Wisconsinites know that the first radio station was what now is WHA in Madison. Today in 1920, the nation’s first commercial radio station, KDKA in Pittsburgh, went on the air.
The number one British single today in 1956 is the only number one song cowritten by a vice president, Charles Dawes:
The number one song today in 1974:
The number one British album today in 1985 was Simple Minds’ “Once Upon a Time” …
… while over here number one was the “Miami Vice” soundtrack:
Birthdays start with Keith Emerson of Emerson, Lake & Palmer:
Dave Pegg, who played bass for Jethro Tull …
… was born one year before Rich Gooch of Quaterflash:
We begin with a non-music anniversary: Today in 1870, the U.S. Weather Bureau was created, later to become the National Weather Service.
Tomorrow in 1870, the first complaints were made about the Weather Bureau’s being wrong about its forecast.
Today in 1946, two New York radio stations changed call letters. WABC, owned by CBS, became (natch) WCBS, paving the way for WJZ, owned by ABC, to become (natch) WABC seven years later. WEAF changed its call letters to WNBC.
I suspect this was the number one single today in 1969:
The number one album today in 1969 was the Beatles’ “Abbey Road”:
The number one British single today in 1970 was about an event that occurred a year earlier in the U.S., written by someone who didn’t actually attend:
The number one single today in 1975:
The number one album today in 1980 was “Hungry Heart,” Bruce Springsteen’s first number one album:
Proving yet again that there is no accounting for taste, I present the number one British single today in 1997:
Birthdays begin with U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Barry Sadler:
Today in 1963, Ed Sullivan was at Heathrow Airport in London just as the Beatles deplaned to a crowd of screaming fans and a mob of journalists and photographers.
Intrigued, Sullivan decided to investigate getting the Beatles onto his show.
Today in 1964, Ray Charles was arrested at Logan Airport in Boston and charged with heroin. Charles was sentenced to one year probation after he kicked the horse.
The number one British album today in 1970 was “Motown Chartbusters Volume 4,” clearly not British …
… while the number one U.S. album was “Led Zeppelin III,” clearly not American:
That same day, Michelle Phillips married Dennis Hopper. The marriage lasted eight days.
The number British album in 1987 was Fleetwood Mac’s “Tango in the Night”:
Birthdays begin with Russ Ballard of Argent and his own writing career:
Today in 1983, Pink Floyd’s “Dark Side of the Moon” spent its 491st week on the charts, surpassing the previous record set by Johnny Mathis’ “Johnny’s Greatest Hits.” “Dark Side of the Moon” finally departed the charts in October 1988, after 741 weeks on the charts.
The number one song today in 1988:
Today in 2003, research at the University of Cincinnati discovered the “earworm” — songs get stuck in listeners’ heads by creating a “brain itch” that can only be “scratched” by repeating a song. Which helps explain such songs as …
Birthdays begin with Neal Hefti, known for two TV shows:
Denny Laine played guitar for the early Moody Blues and Wings:
Robbie van Leeuwen played guitar for the Shocking Blue:
Peter Green was part of the first iteration of Fleetwood Mac:
Pete Timmons of the Cowboy Junkies:
One death of note: Duane Allman of the Allman Brothers Band, killed in a motorcycle crash today in 1971:
Today in 1956, Elvis Presley made his second appearance on CBS-TV’s Ed Sullivan Show, with Sullivan presenting Presley a gold record for …
One year later, Presley’s appearance at the Pan Pacific Auditorium in Los Angeles prompted police to tell Presley he was not allowed to wiggle his hips onstage. The next night’s performance was filmed by the LAPD vice squad.
One year later, Buddy Holly filmed ABC-TV’s “American Bandstand”:
It would be Holly’s last TV appearance.
