Birthdays:
Jerry Wallace (1938)
Cindy Birdsong - Supremes, Labelle (1939)
Dave Clark - Dave Clark Five (1942)
Harry Ray - Moments (1946)
Carmine Appice - Vanilla Fudge, Beck, Bogart and Appice, Rod Stewart (1946)
Don Johnson (1949)
Paul Simonon - Clash (1955)
Doug Phelps - Kentucky Headhunters (1960)
Tim Reynolds - Dave Matthews Band (1957)
They Are Missed:
Jazz musician, singer and composer, Fats Waller died in 1943 of pneumonia on a train trip near Kansas City, Missouri. Wrote many songs including "Ain't Misbehavin," "Your Feet's Too Big" and "The Reefer Song." In 1926 Waller was kidnapped at gunpoint in Chicago and driven to a club owned by gangster Al Capone. Inside the club he was ordered to perform at what turned out to be a surprise birthday party for the gangster.
Born on this day in 1922, Alan Freed, American DJ. The man who gave 'Rock 'n' Roll' its name. Died January 20, 1965.
Born today in 1919, Max Yasgur, owner of the Woodstock farm where the 1969 festival was held. Yasgur died of a heart attack on February 8, 1973 (age 53).
Funk and soul singer Rufus Thomas died of heart failure in 2001 (age 84). Recorded on Sun Records in the 1950s and on Stax Records in the 1960s and 1970s. Scored the 1963 US #10 single "Walking The Dog" and the 1970 UK #18 & US #28 single "Do The Funky Chicken." (Yes, there really is a song by that name!) A street is named in his honor, just off Beale Street in Memphis.
The co-founder of Atlantic Records Ahmet Ertegun died in 2006 (age 83). Ertegun who founded Atlantic Records with Herb Abramson in 1947 helped make Ray Charles and Aretha Franklin stars and signed the Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin in the early 70s. He suffered a head injury when he fell at a Rolling Stones concert at New York's Beacon Theatre in October, and died after slipping into a coma.
John Byrne, the lead singer of The Count Five and writer of their 1966 hit "Psychotic Reaction", died in 2008 following kidney and liver failure. He was 61.
History:
In 1944, a single-engine plane carrying US Army Major Glenn Miller disappeared in thick fog over the English Channel while en route to Paris. The true fate of the plane and its passengers has never been determined.
In 1956, Elvis Presley gave his final performance on Louisiana Hayride, a live radio program that was broadcast on KWKH in Shreveport, Louisiana. Presley made 50 appearances on the show. At the end of the show, Horace Logan first made the now legendary phrase "Elvis has left the building."
In 1957, Sammy Davis Jr. hosts a syndicated radio talk show with a round-table discussion of Rock 'n' Roll. His guests are Columbia Records executive Mitch Miller and MGM Records president Arnold Maxim. When Davis and Miller blast Rock 'n' Roll as "the comic books of music," Maxim takes an opposing viewpoint and says, "I don't see any end to Rock 'n' Roll in the near future." And we Rock On...
In 1962, the Beatles played two separate shows at the same venue, the Majestic Ballroom in Birkenhead, Merseyside. First they played a standard Majestic booking then at midnight, the first-ever "Mersey Beat" poll awards show took place. As poll winners, The Beatles closed the show (at 4:00 am).
Dusty Springfield was deported from South Africa in 1964 after performing in front of an multiracial audience at a show near Cape Town.
The Beatles' 'Magical Mystery Tour' LP went Gold in 1967. The album contains “I Am The Walrus” and “Strawberry Fields Forever.” It is, in part, the soundtrack for The Beatles’ ill-conceived TV special, of the same name, that aired the day after Christmas.
Also in 1967, the Beach Boys met Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in Paris and learn transcendental meditation.
While performing with the Jefferson Airplane on the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour in 1968, Grace Slick appeared in blackface and raised a black-leather glove in a power salute at the conclusion of "Crown of Creation." The incident was one of several which led to the show's cancellation the following season.
In 1969, Eric Clapton joined John Lennon's Plastic Ono Band as part of Peace for Christmas, a benefit concert for UNICEF. George Harrison, Delaney and Bonnie, Billy Preston and The Who's drummer, Keith Moon also took part. The concert was the last live appearance that Lennon ever made in his home country.
Charlie Rich started a two week run at #1 on the US singles chart in 1973 with "The Most Beautiful Girl." the singers only #1 single. ,
Aerosmith perform "Dream On" on American Bandstand in 1973.
