Category: Music

Can one wish a happy birthday to an entire band? If so, wish Jefferson Airplane a happy birthday:

Or perhaps you’d like to celebrate Bill Haley’s birthday around the clock:

Gene Chandler:

Who is Terrence “Jet” Harris? He is credited with popularizing the bass guitar in Britain and helping give Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones (who ended up in Led Zeppelin) their starts:

Rik Elswit of Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show:

Madison native John Jorgenson of the Desert Rose Band:

Michael Grant of Musical Youth, which asks you to …

Today is the anniversary of the Beatles’ first song to reach the U.S. charts, “From Me to You.” Except it wasn’t recorded by the Beatles, it was recorded by Del Shannon:

Five years later,  John Lennon sold his Rolls–Royce:

Sharing my daughter’s birthday are Smiley Lewis, who first did …

Robbie Robertson of The Band:

Huey Lewis:

Guitarist Michael Monarch of Steppenwolf:

Michael Gismondi played saxophone for the Michael Stanley Band:

This being Independence Day, you wouldn’t think there would be many music anniversaries today. I love this one, though: WOWO radio in Fort Wayne, Ind., celebrated the nation’s 153rd birthday by burning its transmitter to the ground.

Independence Day 1970 was not a holiday for Casey Kasem, who premiered “America’s Top 40”:

Birthdays (besides non-rockers Stephen Foster and Louis Armstrong) include Bill Withers:

Al “Blind Owl” Wilson of Canned Heat was born the same day …

… as Dave Rowberry of the Animals:

Jeremy Spencer of the blues incarnation of Fleetwood Mac:

Ralph Johnson played drums for Earth Wind & Fire:

Kirk Pengilly of INXS:

Finally, an American rock fan must play this today:

An interesting anniversary considering what tomorrow is: Today in 1978, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a Federal Communications Commission ruling punishing WBAI radio in New York City for broadcasting George Carlin’s Seven Dirty Words. (If you click on the link, remember, you’ve been warned.)

Birthdays begin with Fontella Bass:

Damon Harris of the Temptations:

The late Laura Brannigan:

Stephen Pearcy of Ratt:

Taylor Dayne:

Two notable deaths happened today: Brian Jones of the Rolling Stones, who contributed, according to Wikipedia, “guitars, sitar, keyboards, accordion, marimba, harmonica, dulcimer, autoharp, percussion, recorder, cello, mandolin, saxophone, [and] backing vocals,” drowned in his swimming pool …

… two years before Jim Morrison of The Doors died in Paris of a heart attack.

Today in 1969, Leslie West and Felix Pappalardi created Mountain:

Birthdays today start with Paul Williams of the Temptations:

Roy Bittan of the E Street Band, which played mostly, but not exclusively, with Bruce Springsteen:

Joey Puerta of Ambrosia:

With that short list, let’s find a cover, boyo:

Today in 1963, the Beatles recorded “She Loves You,” yeah, yeah, yeah:

Four years later, the Beatles’ “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” reached number one, and stayed there for 15 weeks:

Birthdays begin with Robert Byrd (no,  not the older-than-dirt Ku Klux Klan member who became the senator from West Virginia), whom you may know better as Bobby Day:

Delaney Bramlett, of Delaney and Bonnie and Friends:

Deborah Harry of Blondie:

Fred Schneider of the B-52s:

Evelyn “Champagne” King:

Here’s an odd anniversary: Four days after Cher divorced Sonny Bono, she married Gregg Allman. Come back to this blog in nine days to find out what happened next.

Birthdays start with Florence Ballard of the Supremes …

… born one year before Glenn Shorrock of the Little River Band:

Billy Brown, of Ray Goodman Brown:

Andrew Sweet, who is “Andy” in this famed ’70s song:

Hal Lindes of Dire Straits:

Adrian Wright of the Human League:

Today in 1968, Tiny Tim’s “Tiptoe thru the Tulips” reached number 17:

Today in 1971, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards were sentenced on drug charges. And, of course, you could replace “1971” with any year and Jagger’ and Richards’ names with practically any rock musician’s name of those days.

Or other people: Today in 2000, Eminem’s mother sued her son for defamation from the line “My mother smokes more dope than I do” from his “My Name Is.”

Birthdays start with LeRoy Anderson, whose first work was the theme music for many afternoon movies, but who is best known for his second work (with which I point out that Christmas is less than six months away):

Anderson was born two years before Alfred Hitchcock’s favorite composer, Bernard Herrmann:

Who was Eva Boyd? Older readers would remember Little Eva:

Ian Paice, drummer for Deep Purple …

… was born the same day as Bill Kirchen, who led Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen:

Colin Hay, who was born in Scotland but moved to Australia to join Men at Work …

… was born the same day as Don Dokken, who  headed his eponymous group:

Barry D of Jesus Jones:

Today in 1975, David Bowie released “Fame”:

Today in 1978, the UN named Kansas ambassadors of goodwill:

Two birthdays today are from the same group: Drummer Bobby Harrison was born two years before  bassist Dave Knights of Procol Harum:

If that’s your list, you ask, where is your double play? Right here:

For some reason,  the Beatles’ “Sie Liebt Dich” got only to number 97 on the German charts:

The English translation, “She Loves You,” did much better, yeah, yeah, yeah:

This would have never happened in Madison, but … in Milwaukee today in 1993, Don Henley dedicated “It’s Not Easy Being Green” to President Bill Clinton … and got booed.

Frank Mills played a big instrumental of the late ’70s, “Music Box Dancer”:

Let’s see what we can find in the double play box, herr kommissar: