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Saturday, May 18, 2013

This Date in Rock Music History: May 19

1958:  Peggy Lee recorded the great song "Fever" at the famous Capitol Tower Studios in Hollywood, California.




1958:  This group debuted on the chart with their first single.  Lead singer Dion would score 33 hits into the 1980's.  The first release from Dion & the Belmonts was "I Wonder Why".











1958:  An influential surf-rock duo that formed in high school as the Barons recorded their first song in a garage.  They scored 26 hits until a tragic accident to Jan Berry cut their recording career short.  On this date, the first single from Jan & Dean, credited as Jan & Arnie, debuted on the chart--"Jennie Lee".
1960:  The Drifters recorded "Save The Last Dance For Me".
1961:  The Everly Brothers began their own record label, Calliope Records.
1962:  Dee Dee Sharp remained at the top of the R&B chart for a fourth week with "Mashed Potato Time".






1962:  "Soldier Boy" by the Shirelles was #1 for a third week, holding off the great instrumental "Stranger On The Shore" by Mr. Acker Bilk.  Dee Dee Sharp was all about "Mashed Potato Time" at #3 while Shelley Fabares loomed close to the top with "Johnny Angel" at #4.
1967:  The Beatles held a launch party at manager Brian Epstein's house in London for the release of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.
1968:  The 5th Dimension were guests on The Ed Sullivan Show.
1968:  The Doors, the Animals, the Youngbloods, and Country Joe and the Fish were among the performers on the second and final day of the Northern California Rock Festival at the Santa Clara County Fairgrounds in Santa Clara.)
1972:  Elton John released the album Honky Chateau in the U.K.
1973:  "Daniel" by Elton John spent a second week at #1 on the Adult Contemporary chart.





1973:  "You Are The Sunshine Of My Life", one of The Top 500 Songs of the Rock Era* by Stevie Wonder, was the new #1, trading places with Dawn's "Tie A Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree".  "Little Willy" from Sweet was #3 followed by Edgar Winter Group's classic instrumental Frankenstein".  The rest of the Top 10:  "Daniel" from Elton John, Paul McCartney & Wings climbed from 13 to 6 with "My Love", Dobie Gray's great song "Drift Away" was song #7, Stealers Wheel had #8 with "Stuck In The Middle With You, Sylvia moved from 14-9 with "Pillow Talk" and Skylark's one and only hit "Wildflower" entered the Top 10.







1975:  Elton John released the album Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy in the United States on MCA Records.  (Note:  several websites claim the album was released in the United States on May 17, 1975 and was certified Platinum on the date of release.  Several websites, including MTV, Allmusic.com' and unfortunately Elton's official website, claim that the album was released May 23.  The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), which certifies official album sales, reports that the album was released May 19, and the RIAA certified the album Gold on May 21.  As great an album as 'Captain Fantastic' is, it is physically impossible for an album to be certified Gold if it hasn't been released yet.  As for the LP's Platinum status, the RIAA did not certify the album as Platinum until 1993, as shown on their official website.) 










1975:  The song that launched the greatest comeback of the Rock Era, and essentially gave the Bee Gees a second career...The trio released "Jive Talkin'" on this date.  (Note:  many naïve websites report the single was released May 31.  "Jive Talkin'" debuted on the Singles chart on May 31, 1975.  It is physically impossible for a song to be released by a record company, mailed to radio stations, listened to and added to playlists by the radio station, reported to the trade papers, and printed and published by the trade papers, all on the same day.)






1975:  Paul McCartney & Wings released the single "Listen To What The Man Said".
1976:  Trouble is his middle name.  Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones crashed his car near Newport Pagnell, Buckinghamshire, England.  Police found cocaine and marijuana in the car--small wonder.








1978:  Dire Straits released the single "Sultans Of Swing".  It flopped, but after a re-release, became a hit the following year.















1979:  "Just When I Needed You Most" by Randy Vanwarmer became the new #1 on the Adult Contemporary chart.
1979:  Rex Smith moved from 59 to 30 with "You Take My Breath Away".
1979:  ABBA once again had the #1 album in the U.K., moving into the top position with their latest Voulez Vous.
1979:  Peaches & Herb was #1 for a fourth week on the R&B chart with "Reunited".









1979:  "Reunited" remained #1 for the third week out of four it would spend at the top for Peaches & Herb.  Donna Summer was making a bid with the Disco Rock song "Hot Stuff".











                              Supertramp reached #1...

1979:  The classic album Breakfast in America took over at #1 for the first time on this date, replacing Minute by Minute from the Doobie Brothers, which fell to #4.  Peaches & Herb had #2--2 Hot! while Bad Company came in third with Desolation Angels.  The rest of the Top 10:  Spirits Having Flown, the great album from the Bee Gees, Van Halen's second album at #6, We Are Family from Sister Sledge at #7, Go West by the Village People at 8, Blondie's Parallel Lines at #9 and Bad Girls by Donna Summer, moving from 39 to 10.







1980:  Olivia Newton-John released the single "Magic".  (Note:  some websites report the single was released on May 23.  "Magic" debuted on the Singles chart on May 24.  It is physically impossible for a song to be released by a record company, received and listened to by radio stations, reported by radio stations to the trade papers, and the trade papers printed and published, all in one day.)
















1984:  ZZ Top released "Legs" on Dusty Hill's birthday.
1984:  "The Longest Time" from Billy Joel took over at #1 on the Adult Contemporary chart.
1984:  "Hello" by Lionel Richie spent a third week at #1 on the R&B chart.










1984:  Richard Carpenter married his wife Mary in Downey, California.
1984:  The Pink Floyd album Dark Side of the Moon made it 10 consecutive years (520 weeks in a row) on the Album chart as one of the Top 200 top-selling albums of the week.
1985:  The television special Motown Returns to the Apollo aired on NBC.







1986:  Genesis released the single "Invisible Touch".
1988:  Not a good way to go out, but an undeniable way to leave your legacy.  James Brown was arrested for the fifth time in 12 months, charged with possession of PCP, unlawful possession of a pistol, resisting arrest, simple assault and battery against his wife and failure to stop for police at his home in Beech Island, South Carolina.
1990:  "Vogue" became Madonna's eighth #1 song on this date, taking over from "Nothing Compares 2 (sic) U (sic) by Sinead O'Connor.  Heart moved up with "All I Wanna' Do Is Make Love To You" at #3 and Wilson Phillips were at 4 with "Hold On".  
1990"  This Old Heart Of Mine" by Rod Stewart and Ronald Isley, was #1 on the Adult Contemporary chart for the fifth week in a row, making it one of the top AC hits of the 90's.
1991:  Odia Coates, who sang "Having My Baby" and others with Paul Anka, died of breast cancer in Oakland, California at the age of 49.
2003:  Aretha Franklin organized a candlelight vigil and prayer service at the Little Rock Baptist Church in Detroit, Michigan for the great Luther Vandross, who suffered a stroke in April.
2004:  Gretchen Wilson debuted on the Album chart at #2 with Here for the Party.

2006:  Freddie Garrity of Freddie & the Dreamers ("I'm Telling You Now") died in Bangor, Gwynedd, Wales at the age of 69 after suffering from emphysema for many years.
2007:  Frank Guida, who produced "Quarter To Three" for Gary U.S. Bonds and "If You Wanna' Be Happy" for Jimmy Soul, among others, and was also the owner of a record company, died in Virginia Beach, Virginia shortly before his 85th birthday.  (Note:  the notoriously wrong 'Allmusic.com' and other websites falsely report that Guida died in Norfolk, Virginia.  Frank's obituary appeared in a Norfolk newspaper, 'The Norfolk Virginian-Pilot', but if they had bothered to read further, they would see that Guida died at his home in Virginia Beach.) 
2009:  Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff received a lifetime songwriting achievement award from BMI.





Born This Day:


1945:  Elite guitarist and leader of the Who, Pete Townshend was born in Chiswick, London.
1947:  Greg Herbert, saxophonist and flautist of Blood, Sweat and Tears; died of a drug overdose in Amsterdam, the Netherlands on January 31, 1977.
1947:  Steve Currie, bassist of T. Rex, was born in Grimsby, Lincolnshire, England; died  in a car crash near Vale de Parra, Algarve, Portugal April 28, 1981.  (Note:  some websites report his birth as May 20, but according to the BBC, Currie was born May 19.  Some websites say Currie was born in the county of North Lincolnshire; the county was simply called Lincolnshire.)
1947:  Jerry Hyman, trombone player of Blood, Sweat and Tears was born in Brooklyn, New York.





1948:  Great saxophone player and three-time Grammy Award winner (nominated 13 times) Tom Scott was born in Los Angeles, California.  Scott recorded the theme songs to Starsky & Hutch and The Streets of San Francisco, and is one of the top session musicians of the Rock Era.  Scott, who also has played flute, horn, percussion, synthesizers, and many other instruments, has played on "Listen To What The Man Said" by Paul McCartney & Wings, "Do Ya Think I'm Sexy?" by Rod Stewart, "Rhinestone Cowboy" by Glen Campbell, "Rosanna" by Toto, "Rapture" by Blondie, "Sing" by the Carpenters, "Lido Shuffle" by Boz Scaggs, "Saving All My Love For You" by Whitney Houston, and "It Never Rains In Southern California" by Albert Hammond.  Scott has also collaborated with Frank Sinatra, Barbra Streisand, the Beach Boys, George Harrison, Ringo Starr, Neil Diamond, Olivia Newton-John, Barry Manilow, Pat Benatar, Diana Ross, Carole King, Joni Mitchell, Pink Floyd, Hall & Oates, Bread, Dan Fogelberg (including the album Phoenix), Steely Dan (album Aja), Helen Reddy, Johnny Rivers, Johnny Mathis, The Captain & Tennille, Donovan, Josh Groban, Steppenwolf, Joan Baez, Michael Buble, the Grateful Dead, Earl Klugh, and many others.




1949:  Dusty Hill, bass guitarist and vocalist of ZZ Top, was born in Dallas, Texas.
1952:  Joey Ramone, songwriter and lead singer of the Ramones, was born in Queens, New York; died of lymphoma April 15, 2001 in New York City.  (Note:  some websites report that Ramone was born in Forest Hills, New York.  Forest Hills is a neighborhood, not a city, and will never appear on an official birth certificate.  Ramone was born in Queens.)
1952:  Barbara Joyce Lomas, singer with B.T. Express ("Express"), was born in Bessemer, Alabama.
1956:  Martyn Ware of the Human League and later Heaven 17, who also produced "Let's Stay Together" for Tina Turner, was born in Sheffield, West Riding of Yorkshire, England.  (Note:  the infamous 'Allmusic.com' and other websites report that Ware was born on May 16.  This is false, according to the official websites for Heaven 17 and the city of Sheffield, as well as 'ABC News' and 'BBC'.  Numerous websites list Ware's county of birth as Yorkshire or South Yorkshire.  Sheffield did not become part of the county of South Yorkshire until 1974 with the Local Government Act, long after Ware's birth--the correct name of the county Martyn was born in is West Riding of Yorkshire) 
1960:  Phil Rudd, drummer for AC/DC, was born in Melbourne, Australia.
1962:  Iain Harvie, guitarist with Del Amitri, was born in Glasgow, Scotland.
1972:  Jenny Berggren of Ace of Base was born in Gothenburg, Sweden.

Friday, May 17, 2013

This Date in Rock Music History: May 18


1959: This artist changed the name at the suggestion of Dick Clark's wife Bobbie because he resembled a teenage Fats Domino.  He scored 35 hits over three decades, but on this date, Chubby Checker debuted on the chart for the first time with "The Class", in which he did imitations of Fats Domino, Elvis Presley, the Coasters, Cozy Cole and the Chipmunks.










1959:  Wilbert Harrison rose from 6 to 1 with "Kansas City".  The Impalas were lodged at #2 with "Sorry (I Ran All The Way Home)" while Dave 'Baby' Cortez slipped to 3 with "The Happy Organ".  The three top newcomers to the Top 10 were "A Teenager In Love" by Dion & the Belmonts, which moved from 12 to 5, "Dream Lover" by Bobby Darin, up from 16-6, and "The Battle Of New Orleans", which climbed from 23-7 for Johnny Horton.
1963:  The Beatles, Roy Orbison, and Gerry and the Pacemakers performed at the Adelphi Theatre in Slough, England.  (Note:  some websites claim the concert was at the Grenada Theatre in Slough, and that the Beatles were the featured act for the first time.  According to 'The Beatles Bible', the official website for the city of Slough, and the official website of Roy Orbison, the show was at the Adelphia Theatre in Slough, and Roy Orbison got top billing to start the tour.  The Beatles were not the featured act on this night--Roy Orbison was.  The Beatles had started out their four week tour in February opening for Tommy Roe, but assumed headline status by the end of the tour, according to 'The Beatles Bible'.)
1963:  20-year-old Jackie DeShannon appeared on The Jackie Gleason Show on CBS-TV, in DeShannon's U.S. television debut.
1963:  Jackie Wilson ruled the R&B chart for a third week with "Baby Workout".







