Tuesday, September 17, 2013

September 17


Births
1923: Hank Williams Sr. (Country Legend)
1926: Bill Black (Bass for Elvis Presley)
1950: Fee Waybill (Vocals for The Tubes)
1951: Elvira (Cassandra Peterson) (Actress)
1953: Steve Williams (Drummer for Budgie)
1961: Ty Tabor (Lead Guitar & Vocals for King’s X)
1965: Guy Picciotto (Vocals & Guitar for Fugazi & Rites Of Spring)
1968: Jonn Penney (Vocals for Neds Atomic Dustbin)
1968: Lord Jamer (Lorenzo Dechalus ) (Rapper in Brand Nubian)
1969: Keith Flint (Vocals for The Prodigy)
1979: Chuck Comeau (Drums for Simple Plan)
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.

2003: Moore and Bode Cigars were suing P Diddy after film footage of their "secret" production process turned up in his latest video. The company claimed an unidentified cameraman filmed their "unique method of rolling cigars" which was then used in the rappers 'Shake Ya Tailfeather' video without permission.

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.

Monday, September 16, 2013

September 16


Births
1925: B.B. King (Riley B. King) (Blues Guitarist & Singer / Songwriter)
1941: Joe Butler (Lead Vocals for The Lovin' Spoonful)
1944: Betty Kelly (Singer in Martha and the Vandellas)
1948: Kenney Jones (Drummer for The Small Faces & The Who)
1948: Ron Blair (Bass for Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers)
1953: Earl Klugh (Jazz Pianist / Guitarist)
1954: Colin Newman (Guitar & Vocals for Wire)
1961: Bilinda Butcher (Guitar & Vocals for My Bloody Valentine)
1963: Richard Marx (Singer / Songwriter)
1964: David “The Snake” Sabo (Guitar for Skid Row)
1968: Marc Anthony (Marco Antonio Muñiz ) (Latin American Singer)
1969: Justine Frischmann (Guitar & Vocals for Elastica)
1977: Musiq Soulchild (Taalib Johnson) (R&B Singer)
1988: Teddy Geiger (Singer / Songwriter)
1992: Nick Jonas (Singer / Songwriter)

Events
1959: Dick Clark's first "Caravan of Stars" tour opens in New York, featuring The Coasters, The Drifters, Lloyd Price, LaVern Baker, Duane Eddy, Paul Anka and Annette Funicello.

1963: Currently the #1 song in England, the Beatles' "She Loves You" is released by the tiny Swan label in America, but the stateside public has no idea who the group is, and the single fails to chart. Four months later, after "I Want To Hold Your Hand" and the attendant Beatlemania, a re-released "She Loves You" single will reach #1 in the US as well.

1964: ABC-TV premieres the musical variety show Shindig!, featuring the Everly Brothers, the Righteous Brothers, and Bobby Sherman.

1965: NBC-TV premieres The Dean Martin Show, featuring the theme song (and recent hit) "Everybody Loves Somebody," and, later, a chorus of beautiful showgirls named The Golddiggers. The famously laid-back and largely improvised show, which made stars of Dom DeLuise, Charles Nelson Reilly, Tom Bosley, and Nipsey Russell, would run for a full decade.

1966: Tom Drilberg, MP of Barking, England, asks the House of Lords to censure a magistrate who'd recently spoken out against the Rolling Stones as "complete morons (who) wear their hair down to their shoulders, wear filthy clothes and act like clowns."

1966: Pete Quaife, bassist for the Kinks, leaves the band after injuries from a recent car crash threaten his ability to play. He will eventually return and stay with the band through 1969.

1970: Jimi Hendrix takes the stage at an Eric Burdon and War concert at London club Ronnie Scott's, marking the last time the guitarist will ever play in public.

1972: Former Herd and Humble Pie guitarist Peter Frampton plays his first solo gig, opening for the J. Geils Band in New York.

1977: Marc Bolan (Singer & Guitar for T. Rex) was a passenger in a purple Mini 1275GT driven by Gloria Jones as they headed home from Mortons drinking club and restaurant in Berkeley Square, London. Jones lost control of the car and it struck a sycamore tree after failing to negotiate a small humpback bridge near Gipsy Lane on Queens Ride, Barnes, southwest London.  Bolan died instantly at 29 years old.

1979: The first rap single was released, The Sugarhill Gang's 'Rapper's Delight' at 14:59 minutes long.

1988: Former Clash drummer Topper Headon was released from jail after serving 10 months of a 15-month sentence on a narcotics charge.

1988: Singer Fish (Derek William Dick) leaves rock group Marillion.

1991: Willie Nelson and makeup artist Ann-Marie D'Angelo got married. It's his fourth marriage.

1993: Grace Slick's (Jefferson Airplane / Starship) home was destroyed by fire.

1998: The members of Mott The Hoople played together for the first time in 24 years at the Virgin Megastore on London's Oxford Street.

2004: Weather Girls singer Izora Armstead died aged 62 of heart failure at a hospital in San Leandro, East San Francisco. Also member of Two Tons O' Fun featured on four Sylvester albums, including '(You Make Me Feel) Mighty Real.'

2006: Bob Dylan's new album Modern Times goes to #1 in Billboard's album chart, making the 65-year-old the oldest musician to ever hold that honor until 2011’s Tony Bennett Album “Duet’s II”.

