Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Ask Mr. Music by Jerry Osborne

FOR THE WEEK OF FEBRUARY 27, 2012


DEAR JERRY: After dozens of times listening to and analyzing “I'm My Own Grandpa,” I'm throwing in the towel.

This includes many versions (Lonzo & Oscar; Grandpa Jones; Ray Stevens; etc.), but no matter who sings it, I just can't follow the crazy storyline and end up with the singer being his own grandfather.

Has anyone explained this mess in a way that's easy to understand?
—Lydia Locke, Atlanta


DEAR LYDIA: Apart from the lyrics, with their intrinsic complexities, I have never seen a simplified explanation.

So I'll give it a whirl.

Making things more difficult to follow are all of the added lyrics used to embellish and extend the story, and also to create rhyming verses.

However, since I am not singing it for you, I can temporarily disregard everything except the essential relationships. I'll revisit the remnants later.

To assist with the tracking, I'll assign familiar names to all of the participants, some of whom are blood relatives and others connected by marriage (no inbreeding).

Just call me Homer, and here's my extraordinary story:

When I met Marge, she was a widow with an adult daughter named Lisa. When we married, Lisa became my stepdaughter.

Lisa fancied older men and fell for my dad (Abe). Soon they were married, an event that led to some bizarre associations:

By being married to Lisa, my stepdaughter, Abe is now my new son-in-law.

Marrying my father (Abe) also makes Lisa (already my daughter) my new mother-in-law.

Marge, already my wife and Lisa's mother, is also now my grandmother (in-law). This is because Marge is the mother of Lisa, who is my father's wife and therefore my mother-in-law.

As the husband of my grandma Marge, I am now my own grandpa.

Reduced to a single sentence: Being married to his mother's mother makes a man his own grandfather.

Though the central plot is covered in these few lines, it would make for an unacceptably brief song.

To lengthen it to an appropriate running time, some other characters and events were added. They do not change the “I'm My Own Grandpa” outcome, though they do add considerably to the confusion for those trying to track the relationships.

Bringing them to life by using the same family names, here are those extra connections cited in the lyrics:

Marge and I have a child of our own, a boy named Bart, making Bart a brother-in-law to Abe, my son-in-law.

Bart being the brother of Lisa and her husband (Abe) also makes him my uncle (my father's brother-in-law).

Abe and Lisa then had a son (Nelson) who, as the child of my stepdaughter and son-in-law, is now my grandson. Nelson, the child of my father (Abe) and mother-in-law (Lisa), is also my new stepbrother.

Imagine the stress this family endures when trying to select an appropriate greeting card.


DEAR JERRY: I bought a CD of Polish music at a rummage sale, and one of the selections is titled “Dziec Pireusu.” It is sung in Polish, which I don't understand.

I was surprised, however, to find the tune is the same as the song we know here as “Never on Sunday.”

Is “Dziec Pireusu” the original recording, or did it come later?
—Ellen Bourget, South Milwaukee


DEAR ELLEN: The music known in the English-speaking countries as “Never on Sunday,” was written by Manos Hadjidakis, in his native Greek.

Originally titled “Ta Paidia tou Peiraia” (The Children of Piraeus), versions of this infectious tune quickly appeared in about 20 different languages.

In Polish, “Dziec Pireusu” means Piraeus Child, Piraeus being a municipality of Athens. Situated on the Eastern Mediterranean, the Port of Piraeus is the largest and busiest port in Greece.

In the U.S., Don Costa (His Orchestra & Chorus) had the instrumental hit, and the Chordettes (with Archie Bleyer & Orchestra) the vocal version (English lyrics written by Billy Towne).

Both Costa (1960) and the Chordettes (1961) turned “Never on Sunday” into Top 20 hits.


IZ ZAT SO? In the first 70 years (1934-2003) in which the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences presented an Award for Best Original Song, the only Oscar winner from a foreign-language film went, in 1961, to Manos Hadjidakis for “Ta Paidia tou Peiraia” (“Never on Sunday”).


Jerry Osborne answers as many questions as possible through this column. Write Jerry at: Box 255, Port Townsend, WA 98368 E-mail: jpo@olympus.net   Visit his Web site: www.jerryosborne.com

All values quoted in this column are for near-mint condition.

Copyright 2011 Osborne Enterprises- Reprinted By Exclusive Permission

Vinyl Record News & Music Notes

this is the coolest ventures i have seen in a long time (and, by the way, i love pie!)

Have A Slice Of Vinyl Pie?

“Southsea’s only new music store and pie cafĂ©” on its way!" The site is currently being fitted and readied for launch next month. And they have thier name, the approprietly titled Pie & Vinyl. As well as having
crates for the crate-diggers of the world, they will have pies. A Blueberry and a Dylan, please.....

The owners say via their Facebook page that the shop is “created by music and pie lovers, for music lovers, who maybe also like to do pie”. They add: “You’ll find the latest eclectic music releases on CD, vinyl and MP3, if we don’t stock it we’ll order it. Our cafe area will be serving a wide range of pies sourced from Buckwells of Osbourne Road, and Pie Minister, as well as hot and cold beverages. A highlight to our cafe will be listening pods on tables to preview new and forthcoming releases”.

=============

Omnivore Recordings Announces Buck Owens & The Knack Record Store Day Releases

Omnivore Recordings has just announced two upcoming exclusive releases for Record Store Day. The Los Angeles-based record label will issue an original, limited edition, vintage 1970 Buck Owens coloring book coupled with a four-song flexi-disc, and digital download card, of rare live material from the legendary country music Hall of Famer and pioneer of the Bakersfield Sound. Additionally, Omnivore Recordings will issue a 10" authorized bootleg EP from 1978 featuring L.A. power pop group The Knack, a year before "My Sharona" made them an overnight success. Both Buck Owens and The Knack are vinyl only, limited edition releases exclusively for Record Store Day and available only at participating retailers on April 21.

The coloring books are of great historical significance. Commissioned by Buck Owens in 1970, these original, uncirculated vintage coloring books have been safely stored by Buck Owens Enterprises for over 40 years. Original copies are sought-after by collectors and they are now officially being made available to the public this spring, for the first time since 1970. Omnivore Recordings is hand coupling a limited edition of 2,500 original stock coloring books with a newly pressed flexi-disc that includes four rare live tracks. The story told in the coloring book culminates in Buck & The Buckaroos playing a concert with four of Buck's biggest hits "Act Naturally," "Together Again," "I've Got A Tiger By The Tail," and "Crying Time" specifically highlighted and named below the double-page spread (and you can color it in). The flexi-disc and digital download card included with this coloring book feature rare live versions of those exact songs, curated from Buck Owens & The Buckaroos historic performance at the White House for President Lyndon Johnson on September 9, 1968.

This collector's bundle features a red, white or blue flexi-disc, which is viewable from the outside of the package and contains all four of the above-mentioned songs. The album "Live At The White House," from which the tracks are drawn, was recorded in 1968 and issued almost exactly four years later on Sept. 5, 1972 and has never been reissued in any form. The set includes live versions of many Owens classics, and originally included Buck's studio version of "You Ain't Gonna Have Ol' Buck To Kick Around No More," a No. 13 hit for Owens that year -- reportedly inspired by a statement from Richard Nixon after losing the California Governor's race in 1962.

Omnivore will also issue The Knack's 'Live In Los Angeles 1978' just in time to soothe collector's pallettes. Culled from The Knack's late-frontman Doug Fieger's personal tape archive, Live In Los Angeles, 1978 captures The Knack at their pre-fame height, right before they would sign to Capitol and hit the big time. An authorized bootleg, this EP is being presented for the very first time as an historical document to the band and Los Angeles' late-'70s musical era. The Knack Live in Los Angeles, 1978 is limited to only 1,500 10" records on red/yellow splatter-colored vinyl.

=============

Humble Pie Vinyl Reissues Coming Next Month

Three of Humble Pie‘s early 70's records will be reissued this spring via Lemon Records. The albums are their self-titled 1970 effort, 1973′s ‘Eat It’ and the 1975 double album ‘Thunderbox.’

According to the Second Disc, all three albums will be remastered and new liner notes that draw on interviews with the band members. When Small Faces frontman Steve Marriott left the Small Faces (late 1968) he joined Peter Frampton, Greg Ridley and Jerry Shirley to form Humble Pie, liberating himself from the pop expectations of his former group.

For their A&M debut Humble Pie, the band took an even heavier approach than that of an earlier effort. Peter Frampton’s gentle “Earth and Water Song” provides a respite from the band-composed “One Eyed Trouser Snake Rumba” and a cover of bluesman Willie Dixon’s “I’m Ready” proved that the band belonged in select company. Drummer Jerry Shirley took the lead vocal on his song “Only a Roach,” a country-and-western ode to a popular substance. Steve Marriott took a pointed jab at Andrew Loog Oldham, whose Immediate label went out of business in 1969, with “Theme from Skint (See You Later, Liquidator).” Humble Pie was not only the band’s first album for A&M but their first under the auspices of American manager Dee Anthony, a straight-talking Bronx native who, over the years, also counted among his clients Spooky Tooth, Traffic, Tony Bennett and Peter Allen! Lemon’s reissue comes with new artwork and sleeve notes by Malcolm Dome, and of course features the original album artwork by Aubrey Beardsley.

The 1973 double-LP Eat It featured a unique concept for each side. Side 1 features Steve Marriott- penned rock and roll; Side 2 offers classic R&B covers; Side 3 is a collection of Marriott’s acoustic songs; and Side 4 excerpts a live concert performance from Glasgow. Peter Frampton was gone by this point, having struck out on his own after 1971’s Rock On. With manager Anthony at his side, he would go on to even greater success as a solo performer. Dave “Clem” Clempson took Frampton’s place. Many of the covers on Eat It are choice: Ray Charles’ “ I Believe to My Soul,” the Rolling Stones’ “Honky Tonk Women” and mod favorite “(I’m A) Road Runner” among them. Lemon’s reissue of Eat It marks one of the first times the album has been released on CD outside of Japan, and in addition to remastered sound, it features new notes from Dome.

Finally, Lemon brings the follow-up to Eat It, Thunderbox. Twelve songs appear here, six of which were originals; the band again relied on cover versions as a major component. Here, Humble Pie takes on Ann Peebles’ soulful “I Can’t Stand the Rain,” Arthur Alexander’s “Anna (Go to Him)” and The Staple Singers’ “Oh La-De-Da.” A recent hit, Dobie Gray’s “Drift Away” (composed by Mentor Williams) is also given an airing. Thunderbox (the word noted by the label as “a seventeenth century slang word for the toilet which gives an example of Humble Pie’s sense of humour”) shows the band enjoying its boogie spirit, and as with Eat It, the album hasn’t been widely available outside of Japan. The remastered reissue features Dome’s new notes and the original artwork.

The reissues will arrive in the UK on March 27 and approximately one week later stateside.

Humble Pie, Humble Pie (A&M SP-4270, 1970 – reissued Lemon CDLEM 203, 2012)
1.Live with Me
2.Only a Roach
3.One-Eyed Trouser Snake Mama
4.Earth and Water Song
5.I’m Ready
6.Theme from Skint (See You Later Liquidator)
7.Red Light Mama, Red Hot
8.Sucking on the Sweet Vine

Humble Pie, Eat It (A&M SP-3701, 1973 – reissued Lemon CDLEM 204, 2012)
1.Get Down to It
2.Good Booze and Bad Women
3.Is It For Love?
4.Drugstore Cowboy
5.Black Coffee
6.I Believe to My Soul
7.Shut Up and Don’t Interrupt Me
8.That’s How Strong My Love Is
9.Say No More
10.Oh, Bella (That’s All Hers)
11.Summer Song
12.Beckton Dumps
13.Up Our Sleeve
14.Honky Tonk Women
15.(I’m A) Road Runner

Humble Pie, Thunderbox (A&M SP-3611, 1974 – reissued Lemon CDLEM 205, 2012)
1.Thunderbox
2.Groovin’ with Jesus
3.I Can’t Stand the Rain
4.Anna (Go to Him)
5.No Way
6.Rally with Ali
7.Don’t Worry, Be Happy
8.Ninety-Nine Pounds
9.Every Single Day
10.No Money Down
11.Drift Away
12.Oh La-De-Da

=============

album cover art of the day:

DREAMING DEAD To Release 'Midnightmares' In April

Los Angeles-based progressive/melodic death metal act DREAMING DEAD will release its sophomore album, "Midnightmares", on April 20. The follow-up to 2009's "Within One" "showcases DREAMING DEAD's ability to meld elements of black, death, thrash and Chuck Schuldiner-inspired progressive metal into one thought-provoking and intense sonic assault," according to a press release.

Read more and get the tracklist at our friends at Blabbermouth














=============

John Mayer Album Cover Art Revealed!

Here is the cover for John Mayer‘s new album 'Born and Raised!, which is scheduled for release on May 22. The 34-year-old singer debuted the art on his Tumblr page a day after premiering the album’s first single, “Shadow Days.”

“Every new record I start, a new aesthetic comes in. I can’t help it,” John said last month at a conference.

“I think it’s gonna be more organic, more natural lyrics and chords and artful simplicity,” he teased at the time, adding that the album would have “organic cowboy guitar sounds.”











=============

others are passionate about our beloved vinyl!

Help Sunless Sea Records press our first vinyl record!

An Indie Rock project in Nampa, ID by Nathan Walker

About this project

With the recent launch of my new record label Sunless Sea Records I've determined that I want to be able to do as many physical, vinyl releases as possible. I've always been a huge vinyl fan; the sound, the smell, the bigger artwork. Now with the inclusion of free downloads that many people (including my label) are doing there's even more reasons to have your music purchases be exclusively vinyl. It's great for me to see the trend moving toward more records being pressed, and I'd love for my record label to be investing in that type of medium that you can pass down to your kids.

Pressing records is still slightly more expensive than CDs, and though I feel the benefits are definitely worth it, it takes some more upfront cash. I'd love for you to be able to show your interest and belief in
this infant label of mine by pledging to our Kickstarter project, while getting some really sweet incentives that I myself would love to have. Our goal is to be able to crowd fund the creation and pressing of our first vinyl record for the label. Though the exact artist that the vinyl to be created will, it most assuredly will be good- and something you'll want.

I am sincerely grateful for your contribution and for helping us get started on this journey.

Visit KickStarter for more information!

=============

Ripple Music Announces Sponsorship and Grand Prize Recording Contract for TBFM Factor 2012

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Ripple Music, home of the "Best retro-rock and metal on the planet" is thrilled to announce it's sponsorship of TBFM Factor 2012 - the biggest "on-air" battle of the bands ever!

TBFM Factor 2012 is presented by internet radio station Total Biker FM, home of hard-driving rock n' roll. This is the second time the station has presented this competition. With so much talent out there TBFM wanted to help promote the top bands and hopefully give them the boost up the ladder that they deserve by setting up a fan voted competition.

In 2010, the station was not fully prepared for what turned out to be an amazing competition with over 4 million hits during the final week which crashed the servers TWICE! The competition was such a great success, they decided to bring it back in 2012, bigger, better and more prepared!

The competition is set over 15 weekly knockout weeks. Music from 10 bands each week will get airplay on the Sunday Show on Total Biker FM and then fans get to vote for one week on which band deserves a place in the final. After 15 weeks, a final place is given to a wildcard, which will be the highest voted for runner up from all the knockout stages.

On week 16 the epic final takes place. All 16 bands get featured on air on a special 4 hour show and then all week during all regular shows while fans vote again for the best band of the competition. The winning band will receive some great prizes including the top prize of an exclusive one album record deal with American label Ripple Music.

This is one lucky band's opportunity to join with Ripple Music and become a label-mate of such roaring artists as Mos Generator, Trucker Diablo, Stone Axe, Iron Claw, Grifter, Poobah, JPT Scare Band and Fen.

More prizes are on offer for the finalists ranging from musical equipment to website memberships to free record mastering. Registration closes on 31st March, 2012 and the competition gets under way on June 10th, 2012 with the grand final in September.

More information on the bands taking part, how to register, prizes and sponsors can be found at tbfmfactor.com

150 bands take part over 16 weeks… only one winner!

And a Ripple record contract is the Grand Prize!

Important dates are as follows:Registration closes 31st March 2012

Qualifying Bands Line-Up announced 13th May 2012

Competition starts 10th June 2012 for 15 weeks

The final will be on 23rd September 2012

Winner announced 30th September 2012

www.ripple-music.com

For further information, please contact:

John Rancik
Ripple Music
ripplemusic9@aol.com

=============

i guess this is for those who want their vinyl to go........ (hey, i just report the news)

The Harmonious Sounds of Vinyl Enter the Digital Age AirStudio's Top 5 AirVinyl App is Now Available for iPhone

iPhone Screenshots

LONDON, February 29, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Following the success of its AirVinyl iPad app, Air Studios, the world famous recording studios created in 1969 by legendary Beatles producer Sir George Martin, is today launching AirVinyl for iPhone.

Developed using the expertise of Air Studios' award winning engineers, the app recreates the warm, harmonious sound of vinyl records for a new generation, transforming your digital media files into your record collection when played through the iPhone.

Choose your record from one of the wooden crates that houses your music collection and play single tracks or albums on the authentic teak and brushed steel AirVinyl record deck.

Taking inspiration from the high-end decks and systems of the '70s and '80s, AirVinyl also includes a retro tape deck interface that allows you to create mix tapes and playlists that can be shared via social networks. Any playlists you have already stored on your iPhone will also be accessible as Mixtapes. Compatibility with iTunes Match means that AirVinyl can access and play tens of thousands of songs from your personal iCloud library.

The AirVinyl app is also AirPlay enabled and will soon feature AirStreem, allowing users to stream music from their Mac to AirVinyl over Wi-Fi.

Danny Kellard, Marketing Director of Air Entertainment Group says, "With AirVinyl, we set out to recreate the whole vinyl and hi-fi experience, whilst using our expertise as a studio to make an app that delivers a great sound experience from the iPhone and iPad. We also wanted to create an app that users can build on and add components to in the future."

AirVinyl will be releasing a variety of extra features and skins on an on going basis. The iPhone version launches today at a special introductory price of 0.69p / 0.99c for a limited period only HERE

For more information head to www.airvinyl.com

=============

Indie Music Keeps Vinyl Close to Heart

by Johnette Figueroa

Keeping Vinyl Alive
A young boy from Manville, NJ, dances around his room, listening to his very first vinyl record. “Wake Me Up Before You Go Go” by Wham, blares through his bedroom as he happily dances to the music.

Little does he know that his very first vinyl record would jump-start his passion for music and turn him into a musician one day.

Adam Copeland, guitarist and singer for Black Water, a local independent band in New Jersey, laughs as he remembers his early record collection.

“All the other “records” I owned were basically an early version of audiobooks on 7″ vinyl for Star Wars movies,” said Copeland. “I’d put it on my little cheap plastic turntable and dance around the room like an idiot. It’s probably because of that formative experience that I get so much joy out of playing vinyl.”

Read the rest at thepeacockpress.wordpress.com

=============

from our friends in Nashville, TN Grimeys.com

GRIMEY'S BEST SELLERS 2/20 - 2/26, 2012

Vinyl Top 25:

1. Lambchop - Mr. M
2. Sleigh Bells - Reign Of Terror
3. Josh Ritter - Bringing In The Darlings 10"
4. Fun. - Some Nights
5. The Black Keys - El Camino
6. Alabama Shakes - Live At Third Man 7"
7. Lana Del Rey - Born To Die
8. Bon Iver - Bon Iver
9. Dr. Dog - Be The Void
10. Damien Jurado - Maraqopa
11. The Beach Boys - The SMiLE Sessions
12. The Civil Wars - Barton Hollow
13. Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago
14. Archers Of Loaf - Vee Vee (reissue)
15. Jack White - Love Interruption 7"
16. Sex Cult - Plain Jane 7"
17. Adele - Rolling In The Deep 12"
18. M83 - Hurry Up We're Dreaming
19. Field Music - Plumb
20. Hospitality - Hospitality
21. Mark Lanegan Band - Blues Funeral
22. The Civil Wars - Tracks In The Snow 10"
23. Thrice - At Guitar Center 7"
24. Paperhead - Yellow Book 7"
25. Radiohead - King Of Limbs

=============

for shits and giggles, if you like reading stats, here are Britain's all-time top ten best sellers:

Britain's All-Time Biggest Seller List

1, Greatest Hits - Queen (5,863,000)
2. Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band - Beatles (5,044,000)
3. Gold: Greatest Hits – ABBA (4,989,000)
4. What's the Story Morning Glory - Oasis (4,517,000)
5. Thriller - Michael Jackson (4,248,000)
6. Brothers in Arms - Dire Straits (4,152,000)
7. Dark Side of the Moon - Pink Floyd (4,114,000)
8. 21 – Adele (4,020,000)
9. Bad - Michael Jackson (3,959,000)
10. Greatest Hits II - Queen (3,887,000)

=============

and in music history for february 29, 2012

James "Jimmy" Dorsey was born in 1904 (died June 12, 1957). Legendary jazz clarinetist, saxophonist, trumpeter, composer, and big band leader. He was known as "JD." He composed the jazz and pop standards "I'm Glad There Is You (In This World of Ordinary People)" and "It's The Dreamer In Me."

In 1964, the Hollies appeared on UK music show 'Thank Your Lucky Stars.'

In 1964, Betty Everett's rendition of "The Shoop Shoop Song" enters the Billboard chart, where it will peak at #6. The Shirelles' management team had turned the song down and Soul singer Merry Clayton's version, recorded as "It's in His Kiss" in 1963, failed to catch on.

Also in 1964, the Trashmen enter the American Top 40 with "Bird Dance Beat", a follow-up to their #4 hit, "Surfin' Bird". The song will top out at #30.

In 1968, at the tenth Grammy Awards, The Beatles' 'Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band' is named Album Of The Year, best cover and best-engineered and recorded album. The LP had spent a total of 27 weeks at the top of the UK album chart and 15 weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 200. 'Sgt. Pepper' is one of the world's best selling albums, having shipped 32 million copies

In 1972, John Lennon's immigration visa expired, leading to his 3½-year fight to stay in the US.

Also in 1972, in Brisbane on the last date of an Australian tour, Led Zeppelin played at the Festival Hall.

In 1976, two members of Lynyrd Skynyrd were knocked unconscious after a scuffle broke out between the band and members of the metropolitan police boxing team, who were holding a dinner at the Royal Lancaster Hotel in London.

In 1980, Buddy Holly's glasses and the Big Bopper's wristwatch were found in old police files by the Mason City, Iowa sheriff. The men wore the items when their plane crashed near there on February 3, 1959. Holly's cuff links, worn during the crash, had already been presented to Paul McCartney in 1976 when the first Buddy Holly Week was held.

When the Beechcraft Bonanza carrying Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and the Big Bopper crashed outside Clear Lake, Iowa, in the early morning hours of February 3, 1959, it struck the ground with such force that all three passengers were killed instantly, and the plane's wreckage was strewn across nearly 300 yards of snow-covered cornfields. The death certificate issued by the Cerro Gordo County Coroner noted the clothing Holly was wearing, the presence of a leather suitcase near his body and the following personal effects:

Charles Holley
Cash $193.00 less $11.65 coroner's fees - $181.35

2 Cuff links, silver 1/2 in. balls having jeweled band

Top portion of ball point pen

Notably missing from the list were Holly's signature eyeglasses, the most distinctive visual legacy of a man who influenced the sound and style of rock and roll immeasurably. Those famous glasses were presumed lost forever until the announcement on February 29, 1980, that they had resurfaced in Mason City, Iowa.

The glasses in question had the appearance of something government issued, but they were, in fact, carefully chosen as part of Holly's image—not by Holly himself, but by his Lubbock, Texas, optometrist, Dr. J. Davis Armistead. "Buddy was trying to wear the least conspicuous frames he could find," wrote Dr. Armistead nearly 40 years after writing Holly's last prescription. "Personally, I was not happy with the frame styles we had been using. I did not think they contributed anything to a distinct personality that a performer needs." It was while on vacation in Mexico City that Armistead found exactly the frames that he felt Holly needed. He brought back two pair of the heavy plastic Faiosa frames. "Those heavy black frames achieve exactly what we wanted—they became a distinct part of him." In fact, they became a part of the basic iconography and spirit of rock and roll. Before Buddy Holly, it would have been impossible to imagine a skinny, knock-need kid in an Ivy League suit and thick, heavy glasses being considered "cool." After Buddy Holly, the look and attitude that would later be called "geek chic" became a completely accepted alternative style for an aspiring rock star to embrace.

So how did the famous glasses re-emerge? In the violence of the crash back in February 1959, they were thrown clear of the other wreckage and buried in snow. They were found, along with the Big Bopper's watch, that same spring, when the melting snow made them visible again. Though they were handed in immediately to the Cerro Gordo County Sherriff's office, they sat filed away for the next 21 years in a sealed manila envelope marked "rec'd April 7, 1959." That envelope was opened by Sheriff Jerry Allen on this day in 1980. The glasses were eventually returned to Holly's widow, and can now be seen in the exhibit at the Buddy Holly Center in Lubbock, Texas.

In 1984, the LP 'Sports' by Huey Lewis and The News is certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America. It will go on to top the Billboard album chart in June and become the second largest selling album of the year, behind Michael Jackson's "Thriller". The collection also spawned four Billboard Top Ten singles, "Heart and Soul" (#8), "I Want a New Drug" (#6), "The Heart of Rock & Roll" (#6) and "If This Is It" (#6).



In 1992, U2 kicked off their North American leg of the Zoo TV Tour at The Lakeland Civic Centre Arena, Florida.

In 1996, musician/songwriter (Hang On Sloopy, Come A Little Bit Closer, Come On Down To My Boat, C'mon Get Happy)/record producer (Partridge Family, Lulu, Elephant's Memory) Wes Farrell died of cancer at age 56.

In 2000, the city of Autlan de Navarro, Mexico announced plans to build a public monument to tribute Carlos Santana.

birthdays (or 'leap' babies) include (among others): Ja Rule (1976), Gretchen Christopher - Fleetwoods (1940), & Joe Giglio - Four Aces (1940)