Thursday, March 31, 2011

March 31


Birthdays
1908: Red Norvo (Jazz Vibraphonist)
1921: Lowell Fulson (Blues Guitarist)
1928: Lefty Frizzell (Country Artist)
1933: Ina Anita Carter (The Carter Family)
1934: Shirley Jones (Singer & Mother on The Partridge Family)
1935: Herb Alpert (Jazz Musician)
1944: Mick Ralphs (Guitarist for Mott The Hoople)
1946: Allan Nichol (The Turtles)
1947: Jon Poulos (Drums for The Buckinghams)
1953: Sean Hooper (Huey Lewis and the News)
1954: Tony Brock (The Tubes, The Babys)
1955: Angus Young (Guitarist for AC/DC)
1958: Pat McGlynn (Bay City Rollers)
1958: Paul Ferguson (Killing Joke)

Events
1949: After nine years of development, the first 45 rpm record is introduced by the RCA Victor label, a 7-inch wonder promising better sound and easier playability than the current standard, the 12" 78 rpm record.

1956: Brenda Lee makes her US television debut, singing an unrehearsed version of Hank Williams' "Jambalaya" on ABC-TV's Ozark Jamboree.

1957: Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Carl Perkins begin their first and only tour together, a Southern swing that begins tonight in Little Rock, AK.

1958: Chuck Berry releases "Johnny B. Goode"

1959: NBC-TV's Jimmie Rodgers Show -- featuring a regular performer by the name of Connie Francis -- debuts.

1962: The Shirelles "Soldier Boy" is released.

1967: Jimi Hendrix plays his first British concert, on a bill with Cat Stevens, The Walker Brothers, and Englebert Humperdinck at the Rainbow Theatre in Finsbury Park, England. (Seriously.) On a whim, Hendrix sets fire to his guitar with lighter fluid for the first time, but burns his hands so badly he is admitted to a nearby hospital.

1969: George Harrison and his wife, Pattie, appear in court in Surrey, England, to answer recent charges of marijuana resin possession. Both are fined 250 pounds. On the same day, John Lennon and new wife Yoko Ono leave their "bed-in" at the Amsterdam Hilton in order to "make a lightning trip" to Vienna and premiere Yoko's new film Rape. The Viennese trip is detailed in the next Beatles single, "The Ballad Of John And Yoko."

1972: The official Beatles Fan Club disbands.

1974: Television appeared at CBGB's in New York City.

1977: During intermission at Elvis Presley's latest show in Baton Rouge, LA, the King becomes too ill to return to the stage. The concert is canceled and Elvis is admitted to Baptist Hospital in Memphis the next day, suffering from "fatigue" and "intestinal flu."

1981: 1st Golden Raspberry Awards: The Village People movie “Can't Stop the Music” wins.

1982: After twelve years together, the Doobie Brothers announce their breakup.

1984: Kenny Loggins started a three week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Footloose', the theme from the film with the same name.

1986: O’Kelly Isley (The Isley Brothers) suddenly died of a heart attack at the age of 48.

1992: White Zombie's "La Sexorcisto: Devil Music Vol. One" was released. It was their major label debut album.

1992: “Human touch” and “Lucky Day”, both by Bruce Springsteen were released.

1994: Madonna appeared on The Late Show With David Letterman from New York City. The network had to delete 13 offending words from the interview before the show aired. Madonna also handed Letterman a pair of her panties and told him to sniff them. He declined and stuffed them into his desk drawer.

1995: An audience member rushes the stage at a Jimmy Page/Robert Plant concert at The Palace in Auburn Hills, MI, determined to stab the guitarist to end his "Satanic" music. Two security guards that apprehend him are stabbed instead, but recover.

1995: Mexican American singer Selena was murdered aged 23 by the president of her fan club Yolanda Saldívar. Warner Brothers made a film based on her life starring Jennifer Lopez in 1997.