1963:  Jimmy Soul had the #1 song with "If You Wanna' Be Happy", replacing Little Peggy March's "I Will Follow Him".  "Puff The Magic Dragon" by Peter, Paul & Mary slipped to 3, followed by the Beach Boys with "Surfin' U.S.A."
1964:  A very special day in rock history for this is the day that the Animals went into De Lane Lea Studios in London to record "The House Of The Rising Sun".
1966:  The Castilles, featuring Bruce Springsteen on lead vocals, recorded a couple of tracks at Mr. Music in Brick Town, New Jersey.
1966:  The Hollies recorded "Bus Stop" at EMI Studios in London.  (Note:  some websites insist on saying the song was recorded at Abbey Road Studios.  The studio was not renamed Abbey Road until after the Beatles album of the same name was released in 1968, long after the Hollies recorded "Bus Stop".  When the Hollies recorded the song, the studio was still named EMI Studios)
1967:  Paul McCartney and John Lennon sang backing vocals on the Rolling Stones song "We Love You" during a recording session in London.
1968:  Jefferson Airplane, the Steve Miller Band, the Youngbloods, and the Grateful Dead performed at the Northern California Rock Festival at the Santa Clara Fairgrounds in Santa Clara.  (Note:  several websites claim that the Doors performed on May 18.  The Festival was a two-day event, and the Doors played on May 19.) 1968:  "Tighten Up" by Archie Bell & the Drells took over at &1 on the R&B chart.







1968:  Hugo Montenegro's classic instrumental "The Good, The Bad And The Ugly" from the movie of the same name, was #1 on the Adult Contemporary chart.











                 Dionne Warwick seemed to know her way up the charts...


1968:  Archie Bell & the Drells climbed up to #1 with "Tighten Up".  Simon & Garfunkel's latest, "Mrs. Robinson" was up impressively from 9-2 while Bobby Goldsboro finally dropped after five weeks at #1 with "Honey".  Hugo Montenego held steady with "The Good, The Bad And The Ugly" and the Rascals grabbed position #5 with "A Beautiful Morning".  The rest of the Top 10:  The Intruders with "Cowboys To Girls", the Troggs had the #7 song with "Love Is All Around", the Irish Rovers and "The Unicorn", Gary Puckett from Twin Falls, Idaho & the Union Gap with "Young Girl" and Dionne Warwick moved from 19-10 with "Do You Know The Way To San Jose".
1970:  The Beatles released Let It Be, their final studio album, in the United States .

 




1973:  Pink Floyd played The Dark Side of the Moon in its entirety at Earls Court in London.
1974:  Another instrumental, "The Entertainer" from the classic movie The Sting, was #1 on the Adult Contemporary chart.







1978:  The movie The Buddy Holly Story, with Gary Busey in a tremendous performance in the title role, premiered at the Medallion Theatre in Dallas, Texas.
1980:  Peter Criss officially left KISS to begin a solo career. (Note:  several websites report that Criss left on May 17.  While there are no credible sources for either date, our best research indicates that the official date of the announcement was May 18, 1980.)
1981:  Diana Ross left Motown Records, signing with RCA Records for $20 million, the largest recording contract at that time.  (Note:  some websites report Ross left Motown on May 20.  While there are no credible sources for the exact date, our best research indicates that the transaction took place on May 18.)
1983:  Bob Dylan finished recording of the album Infidels at the famous recording studio The Power Station in New York City.











1985:  This artist debuted on the chart with her first single on this date.  She went on to have 12 hits and was very popular in the 1990's.  Her first single was "Find A Way"--Amy Grant.
1985:  Kool and the Gang collected their eighth #1 on the R&B chart with "Fresh".










