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).