Saturday, September 17, 2011

September 17


Births
1923: Hank Williams Sr. (Country Legend)
1926: Bill Black (Bass for Elvis Presley)
1950: Mike Hossack (Drummer for The Doobie Brothers)
1950: Fee Waybill (Vocals for The Tubes)
1951: Elvira (Cassandra Peterson)
1953: Steve Williams (Drummer for Budgie)
1961: Ty Tabor (Lead Guitar & Vocals for King’s X)
1968: John Penney (Vocals for Neds Atomic Dustbin)
1968: Lord Jamer (Rapper in Brand Nubian)
1969: Keith Flint (Vocals for The Prodigy)
1979: Flo Rida (Tramar Lacel Dillard) (Rapper)
1985: Jonathan Jacob Walker (Bassist for Panic! at the Disco)

Events
1931: RCA Victor unveils its new invention, the 33 1/3 rpm long-playing or "LP" record, at the Savoy Plaza Hotel in New York. However, the company badly overprices the record players themselves, leading the new format to lie dormant for years until Columbia revives it in 1948.

1952: Frank Sinatra records his final session for Columbia; he will be dropped from the label due to poor sales, but rebound the next year after signing to Capitol and singing more "mature" fare.

1955: The Perry Como Show moves to NBC-TV, expanding from three 15-minute programs per week to one hour-long variety show on Saturday night.

1955: After DJs keep complaining that Les Paul's "Magic Melody" single ends abruptly, Capitol Records releases the shortest single of all time, Les Paul's "Magic Melody Part 2," which is merely the final two notes of the old "shave and a haircut" tag. Released only as a promo, it lasts exactly one second.

1964: The Beatles break with established practice and agree to add an extra date to their current US tour after the group is offered a then-record $150,000 by the owner of the Kansas City (Missouri) Athletics to perform a gig in KC's Municipal Stadium. The Beatles cannily add their medley of "Kansas City/Hey-Hey-Hey-Hey!" to the setlist, the only time they would play this song in America. Afterward, their hotel manager sells their unwashed bedsheets to two businessmen from Chicago, who promptly cut them up and sell the pieces for $10 a pop.

1967: Appearing on CBS-TV's Ed Sullivan Show, the Doors are asked to change the line "Girl, we couldn't get much higher" in their hit "Light My Fire." Lead singer Jim Morrison agrees, then sings the offending words anyway, leading to a lifetime ban from the show.

1967: In an ill-advised move, Keith Moon of the Who rigs his bass drum to explode at the end of "My Generation" during the group's appearance on CBS-TV's Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour. A stagehand, unfortunately, packs far too much explosive into the drum, and the resulting explosion damage's Keith's leg, and causes permanent hearing damage to guitarist Pete Townshend.

1969: Tiny Tim announces his forthcoming marriage to "Miss Vicki" Budinger, which would break records for TV viewership when the ceremony is broadcast on Johnny Carson's Tonight Show. The two are separated three years later, and divorce in 1977.

1975: Mayor Stephen Juba of Winnipeg, Canada, declares today "Guess Who Day" in honor of its native sons.

1976: The Sex Pistols played a gig for the inmates at Chelmsford Prison, Essex in England.

1977: Reba McEntire makes her first appearance on the Grand Ole Opry, singing the Patsy Cline classic "Sweet Dreams" and Roger Miller's "Invitation To The Blues," 30 years to the day after her father won his first rodeo honor.

1983: Singer Vanessa Williams, as Miss New York, became the first black woman to be crowned Miss America.

1989: Natalie Cole married Andre Fisher. Cole filed for a divorce less than three years later.

1991: Rob Tyner (Lead singer for MC5) Died of a heart attach at age 46.

1991: Over 4 million copies of Guns N' Roses album, 'Use Your Illusion I' and 'Use Your Illusion II' were simultaneously released for retail sale, making it the largest ship-out in pop history in the US.

1992: Singer Tiffany gave birth to her son Elijah Bulmaro.

1996: A bomb was found at a South London sorting office addressed to Icelandic singer Bjork. Police in Miami had alerted the post office after finding the body of Ricardo Lopez who had made a video of himself making the bomb and then killing himself.

1997: Fleetwood Mac begin their first tour in 20 years at the Meadows Music Theatre in Hartford, CT.

1998: A 19-year-old man was taken off a plane in Denver after harassing members of Hootie & the Blowfish who were travelling in the first class section of the plane.

1998: Country Singer Terri Clark had her shoulder dislocated when she was pulled from a moving car at the New Mexico State Fair. A male fan had pulled her from the open car.

1998: Wu-Tang Clan rapper Ol' Dirty Bastard (Russell Jones) was arrested on a charge of making terrorist threats in Los Angeles. He had been ejected from the House of Blues nightclub and had threatened to return and kill them all.

2000: Paula Yates was found dead in bed from a suspected drug overdose. Yates had presented the UK music TV show 'The Tube' during the 80's, married Bob Geldof and was the girlfriend of INXS singer Michael Hutchence.

2003: David Lee Roth injured himself while doing a very fast, complicated 15th-century samurai move onstage. Roth needed 21 stitches when a staff he was using hit him in the face. A few days later the remainder of his tour was canceled.

2007: Barry Manilow cancels his upcoming appearance on ABC-TV's The View after learning he would not be allowed to ignore conservative co-host Elisabeth Hasselbeck.