine:

One death of note: Today in 1975, Al Jackson, drummer of Booker T and the MGs, was shot and killed by an intruder in his home:

The number one song today in 1957:

Today in 1967, bowing down to popular music, the BBC began its Radio 1:

The number one single today in 1978:

Chances are that the oldest pop singer celebrating a birthday today is Johnny Mathis:

Dewey Martin, drummer for the Buffalo Springfield …

… was born the same day as Frankie Lymon of the Teenagers:

They were born a year before Marilyn McCoo of the Fifth Dimension:

Sylvia Peterson of the Chiffons:

Marc Bolan of T-Rex:

John Lombardo, one of the 10,000 Maniacs:

Who is Basia Trzetrzelevska (other than someone who should be a relative of mine)? You knew her by her first name:

Reb Beach of Winger:

One death of note today in 1977: Mary Ford, the former wife of Waukesha’s Les Paul, with whom she recorded …