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Saturday, June 8, 2013

This Date in Rock Music History: June 9

1958:  Jerry Lee Lewis and producer Sam Phillips bought a full-page ad in Billboard Magazine to explain his second divorce and third marriage to 14 year-old cousin Myra.
1959:  Bobby Darin made debut in Las Vegas, Nevada; he opened for George Burns at the Sahara.
1962:  A new artist appeared on the music charts for the first time on this date.  Bobby Vinton's first song "Roses Are Red" debuted and he would achieve the tough feat of achieving #1 with his first release.

1962:  The Beatles performed at the Cavern Club in Liverpool after a successful stint at the Star Club in Hamburg.
1962:  Tony Bennett performed at Carnegie Hall for the first time.
1963:  Barbra Streisand performed on The Ed Sullivan Show. 1963:  Andy Williams was the mystery guest on the popular television show What's My Line.





1963:  The Beatles were on top for a seventh week in the U.K. with "From Me To You".
1964:  Bob Dylan recorded the album Another Side of Bob Dylan.
1967:  The Monkees opened their 1967 tour at the Hollywood Bowl in Hollywood, California.
1969:  Brian Jones announced that he was saying "Goodbye" to the Rolling Stones because he didn't agree with the direction the band was going.  While this was the public account of the split, the truth is that he was asked to leave the group by the other members.
1970:  Bob Dylan received an honorary Doctorate in Music from Princeton University in New Jersey.




1972:  Bruce Springsteen signed a recording contract with Columbia Records.
1972:  Elvis Presley performed in the first of four sold-out shows at Madison Square Garden in New York City.  An album was released of the shows--Elvis as Recorded at Madison Square Garden.
1973:  The Spinners scored their second R&B #1 of the year (following "Could It Be I'm Falling In Love") with "One Of A Kind (Love Affair)".




1973:  The Doobie Brothers were rolling up the chart (22-10) with "Long Train Runnin'".
1973:  Red Rose Speedway by Paul McCartney & Wings continued to set the pace on the Album chart, holding off The Beatles' 1967-1970 collection.  They Only Come Out At Night by the Edgar Winter Group peaked at #3 with Houses of the Holy by Led Zeppelin falling to #4 after just 9 weeks.  The rest of the Top 10:  The Beatles also had #5 with their 1962-1966 package, The Best of Bread was at #6, Diamond Girl from Seals & Crofts moved up to #7, Focus had #8 with Moving Waves, Pink Floyd slipped to #9 with Dark Side of the Moon after just 13 weeks while Deep Purple closed out the group with Made in Japan.
1978:  The Rolling Stones released the album Some Girls.  It took several weeks to chart, however.
1979:  "We Are Family" was top dog on the R&B chart.









1979:  Breakfast in America locked down the #1 spot on the Album chart as Supertramp's breakthrough.  2 Hot! by Peaches & Herb held at #2 while Donna Summer's solid Bad Girls album was #3.  The rest of the Top 10:  Sister Sledge edged up to 4 with We Are Family, Rickie Lee Jones' impressive debut was at #5, the Doobie Brothers slipped to 6 with their former #1 album Minute By Minute, Van Halen II was at #7, Cheap Trick's live winner Cheap Trick At Budokan was #8, Bad Company was at 9 with Desolation Angels and the Bee Gees' finest studio album Spirits Having Flown reached the Top 10.





1979:  It was a magical time in music.  The Bee Gees landed their sixth consecutive #1 ("Love You Inside Out") to break the 14 year-old record of five by the Supremes.  Donna Summer had to take a back seat with "Hot Stuff".  (Note:  several websites incorrectly claim that the Beatles held the record of six.  Those websites are undoubtedly referring to the period from of 1964 to 1966, when the Beatles scored six #1 singles in a row.  However, the flip sides of those 45's also charted--"She's A Woman" at #4, "I Don't Want To Spoil The Party" at #39, "Yes It Is" at #46 and "Act Naturally" at #47.  This chart record does not show six consecutive #1 songs--not even close to it.  It shows six consecutive #1 singles and that is the correct way to state it.  But the Beatles never had no more than two #1 songs in this stretch.  If one is to count those other songs as hits, which rightly should be counted as hits, than those peaks shown above interrupt the group's streak of #1 songs.  They had six straight #1 singles, but not six straight #1's.)








1980:  Christopher Cross released the beautiful song "Sailing".  (Note:  one website naively says the song was released June 15.  "Sailing" debuted on the Singles chart on June 14.  It is physically impossible for a song to make the Singles chart if it has not yet been released as a single.  In fact, the cut-off for making the Singles chart is the Wednesday before it comes out (on Saturday).  "Sailing" was released June 9.)
1982:  Linda Ronstadt, James Taylor and Jackson Browne played at Nassau Coliseum in Long Island, New York during Peace Week.

1984:  "Time After Time" by Cyndi Lauper reached #1 with Deniece Williams falling to #2 with "Let's Hear It For The Boy" from the great Soundtrack to "Footloose".  Steve Perry edged up to 3 with his first solo hit "Oh Sherrie".  The rest of the Top 10:  "The Reflex" from Duran Duran, "Sister Christian" at 5 for Night Ranger, Huey Lewis & the News continuing to enjoy success with "The Heart Of Rock & Roll", the former #1 "Hello" from Lionel Richie at #7, Irene Cara moving up to 8 with "Breakdance", Laura Branigan climbing to 9 with "Self Control" and the Pointer Sisters enjoying their 18th career hit with "Jump (For My Love)".
1986:  Steve Winwood released the single "Higher Love".  (Note:  one website naively says the single was released June 20, the same day as the album 'Back in the High Life'.  "Higher Love" debuted on the Singles chart on June 14.  It is physically impossible for a song to make the Singles chart if it has not yet been released as a single.  "Higher Love" was released as a 45 in advance of the album, on June 9.)
1986:  Bob Dylan and Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers played at the Sports Arena in San Diego, California.
1988:  Fleetwood Mac played at the Waldbühne in West Berlin, West Germany.






Phil Collins
1990:  "Do You Remember?" by Phil Collins maintained its spot at #1 for a second week on the Adult Contemporary chart.










1990:  Wilson Phillips had the new #1 song with "Hold On" from their great debut album sending "Vogue" by Madonna to #2.  Bell Biv DeVoe's "Poison" moved up to 3 while Heart's former strong #2 "All I Wanna' Do Is Make Love To You" slid down to 4.  The rest of the Top 10:  Roxette's "It Must Have Been Love" from the great movie Pretty Woman, Janet Jackson's "Alright" at #6, Linear had song #7 with "Sending All My Love", New Kids on the Block moved from 16 to 8 with "Step By Step", M.C. Hammer remained at #9 with "U (sic) Can't Touch This" and Sinead O'Connor's former #1 "Nothing Compares 2 (sic) U (Sic)" at #10.
1993:  Glenn Frey released his video Live in Dublin.  (Note:  One website reports the video was released July 2, 1993 and one says it was released on September 15 of 1992.  'This Day in Eagles History' reports that the release date was June 9, 1993.)
1993:  The United States Postal Service unveiled its Legends of American Music stamp collection.  Elvis Presley, Buddy Holly, Bill Haley, Otis Redding, Ritchie Valens, Clyde McPhatter and Dinah Washington were featured in the set on this date in their Rock & Roll/Rhythm & Blues series.

                                       Michael Bolton scored a Top 10 album...

1990:  Back when a Rap album was actually decent, M.C. Hammer became the first Rap act to reach #1 with Please Hammer Don't Hurt 'Em, taking over from Sinead O'Connor's. I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got.  Brigade from Heart remained at 3 with the Soundtrack to "Pretty Woman" holding steady at 4.  The rest of the Top 10:  Poison from Bell Biv DeVoe, Soul Provider, the great album by Michael Bolton at #6, Depeche Mode moving up with Violator, Janet Jackson's Rhythm Nation 1814 at #8, Shut Up and Dance by Paula Abdul at 9 and Wilson Phillips moving into the Top 10 with their debut.