In 1977, just two days before they are due to appear on NBC'S Saturday Night Live and start their first US tour, the Sex Pistols were denied visas to enter the country. Johnny Rotten was refused because of a drug conviction, Paul Cook and Sid Vicious because of 'moral turpitude' and Steve Jones because of his criminal record.
"Do They Know It's Christmas" by Band Aid entered the UK chart at #1 in 1984 and stayed at the top for five weeks. It became the biggest selling UK single of all time with sales over 3 and a half million. Band Aid was masterminded by former Boomtown Rats singer Bob Geldof, who had been moved by a TV news story of famine in Ethiopia. Geldof had the idea of raising funds with a one-off charity single featuring the cream of the current pop world. Duran Duran, Spandau Ballet, Paul Young, Culture Club, George Michael, Sting, Bono, Phil Collins, Paul Weller, Francis Rossi and Rick Parfitt of Status Quo and Bananarama all appeared on the recording.
In 1988, soul singer James Brown was sentenced to six years in prison for various offences including possession of weapons and resisting arrest. 1988 - James Brown was sentenced to a six-year jail term for leading police on a late-night, two-state car chase. He was released on February 27, 1991.
1989 Billy Joel had his last number one album when "Stormfront" reached the top of the US charts in 1989. The LP also contained his final number 1 hit, "We Didn't Start the Fire", along with the singles, "I Go to Extremes" (#6) and, "And So It Goes" (#37).
Rod Stewart married New Zealand super model Rachel Hunter in Beverly Hills in 1990. He was quoted saying "I found the girl that I want, I won't be putting my banana in anybody's fruit bowl from now on." Ironically the couple split in 1999.
Nirvana released 'Incesticide,' a collection of b-sides and rarities, in 1992.
Dr. Dre's debut album 'The Chronic' was released in 1992.
'Spice World The Movie', featuring The Spice Girls premiered at The Empire, Leicester Sq, London in 1997. The following year it was nominated for the 'worst film' at the Golden Raspberry Awards.
Backstreet Boys roadie Michael Barrett filed a $3 million lawsuit against the group in 1998 claiming damages after a 50-pound cannon fell on his head during a show. A connon? ...Cool
In 1999, Posh Spice Victoria Beckham knocked a crazed fan to the ground after he tried to grab her baby son Brooklyn as she left Harrods in London. Good...
Eagles guitarist Joe Walsh was given an honorary Doctorate of Music from Kent State University in Ohio in 2001.
In 2003, Courtney Love was sentenced to 18 months in drug rehabilitation after she admitted being under the influence of cocaine and opiates. She was banned from taking non-prescription drugs, drinking alcohol or being in places that serve alcohol.
B.B. King received the Medal of Freedom, from President George Bush in 2006, in recognition of his musical accomplishments.
In 2007, Alice Cooper participated in a dedication ceremony for The Rock, a music-themed youth center that's to be built at Phoenix's Grand Canyon University. The $7 million project is being spearheaded by Cooper's Christian nonprofit the Solid Rock Foundation. "I hope that in years to come, The Rock will be the first of many such teen centers in Arizona and around the country," says Cooper.
A modest, one-story, red-brick house in St. Louis where Rock 'n' Roll pioneer Chuck Berry lived for eight years in the 1950s was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2008. Berry, who now lives in Wentzville, Mo., about 40 miles west of St. Louis said "Many of my favorite songs came about while in that house. It's good to know that my music and now that house will always be a part of St. Louis' history."
ABBA is in but KISS is still out. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame announced in 2009 that Genesis, The Stooges, the Hollies and ABBA will be inducted in 2010. It’s hard to believe ABBA gets the nod at all, much less before KISS. The Red Hot Chili Peppers are also passed over, although there are still many classic artists (Neil Diamond and others) who have been bypassed for years.
With U2 leading the way by making over 311 million dollars in 2009, several classic rockers were among the top earning touring acts of the year, including Madonna ($222 million), Bruce Springsteen ($156 million), AC/DC ($135 million), Billy Joel and Elton John ($90 million) and Tina Turner ($86 million).
The soundtrack to the film Nowhere Boy, which chronicles John Lennon’s teen years, was issued in 2009. The two-disc collection features Jerry Lee Lewis ("Wild One"), Gene Vincent And The Blue Caps ("Be-Bop-A-Lula"), Big Mama Thornton ("Hound Dog" – the original version), Little Richard ("Rip It Up") and Elvis Presley ("Shake, Rattle & Roll" and "Baby Let's Play House" – it’s from the latter that Lennon lifted the opening line to The Beatles "Run For Your Life").
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