2001: Whitney Houston and husband Bobby Brown were banned for life from Hollywood's Bel Air hotel after wrecking their room. Hotel workers said a TV was smashed, two doors were ripped of their hinges and the walls and carpets were stained by alcohol. It was reported that Whitney called in her lawyers to plead with the hotel management not to call the police. The suite was so badly damaged it had to be shut for five days for repairs.

2005: Rap record company boss Marion "Suge" Knight was ordered to pay $107m to a woman who claimed she helped found Death Row label in 1989, one of hip-hop's top labels with artists including Tupac Shakur, Dr Dre and Snoop Dogg. Lydia Harris said she invested in Death Row but was pushed out by Mr Knight.


Wednesday, March 30, 2011

March 30


Birthdays
1913: Frankie Laine (Singer)
1914: Sonny Boy Williamson (Blues Artist)
1942: Graeme Edge (Drummer for The Moody Blues)
1945: Eric Clapton
1948: Jim "Dandy" Mangrum (Black Oak Arkansas)
1950: Dave Ball (Procol Harum)
1950: Re Styles (Guitar & vocals for The Tubes)
1955: Randy VanWarmer (Singer)
1962: MC Hammer (Stanley Kirk Burrell) (Rapper)
1964: Tracy Chapman (Singer)
1965: Tim Dorney (Republica)
1968: Celine Dion (Singer)
1973: Adam Goldstein (DJ AM)
1976:  Mark McClelland (Snow Patrol)
1979:  Norah Jones (Singer)
1980: Paul Wall (Rapper)

Events
1923: The world's first dance marathon, which would become quite the fad in the Roaring Twenties, was held in New York City's Audubon Ballroom.

1955: Fats Domino recorded "Blue Monday".

1957: Buddy Knox became the first artist in the Rock 'n' Roll era to write his own number one hit when ‘Party Doll’ topped the US singles chart.

1962: Pravda, the official newspaper of the USSR, runs an article warning Russians against falling victim to the decadent new Western fad known as "The Twist."

1963: 16 year old Lesley Gore recorded "It's My Party".  She also appeared on “American Bandstand” on the same day.

1963: The Chiffons started a four week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘He’s So Fine’. In 1971 George Harrison was taken to court accused of copying the song on his 1970 ‘My Sweet Lord’ and ordered to pay $587,000 to the writers.

1966: A famous riot occurs at a Rolling Stones show in Paris, one which leads to the arrest of no less than 85 concertgoers.

1966: Barbra Streisand's second TV special Color Me Barbra airs on CBS.

1967: The Beatles visit Chelsea Manor Studios in London to photograph the cover of their newest album, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, wearing satin marching band outfits of various bright colors and posing amid cardboard cutouts of several dozen famous personages. Michael Cooper's series of photographs would become amongst the most famous in rock history.

1967: While set to perform "Purple Haze" on BBC-TV's Top Of The Pops, a technician instead mistakenly cues up Alan Price's version of Randy Newman's "Simon Smith And His Amazing Dancing Bear." Hendrix good-naturedly replies: "I don't know the words to this one, man."

1970: Miles Davis releases the Album Bitches Brew.

1974: John Denver went to No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Sunshine On My Shoulders', the singers first of four US No.1's. Denver was killed in a plane crash on 12th October 1997.

1975: Jeff Beck (Yardbirds Guitarist) released his first solo album, "Blow by Blow," in the U.S

1976: The Sex Pistols played their first show at The 100 club, London, they begin a weekly residency at the club in June.

1978: Paul Simonon and Nicky Headon, from The Clash, were arrested in Camden Town, London after shooting down racing pigeons with air guns from the roof of Chalk Farm Studios. Four police cars and a helicopter were required to make the arrest. Their fines totalled $1,360.

1989: Gladys Knight performs her first solo show ever at Bally's in Las Vegas.

1992: R.E.M. started recording sessions for their Automatic For The People album at Bearsville Studios, Woodstock, New York.

