This Date In Music History - December 17

Birthdays:

Art Neville - Neville Brothers (1937)

Jim Bonfanti - Young Rascals, Raspberries (1948)

Paul Rodgers - Free, Bad Company, also a member of The Firm, with Jimmy Page (1949)

Wanda Hutchinson - Emotions (1951)

Mike Mills - R.E.M. (1958)



Sarah Dallen - Bananarama (1962)

Tim Chewning - Ricochet (1962)

Micky Quinn - Supergrass (1969)

DJ Homicide - Sugar Ray (1970)

Neil Christopher - Three Days Grace (1978)

Taylor York - Paramore (1989)


They Are Missed:

Delta blues musician and songwriter Big Joe Williams died in 1982 in Macon, Mississippi (age 79).

Born on this day in 1950, Carlton Barrett, The Wailers. Barrett was shot dead outside his home on April 17, 1987.

Born today in 1942, Paul Butterfield, blues singer, harmonica player. Appeared at The Bands, 'Last Waltz'. Died on May 4, 1987.

Born on this day in 1939, Eddie Kendricks, vocals, the Temptations, solo. Died on October 5, 1992.

Born today in 1959, Bob Stinson, guitar, the Replacements. Died of an accidental drug overdose February 18, 1995.

Jazz-funk, soul-jazz saxophonist Grover Washington Jr died of a heart attack in 1999 (age 56). He collapsed in the green room after taping four songs for The Early Show, at CBS Studios in New York City. He released over 20 solo albums and featured on the 1981 Bill Withers hit "Just The Two of Us."

English saxophonist Denis Payton died in 2006. Member of Dave Clark Five who had the 1964 UK #1 single "Glad All Over," 1965 US #1 single "Over And Over," plus over 15 other UK top 40 singles.




History:

In 1892, Tchaikovsky's "The Nutcracker" was first performed in St. Petersburg by the Russian Imperial Ballet.

Bill Haley and his Comets put the first Rock and Roll song on the UK singles chart in 1954 with "Rock Around The Clock," which would later peak at number 4.

While their hit "Only You" was still at #2, The Platters' "The Great Pretender" entered the Billboard R&B chart at #13 in 1955.

Carl Perkins wrote "Blue Suede Shoes" in 1955. Less than 48 hours later, he recorded it in Memphis, TN.



Tennessee Ernie Ford's version of "Sixteen Tons" was #1 on both the Billboard Pop and Country & Western charts in 1955. The song had first recorded in 1946 by American Country singer Merle Travis.

In 1957, Bobby Helms' "Jingle Bell Rock" entered the Billboard Pop chart for the first time, where it will reach #6. It will make the chart again in December 1958, 1960, 1961 and 1962.

Returning from Hamburg in 1960, the Beatles appeared at the Casbah Coffee Club in Liverpool. Chas Newby joined the Beatles on bass guitar (to replace Stuart Sutcliffe, who had remained in Hamburg), a position he would hold for only two weeks and four performances. When Newby bowed out to return to college, Paul McCartney became the Beatles' bass player.

In 1962, Bob Dylan arrived in England for the first time; he played his first UK date the following night at the Troubadour Club in London.

In 1963, James Carroll at WWDC in Washington, DC, became the first disc jockey to broadcast a Beatles' record on American radio. Carroll played "I Want To Hold Your Hand," which he had obtained from his stewardess girlfriend; who had brought the single back from the UK. Due to listener demand, the song was played daily, every hour. Since it hadn't been released yet in the States, Capitol Records initially considered court action, but instead released the single earlier than planned.

Judy Garland and The Supremes performed at the opening of the Astrodome in Houston in 1965.

The Royal Guardsmen's "Snoopy vs. the Red Baron" entered the Billboard Pop chart in 1966, where it will peak at #2 during its eleven week run.

Also in 1966, the Four Tops' "Standing in the Shadows of Love" entered the Billboard Hot 100. During a ten week stay, the tune will peak at #6. It also reached #2 on the R&B chart.

The Who played their Xmas party at the Marquee Club, London in 1968. Also on the bill was a new group called Yes. Members 15 shillings, ($1.80) or £1 ($2.40) on the night. Other acts appearing at the club this month included Joe Cocker, Free and Led Zeppelin.

In 1969, an estimated 40 million viewers tuned in to see 36 year-old Tiny Tim marry 17 year old Victoria May Budinger, whom he referred to as "Miss Vicki," on The Tonight Show. The couple would later have one daughter, Tulip, but divorced in 1972.

The Beach Boys played a command performance for Princess Margaret at London's Royal Albert Hall in 1970.

In 1975, Aerosmith and Blue Oyster Cult appeared at the San Diego Sports Arena, San Diego, California.

In 1977, Mr. David Ackroyd purchased the one-millionth copy of "Mull Of Kintyre," by Wings in the UK and became the first record buyer to receive a Gold Disc.

Elvis Costello appeared on NBC-TV's Saturday Night Live in 1977 (subbing for the Sex Pistols, who could not get visas to enter the US), where producer Lorne Michaels refused to allow him to perform "Radio, Radio" (because of the song's criticism of the broadcasting industry). A few measures into "Less than Zero," Costello halted his group and goes into "Radio, Radio."



Also in 1977, George Harrison played an unannounced live set for the regulars at his local pub in Henley-On-Thames.

In 1982, Karen Carpenter made her last live appearance with The Carpenters singing Christmas carols at Buckley School in Sherman Oaks, California.

The Who played the "last concert of our farewell tour" at Toronto's Maple Leaf Gardens in 1982. However, The Who continues to say goodbye through the ‘90s. And it proves highly lucrative.

Wayne "Danke Schoen" Newton won a $19.2 million suit against NBC News in 1986. NBC had aired reports claiming a link between Newton and mob figures. The reports were proven to be false.

Paul McCartney's limo catches fire en route to a TV taping in Newcastle, England in 1986. Both he and his wife Linda escape unharmed.

The Doobie Brothers reunited for a benefit in Palo Alto, California in 1986. The performance inspires a reunion tour the next year.

Ini Kamoze started a two week run at #1 on the US singles chart in 1994 with "Here Comes The Hotstepper."

Also in 1994, a remixed version of The Four Seasons' "December, 1963 (Oh, What A Night)" re-entered the US Hot 100, where it stayed for another 27 weeks, just as it did when it first charted in 1976. The combined run will establish a record for the longest total chart appearance in US chart history.

In 1995, a statue of the late Frank Zappa was unveiled in Vilnius, the capital of the Republic Of Lithuania. It had been organised by Zappa fan club President Saulius Pauksty.

David Bowie launched his BowieNet on the Internet in 1997.

In 1999, the Rolling Stones' Keith Richards decides to keep a guitar that he was asked to autograph, outside his birthday party at the Russian Tea Room in New York City. The owner of the guitar decides not to press charges saying, "It's Keith, man."

In 2004, Elvis Presley's daughter Lisa Marie agreed to sell 85% of his estate to businessman Robert FX Sillerman in a deal worth $100,000,000. Sillerman will run Presley's Memphis home, Graceland, will own Elvis' name and likeness, as well as the rights to his photographs and revenue from his music and films. Lisa Marie will retain possession of Graceland and many of her father's personal effects. The agreement was to pay her $53 million in cash and absolve her of $25m in debts owed by the estate. She will also receive shares in the new company expected to be worth more than $20 million. Actress Priscilla Presley, Lisa Marie's mother and Presley's former wife, remained executive consultant to the business.

A letter written by late Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain to Courtney Love in 1991 sells for more than $19,000 at a Christie’s memorabilia auction in NY in 2004.

Bon Jovi's show in Washington, D.C., was transmitted live through Sprint wireless phones and multimedia devices in 2005, becoming the first full-length concert streamed through the carrier. Subscribers watch by tuning in Sprint TV.

U2 had the top-grossing tour of 2005, according to an end-of-year chart compiled by US magazine Billboard. More than three million people watched the band's sell-out 90-date Vertigo tour which grossed $260m. The Eagles, took $117m from 77 shows and Neil Diamond grossed more than $71m. Kenny Chesney was fourth with $63m, Paul McCartney $60m, Rod Stewart with $49m, Elton John with $45.5m, Dave Matthews Band with $45m, Jimmy Buffett with $41m and Green Day with $36.5m.

Rumors that John Frusciante had left the Red Hot Chili Peppers are confirmed on the guitarist’s MySpace blog in 2009. “To put it simply, my musical interests have led me in a different direction.” According to Frusciante, this isn’t exactly new news. He writes that he left the band over a year earlier when the Peppers were on indefinite hiatus. At the time of the announcement, RHCP are in the studio recording a follow-up to ‘06’s “Stadium Arcadium” with guitarist Josh Klinghoffer. It’s the second time Fusciante has parted company with the RHCP.

Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke crashed the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen in 2009 by pretending to be a member of the press. "Do you imagine they'd let me in otherwise,” asks Yorke. He later criticizes the conference as ineffective.

In 2009, insisting that he has let go of all his "anger and bitterness," John Lennon’s son Julian said that he has finally forgiven his late father for walking out on him as a child. "I realized if I continued to feel that anger and bitterness towards my dad, I would have a cloud hanging over my head." After John was murdered in 1980, it was revealed that he had left very little to Julian in his will.