1991:  Amy Grant released the single "Every Heartbeat".  (Note:  some websites naively say the single was released June 13, the same date as the album 'Heart in Motion'.  "Every Heartbeat" debuted on the Singles chart on June 14.  It is physically impossible for a record company to mail a single to radio stations, be received by the radio stations, listened to and added to radio station playlists, reported to the trade papers and be printed and published by the trade papers, all on the same day.  "Every Heartbeat" was released on June 9 in advance of the album.)
1993:  Arthur Alexander, who had a hit with "You Better Move On" in 1962, died of a heart attack at the age of 53.
1994:  Lisa "Left-Eye" Lopes of TLC set fire to her boyfriend's (Andre Rison of the Atlanta Falcons) house.
1997:  The Spice Girls began filming Spice World.
1997:  Carl Perkins underwent surgery in Memphis, Tennessee to clear blocked arteries in his neck.
1998:  The Ronettes appeared in the New York State Supreme Court to testify in their lawsuit against producer Phil Spector.  The group charged that Spector, his record label and successive labels breached their contract by not paying royalties since 1963.  The suit was originally filed in 1988.
2001:  The Eagles were in concert at Earls Court in London, England for the first of four shows.
2004:  Britney Spears was hospitalized for arthroscoptic surgery after falling during a video shoot for her single "Outrageous".
2004:  Usher's Confessions returned to #1 on the Album chart.
2006:  Robbie Williams was in concert at Croke Park in Dublin, Ireland.
2007:  George Michael played the first of two shows at the new Wembley Stadium in London.
2010:  The Black Eyed Peas released the album The E.N.D.  (Note:  several websites report the album was released June 3.  It was released June 9, according to 'Billboard'.)


Born This Day:
1929:  Johnny Ace was born in Memphis, Tennessee; died playing Russian roulette on December 25, 1954 in Houston, Texas.

1934:  Jackie Wilson was born in Detroit, Michigan; suffered a heart attack on stage at a New Jersey nightclub in 1975 that put him in a coma; he died January 21, 1984 in Mount Holly, New Jersey.






1941:  Jon Lord, elite Deep Purple keyboardist, was born in Leicester, Leicestershire, England; died of a pulmonary embolism in London on July 16, 2012 after battling pancreatic cancer.
1946:  Stuart Edwards of Edison Lighthouse 
1949:  George Bunnell of Strawberry Alarm Clock was born in Lawrence, Massachusetts.
1950:  Trevor Bolder, songwriter and bassist of Uriah Heap, was born in Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England; died of cancer May 21, 2013 in Cottingham, Northamptonshire, England.
1951:  Terry Uttley, a founding member of Smokie ("If You Think You Know How To Love Me")
1954:  Peter Byrne, lead singer of Naked Eyes and later Climie Fisher, was born in Bath, Somerset, England.
1967:  Dean Felber, bassist of Hootie & the Blowfish, was born in Bethesda, Maryland.
1967:  Dean Dinning, bassist of Toad the Wet Sprocket, was born in Santa Barbara, California.
1970:  Ed Simons, keyboard player for the Chemical Brothers, was born in Herne Hill, London.  (Note:  one website reports he was born in Dulwich, London while another says he was born in Herne Hill, London and others lazily say he was born in London.  London is both a city and a county so saying someone was born in London implies they were born in the city.  Simons was born in Herne Hill in the county of London.)
1978:  Matthew Bellamy, vocalist and guitarist for Muse, was born in Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England.