1985:  "Smooth Operator" by Sade spent another week atop the Adult Contemporary chart.
1985:  Simple Minds celebrated a #1 song with "Don't You (Forget About Me)".  











1985:  Phil Collins moved into the #1 spot on the Album chart with No Jacket Required.  We Are the World from USA for Africa fell to 2 with the Soundtrack to "Beverly Hills Cop" coming in third.  Bruce Springsteen had #4--Born in the U.S.A. and Prince & the Revolution were 5 with Around the World in a Day.  The rest of the Top 10:  Sade with Diamond Life, Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers remained at #7 with Southern Accents, Madonna slipped to #8 with Like a Virgin, Wham! had the #9 album Make It Big and John Fogerty was at 10 with Centerfield.
1988:  Fleetwood Mac played the first of six sold-out shows at Wembley Arena in London.
1988:  Ike Turner was sentenced to a year in jail for possession and transportation of cocaine.
1991:  Hi-Five moved to #1 with "I Like he Way (The Kissing Game)".




 

                                 "Shiny Happy People" loved R.E.M.'s new album...


1991:  R.E.M. had the top album with Out of Time but Mariah Carey only slipped to #2 in her 47th week on the chart with her debut album.
1991:  Amy Grant remained at #1 on the Adult Contemporary chart for a third week with "Baby Baby".
1999:  The Backstreet Boys released the album Millennium.
2002:  CBS-TV showed the Barry Manilow special Ultimate Manilow.
2003:  Scott Weiland of Stone Temple Piots was arrested for drug possession in Burbank, California.
2004:  Clint Warwick, bassist with the Moody Blues, died of liver disease in Birmingham, West Midlands, England at the age of 63.






2008:  Neil Diamond had the #1 album in the U.K.--Home Before Dark.
2010:  Los Angeles celebrated "John Fogerty Day" as the former CCR member was honored by BMI with their Icon Award at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Los Angeles.








Born This Day:

1912:  Perry Como was born in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania; died  in his sleep May 12, 2001 in Jupiter Inlet Colony, Florida.
1922:  Kai Winding, the great trombonist who gave us the instrumental "More", was born in Aarhus, Denmark; died of a coronary attack while being treated for a brain tumor in Yonkers, New York May 6, 1983.  (Note:  several websites claim Winding died in New York City, but according to the newspaper 'The New York Times', Winding died at Riverside Hospital in Yonkers.)
1942:  Albert Hammond ("It Never Rains In Southern California" from 1972) was born in London, England.
1949:  William Wallace, guitarist of the Guess Who, was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.







1949:  Rick Wakeman, great keyboardist of Yes, was born in Perivale, Middlesex, England.  (Note:  some websites naively say that Rick was born in Perivale, London.  Perivale was located in the county of Middlesex at the time of Wakeman's birth (at Perivale Maternity Hospital).  In 1974, it became part of the county of Greater London, but that was 25 years after Rick's birth, and you will never see Greater London listed as the county of birth on his official birth certificate.)
1950:  Mark Mothersbaugh, songwriter, singer, and co-founder of Devo, was born in Akron, Ohio.
1953:  Butch Tavares of the group Tavares ("It Only Takes A Minute" and "Heaven Must Be Missing an Angel")
1957:  Michael Cretu of Enigma was born in Bucharest, Romania.
1966:  Michael Tait of dc Talk was born in Washington, D.C.
1967:  Rob Base ("It Takes Two") was born in Harlem, New York.
1969:  Martika ("Toy Soldiers") was born in Whittier, California.
1970:  Billy Howerdel, founding member, songwriter, guitarist and producer of A Perfect Circle





1975:  Jack Johnson was born in North Shore, Oahu, Hawai'i.

