March 14

Births

1804: Johann I Strauss ( Composer )

1912: Les Brown (Bandleader)

1922: Les Baxter (Composer)

1933: Quincy Jones (Producer & Trumpet Player)

1943: Jim Pons (Bass for The Turtles & Mothers Of Invention)

1945: Walter Parazaider (Sax for Chicago)

1945: Michael Martin Murphy (Country Singer / Songwriter)

1950: Rick Dees (Radio DJ and performed “Disco Duck”)

1952: David Byrne (Singer for Talking Heads & Solo)

1961: Gary Dell'Abate (Producer of Howard Stern Show)

1969: Michael Bland (Drummer for New Power Generation & Soul Asylum)

1970: Kristian Bush (Vocals & Guitar for Billy Pilgrim & Sugarland)

1983:  Taylor Hanson (Vocals & Keyboards for Hanson)

1989:  Colby O'Donis (R&B Singer)

Events

1955: Popular country star Jimmy Dean interviews Elvis Presley on Dean's Washington, DC television show Town and Country Time. A nervous Elvis answers every question with "yep" and "nope."

1955: CBS talent scout Arthur Godfrey turned down the chance to sign Elvis Presley, instead at the same audition he signed singer Pat Boone.

1956: The Alan Freed film Rock Around The Clock, starring The Platters and, naturally, Bill Haley and His Comets, premieres in New York City.

1958: The RIAA awards its first-ever gold record for sales of a million copies, the honor going to Perry Como's "Catch A Falling Star."

1960: Sam Cooke begins an unprecedented tour of the West Indies with a concert in Jamaica's Montego Bay.

1965: Petula Clark makes her American TV debut singing "Downtown" and "I Know A Place" on CBS-TV's Ed Sullivan Show.

1968: The BBC-TV program Top Of The Pops broadcasts the Beatles' new promotional video for "Lady Madonna," which, oddly enough, is made up entirely of clips from the band's recording of "Hey Bulldog."

1970: Mary Ann Ganser (The Shangri-Las) dies.  The cause of her death has been variously reported as encephalitis a seizure disorder, and barbiturates.

1972: At tonight's Grammy Awards, Carole King's massively popular Tapestry LP is awarded Album of The Year.

1974: Stevie Wonder announces his intention to move to Ghana, Africa. He wouldn't actually move there for 21 years.

1980: On the occasion of his forty-seventh birthday, Quincy Jones is awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1500 Vine.

1981: Bleeding ulcers force Eric Clapton to cancel the remainder of his 60-date US tour and check himself into a hospital in St. Paul, MN.  He was back in hospital five weeks later after being involved in a car crash.

1982: Metallica made their live debut when they appeared at Radio City in Anaheim, California.

1983: Jon Bon Jovi, Richie Sambora and Alec John Such formed Bon Jovi.

1984: Annie Lennox married Hare Krishna devotee Radha Raman. They started divorce proceedings the following year.

1984: Rainbow played their last ever gig as a band when they performed in Japan.

1985: Dead Or Alive were kicked off the UK music television show 'The Tube', after admitting they were incapable of playing 'live.'

1990: Flea and Chad Smith from The Red Hot Chili Peppers were arrested for sexually harassing a woman on Daytona Beach, Florida. They were each fined $1,000.

1992: A phony bomb threat disrupts a Jay and the Americans concert in Long Island, New York.

1992 – Willie Nelson’s Farm Aid V was attended by about 40,000 people in Irving, TX with performances by Neil Young, John Mellencamp, Joe Walsh, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Lorrie Morgan, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Ricky Van Shelton, The Kentucky HeadHunters, Hal Ketchum and Paul Simon.

1995: with the release of 'Me Against the World' Tupac Shakur became the first male solo artist to have a No.1 album on the Billboard chart while in prison.

1998 – Ray Charles made his first solo performance in 53 years on the television shopping network QVC.

2004: DJ Casper went to No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Cha Cha Slide.' DJ Casper developed the Cha Cha Slide in 1996 for Bally Total Fitness and it became a hit with gym members.

2005: In New York City, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inducts Percy Sledge, The O'Jays, U2, Buddy Guy, and the Pretenders.