Birthdays:
John Mayall - father of the UK blues movement, his Bluesbreakers Band has featured Eric Clapton, Mick Taylor, Mick Fleetwood, John McVie, Jack Bruce, Peter Green and Jimmy McCulloch (1933)
Meco Monardo (1939)
Chuck Mangione (1940)
Felix Cavaliere - Young Rascals (1944)
Ronnie Montrose - Montrose, Edgar Winter Group (1947)
Barry Goudreau - Boston (1951)
Michael Dempsey - Cure (1958)
Wallis Buchanan - Jamiroquai (1965)
Jonathan Knight - New Kids on the Block (1968)
Martin Carr - Boo Radleys (1968)
Apl.De.Ap - Black Eyed Peas (1974)
The Game (Jayceon Terrell Taylor) (1979)
They Are Missed:
Born on this day in 1917, country singer, songwriter Merle Travis. Invented the first solid body electric guitar. Wrote "Sixteen Tons" for Ernie Ford. Travis died October 20, 1983.
In 1996, singer and ukulele player Tiny Tim (Herbert Khaury) died from a heart attack on stage while playing his hit "Tiptoe Through the Tulips" at a club in Minneapolis. On December 17, 1969, he married Victoria Mae Budinger on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, a publicity stunt that attracted over 40 million viewers. (they had a daughter, Tulip Victoria).
Butch McDade, drummer for The Amazing Rhythm Aces on their 1975 hit "Third Rate Romance," died of cancer in 1998 (age 52).
Singer and bandleader Curtis Knight died in 1999 (age 54). Jimi Hendrix had been a member of his band in the 60's. Though Hendrix wasn't in the group very long, he was featured on over 60 songs, 26 studio and 35 live recordings some of which have been released on record.
In 2001, former Beatles guitarist George Harrison died in Los Angeles of lung cancer (age 58). The news came as a shock to the world, despite Harrison's much-chronicled cancer treatments. Speaking outside his home in St John's Wood, north west London, Paul McCartney said: "I am devastated and very, very sad." Ringo Starr, speaking from Vancouver, Canada said: "We will miss George for his sense of love, his sense of music and his sense of laughter." Following the breakup of the Beatles, Harrison had a successful career as a solo artist and later as part of the Traveling Wilburys. The youngest member of the Beatles, (aged 16 when he joined), his compositions include "Taxman," "Here Comes the Sun," "Something" and "While My Guitar Gently Weeps." Harrison released the acclaimed triple album, 'All Things Must Pass,' in 1970, from which came the worldwide #1 single "My Sweet Lord." He was the co-founder of Handmade Films, collaborated with Madonna and the members of Monty Python. An accomplished gardener, Harrison restored the grounds of his 120 roomed English home Friar Park.
Born today in 1941, Denny Doherty, singer, songwriter, The Mamas And The Papas. Doherty died Jan 19, 2007 at the age of 66 after a short illness.
History:
At the 1959 Grammy Awards, held just six months after a similar award show, Bobby Darin won Record of the Year for "Mack the Knife" as well as the Best New Artist of the Year. Song of the Year was awarded to Jimmy Driftwood, writer of Johnny Horton's hit, "The Battle Of New Orleans."
In 1960, Paul McCartney and Pete Best were deported from West Germany after being arrested on suspicion of arson after the hotel room they were staying in mysteriously caught fire. They were released and deported the next day.
The Beatles recorded their first U.K. #1 (on some charts it only reached #2), "Please Please Me" at Abbey Road Studios in London in 1962.
The Beatles' fifth British single "I Want to Hold Your Hand" was released in 1963. Advance orders exceed 700,000 and within three days the record will have sold one million copies, making it their second million seller. It was released in the US on December 26th and spent seven weeks at #1.
In 1966, after four weeks of work, the Beatles finally finished recording the epic cut "Strawberry Fields Forever."
The Who released their first concert record, "The Who Sell Out" in 1968.
In 1969, John Lennon was convicted of possession of cannabis and fined $360 in London. Yoko Ono, who was arrested with Lennon on October 18, was cleared of charges. The conviction played a large role in his later attempts to win US residency status. The drug bust makes him an "undesirable" even though his political beliefs/activities were the real issue.