1996: The Prodigy started a three-week run at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Firestarter', the first single from the album The Fat of the Land. The wah-wah guitar riff in 'Firestarter' was sampled from The Breeders' track 'S.O.S.'

1999: Kiss cancelled three concert dates in Russia due to anti-American sentiment over the U.N. bombing of Yugoslavia.

2001: LeAnn Rimes reached an out of court settlement with her father and her former manager. The country star filed a lawsuit claiming the pair had stolen $12 million from her.

2004: At a restaurant near Lake Tahoe, the jazz trio house band are shocked when Paul McCartney steps onstage to join them for a rendition of "Don't Get Around Much Anymore."

2005: Neil Young undergoes successful surgery to remove a brain aneurysm.

2007: A crazed stalker is arrested in Peasmarsh, Sussex, England, after driving at high speed through Paul McCartney's security checkpoint and up to just a few yards from his mansion. Led away after leading police on three-mile chase, the trespasser began screaming "I must get to him!" He was later judged mentally ill.

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

march 29


Birthdays
1918: Pearl Bailey (Singer)
1943: Chad Allan (Original Singer for The Guess Who)
1943: Vangelis (Composer)
1944: Terry Jacks (Singer)
1945: Speedy Keen (Singer for Thunderclap Newman)
1947: Bobby Kimball (Singer for Toto)
1949: Dave Greenfield (Keyboardist for The Stranglers)
1956: Patty Donahue (Singer for The Waitresses)
1959: Perry Farrell (Singer for Jane's Addiction)

Events
1958: New Army recruit Elvis Presley arrives for boot camp at Ft. Hood, TX. He is stationed there for six months, and insists on performing KP and guard duty like any other soldier. With a bank account larger than most soldiers, he is able to afford his own housing. His family arrives and moves into an off-base trailer.

1966: During a show in Marseilles, France, a rabid Rolling Stones fan throws a chair at singer Mick Jagger, opening a gash in his forehead that would require eight stitches to close.

1967: The Beatles record "With A Little Help From My Friends" (originally titled ‘Bad Finger Boogie’).

1968: Glen Campbell becomes a television star overnight when the Smothers Brothers, on whose show he had been a featured regular, give him his own Summer replacement show on CBS-TV.

1969: Blood Sweat & Tears went to No.1 on the US album chart with their self- titled album.

1970: Tonight's Ed Sullivan Show on CBS-TV features performances by Bobbie Gentry and Gladys Knight and the Pips, broadcast live from VA hospitals caring for Vietnam wounded.

1972: Elvis Presley records "Always On My Mind"

1972: Led Zeppelin's Robert Plant and Jimmy Page travel to Bombay (Mumbai) India to record versions of the band's songs "Friends" and "Four Sticks" with the city's symphony orchestra. Musical and cultural barriers prevent the experiment from being a success, but the duo would return two decades later triumphant, recording those songs and many more for the MTV special Unledded.

1973: In a move that was destined to happen, the group Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show get their picture (an illustration) on the cover of Rolling Stone after their recent novelty hit, in which they daydreamed about doing just that. The cover puckishly refers to the group as "What's-Their-Names," but the band does indeed "buy five copies for (their) mother(s)."

1975: This week's Billboard shows Led Zeppelin with all six of their studio albums currently present on the "Billboard 200" album chart, including a Number One with their latest, Physical Graffiti.

1976: In Memphis, Bruce Springsteen jumped a fence at Graceland in an attempt to see his idol, Elvis Presley.

1978: Tina Turner is officially divorced from husband Ike.

1980: Mantovani Died at the age of 74.

1980: A Chicago antiques dealer named Ronald Selle sues the Bee Gees, claiming that their 1978 hit "How Deep Is Your Love" borrows heavily from his own composition "Let It End." Although the Bee Gees deny the charge and claim to have never heard the track, a court would rule in Selle's favor. The group would win an appeal three years later.