Five Best: Alan Parsons Project

The engineer who had credits like the Beatles and Dark Side of the Moon by Pink Floyd formed with lyricist Eric Woolfson to create the Alan Parsons Project in 1975.  We present not only their Five Best* but other samples of their work:

1.  Sirius/Eye in the Sky









2.  Games People Play









3.  Time











4.  I Wouldn't Want To Be Like You







 

5.  May Be A Price To Pay









Don't Answer Me









Damned If I Do









Old and Wise









Snake Eyes









Dream Within A Dream









The Raven









Psychobabble

New Featured Unknown/Underrated Song: "Runaway" by Jefferson Starship

Hard to believe there were Music Directors that deprived people of this song back in 1978, but their refusal to play this song kept it out of the Top 10.  It only reached #12 for Jefferson Starship:

Runaway
Jefferson Starship
 
Words and Music By N.Q. Dewey
 

You don't know how much I love you
But I love you like the sun
I'd like to put my arms around you
And we could runaway.

If you knew how much I miss you
Oh and I miss you more and more each day
.Id really like o come and see you
And we could runaway
Sun is comin. and its getting warmer
They tell me spring is just around the corner
I been sitting watchin. all the flowers
Birds are singin. getting louder and louder.

And here I am missin. you
And here I go I.m lovin. you
Run run run run runnin.
If you knew how much I need you
Oh and I need you like the air
And if someone should take you from me
Well then I'd runaway... 

Thursday, May 16, 2013

This Date in Rock Music History: May 17

1958:  "Jerry Lee Lewis Day" was held in Lewis's hometown of Ferriday, Louisiana.
1963:  Joan Baez, Bob Dylan, Peter, Paul & Mary and Pete Seeger performed at the first Monterey Folk Festival, held over three days in Monterey, California.
1967:  The Bob Dylan documentary Don't Look Back, reliving Dylan's 1965 British tour, premiered at the Presidio Theater in San Francisco, California.
1968:  The Monkees performed at the Lagoon Patio Gardens, a venue inside the famous amusement park, for about 5,000 fans.  (Note:  Several websites report that the Monkees appeared at Olympia Stadium in Salt Lake City, Utah, on May 21, 1968.  There was not and never has been an Olympia Stadium in that city.  There was an Olympia Stadium in Detroit, Michigan, and the Monkees performed there on January 14, 1968.  The group did perform in Salt Lake City in 1968, though, but the information badly damages the credibility of the websites.  According to the official website for the Monkees, they performed in Salt Lake City May 17 at the Lagoon Patio Gardens.)


1969:  The Soundtrack to "Hair" had a hold on #1 on the Album chart for the fourth straight week.  Blood, Sweat & Tears was #2, Glen Campbell's Galveston was #3 and Nashville Skyline from Bob Dylan captured spot #4.  The rest of the Top 10:  Donovan's Greatest Hits, Cloud Nine by the Temptations was #6, In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida, featuring the song of the same name by Iron Butterfly, was #7, Creedence Clearwater Revival had #8 with Bayou Country, Help Yourself by Tom Jones fell to 9 and the debut from Led Zeppelin entered the Top 10.





                   A great time to be alive, listening to "Aquarius" by the great 5th Dimension...


1969:  "Aquarius/Let The Sunshine In" by 5th Dimension was once again the #1 song on the Adult Contemporary chart.
1969:  "Aquarius" remained as the #1 song in the land for a sixth week, making it one of The Top 20 Songs of the Rock Era* to that point.  "Hair" by the Cowsills was #2 while the Beatles climbed from 10 to 3 with "Get Back".  "It's Your Thing" from the Isley Brothers was song #4 and the great One-Hit Wonder* song from Mercy--"Love (Can Make You Happy)" moved from 11 to 5.  The rest of the Top 10:  The great instrumental "Hawai'i Five-O" from the television show of the same name by the Ventures was #6, Simon & Garfunkel climbed to #7 with their classic "The Boxer", Donovan's probing song "Atlantis" was #8, Ray Stevens kept things light at #9 with "Gitarzan" and the Guess Who reached the Top 10 with "These Eyes".
1971:  The popular musical Godspell debuted in New York City, off-Broadway at first, at the Cherry Lane Theatre, before hitting Broadway five years later.  (Note:  several websites report that 'Godspell' debuted on May 13.  The official date of opening is May 17, 1971, according to the magazines 'Billboard' and 'Atlantic'.)
1974:  Frankie Avalon hosted The Midnight Special on NBC-TV, featuring Sam & Dave, Fabian and Shirley & Lee.
1974:  Elton John performed "Candle In The Wind" and "Rocket Man" in his television special Say Goodbye to Norma Jean and Other Things on ABC.
1975:  Dumb ol' Mick Jagger.  Put his hand through a window at Gosman's Dock restaurant in Montauk, New York.  Required 20 stitches.  (Note:  some websites say the restaurant is in Long Island, New York.  Long Island is not a city but rather the name of an island.  Gosman's Dock is located in Montauk, New York.)  
1975:  "Rainy Day People" reached #1 on the Adult Contemporary chart for Canada's Gordon Lightfoot.

                  Earth, Wind & Fire were one of the great groups of all-time...


1975:  That's the Way of the World,  the Soundtrack to the movie from Earth, Wind & Fire, reached #1 on the chart as Chicago VIII dropped to #2.  The Soundtrack to "Tommy" was #3, followed by Led Zeppelin's Physical Graffiti and Bad Company's Straight Shooter.  The rest of the Top 10:  Have You Never Been Mellow from Olivia Newton-John, the Soundtrack to "Funny Lady" at #7, An Evening with John Denver, the singer's live album at #8, Welcome To My Nightmare from Alice Cooper was #9 and Hearts from America was #10.




       
                             The Ozarks enjoyed their biggest hit "Jackie Blue"...


1975:  It was a pretty solid Top 10--"He Don't Love You (Like I Love You)" by Tony Orlando & Dawn was #1 for a third week, Freddy Fender had #2 "Before The Next Teardrop Falls" and "Jackie Blue", the great Ozark Mountain Daredevils song, was #3.  Earth, Wind & Fire moved up to 4 with "Shining Star" and the Carpenters hit the Top Five with "Only Yesterday".  The rest of the Top 10:  The Blackbyrds were at 6 with "Walking In Rhythm", "Thank God I'm A Country Boy" by John Denver moved from 14-7, Ace featuring great lead singer Paul Carrack moved into the Top 10 with "How Long", Paul Anka's "I Don't Like To Sleep Alone" was at #9 and the former #1 with the long title "(Hey Won't You Play) Another Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song" by B.J. Thomas was #10.
1978:  The Carpenters television special Space Encounters aired on ABC.
1978:  Andy Gibb and ABBA were the guests on Olivia Newton-John's special Olivia on ABC-TV.
1978:  Thank God It's Friday, the movie starring Donna Summer, premiered in Los Angeles.
1980:  Paul and Linda McCartney were the guests on the television show Saturday Night Live.
1980:  The Soundtrack to "Urban Cowboy", one of the best soundtrack albums of the rock era, was released.
1980:  "Let's Get Serious" by Jermaine Jackson reached #1 on the R&B chart.

1980:  "The Rose", the title song from the movie in which she starred in, was #1 on the Adult Contemporary chart for Bette Midler.
1980:  Against the Wind, the great Bob Seger album, was #1.  Pink Floyd was stuck at 2 with The Wall, while Glass Houses by Billy Joel and Mad Love by Linda Ronstadt maintained their positions for a fifth week.    









 
                              Christopher Cross's first single was well received...

1980:  "Call Me" from Blondie remained #1 for the fifth week and it wasn't done yet.  "Ride Like The Wind" by Christopher Cross would have to settle for being one of the top #2 songs in history.  Air Supply had #3 with "Lost In Love" while "Funkytown" from Lipps, Inc. moved from 19 to 4.  The rest of the Top 10:  "With You I'm Born Again" from Billy Preston & Syreeta was #5, "Sexy Eyes" by Dr. Hook held down #6, Billy Joel remained at 7 with "You May Be Right", "Don't Fall In Love With A Dreamer" by Kenny Rogers and Kim Carnes edged up to #8, "Another Brick In The Wall" by Pink Floyd fell to #9 and Ambrosia had a huge hit on their hands at #10 with "Biggest Part Of Me".







1986:  Genesis released the single "Invisible Touch".
1986:  "On My Own" from Michael McDonald and Patti Labelle, was #1 on the R&B chart, where it would spend four weeks at the top.
1986:  "Greatest Love Of All" by Whitney Houston was once again #1 on the Adult Contemporary chart.
1986:  Incredibly, Whitney Houston climbed back to #1 on the Album chart in its 60th week of release.  