The Beatles score a two-sided #1 hit in 1969 with John Lennon’s “Come Together” and George Harrison’s “Something.” Both songs are on 'Abbey Road.'
Elvis Presley's LP 'From Memphis to Vegas / From Vegas to Memphis' reached the Billboard album chart in 1969, where it would stay for the next 24 weeks, climbing as high as #12.
German trio Silver Convention started a three week run at #1 on the US singles chart in 1975 with "Fly Robin Fly."
In 1976, Lancaster local council cancelled the Sex Pistols gig at Lancaster Poly, England. The reason was given in a statement by the council saying: 'We don't want that sort of filth (The Sex Pistols) in the town limits.' Prudes....
In 1976, Jerry Lee Lewis accidentally shot his bass player, Norman "Butch" Owens, twice in the chest while trying to hit a soda bottle. Lewis was charged with shooting a firearm within the city limits.
'Alive II' was released by KISS in 1977.
Kansas goes platinum with their LP 'Point Of No Return' in 1977. The album contains one of their best songs “Carry On Wayward Son.”
In 1979, Anita Pallenburg, the common-law wife of Rolling Stone Keith Richards, was cleared of murder charges in the shooting death of her young male companion, whose body had been found in her New York state home.
Also in 1979 - The four original members of KISS performed for what they say will be the last time. However, they would reunite in 1996 for a tour in full makeup.
Metallica played their first headlining show in 1982. They played the song "Whiplash" for the first time. Exodus was the opening act.
In 1985, Kiss played the first night on their 91-date North American Asylum Tour at Barton Coliseum in Little Rock, Arkansas.
'Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band Live / 1975-85' started a seven week run at #1 on the US album chart in 1986.
Also in 1986, Bon Jovi’s hit “You Give Love A Bad Name” topped the US pop chart.
U2's first TV special, called "U2's Zoo TV Outside Broadcast," aired on Fox-TV in 1992.
Mary J. Blige's second album, "My Life", was released in 1994.
In 1997, Whitney Houston pulled out of a concert sponsored by the Moonies two hours before she was due on stage after finding out the event was a mass wedding for over 1,000 Moonie couple's. The religious group said they had no intention of suing providing the singer returned the $1m fee she had received.
In 2002, three paintings by Sir Paul McCartney were bought for just $50 each at the Secrets Postcard Sale at London's Royal College of Art. Members of the public gambled on whether they were buying works by celebrity artists at a fraction of their value, as a picture's creator was only made known after it has sold.
A five-hour charity show, to boost the fight against Aids, was held at the Greenpoint Stadium in Cape Town in 2003. Acts who appeared included, Bono, Queen, Ms Dynamite, Peter Gabriel, Eurythmics, Beyonce, Youssou N'Dour, Anastacia, The Corrs, Jimmy Cliff and Chaka Chaka. The show was also broadcast live on the internet.
Eric Clapton, Mark Knopfler, Sting, Rod Stewart, Phil Collins, Queen's Brian May and ex-Rolling Stones bassist Bill Wyman, autographed playing cards in 2005 for an auction to raise funds for the London-based Great Ormond Street Hospital Children's Charity.
Green Day's Billie Joe Armstrong posted an open letter in 2006 urging fans to write President George W. Bush regarding the United States' growing energy crisis. Green Day and the Natural Resources Defense Council launch the Move America Beyond Oil campaign, that promotes clean, renewable energy.
In 2007, former Lynyrd Skynyrd drummer Artimus Pyle, a convicted sex offender, was arrested for failing to properly register a new permanent address. The 59-year-old had pleaded guilty in 1993 to charges of attempted capital sexual battery by an adult on a victim younger than 12 and being principal to lewd and lascivious behavior on a child younger than 16. He was sentenced to eight years of probation.
John Fogerty taped an episode of the PBS series Soundstage in Chicago in 2007. The program aired two months later.
Taylor Swift went to #1 on the US album chart in 2008 with ‘Fearless’, the country singers second studio album.
In 2009, Susan Boyle's album became the best-selling debut in UK chart history when it went to #1 on the UK chart. The 48 year-old runner-up in ITV's Britain's Got Talent, sold 410,000 copies of "I Dreamed a Dream." Boyle also topped the US charts, setting a first-week sales record for a female debut album with 701,000 copies sold in its first week.