1980: Pink Floyd's 1973 album Dark Side Of The Moon marks its 303rd week on the Billboard album charts, passing Carole King's Tapestry for longest stay on the "Billboard 200."  It remained on the charts for 741 weeks (from 1973 to 1988), longer than any other album in history, with an estimated 45 million copies sold.

1985: Michael Jackson is honored with a wax statue at London's famous Madame Tussaud's museum.

1985: Jeanine Deckers, The Singing Nun, died at age 52 after taking an overdose of sleeping pills in a suicide pact with a friend.

1986: Beatle records officially go on sale in Russia.

1986: Austrian singer Falco started a three-week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Rock Me Amadeus'. Falco became the first German speaking artist to achieve a No.1 on the US charts.

1988: Madonna debuted on Broadway in "Speed The Plow."

1996: Phil Spector's former bandmates in the Teddy Bears, Carol Connors and Marshall Lieb, sue the producer to collect royalties they claim are still owed from the group's 1958 smash "To Know Him Is To Love Him."

1998: Shania Twain began her first headlining tour in her Canadian homeland in Sudbury, Ontario.

2000: Phil Collins took out a high court action against two former members of Earth, Wind And Fire. Collins claimed his company had overpaid the musicians by $85,000 in royalties on tracks including ‘Sussudio’ and ‘Easy Lover’.

2001: A three-hour musical tribute is held at New York City's Radio City Music Hall in honor of the Beach Boys' guiding genius Brian Wilson, with vocal tributes in the form of covers by Paul Simon ("Surfer Girl"), Elton John ("God Only Knows"), and Billy Joel ("Don't Worry Baby"), as well as Heart's Ann and Nancy Wilson, the Go-Go's, Carly Simon, David Crosby, Wilson Phillips, Aimee Mann, and songwriter Jimmy Webb. Wilson himself performs "Barbara Ann," "Fun, Fun, Fun," and "Surfin' U.S.A."

2005: After experiencing blurred vision at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony the month before, Neil Young enters a New York hospital to have a brain aneurysm removed.

2006: Tom Jones is knighted by Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace.

2007: U2 singer Bono accepted an honorary knighthood at a ceremony in Dublin. Bono, 46, was not entitled to be called "Sir" because he is not a British citizen. His new title is Knight Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (KBE).

Monday, March 28, 2011

March 28


Birthdays
1923: Thad Jones (Jazz Trumpeter)
1945: Chuck Portz (Bass for The Turtles)
1948: John Evans (Keyboardist for Jethro Tull)
1948: Milan Williams (Keyboardist for The Commodores)
1954: Reba McEntire (Country Singer)
1965: Steve Turner (Guitar for Mudhoney)
1969:Cheryl James (Salt from Salt-n-Pepa)
1969: James Atkin (EMF)
1976: Dave Keuning (Guitarist for The Killer)
1986: Lady Gaga (Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta)

Events
1958: Blues musician and composer W.C. Handy died of bronchial pneumonia at Sydenham Hospital in New York City.

1958: Alan Freed's Big Beat Show tour kicks off the first of its 43 shows at the Brooklyn Paramount Theater with Buddy Holly, Jerry Lee Lewis, Chuck Berry, Danny and the Juniors, Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers, The Chantels, The Diamonds, Screaming Jay Hawkins, and more.

1964: Radio Caroline, the UK's first all-day English-language "pirate" radio station, begins broadcasting from the Fredericia, a former Danish ferry, in the North Sea.

1964: Madame Tussaud's famous Wax Museum in London unveils its four new statues of the Beatles -- the first of any rock star to be created and displayed there. The figures will eventually become even more famous when the Beatles decide to use them on the cover of their 1967 album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.

1967: Van Morrison’s song "Brown Eyed Girl" is recorded.

1969: Joe Cocker played his first American concert.

1973: Led Zeppelin’s Album “Houses Of The Holy” is released.