In Concert: Elton John with "Crocodile Rock" from 1973

This exemplifies the kind of song we want to feature in this category.  One of the best live acts of all-time, performing one of their great songs as close to the release date as possible.  In this case, the nail was hit on the head as "Croc Rock" hadn't been released yet.  If you caught Elton live in the mid-70's, consider yourself lucky indeed:

Friday, June 7, 2013

This Date in Rock Music History: June 8

1961:  Elvis Presley's movie Wild in the Country premiered.  (Note:  some websites claim the movie was released June 15, but that is physically impossible, since a review in the newspaper 'The New York Times' appeared on June 10.  According to 'Turner Classic Movies', it opened on June 8.)
1963: "Another Saturday Night" from Sam Cooke occupied the #1 spot on the R&B chart.




                                       Cole could deliver a song like no one else...

1963:  Lesley Gore remained at #1 with "It's My Party" but Kyu Sakamoto was climbing fast (10-2) with "Sukiyaki".  The Crystals were at #3 with "Da Doo Ron Ron", Al Martino had "I Love You Because" and the Dovells were at 5 with "You Can't Sit Down".  The rest of the Top 10:  "Two Faces Have I" from Lou Christie was song #6, Jimmy Soul's "If You Wanna' Be Happy" tumbled to #7, Bill Anderson had #8 with "Still", Nat King Cole's great song "Those Lazy-Hazy-Crazy Days Of Summer" moved from 16-9 and the Beach Boys were on their way down with "Surfin' U.S.A.".
1967:  Brian Jones of the Rolling Stones joined the Beatles in the studio on saxophone to record "You Know My Name (Look Up The Number)".
1967:  Procol Harum had the #1 U.K. song with "A Whiter Shade Of Pale".
1968:  The 5th Dimension moved from 95 to 53 with "Stoned Soul Picnic".
1968:  "Ain't Nothing Like The Real Thing" from Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell was #1 on the R&B chart.
1968:  "This Guy's In Love With You" by Herb Alpert took over at #1 on the Easy Listening chart.  It would not relinquish that position for 10 weeks.

                                              "Mony Mony" was movin' up...

1968:  "Mrs Robinson" from Simon & Garfunkel was #1 again on the Popular chart.  Archie Bell & the Drells slid up to 2 with "Tighten Up" while Herb Alpert's classic "This Guy's In Love With You" moved from 11-3.  Hugo Montenegro's former #1 "The Good, The Bad And The Ugly" was at #4 and Tommy James & the Shondells made #5 with "Mony Mony".  The rest of the Top 10:  Ohio Express remained at 6 with "Yummy Yummy Yummy", Richard Harris had a hit with "MacArthur Park", the Rascals were going down with "A Beautiful Morning", Aretha Franklin her 20th hit and seventh Top 10 with "Think" and the former #1 "Honey", one of the Top Songs of the Rock Era* from Bobby Goldsboro, was now at 10.

                                         "America" helped Bookends become a classic...

1968:  The great album Bookends by Simon & Garfunkel was #1 for a third week with the former #1 Soundtrack to "The Graduate" remaining at #2.  







1970:  Bread released the single "Make It With You".
1970:  The van of Deep Purple was impounded by East German police after it "mistakenly got too close to the border".  Silly Deep Purple.
1974:  Rick Wakeman announced he was leaving the group Yes for a solo career.







1974:  The great song "Rock Your Baby" by George McCrae moved from 93 to 62.  It would finish the decade as the top-selling song of the '70s.
1974:  "Sundown" by Gordon Lightfoot was the new #1 on the Easy Listening chart.






                                "Raised on Robbery", from the great Joni Mitchell...

1974:  Band on the Run by Paul McCartney & Wings was the new #1 album, replacing the Soundtrack to "The Sting" by Marvin Hamlisch.  Cat Stevens held down #3 with Buddha and the Chocolate Box while Maria Muldaur was at #4.  The rest of the Top 10:  John Denver's Greatest Hits remained at 5, Gordon Lightfoot moved to #6 with Sundown, Chicago VII was at #7, Grand Funk slipped with Shinin' On, Joni Mitchell's great album Court and Spark entered the Top 10 and Elton John was at #10, 34 weeks since the release of Goodbye Yellow Brick Road.