1986:  The smash "Greatest Love Of All", which reached #1 on this date, was largely the reason for the resurgence in the Whitney Houston album.
1987:  Tom Petty's home in Encino, California was consumed by a fire, causing a million dollars in damage.
1989:  Jack Hall, guitarist of Wet Willie, died.
1992:  Lawrence Welk died of pneumonia in Santa Monica, California at the age of 89.
1993:  Barry Manilow was on the CBS-TV show Murphy Brown.
1995:  Chuck Berry, Fats Domino and Little Richard played in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, their first time together on stage.  (Note:  some websites report the concert took place in Sheffield, London.  The concert wasn't in two locations.  Sheffield is not in the county of London, but rather in South Yorkshire.  In fact, the two cities are 167 miles apart.  The three rock pioneers appeared in Sheffield, South Yorkshire.)
1999:  Bruce Fairbairn died at the age of 49 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.  He produced albums by Aerosmith, Bon Jovi and Krokus.






                                         Hands off our name!


1999:  No Doubt filed a lawsuit against a clothing manufacturer with the same name, claiming the company violated No Doubt's copyright service mark.
2000:  The Eagles had a similar claim against the "Hotel California" restaurant in Dallas, Texas, claiming trademark violations.
2002:  Little Johnny Taylor ("Part Time Love" from 1963) died of a heart attack at the age of 59 in Conway, Arkansas.
2003:  Radiohead performed at the Olympia in Dublin, Ireland.  Guitarist The Edge of U2 was among the fans in the audience.
2005:  Kylie Minogue was diagnosed with breast cancer.
2008:  Bob Flick of the Brothers Four ("Greenfields" hit #2 for four weeks in 1960) married actress Loni Anderson.  

2010:  Songwriters Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, who wrote "Hound Dog", "Jailhouse Rock", "Love Me", "Don't" and many others for Elvis Presley, "Kansas City" for Wilbert Harrison and "Charlie Brown" for the Coasters, were given the Outstanding Achievement Award for Musical Collaborators by the National Association of Recording Merchandisers in Chicago, Illinois.







2012:  Donna Summer, whose amazing voice helped her score 33 hits, including 14 Top 10's and five #1 songs, died at the age of 63 after a battle with lung cancer in Naples, Florida.


Born This Day:
1941:  Malcolm Hale, lead guitarist of Spanky & Our Gang, was born in Butte, Montana; died October 30, 1968 of carbon monoxide poisoning due to a faulty heating system in his home in Chicago, Illinois.
1944:  Jesse Winchester ("Say What" from 1981), whose songs have been recorded by the Everly Brothers, Anne Murray, Wilson Pickett, Patti Page, Reba McEntire, Joan Baez, Jimmy Buffett, Fairport Convention, Emmylou Harris and Elvis Costello, was born in Shreveport, Louisiana; died April 11, 2014 of cancer in Charlottesville, Virginia.
1949:  Bill Bruford, drummer and founding member of Yes, who later joined King Crimson, was born in Sevenoaks, Kent, England.
1949:  Keith (James Barry Keefer, who had the hit "98.6" in 1967) was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
1952:  Roy Adams, current drummer of the Climax Blues Band, was born in Birmingham, Warwickshire, England.
1958:  Paul Di'Anno, singer with Iron Maiden, was born in Chingford, London, England.  (Note:  some websites claim Paul was born in West Ham, London.  According to the book 'Iron Maiden:  The Ultimate Unauthorized History of the Beast' by Neil Daniels, Di'Anno was born in Chingford, London.
 


1961:  Enya (Eithne Ni Bhraonain) was born in Donegal, Ireland.
1963:  Page McConnell, songwriter and keyboardist of Phish, was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
1965:  Trent Reznor, singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist of Nine Inch Nails, was born in Mercer, Pennsylvania.
1970:  Jordan Knight of New Kids on the Block was born in Worcester, Massachusetts.  (Note:  'Allmusic.com' claims Knight was born in Boston, Massachusetts, but 'MTV' and other credible sources state that he was born in Worcester.)
1973:  Josh Homme, guitarist, songwriter and founding member for Queens of the Stone Age, was born in Joshua Tree, California.
1974:  Andrea Corr of the Corrs was born in Dundalk, County Louth, Ireland.