February 3rd, 1959 was for many, "
the day the music died", when
Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and The Big Bopper were all killed. Their plane took off a little after 1 A.M. from Clear Lake, Iowa, when a cold North-East wind gave way to a blinding snow storm which drastically reduced visibility. Encased in a sea of snow with only white below, pilot Roger Peterson seemed to become disoriented and flew the plane into the ground. One wing hit the frozen earth and the small plane tumbled over and over, killing the three musicians and the plane's young pilot.
Today-
Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers are the halftime entertainment for Super Bowl XLII at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, AZ.
The late
Johnny Cymbal ("
Mr. Bass Man") AKA Derek ("
Cinnamon") was born in 1945.
Dave Davies of the
Kinks ("
Well Respected Man") is 61.
Dennis Edwards of the
Temptations ("
Cloud Nine") turns 65.
Producer
Phil Spector was arrested for allegedly shooting a woman to death in his Alhambra, California home, in 2003.
Peter Gabriel was born in 1950.
In 1968, the song "
Green Tambourine" by the
Lemon Pipers topped the charts and stayed there for a week.
Today in 1973, the song "
Crocodile Rock" by
Elton John topped the charts and stayed there for 3 weeks.
The
Beatles recorded "
Lady Madonna" in three takes at Abbey Road studios in London in 1968.
In 1967, top British pop producer Joe Meek’s life comes to a sticky end, shooting both his landlady and himself. As well as releasing bizarre concept albums about life on the moon, Meek was responsible for the No. 1 success of "
Telstar" in 1962. Amazingly, almost all his records were made in his bedroom.
Melanie, the pop singer who had a 1971 No. 1 with "Brand New Key," was born Melanie Safka in Queens, N.Y.in 1947.
The record label Reprise Records was formed by
Frank Sinatra in 1960.
In 1991,
Sinead O'Connor announced that she wouldn't accept any Grammy Awards or attend the ceremony because the show reflects "false and destructive materialistic values." (Oh, go shave your head).
In New York,
Bob Dylan made his first recording, taping "
San Francisco Bay Blues" in 1961.
In 2002,
Led Zeppelin’s “
Rock and Roll” was used in a Cadillac commercial that debuts during the Super Bowl. It’s the first Zep song licensed for a commercial. (one word-Why?)
Guitarist Lee Renaldo (
Sonic Youth) was born in 1956.
The Cure’s Laurence Tolhurst has a birthday. He’s born in Horley, Surrey, England in 1959.