1974:  "Band on the Run", one of The Top Songs of the Rock Era* by Paul McCartney & Wings was the new #1 song.  "For the Love of Money" by the O'Jays was the only new song in the Top 10.
1979:  It was a Midnight Special worth staying up for.  Gloria Gaynor hosted Paul McCartney & Wings, Rod Stewart and Bad Company.
1982:  Simon and Garfunkel began their first reunion tour ar the Hippodrome D'auteuil in Paris, France.
1985:  The Style Council owned the top album in the U.K. with Our Favourite Shop.
1985:  "Rock Me Tonight" by Freddie Jackson was #1 on the R&B chart for a second week.

                                       Newcomers Katrina & the Waves with their positive song...

1985:  Tears for Fears" were on top with "Everybody Wants To Rule The World".  Katrina & the Waves entered the Top 10 with "Walking On Sunshine".  
1991:  Bruce Springsteen married Patti Scialfa in Los Angeles.
1991:  Spellbound, featuring "Rush Rush" and "Blowing Kisses In The Wind" from Paula Abdul was the #1 album.  






1991:  Extreme took over at #1 with "More Than Words".  "I Wanna' Sex You Up" from Color Me Badd was #2 but Paula Abdul was making her move with "Rush, Rush".  Mariah Carey fell to #4 with "I Don't Wanna' Cry" and Michael Bolton fell to 5 with "Love Is A Wonderful Thing".  The rest of the Top 10:  R.E.M. at 6 with "Losing My Religion", Hi-Five had the #7 song with "I Like The Way (The Kissing Game)", EMF's smash "Unbelievable" was up to #8, Whitney Houston had her 16th hit and 13th Top 10 with "Miracle" and Luther Vandross moved into the list with "Power Of Love/Love Power".
1991:  "I Don't Wanna' Cry" by Mariah Carey was #1 on the Adult Contemporary chart, which by that time had taken over as the top music format.
1996:  Accomplished songwriter Carole Bayer Sager married Robert Davy.

1996:  Toni Braxton had an incredible debut at #7 with "You're Makin' Me High/Let It Flow".  The double-sided hit was one of the highest debuts of the Rock Era.
1996:  The Score by the Fugees was #1 on the Album chart for the third week.  Soundgarden debuted at #2 with Down on the Upside.  Jagged Little Pill from Alanis Morisette was still hanging around at #4 after 50 weeks.
1999:  Prince released The Hits Collection home video.
2003:  Dave Buckner, drummer of Papa Roach, announced his engagement to Mia Tyler, the daughter of Aerosmith lead singer Steven Tyler.  With people from those backgrounds, you might expect it not to last long and it didn't--just two years.






2003:  Peter Garrett of Midnight Oil was made a Member of the Order of Australia by Queen Elizabeth II.
2004:  T-Boz of TLC filed for divorce from husband, Mack 10, alleging the rapper was unfaithful and threatened to kill her.  What about rap music didn't T-Boz understand?
2010:  The Eagles began their summer tour at the Rogers Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.


Born This Day:
1940:  Nancy Sinatra was born in Jersey City, New Jersey.
1940:  Sherman Garnes of Frankie Lyman and the Teenagers and also an actor was born in New York City; died February 26, 1977 of a heart attack in New York City.
1941:  Clarence Haskins of Funkadelic was born in Elkins, West Virginia.
1942:  Chuck Negron, who once sang with Three Dog Night but doesn't any longer, was born in the Bronx, New York.  (Note:  several websites lazily say Negron was born in New York City, which means he could have been born in one of several boroughs.  Chuck was born in the Bronx, according to Fred Bronson in his book 'Billboard Book of Number One Hits'.)







1944:  Boz Scaggs was born in Canton, Ohio.










