Tuesday, March 2, 2010

This Date In Music History-March 2

Birthdays:

Lou Reed - Velvet Underground (1943)

Eddie Money (1949)

Jay Osmond - Osmonds (1955)

Dale Bozzio - Missing Persons (1955)

Mark Evans - AC/DC. He quit in 1977 after becoming tired of touring (1956)

John Cowsill - Cowsills (1956)

Jon Bon Jovi - Bon Jovi (1962)



Chris Martin - Coldplay (1977)


They Are Missed:

Born on this day in 1950, Karen Carpenter, vocals, drums, The Carpenters. She died on February 4, 1983 of anorexia nervosa.

French singer Serge Gainsbourg died of a heart attack in 1991. During his career, he wrote the soundtracks for more than 40 films.

Born on this day in 1948, Rory Gallagher, Irish blues guitarist. Gallagher died on June 14, 1995.

Born today in 1938 , Lawrence Payton, vocals, The Four Tops. Payton died on June 20, 1997.

In 1999, Dusty Springfield died after a long battle against cancer (age 59). The British singer had her first UK hit single in 1963 with "I Only Want To Be With You" plus over 15 other UK Top 40 singles.

Singer, songwriter Hank Ballard died from throat cancer in 2003. Wrote and recorded "The Twist," but it was only released on the B-side of a record. One year later, Chubby Checker debuted his own version of "The Twist" on Dick Clark's Philadelphia television show. It topped the charts and launched a popular dance craze.

Born today in 1943, Tony Meehan, drummer, The Shadows. Meehan died on11/28/05 (age 62) from head injuries sustained in a fall.

In 2008, Canadian guitarist, singer, Jeff Healey, died of cancer. Healey lost his sight to retinoblastoma, a rare cancer of the eyes when he was eight months old, resulting in his eyes being surgically removed. After living cancer-free for 38 years, he developed sarcoma in his legs. Despite surgery for this, the sarcoma spread to his lungs and ultimately was the cause of his death. Healey released over 12 albums, presented a long running radio show and worked with many artists including Stevie Ray Vaughan, Buddy Guy, BB King, ZZ Top, Steve Lukather, Eric Clapton and Ian Gillan.


History:

Bo Diddley had his first recording session at Universal Recording Studio in Chicago in 1955, where he layed down "Bo Diddley," which went on the top the R&B chart by the following June.

In 1960, after completing his national service and flying back to America, Elvis Presley stepped on British soil for the first and only time in his life when the plane carrying him stopped for refuelling at Prestwick Airport, Scotland.

In 1963, the Four Seasons became the first group to have 3 consecutive #1's in the US when "Walk Like A Man" started a three week run at the top.

The Beatles began filming what would become their first feature film 'A Hard Days Night' at Marylebone train station in London in 1964.

Also in 1964, Vee-Jay Records in Chicago created the Tollie label and released "Twist And Shout" by the Beatles.

At this year’s Grammys in 1974, Stevie Wonder won four awards: Album of the year for 'Innervisions', Best R&B song and Best vocal for "Superstition" and Pop vocal performance for "You Are The Sunshine Of My Life."



Terry Jacks started a three week run at #1 on the US singles chart in 1974 with "Seasons In The Sun." The song (written in French by Belgian, Jacques Brel), had English lyrics by poet Rod McKuen.

In 1975, a policeman who stopped a Lincoln Continental for running a red light in Los Angeles was surprised to find Paul McCartney at the wheel with his wife Linda. The cop detected a smell of marijuana and on searching the car found eight ounces of the drug. Linda was arrested for the offence.

A new digital audio system, a five-inch compact disc containing up to 1 hour of music was launched by Sony, Philips and Polygram in 1983.

Wham! started a three week run at #1 on the US singles chart in 1985 with "Make It Big," which eventually went on the sell over 5 million copies in the US.

In 1991, 21 years after it's first release "All Right Now" by Free made it to #2 on the UK singles chart after being re-issued to coincide with its use in a Wrigleys Chewing gum TV ad.

Madonna's "Rescue Me" entered the US hot 100 at #15 in 1991, making her the highest- debuting female artist in rock history.

In 1991, Mariah Carey started an 11-week run at #1 on the US album chart with her debut 'Mariah Carey.'

LeAnn Rimes went to #1 on the US album chart in 1997 with 'Unchained Melody, The Early Years.'

50 Cent started a nine week run at #1 on the US singles chart in 2003 with "In Da Club."

R. Kelly was at #1 on the US album chart in 2003 with ‘Chocolate Factory.’

In 2004, Metallica and Godsmack headed out on the "Madly In Anger Tour" across North America. "We look forward to completely annihilating America," says Godsmack's Sully Erna. Metallica also offers audio recordings of every show on their tour for sale within days of each performance via their LiveMetallica.com. website. "This technology enables our fans to get the best possible recording of the show, without having to hold a microphone in the air for the entire night," says drummer Lars Ulrich.

In 2007, Jimi Hendrix was crowned the 'wildest guitar hero' of all-time in a poll of music fans for Classic Rock magazine. Hendrix beat Keith Richards into second place, with Stevie Ray Vaughan in third. Led Zeppelin's Jimmy Page made it to number four, followed by Dimebag Darrell, who played for several heavy metal bands including Pantera and Damageplan.

In 2009, Liverpool University launched a Masters degree on The Beatles, popular music and society. Liverpool Hope University claimed the course which looked at the studio sound and compositions of The Beatles was the first of its kind in the UK and "probably the world".

In 2009, U2 began a five-night run on CBS' Late Show With David Letterman to promote their album “No Line On The Horizon.” The set drops the following day. It’s the group’s first performance on Lettermen since ’01. O

Lifehouse roll out their fifth studio album in 2010 “Smoke & Mirrors.” It's the group's first effort since the addition of guitarist Ben Carey.

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