Today in 1964, the T.A.M.I. show began in Santa Monica, Calif., emceed by Jan and Dean:
The number one album today in 1967 was “The Supremes: Greatest Hits”:
In 1972, something called the United States Council for World Affairs selected this as its official theme song (which is ironic given the Roger Daltrey vs. Pete Townshend fights over the years):
The number one album today in 1989 was Janet Jackson’s “Rhythm Nation 1814”:
Birthdays begin with Charlie Daniels:
Randy Newman:
Wayne Fontana:
Tommy Dolbeck played drums for the Michael Stanley Band:
Four days before Halloween was the world premiere of the more recognizable version of Modest Mussorgsky’s “Night on Bald Mountain”:
The song was an appropriate theme for the Friday-bad-horror-flick-show “The Inferno” on WMTV in Madison:
Britain’s number one song today in 1957:
The number one song today in 1963 was the Four Tops’ only number one:
The number one song today in 1973:
Today in 1975, Time and Newsweek demonstrated journalistic groupthink when they chose the same cover story on a then-obscure musician, Bruce Springsteen:
The number one British album today in 1990 was Paul Simon’s “The Rhythm of the Saints”:
Presenting, in order, the Best British Group and Worst Female Singer in the 1991 Smash Hits Poll:
The small list of birthdays starts with Byron Allred, who played keyboards for the Steve Miller Band:
Simon Le Bon of Duran Duran …
Peter Dodd played guitar for the Thompson Twins:
Scott Weiland of the Stone Temple Pilots:
Finally, today in 1980, Steve Took, a former member of T Rex, choked to death on a cherry pit. He choked to death because the magic mushrooms he had taken numbed all sensation in his throat.
Britishers with taste bought this single when it hit the charts today in 1961:
Today in 1965, the four Beatles were named Members of the Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth. The Beatles’ visit reportedly began when they smoked marijuana in a Buckingham Palace bathroom to calm their nerves.
The Beatles’ receiving their MBEs prompted a number of MBE recipients to return theirs. “Lots of people who complained about us receiving the MBE received theirs for heroism in the war — for killing people,” said John Lennon, previewing the public relations skills he’d show a year later when he would compare the Beatles to Jesus Christ. “We received ours for entertaining other people. I’d say we deserve ours more.”
Lennon returned his MBE in 1969 as part of his peace protests.
The number one album today in 1974 was Barry White’s only number one album, “Can’t Get Enough”:
Britain’s number one album today in 1985 was a George Benson greatest hits compilation:
Proving that there is no accounting for taste (you have been warned), I present the number one British single today in 1997:
Today in 2004, Forbes magazine listed the top five dead musicians in order of postmortem earnings, starting with number five:
Birthdays begin with Keith Hopwood, one of Herman’s Hermits:
David Was of Was (Not Was):
Keith Strickland of the B-52s:
Natalie Merchant, formerly one of the 10,000 Maniacs:
Today in 1963, the Beatles played two shows in Sundstavagen, Sweden, to begin their first tour of Sweden. The local music critic was less than impressed, claiming the Beatles should have been happy for their fans’ screaming to drown out the group’s “terrible” performance, asserting that the Beatles “were of no musical importance whatsoever,” and furthermore claiming their local opening act, the Phantoms, “decidedly outshone them.”
Three thoughts: Perhaps the Beatles did have a bad night. But have you heard a Phantoms song recently? It is also unknown whether the Beatles’ “Norwegian Wood” was intended as revenge against the Swedes.
One year later, a demonstration of why the phrase “never say never” holds validity: Today in 1964, the Rolling Stones made their first appearance on CBS-TV’s Ed Sullivan Show.
A riot broke out in the CBS studio, which prompted Sullivan to say, “I promise you they’ll never be back on our show again.” “Never” turned out to be May 2, 1965, when the Stones made the second of their six performances on the rilly big shew.
Today in 1968, the Jimi Hendrix Experience released “Electric Ladyland”:
The most controversial part of the album was its cover, which featured Hendrix’s head …
… instead of what the record label had in mind:
Today in 1970, President Richard Nixon asked radio station programmers to (to coin a phrase from the next decade) just say no to playing songs with drug references. Which would have taken, by one measure, one out of every seven rock songs off the air, before and after Nixon’s request.
The number one single today in 1975:
The number one single today in 1980 comes from the number one album today in 1980, Barbra Streisand’s “Guilty”:
The number one album today in 1986 was Bon Jovi’s “Slippery When Wet”:
Birthdays start with Helen Reddy:
Jon Anderson of Yes:
John Hall of Orleans:
Glenn Tipton of Judas Priest:
Matthias Jabs played guitar for the Scorpions:
Robbie Macintosh of the Pretenders and other bands:
Chad Smith of the Red Hot Chili Peppers:
Two deaths of note today: Roger Miller today in 1992 …
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