1951:  Bonnie Tyler was born in Skewen, Wales.  (Note:  some websites, including the notorious 'Allmusic.com', claim Bonnie was born in Swansea, Wales.  Skewen is near Swansea, but being born near Swansea is not the same as being born there.  According to the book 'The Billboard Book of Number One Hits' by Fred Bronson, Bonnie was born in Skewen.)
1953:  Jeff Rich, drummer of Status Quo and Climax Blues Band, was born in Hackney, London.  (Note:  some websites report Rich was born in London.  London is both a city and county, and listing a birthplace only as London implies the person was born in the city of London.  Rich was born in Hackney, which is a borough located in the county of London.)







1960:  Mick Hucknall, lead singer of Simply Red, was born in Manchester, England.
1962:  Nick Rhodes, keyboardist of Duran Duran was born in Moseley, Warwickshire, England.  (Note:  some websites claim Nick was born in Birmingham, and some say he was born in the county of West Midlands.  The county of West Midlands was not created until 1974, making it impossible for him to have been born in the county of West Midlands.  He was born in Mosely, according to his mother, Sylvia.)
1965:  Rob Pilatus of Milli Vanilli was born in New York City; died of drugs and alcohol April 2, 1998.  (Note:  some websites claim Rob was born in Frankfurt or Munich, Germany.  According to the newspaper 'The Independent', he was born in New York City and grew up with adoptive parents in Frankfurt.  Some websites claim Rob died on April 3.  According to the newspaper 'The Los Angeles Times', Pilatus died on April 2.)
1967:  Neil Mitchell, keyboard player for Wet Wet Wet, was born in Helensburgh, Dunbartonshire, Scotland.
1970:  Nicci Gilbert of Brownstone was born in Detroit, Michigan.
1977:  Kanye West was born in Atlanta, Georgia.
1981:  Alex Band, singer, songwriter and musician of the Calling, was born in Los Angeles, California.

Five Best: Eddie Money

The officers of the New York City Police Department would be proud of one of their own.  He's charted 23 times, and we've selected the Five Best* from Eddie Money, along with a few extras:

1. Two Tickets To Paradise



2. Baby Hold On




3. Shakin'

 

 

4.  Take Me Home Tonight


 
5.  Think I'm In Love
 


I Wanna' Go Back

 

Gimme' Some Water
 

Peace In Our Time
 

Walk On Water

Thursday, June 6, 2013

This Date in Rock Music History: June 7

1964: Billy J. Kramer and the Dakotas made their live debut on The Ed Sullivan Show.
1964:  During their first U.S. tour, the Rolling Stones were booed off stage in San Antonio, Texas and the Marquis Chimps, world-famous monkeys, had to be brought back on stage to perform.  (Note:  some websites state that the group the Monkees replaced the Stones on stage.  According to 'Expressnews.com', the act brought on to replace the Stones was the Marquis Chips, not the musical group the Monkees.)



1969:  Blind Faith (Eric Clapton, Ginger Baker, Steve Winwood and Rick Grech) gave a concert in Hyde Park in London before 100,000 people in their British debut.
1969:  Blood, Sweat & Tears had a big hit on their hands with "Spinning Wheel", up from 78 to 33 this week.
1969:  The Beatles made it three straight weeks at #1 with "Get Back".  There were two big movers within the Top 10--"Grazing in the Grass" from the Friends of Distinction moved form 10-3 and CCR climbed up nine from 14-5 with "Bad Moon Rising".





                                  The Cowsills' title smash helped "Hair" to the #1 spot...


1969:  Everyone was into hair, specifically the Soundtrack to "Hair".  It held down #1 on the Album chart for the seventh consecutive week.  The monumental Blood, Sweat & Tears album spent a seventh straight week at #2 after being #1 for three weeks prior to Hair.  Bob Dylan remained at #3 with Nashville Skyline while Galveston by Glen Campbell came in fourth.  The rest of the Top 10:  The Soundtrack to "Romeo & Juliet" was #5, Iron Butterfly's In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida was #6, CCR's great album Bayou Country was #7, the 5th Dimension shot up from 32 to 8 with The Age of Aquarius, Donovan's Greatest Hits was #9 and Happy Heart from Andy Williams rounded out the list.
1970:  The Who played the entire opera Tommy at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York City.
1972:  The musical Grease opened on Broadway after four months of off-Broadway performances.  Richard Gere was among those playing "Danny" during the monumental run while John Travolta played the character Doody at the age of 17.
1974:  The Kinks were hosts on The Midnight Special with ELO performing.
1975:  "Love Will Keep Us Together" was #1 on a second format as the Captain & Tennille ruled the Adult Contemporary chart on this date.