Friday, September 13, 2013

September 13


Births

1857: Milton Hershey (Founder of Hershey Chocolate)
1911: Bill Monroe (Bluegrass Musician)
1922: Yma Sumac (Peruvian Singer)
1925: Mel Torme (Singer)
1941: David Clayton-Thomas (Lead Singer for Blood, Sweat and Tears)
1944: Peter Cetera (Singer for Chicago & Solo)
1948: Nell Carter (Singer / Actress)
1949: Fred "Sonic" Smith (Guitarist for MC5)
1952: Randy Jones (Cowboy in The Village People)
1952: Don Was (Singer in Was, Now Was & Producer)
1954: Steve Kilbey (Lead singer / songwriter & Bass for The Church & Solo)
1956: Joni Sledge (Singer in Sister Sledge)
1957: Vinny Appice (Drummer for Black Sabbath & DIO)
1961: Dave Mustaine (Lead Singer & Guitarist for Megadeth and one time member of Metallica)
1967: Stephen Perkins (Drummer for Jane's Addiction & Porno For Pyros)
1967: Timothy “Ripper” Owens (Singer for Judas Priest & Iced Earth)
1977: Fiona Apple (Singer / Songwriter)
1979: Geike Arnaert (Singer for Hooverphonic)
1980: Teppei Teranishi (Guitar & Keyboards for Thrice)
1993: Niall Horan (Singer in One Direction)

Events
1959: While he is stationed in the US Army in Germany, Elvis Presley's friend, airman Currie Grant, brings Priscilla Ann Beaulieu to a party at his apartment after meeting her in the nearby Eagles Club, a popular hangout for officers and their families. Wearing a sailor dress for the occasion, Priscilla says "It's a pleasure to meet you" and remarks that it's a shame the Army has taken his sideburns. He plays her a few songs on guitar. Elvis and "Cilla" are immediately smitten with each other, with the singer describing her to friends as smart, saying that she treats him like an ordinary guy, and dubbing her "the woman I've been looking for my whole life."

1960: A movement to ban Ray Peterson's new single "Tell Laura I Love Her" begins in the UK when it is feared that the song's powerful story of a stock-car driver who dies young while racing for his girl's love will inspire a "death cult" amongst teens.

1960: The FCC bans "payola," the controversial practice of paying DJs for playing songs, as a result of the scandal involving, among others, Dick Clark and Alan Freed.

1963: The Hollies' Graham Nash (later of CSNY) falls out of his touring van after a Scottish gig, leaning on an unlocked door and tumbling out at 40 mph. 36 years later to the day, the singer breaks both legs in a boat accident off the coast of Hawaii.

1963: Barbra Streisand marries her first husband, actor Elliot Gould, in New York. The two would divorce in 1971.

1964: To prevent the spate of stage-rushing going on at recent frenzied Rolling Stones concerts, Liverpool's Empire Club hires two dozen rugby players to act as a human shield; the crowd of 5,000 washes right over them.

1965: Ringo Starr and wife Maureen become the proud parents of their first child, Zak Starkey (who also became a drummer). Six years later to the day, Paul and Linda McCartney celebrate the arrival of their second child, Stella.

1965: The Beatles win their first Grammys, for Best New Artist and Best Album (for A Hard Day's Night) at the awards ceremony in New York.

1969: John Lennon debuts the Plastic Ono Band at the Rock and Roll Revival Show in Toronto. So named because of the flexible "plastic" nature of the members, this lineup included Eric Clapton, longtime Beatles associate Klaus Voormann, and drummer Alan White, all of whom rehearsed for the first time on the plane trip over from England. The concert, mainly a mix of simple rock and roll oldies and stabs at "Give Peace A Chance," "Yer Blues," and John's forthcoming single "Cold Turkey," will later be released as Live Peace In Toronto 1969.

1977: Symphonic conductor Leopold Stokowski died at the age of 95.

1980: Jackson Browne scored his only US No.1 album with 'Hold Out'.

1982: David Bowie reports to the Cook Islands to begin filming his role in the movie Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence.

1985: Sting began his first solo tour in San Diego. The tour was to support the album "Dream Of The Blue Turtles."

1991: Geffen Records threw a party to launch Nirvana’s single ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit.’ The band ended up being thrown out of their own party after starting a food fight.

1993: Max Weinberg, drummer with Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band, begins his new job as bandleader for NBC-TV's new show Late Night With Conan O'Brien.

1994: The debut album "Ready to Die" was released by The Notorious Big.

1996: American rapper Tupac Amaru Shakur died after being shot six days earlier when he was driving through Las Vegas. 13 bullets were fired into his BMW. The incident was blamed on East and West Coast Gang wars. Shakur was a convicted sex offender, guilty of sexual abuse. After serving eleven months of his sentence he was released from prison on an appeal financed by Marion "Suge" Knight, the CEO of Death Row Records.

1998: Lauryn Hill started a five week run at No.1 on the US album chart with 'The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill.'

1998: Mel B (Spice Girls) and Jimmy Gulzarof were married.

2000: Elton John storms out of the Estoril Casino in Portugal just before his planned gig there and flies back to England, fuming that the supposedly sell-out crowd had only half arrived. Turns out they were merely lingering at a VIP dinner given just before the show.

2003: US stores Wal-Mart were refusing to stock 'Permission To Land' the Number 1 album by UK rock group The Darkness because the sleeve featured a woman's bottom.

2005: Jimi Hendrix' boyhood home in Seattle is saved from destruction after his estate and the city agree to renovate the building and turn it into a community center.

2009: Taylor Swift's "You Belong With Me" wins Best Female Video during the MTV Video Music Awards. Rapper Kanye West interrupts her acceptance speech at New York's Radio City Music Hall to insist that Beyonce should have won.