Thursday, August 20, 2009

This Date In Music History- August 20

Birthdays:

John Lantree - Honeycombs (1940)

Dave Brock - Hawkwind (1941)

John Povey - Pretty Things (1944)

Ralf Hutter - Kraftwerk (1946)

James Pankow - Chicago (1947)


Robert Plant - Led Zeppelin (1948)

Rudy Gatlin - Gatlin Brothers (1952)

Doug Fieger - Knack (1952)

John Hiatt (1952)

Fred Durst - Limp Bizkit (1971)


They Are Missed:

The late Isaac Hayes ("Theme From Shaft") was born in 1942

Born today in 1949 - Phil Lynott Irish singer, songwriter, bass player, Thin Lizzy. Lynott died on Jan 4, 1986 of heart failure and pneumonia after being in a coma for eight days following a drug overdose. A life-size bronze statue of Phil Lynott was unveiled on Harry Street in Dublin in 2005.



Blues Traveler bassist Bobby Sheehan was found dead in his New Orleans apartment in 1999. He was 31.

Born on this day in 1924, Jim Reeves, US country singer. The first country singer to crossover into the pop market. Reeves was killed in a plane crash on July 31, 1964 when the single engine aircraft flying from Arkansas to Nashville crashed in thick fog.

Born today in 1966 - Dimebag Darrell, guitarist, Pantera. Darrell was killed on December 8, 2004 after a man stormed the stage during a Damageplan show at the Alrosa Villa Club in Columbus, Ohio and began firing shots at the band and crowd.

Born on this day in 1931, Paul Robi, The Platters (died of cancer on February 1, 1989).

Born today in 1934 - 'Sneaky' Pete Kleinow, US country-rock steel guitar player. Died Jan 6, 2007 (age 72). He was one of the original members of the Flying Burrito Brothers with the Byrds' Chris Hillman and Gram Parsons. Also worked with John Lennon and Joni Mitchell.


History:

The first commercial radio station in the United States, 8MK in Detroit, began daily broadcasting in 1920. The station will later become WWJ.

Bo Diddley appeared at the Apollo Theatre, Harlem, New York in 1955.

Chuck Berry’s "Maybellene," his debut single, is #1 on the R&B chart in 1955.

The Beatles, touring America for the last time in 1966, were forced to cancel and reschedule their performance in Cincinnati's open-air stadium, Crosley Field. Heavy rain (and no cover provided) made electrocution a virtual certainty if The Beatles had attempted to perform. Smart move.

In 1967, the New York Times reported about a new noise reduction system for album and tape recording developed by technicians R. and D.W. Dolby. Elektra Record's new subsidiary, Checkmate Records, will be the first label to use the new Dolby process in its recordings.

In 1968, the director of the University of Tennessee's audio lab, Dr. David M. Lipscomb, reported a guinea pig subjected over a three month period to 88 hours of rock music recorded at a Knoxville disco at 120 decibels suffered acute damage to the inner ears. The New York Times was told by Steve Paul, owner of the New York disco, The Scene, "Should a major increase in guinea pig attendance occur at the Scene, we'll certainly bear their comfort in mind."

In 1969, after finishing “I Want You, (She’s So Heavy),” the Beatles worked on the running order for the Abbey Road album. A preliminary master tape was compiled, the medley was originally slated for side one of the album, and the placement of “Octopus's Garden” and “Oh! Darling” was reversed from the final version. The album was to end with the slashed guitar chord that finishes “I Want You (She's So Heavy).” This was the last time all four Beatles were together in Abbey Road studios.

Frank Zappa disbands the Mothers of Invention in 1969 right after an eight day tour in Canada. Zappa says he's "tired of playing for people who clap for all the wrong reasons."

The Rolling Stones released their epic cut "Angie" in 1973.


Gordon Lightfoot's "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald," about an ore carrier which sank on Lake Superior, was released as a single in 1976.

John Lennon began recording his final album, "Double Fantasy" in 1980.

In 1986, Rick Allen drummer with Def Leppard made his first live appearance with the band after losing an arm in a car accident, when they appeared at the Monsters Of Rock Festival, Castle Donington, England.

Performing at the Donington rock festival in England in 1988, Guns N' Roses frontman Axl Rose told the audience to "try not to kill yourselves." Ironically, two people die in a crowd surge while the band plays.

In 1992, a doctor filed a $35m lawsuit against the Southwest Bell phone company. He alleged that his wife died because he could not reach 911 due to all lines being jammed by demand of Garth Brooks concert tickets.

In 1991, Freedom Williams of the dance music act C&C Music Factory passed out from exhaustion in front of 2,500 fans at a show in Tucson, Arizona. His tape-recorded voice continued rapping and the crowd cheered, thinking the fall was part of the act. Lesson- Sing for real.

In 2004, a gent from Stoke-on-Trent, England, named Bryan Adams as the ‘other man’ in his divorce papers after years spent trying to cope with his wife’s obsession with the singer. Rob Tinsley said he had to live with a 6ft cut-out of Adams which stood at the foot of the bed and posters on the bedroom walls.

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