1975:  "Thank God I'm a Country Boy" by John Denver was the new #1 song on the Popular chart.  It was Denver's third #1 (following "Sunshine On My Shoulders" and "Annie's Song") and his sixth top 10.  "Sister Golden Hair" moved strongly from 5-2 for America while "How Long" by Ace was #3, Grand Funk moved up to #4 with "Bad Time" and Chicago's "Old Days" was fifth in a pretty solid Top Five.
  1975:  Elton John's album Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy, which came in #85 in the Top 100 Albums of All-Time in the Rock Era*, came out this week and debuted at #1, the first album in history to accomplish the feat and one of a select few in the Rock Era.  Elton toppled Earth, Wind & Fire's album That's the Way of the World while the Soundtrack to "Tommy" fell to #3.  Jeff Beck was #4 with Blow By Blow and America reached #5 with Hearts".  The rest of the Top 10:  Alice Cooper with Welcome To My Nightmare, Chicago VIII was at #7, Bad Company fell to #8 with Straight Shooter, Nuthin' Fancy from Lynyrd Skynyrd was #9 and Carly Simon had the #10 album with Playing Possum.
1976:  Capitol Records released "Got To Get You Into My Life" by the Beatles.  It would become the first hit  of the Beatles since their breakup in 1970.
1977:  Led Zeppelin played the first of six sold-out shows at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
1979:  Chuck Berry was charged with three counts of tax evasion.
1979:  Blondie performed "Sunday Girl" on the British television show Top of the Pops.

T                             his song was kept from #1 by "Funkytown"?  Really?

1980:  "Funkytown" continued to ride the #1 position for Lipps, Inc. with "Coming Up" from Paul McCartney & Wings in the backup spot.  Ambrosia's smash "Biggest Part Of Me" was up to #3.  The rest of a pretty good Top 10--"Don't Fall In Love With A Dreamer" from Kenny Rogers with Kim Carnes, "Call Me" from Blondie was on its way down after spending six weeks at #1, "The Rose" from Bette Midler was up from 11 to 6, Bob Seger had song #7 with "Against The Wind", "Hurt So Bad" from Linda Ronstadt was #8, Gary Numan's one and only hit "Cars" drove up to #9 and Elton John's 29th career hit "Little Jeannie" rounded out the impressive list.
1980:  "The Rose" spent a fifth week at #1 for Bette Midler on the Adult Contemporary chart.
1980:  Against the Wind, the Bob Seger album that had the distinction of knocking off Pink Floyd's The Wall from the #1 spot, continued to set the pace for a seventh week.  Billy Joel waited his turn at #2 with Glass Houses while Pink Floyd hung in there at #3.  Just One Night from Eric Clapton was #4.  The rest of the Top 10:  Lipps, Inc. had Mouth To Mouth, Van Halen's newest album Women and Children First was #6, the debut from Christopher Cross held steady at 7, the Isley Brothers were at #8 with Go All the Way, the Pretenders' debut was ninth and Boz Scaggs moved into the Top 10 with Middle Man.
1982:  Elvis Presley's Graceland mansion was opened to the public.
1986:  The album Whitney Houston spent its 11th week at #1 and 36th in the Top 10 and 63rd week on the Album chart.