1973: Pink Floyd's LP Dark Side Of The Moon hits #1.

1974: Delta-Blues artist Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup died of a heart attack in the Nassawadox hospital in Northampton County, Virginia.

1974: Rock group The Raspberries break up.

1975: Barbra Streisand attends tonight's Elvis Presley show in Vegas and meets the King backstage to discuss offering him the lead role in her latest film project: a remake of the classic A Star Is Born. Despite the fact that Streisand's boyfriend, stylist Jon Peters, is slated to produce and direct, Presley is said to be ecstatic about the project.

1976: Genesis began their first North American tour since Peter Gabriel left the band, appearing in Buffalo, New York, with Phil Collins taking over as lead singer.

1981: Blondie started a two week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Rapture', the group's fourth US No.1.

1982: After driving erratically due to a toxic shock from drug abuse, David Crosby is arrested in San Diego for driving under the influence and possession of Quaaludes, cocaine, drug paraphernalia, and an unlicensed .45 pistol. When cops ask why Crosby is carrying the gun, he says two words: "John Lennon."

1984: Mick Fleetwood, whose band, Fleetwood Mac, had the biggest-selling album of all time just seven years earlier, files for bankruptcy.

1985: At 10:15 am EST, 6,000 North American radio stations begin playing the all-star benefit single, "We Are The World," written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie and performed by a cast of 45 of music's biggest stars, including Ray Charles, Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Stevie Wonder, Paul Simon, Diana Ross, Billy Joel, Tina Turner, Dionne Warwick, Willie Nelson, and Daryl Hall. Proceeds from the sale of the single and related items -- some $38 million -- go to benefit victims of the recent Ethiopian famine.

1987: After hearing that Arizona Governor Evan Mecham would not honor the new national holiday Martin Luther King Day, the racially integrated Doobie Brothers move their upcoming show from Phoenix to Las Vegas.

1991: Eric Clapton quietly lays his son Conor, 4, to rest in England. The child, who had fallen from an apartment window a few days earlier, would later be the subject of Clapton's song "Tears In Heaven."

1992: over a $100,000 worth of damage was caused at The Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre, California, when Ozzy Osbourne invited the first two rows of the audience on stage. Several others took up the offer and the band was forced to exit the stage.

1995: Country singer Lyle Lovett and actress Julia Roberts announced they were separating after 21 months of marriage.

1996: Twenty years to the day after first appearing with them on stage as their new lead singer, Genesis frontman Phil Collins announces he is leaving the group.

1999: Freaky Tah (Lost Boyz) was killed by a ski-masked gunman who came up behind him and fired a single gunshot into his head. Freaky Tah was 27 years old.

2000: Led Zeppelin's Jimmy Page wins his libel lawsuit against Ministry, a UK magazine that claimed Page actually watched bandmate John Bonham choke to death while trying to revive him with Satanic spells.

2001: The artist formerly known as both Puffy and Puff Daddy said in an interview on MTV he now wanted to be known as P. Diddy. In August 2005, he changed his stage name to simply "Diddy."

2005: On Rev. Jesse Jackson's internet radio show, Michael Jackson claims that his recent child-molestation charges are a racist conspiracy.

2005: After playing a warm-up date the night before at the Los Angeles Sports Arena, U2 kicked off their Vertigo tour at the iPay One Center in San Diego, California. The 131 date world tour would see the band playing in North America, Europe, South America and Japan. By the time it finished, the Vertigo Tour had sold 4,619,021 tickets, grossing $389 million; the second-highest figure ever for a world tour.

2006: Tina Brown the sister-in-law of Whitney Houston sold pictures taken in her bathroom to the National Enquirer claiming Whitney Houston had been taking crack cocaine. The pictures showed drug paraphernalia including a crack-smoking pipe, rolling papers, cocaine-caked spoons and cigarette ends strewn across the surface tops of the bathroom.