1986:  Madonna had the new #1 with "Live To Tell" but it would be short-lived as Patti LaBelle & Michael McDonald's "On My Own" was closing fast.  Whitney Houston fell to 3 after three weeks at #1 with "Greatest Love Of All".
1988:  Bob Dylan began a tour at the Concord Pavilion in Concord, California.  Neil Young played guitar on that date.
1991:  Jimmy Osmond of the Osmonds married Michelle Larson in Salt Lake City.
1993:  Mysteriously, Prince changed his name to The Artist.  The name change reflected an ongoing battle with Warner Brothers Records over ownership and direction of his music.
2000:  By this time, we had finally found out why Prince had changed his name to a symbol.  On this date, Prince celebrated reclaiming his name of "Prince" after a seven-year battle with Warner Brothers, who refused to let him record under that name.  If there's a problem, a corporation is usually at the bottom of it.

1993:  Groundbreaking began for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio.
1994:  Boston released their fourth album in 18 years, Walk On.  It was eight years after Third Stage.  We all understood about being meticulous and wanting to get it right.  For an album like their debut, it was fine to take their time.  But if you're going to take eight years to release an album, it had better be a classic.
1997:  Gary Barlow had the #1 album in the U.K. with Open Road.
1997:  The Bee Gees had hit #43 of their careers ("Alone") and it was the highest debuting song of the week--position #34.
1997:  Yes, it's true.  Hanson remained at #1 for a third week with "MMMBop".  Hey, everyone has to have their moment in the sun, and this was their time.  
1998:  Wally Gold, a member of the Four Esquires in the late'50's and also a prolific songwriter, died from colitis in Teaneck, New Jersey at the age of 70.  Gold wrote "It's Now Or Never" for Elvis Presley and "It's My Party" for Lesley Gore.  He also produced Gene Pitney and Kansas.
1999:  Rod Stewart was supposed to ring the opening bell of the New York Stock Exchange but arrived late and threw some soccer balls onto the floor instead.  He didn't quite understand the principle that no one was going to wait for him to open Wall Street.
2002:  The Eagles appeared in concert at the Idaho Center in Nampa, Idaho.
2002:  Research what kind of people you support with your $.  On this date, R. Kelly was taken into custody on child pornography charges.
2006:  The Dixie Chicks had the #1 album with Taking the Long Way.  It was the third #1 album of their career, following Fly and Home.
2007:  The city of Rancho Mirage, California named a street after Dean Martin.
2008:  The funeral of guitar great Bo Diddley was held in Gainseville, Florida.  (Note:  some websites err in saying the funeral was on June 7, 2007.  That would be tough to pull off, since Diddley did not die until June 2, 2008.)
2009:  Elton John's musical Billy Elliot won 10 Tony Awards, including Best Musical.
2012:  Bob Welch, guitarist for Fleetwood Mac in the early 1970's and a solo artist, died at age 66 in Nashville, Tennessee from a self-inflicted gunshot.

Born This Day:
1917:  The great Dean Martin was born in Steubenville, Ohio; died December 25, 1995 at his home in Beverly Hills, California from respiratory failure resulting from emphysema.







1940:  Tom Jones (Sir Thomas John Woodward) was born in Treforest, Glamorgan, South Wales and women would be swooning all over him soon.
1944:  Clarence White (real name Clarence LeBlanc), guitarist of the Byrds, was born in Lewiston, Maine; died July 15, 1973 after being hit by a drunk driver.  (Note:  some websites report White's death as July 14.  Unfortunately, there are no credible sources for either date, but since 'Allmusic' says it was on July 15, one has to assume it was on July 14.)
1955:  Joey Scarbury ("Theme From 'The Greatest American Hero'") was born in Ontario, California.
1958:  Prince was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
1966:  Eric Kretz, drummer of Stone Temple Pilots, was born in Santa Cruz, California.  (Note:  some websites claim Kretz was born in San Jose, but according to the newspaper 'The San Diego Reader', he was born in Santa Cruz.)
1967:  David Navarro, lead guitarist of Jane's Addiction and the Red Hot Chili Peppers, was born in Santa Monica, California.
1974:  T-Low (real name Terrance Brown) of Next ("Too Close") was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota.