This Date In Rock Music History: September 21

1957:  Elite guitarist Scotty Moore and bassist Bill Black quit as backup musicians for Elvis Presley after a salary dispute with Presley's manager Colonel Tom Parker.

1959:  "Shout" by the Isley Brothers was their first single release and it debuted on this date in history.
1959:  "I Want To Walk You Home" from Fats Domino topped the R&B chart.
1959:  The instrumental "Sleep Walk" from Santo & Johnny moved to #1.  The Browns slipped after four weeks at the top with "The Three Bells".  Lloyd Price remained at 3 with "I'm Gonna' Get Married" while the Everly Brothers scored their 14th hit and sixth Top 10 with "('Til) I Kissed You".  The rest of the Top 10:  Phil Phillips and "Sea Of Love", another instrumental--"Red River Rock" from Johnny & the Hurricanes, the classic "Mack The Knife" moved up to 7 for Bobby Darin, Sarah Vaughan had song #8--"Broken-Hearted Melody", Fats Domino said "I Want To Walk You Home" and Paul Anka shot up from 29 to 10 with "Put Your Head On My Shoulder".
1961:  The busy Beatles played at the Cavern Club in Liverpool, England by day and appeared with Gerry & the Pacemakers and Rory Storm & the Hurricanes at Litherland Town Hall in Liverpool by night.

1963:  Bobby Vinton made it three weeks at #1 on the Easy Listening chart with "Blue Velvet".
1964:  Elvis Presley was appointed "special deputy sheriff" in Shelby County, Tennessee.
1965:  The Moody Blues performed at Royal Albert Hall in London.
1965:  The Who began a tour of Scandinavia at De Marathon in The Hague, the Netherlands.  (Note:  most websites report this date as September 22, and say that lead singer Roger Daltrey punched drummer Keith Moon on the 22nd.  That incident happened on the 26th--more on that in the September 26th edition of the 'Calendar.'  Joe McMichael and "Irish Jack" Lyons, in their book 'The Who Concert File', report the beginning of the tour on September 21.)
1968:  Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell stayed at #1 for a fourth week on the R&B chart with "You're All I Need To Get By".



1968:  The Crazy World of Arthur Brown roared up the chart from 60 to 15 with "Fire".










1968:  The Bee Gees had the hottest song within the Top 10 as they went up from 23-9 with "I've Gotta' Get A Message To You".
1970:  Santana released the album Abraxas.
1970:  Freda Payne rose to #1 in the U.K. with "Band Of Gold".
1972 - ABC-TV debuted the show In Concert, created by promoter Don Kirshner.  Alice Cooper appeared in the first episode with a show taped at Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York.
1974:  Carl Douglas had the top song in the U.K. with "Kung Fu Fighting".
1974:  Barry White remained at #1 for the third week on the R&B chart with "Can't Get Enough Of Your Love, Babe".
1974:  Olivia Newton-John had the top Easy Listening song for the second week with "I Honestly Love You".


 
1974:  Barry White enjoyed his first overall #1 with "Can't Get Enough Of Your Love, Babe".  Andy Kim moved to challenge with "Rock Me Gently" but Olivia Newton-John was close behind with "I Honestly Love You", which moved from 12 to 3.  Billy Preston was up with "Nothing From Nothing" while Eric Clapton fell badly with "I Shot The Sheriff".  The rest of the Top 10:  Dionne Warwick & the Spinners and "Then Came You", Paul Anka's former #1 "(You're) Having My Baby" was down to 7, the Guess Who had their 20th career hit with "Clap For The Wolfman", Stevie Wonder entered the Top 10 with "You Haven't Done Nothin'" and Johnny Bristol had song #10--"Hang On In There Baby".
1974:  Stevie Wonder remained at #1 on the Album chart with Fulfillingness' First Finale.  Bad Company's debut was in the #2 slot.

1974:  Guitarist Jeff "Skunk" Baxter came over from Steely Dan and joined the Doobie Brothers.  Baxter, who had previously done studio work for the Doobies, had learned that Steely Dan was retiring from the road.
1974:  Walter Brennan ("Old Rivers"), who was chiefly an Oscar-winning actor in addition to a recording artist, died of emphysema at the age of 80 in Oxnard, California.
1976:  The Bee Gees released the album Children of the World.

1978:  Chic released their classic single "Le Freak" on Atlantic Records.  The song went on to become the top-selling record on Atlantic to that time.  (Note:  one website claims the song was released September 29.  "Le Freak" debuted on the Singles chart on September 28.  It is physically impossible for a song to be included on the Singles chart if it has not yet been released as a single.)










1979:  Rupert Holmes, up to this point a songwriter for other artists, decided to release one for himself--"Escape (The Pina Colada Song)".











1979:  Earth, Wind & Fire saluted this date in their 1979 hit "September"..."Do you remember the 21st night of September?"
1980:  The Michael Schenker Group made their British debut at Bristol's Colston Hall.
1980:  Elton John signed a six-year deal with Geffen Records.
1981:  Adam and the Ants had the #1 song in the U.K. with "Prince Charming".
1985:  Madonna had the #1 album in the U.K. with Like A Virgin.



       


          
                                    Madonna had another Top 10 hit..

1985:  Dire Straits reached #1 with "Money For Nothing".  Madonna made it seven Top 10 songs in a row as "Dress You Up" moved from 14-10.
1985:  Kool & the Gang registered a fifth consecutive week at #1 on the Adult Contemporary chart with their classic "Cherish".






                                      Heart made a huge comeback...


1985:  Dire Straits continued to hold on to #1 on the Album chart with Brothers in Arms.  Sting was stuck at 2 with The Dream of the Blue Turtles while Tears For Fears owned #3--Songs From the Big Chair.  Bruce Springsteen was in his 66th week with Born in the U.S.A. and Bryan Adams' Reckless was still at #5 after 44 weeks of release.  The rest of a great Top 10:  Phil Collins and No Jacket Required, Billy Joel with Greatest Hits, Volume I & Volume II, Whitney Houston's debut at #8, the self-titled Heart at 9 and Motley Crue was bringing up the rear with Theatre of Pain.






1986:  Dionne Warwick was honored for her "exceptional service" in the fight against AIDS by the United States Department of Health and Human Services.
1987:  This isn't the best way to go out.  Jaco Pastorius, bass guitarist for Weather Report, who also worked with Joni Mitchell, David Sanborn and others, died at age 35 after trying to break into the Midnight Club in Fort Lauderdale, Florida after he had been barred, and employees of the Club beat him into a coma on the morning of September 12. 
1988:  While on their 232-date world tour, Def Leppard played the first of three nights at the Brendan Byrne Arena (now known as the Izod Center) in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
1989:  The Bangles broke up.
1989:  U2 played at the Perth Entertainment Centre in Perth, Australia.
1991:  Status Quo ("Pictures Of Matchstick Men") set a world record when they played four arenas in the U.K. in 11 hours and 11 minutes.  The group played at the Sheffield Arena in Sheffield, the Glasgow Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre in Glasgow, Scotland, the Birmingham National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham and Wembley Arena in London.  The "Rock 'Til You Drop' event took over a year to plan and raised over £2000,000 for children's charities. It took four stages, 60 drums, 200 amplifiers, 62 guitars, 165 cymbals, 12 miles of cable, 50 cameras, 2000,000 watts of power, 25000 lights, 250 crew, 8 helicopters, 5 jets, 20 limousines and 16 police escorts.
1991:  Dire Straits had the #1 album in the U.K. with On Every Street.

1991:  Curtis Stigers from Boise, Idaho had the week's fastest-rising song--"I Wonder Why", which moved from 81 to 60.

1991:  Color Me Badd moved up to the #1 spot with "I Adore Mi Amor".  Marky Mark & the Funky Bunch with Loleatta Holloway was up from 6-2 with "Good Vibrations" and Boyz II Men reached the third position with "Motownphilly".  C + C Music Factory had song #4--"Things That Make You Go Hmmmm...".  The rest of the Top 10:  The previous #1 from Paula Abdul--"The Promise Of A New Day", Bryan Adams and his former #1 "(Everything I Do) I Do It For You". Michael Bolton was stuck with "Time, Love And Tenderness", Cathy Dennis was facing "Too Many Walls" at #8, Firehouse had their one and only Top 10 with "Love Of A Lifetime" and Rod Stewart and the Temptations joined forces for "The Motown Song" at #10.

1991:  Metallica's "Black Album" was #1 for the fourth week, holding off Unforgettable With Love from Natalie Cole and Rush, which debuted at #3 with their great album Roll the Bones.
1991:  Bryan Adams reigned for an eighth week on the Adult Contemporary chart with "(Everything I Do) I Do It for You".
1993:  Nirvana released the album In Utero.  (Note:  Some sites report the release as September 13, but the official Nirvana website shows the release as September 21.)
1996:  The Fugees were at #1 on the Singles chart in the U.K. with "Ready Or Not".
1996:  R.E.M. owned the top album in the U.K. with New Adventures in Hi-Fi.





                                           Donna Lewis owned the runner-up spot...

1996:  "Macarena" by Los Deo Rio spent an eighth week at #1.  Donna Lewis remained at #2 with one of the top #2 songs of the Rock Era*--"I Love You Always Forever"--it was now in its fifth week as the bridesmaid. 
1999:  Alanis Morissette and Everlast performed on the new live music show "Reverb" on HBO-TV.

2000:  Bono of U2 testified on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. in an effort to get debt relief approved for third world nations.
2000:  The Red Hot Chili Peppers filmed a concert at the Memorial Coliseum in Portland, Oregon for later inclusion on the DVD Off the Map.








2001:  Superstars joined forces to help raise money for families of the World Trade Center and Pentagon attacks of September 11.  "America:  A Tribute to Heroes" was shown on 35 broadcast and cable networks and raised over $150 million in pledges.
2002:  Pink scored the #1 U.K. song with "Just Like A Pill".
2003:  Duran Duran was in concert at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, California.
2004:  How far they sink.  Cat Stevens, who changed his name to Yusuf Islam, was denied entry into the United States after his name was on an anti-terrorist watch list because of ties to the loser group Hamas.




2011:  After 31 years and 15 studio albums, R.E.M. announced they were splitting up.


Born This Day:
1923:  Jimmy Young, a disc jockey who had a hit with his version of "Unchained Melody" in 1955, was born in Cinderford, Gloucestershire, England.
1932:  Don Preston, singer, songwriter and guitarist of Mothers of Invention, was born in Flint, Michigan.

1936:  Dickey Lee, who had a hit with "Patches" in 1962, was born in Memphis, Tennessee.
1944:  Jesse Ed Davis, popular session guitarist with John Lennon, Eric Clapton, the Monkees, Steve Miller, Jackson Browne and Harry Nilsson, was born in Norman, Oklahoma; died June 22, 1988 when he collapsed in a laundry room in Venice, California from heroin use.






1947:  Don Felder, ace guitarist of the Eagles, was born in Gainesville, Florida.
1954:  Phil Taylor, drummer of Motorhead, was born in Hasland, Derbyshire, England; died November 11, 2015 of liver failure.  (Note:  some websites report Taylor was born in Chesterfield, Derbyshire, England or simply say he was born in Chesterfield.  Taylor was born in Hasland, which is a suburb of Chesterfield.  To say he was born in Chesterfield is not true, since Chesterfield is not a county but a city.  Derbyshire is the correct County of Birth)
1959:  Corinne Drewery of Swing Out Sister was born in Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, England.







1967:  Faith Hill was born in Ridgeland, Mississippi.  (Note:  some sources claim Hill was born in Jackson, Mississippi or Star, Mississippi (south of Jackson).  Hill was adopted in Star, but she was born in Ridgeland, a town north of Jackson.)
1967:  Timmy T ("One More Try" from 1991) was born in Fresno, California.
1967:  Tyler Stewart, drummer of Barenaked Ladies, was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
1968:  Trugoy (David Jude Jolicoeur) of De La Soul was born in Brooklyn, New York.







1972:  Liam Gallagher, former frontman of Oasis, was born in Burnage, Manchester, England.
1972:  David Silveria, drummer of Korn, was born in San Leandro, California.
1973:  Jimmy Constable of 911 was born in Liverpool, Lancashire, England.  (Note:  some websites report Jimmy was born in Toxteth, Liverpool.  Toxteth is merely an area of Liverpool; it is not a city.)
1977:  Sam Rivers, bassist of Limp Bizkit, was born in Jacksonville, Florida.

This Date In Rock Music History: September 20

1957:  Buddy Holly released the single "Peggy Sue".  (Note:  one website reports the song was released in July.  According to the Buddy Holly Center in his birthplace--Lubbock, Texas, the song was released September 20.)










backed with "Everyday".

1964:  The Beatles appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show, a repeat (rerun) of their performance on February 16.
1964:  The Beatles wrapped up their first tour of North America with a charity concert at the Paramount Theatre in New York City.
1967:  Rick Nelson and wife celebrated the birth of twins Gunnar and Matthew, who would go on to form the group Nelson ("(Can't Live Without Your) Love And Affection").
1969:  During a band meeting in London, John Lennon announced he was leaving the Beatles.
1969:  The self-titled Blind Faith album was #1 in the U.K.
1969:  "Share Your Love With Me" by Aretha Franklin ran its winning streak to five weeks at #1 on the R&B chart.

1969:  Blind Faith rose to #1 on the Album chart in the U.S. with their self-titled release.  Johnny Cash at San Quentin fell and word of mouth was beginning to sell the great debut album Blood, Sweat & Tears.  The Soundtrack to "Hair" came in fourth, just ahead of the mind-blowing move from 127 to #5 for Green River by CCR.  The rest of the Top 10:  In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida by Iron Butterfly in its 62nd week, the Best of Cream, Smash Hits from the Jimi Hendrix Experience at #8, The Soft Parade from the Doors, and the compilation Through the Past, Darkly (Big Hits Volume 2) by the Rolling Stones entered the Top 10.






1969:  Elvis Presley had his biggest song in years and one of the fastest-risers as well--"Suspicious Minds", which moved from #77 to #36 on this date.
1969:  Oliver reached #1 on the Easy Listening chart with "Jean" from the movie The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie.
1969:  Today was the day that "Sugar, Sugar" by the Archies first hit #1, besting "Honky Tonk Women" by the Rolling Stones.
1970:  Jim Morrison was found guilty of indecent exposure and profanity in Miami, Florida.  The charges stemmed from Morrison's desperate attempt to gain attention near the end of his life when he exposed himself while on stage in Miami.  (Note:  one website falsely says Morrison was arrested in Miami on this date.  Morrison turned himself in to the Federal Bureau of Investigation on April 4, 1969.  On September 20, Morrison was found guilty of the charges, according to 'CNN' and numerous other reliable sources.)
1971:  Peter Frampton left the group Humble Pie to begin a solo career.
1973:  Elton John, Carole King, Jackson Browne and Neil Young & Crazy Horse opened the Roxy in style in Los Angeles.








1973:  The great Jim Croce, who was on the verge of superstardom, died at age 30 when his light plane crashed shortly after takeoff in Natchitoches, Louisiana.
1975:  The Bay City Rollers appeared on the show called  Howard Cosell's Saturday Night Live on ABC-TV.
1975:  Between the Lines by Janis Ian was the #1 album, displacing the Isley Brothers LP The Heat is On.  Two new entries in the Top 10:  Born to Run from Bruce Springsteen moved from #84 to #8 while Pick of the Litter gave the Spinners a Top 10 album.
1975:  Most will remember this gem from 1975--the #1 song on the R&B chart for Tavares--"It Only Takes A Minute".
1975:  John Denver owned the top Easy Listening song with "I'm Sorry".




1975:  Neil Sedaka and Elton John moved from 66 to 32 with "Bad Blood".
1976:  The Captain & Tennille began their variety show on ABC-TV.
1980:  Kate Bush owned the #1 album in the U.K. with Never for Ever.
1980:  The Game by Queen took over on the U.S. Album chart from the great album Hold Out by Jackson Browne.  Diana from Diana Ross was third with the Rolling Stones tumbling with their former #1 Emotional Rescue.  The Cars moved from 12-5 with their third album Panorama while the self-titled Christopher Cross was still at 6.  The rest of the Top 10:  George Benson's Give Me the Night, two great movie soundtracks, "Xanadu" and "Urban Cowboy" and Pat Benatar's breakthrough album Crimes of Passion moved from 16-10.




1980:  Dionne Warwick had one of The Top Adult Contemporary Songs of the 1980's*--"No Night So Long", which first reached #1 on this date.
1980:  Larry Graham had the only new Top 10 song on the Popular chart--"One In A Million You".
1983:  Eric Clapton and Steve Winwood performed at the ARMS benefit concert to raise money for multiple sclerosis research at Royal Albert Hall in London.
1986:  Oran "Juice" Jones hit #1 on the R&B chart with "The Rain".




1986:  The Soundtrack to "Top Gun" took over the #1 position on the Album chart from Madonna's True Blue.  Huey Lewis had the only new entry but it was a big one--the great album Fore! moved from #42 to #10 in its second week of release.
1986:  Huey Lewis & the News grabbed the #1 spot with "Stuck With You" but Gloria Loring & Carl Anderson were close behind with their song "Friends And Lovers".  Lionel Richie fell after peaking at 2 with "Dancing On The Ceiling".  The rest of the Top 10:  Run-D.M.C. with their remake of the Aerosmith classic "Walk This Way" (never remake classics...).  The rest of the Top 10:  Canada's Glass Tiger with "Don't Forget Me (When I'm Gone)", Daryl Hall's solo hit "Dreamtime", Janet Jackson had "When I Think Of You" which moved from 14 to 7, Stacey Q and "Two Of Hearts", Berlin was down with their former #1 "Take My Breath Away" and Billy Ocean's sixth but next-to-last Top 10 "Love Zone" was #10.
1986:  Huey Lewis & the News were on top of the AC chart with "Stuck With You".




1991:  Tom Cochrane released the single "Life Is A Highway". It did not become a hit until May of 1992.
1995:  Natalie Merchant began her first solo tour after she had left the group 10,000 Maniacs.
1997:  Elton John scored the #1 song in the U.K. with "Something About The Way You Look Tonight".

1997:  Jewel's masterpiece album Pieces of You was still in the Top 10 on this date after 82 weeks of release; in fact, it was moving back up to #5.
2002:  Nils Stevenson, former manager of Siouxsie and the Banshees and the Sex Pistols, died at the age of 49 in London.
2003:  Nelly Furtado gave birth to daughter Nevis at a hospital in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
2005:  J.D. Fortune of Canada won an audition to replace the late Michael Hutchence as the new lead singer of INXS.
2006:  The Rolling Stones continued their tour A Bigger Bang with the fall segment beginning at Gillette Stadium in Boston, Massachusetts.
2009:  Muse had the top U.K. album with The Resistance.


Born This Day:
1924:  Gogi Grant, who scored one of the biggest hits early in the Rock Era ("The Wayward Wind", #1 for eight weeks in 1956) and who dubbed Ann Blyth's vocals in The Helen Morgan Story, was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; died March 10, 2016 in Los Angeles.
1945:  Sweet Pea Atkinson of Was Not Was 

1946:  Mick Rogers (real name Michael Oldroyd), guitarist, singer and songwriter of Manfred Mann's Earth Band, was born in Dovercourt, Essex, England.  (Note:  some websites falsely spell the name Dover Court.  The correct spelling is Dovercourt.)

1948:  Not one but two sets of musical twins born today--Chuck Panozzo, bassist of Styx, was born in Chicago, Illinois.  (Note:  the birth years of both Chuck and John are reported as 1947 or 1949 by some websites.  According to the official website for fellow Styx member Tommy Shaw, the Panozzo's were born in 1948.)
1948:  John Panozzo, drummer of Styx, was born in Chicago.
1957:  Alannah Currie, saxophonist with the Thompson Twins, was born in Auckland, New Zealand.  (Note:  Allmusic.com reports the birth as September 28, but nearly every other source lists it as September 20.)
1960:  Robert Wiggins of Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five; died September 8, 1989 of a heart attack brought on by crack cocaine.

1960:  David Hemingway of the Housemartins was born in Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England.

1966:  Elite guitarist Nuno Bettencourt of Extreme was born in Praia da Vitória, Terceira, Açores, Portugal.
1967:  Gunnar Nelson of the group Nelson, and the son of Rick Nelson, was born in Santa Monica, California.
1967:  Matthew Nelson, Gunnar's twin brother and son of Rick, of the group Nelson was born in Santa Monica, California.
1968:  Ben Shepherd, bassist of Soundgarden, was born in Okinawa, Japan.
1979:  Rick Woolstenhulme, drummer of Lifehouse, was born in Gilbert, Arizona.

This Date In Rock Music History: September 19

1955:  Frank Sinatra sang "Love And Marriage" on the "Producer's Showcase" production of the play Our Town on NBC-TV.

1957:  Cliff Richard, 16 years old and known by his real name (Harry Webb), joined the Dick Teague Skiffle Group.
1960:  "Kiddio" by Brook Benton was #1 on the R&B chart for the fourth week. 
1960:  Hank Ballard and the Midnighters became the first group to own three songs in the Top 100 simultaneously--"Finger Poppin' Time", "Let's Go Let's Go Let's Go" and "The Twist".  After the group refused to perform "The Twist" on television, Dick Clark suggested Chubby Checker do the song.  He did, and... 
1960:  "The Twist" worked its way to #1 for Chubby Checker.
1963:  Jimmy Dean premiered his prime time television show on ABC.  It lasted three seasons.
1964:  Dean Martin notched week #8 on top of the Easy Listening chart with "Everybody Loves Somebody".







1964:  An excellent Top 10 on this date--The Animals held on to #1 for a third week with "The House Of The Rising Sun".  The Newbeats happy-go-lucky song about staples "Bread And Butter" was #2 while the Supremes' former #1 "Where Did Our Love Go" was on its way down.  Quite the opposite for Roy Orbison, who moved from 10 to 4 with "Oh Pretty Woman".  The rest of the Top 10:  Ronny & the Daytonas had #5--"G.T.O.", good ol' Dean Martin was at 6 with "Everybody Loves Somebody", the Shangri-Las were back with "Remember (Walkin' In The Sand)", the Dave Clark Five had "Because", Manfred Mann owned one of the hottest songs of the year with "Do Wah Diddy Diddy", which jumped from 31-9 while Martha & the Vandellas couldn't match that but were close (25-10) with "Dancing In The Street".
1966:  John Lennon flew to Spain to begin filming How I Won the War.  Lennon played Private Gripweed in the movie.


1968:  Steppenwolf was awarded a Gold record for the single "Born To Be Wild".
1969:  CCR sat on top in the U.K. with "Bad Moon Rising".












1969:  CCR released the double-sided smash "Fortunate Son"/"Down On The Corner" on Fantasy Records.
1970:  Anne Murray enjoyed her fourth week at #1 on the Easy Listening chart with her first hit "Snowbird".
1970:  Newcomer James Taylor's great song "Fire And Rain" moved from 83 to 50.






1970:  Diana Ross had her 13th #1 but her first as a solo artist with "Ain't No Mountain High Enough".
1970:  The great LP Cosmo's Factory by CCR remained at #1 for the fifth week, trailed by the Soundtrack to "Woodstock" and Joe Cocker's Mad Dogs & Englishmen.  Tommy by the Who moved up to #4 while Chicago II was at position #5.  The rest of the Top 10:  Blood, Sweat & Tears 3, Stage Fright from the Band, Live at Leeds by the Who, Grand Funk Railroad came in ninth with Closer to Home and Neil Diamond/Gold moved from 16 to 10.
1971:  The Jackson 5 starred in the television special "Goin' Back To Indiana", which aired on NBC.
1973:  Gram Parsons of the Byrds and Flying Burrito Brothers died of drugs at the age of 26 in Joshua Tree, California.
1974:  Max Weinberg debuted as drummer for Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band at the Main Point in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania.

1974:  Bad Company's debut album was certified Gold.
1975:  Queen signed John Reid, manager of Elton John, to be their manager as well.
1974:  Eric Clapton was awarded a Gold record for the single "I Shot The Sheriff".








1977:  The Bee Gees released the single "How Deep Is Your Love".
1978:  Linda Ronstadt released the album Living in the U.S.A, which had advance orders of two million copies.

1979:  The Doobie Brothers, Tom Petty, James Taylor, Bruce Springsteen, Carly Simon, Stephen Stills, David Crosby, Jackson Browne, Poco and Bonnie Raitt appeared in the first No Nukes Concert (the first of five nights) at Madison Square Garden in New York City.







1981:  An historic date in the history of the Rock Era.  Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel recorded The Concert in Central Park before 750,000 fans in New York City for an HBO special.
1981:  The Rolling Stones moved from 8 to 1 with their album Tattoo You.  They didn't mean it literally.
1981:  Lionel Richie & Diana Ross remained at #1 for a third week on the Adult Contemporary chart with "Endless Love".
1981:  Ross & Richie spent a fifth week at #1 on the R&B chart.




1981:  Great singer/songwriter Dan Fogelberg had one of the big movers of the week, rising from 45 to 29 with "Hard To Say".









1983:  Billy Joel released the single "Uptown Girl".  (Note:  one naive website claims the song was released September 29.  "Uptown Girl" debuted on the Singles chart on September 24.  It is physically impossible for a song to be included on the Singles chart if it has not been released as a single.)
1985:  A United States Senate committee heard testimony on labeling and rating of rock music, initiated by the Parents Music Resource Center.  The procedures were put into place but only work if parents pay attention to them.
1987:  The third annual Farm Aid benefit concert took place at Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, Nebraska with John Mellencamp, John Denver, Steppenwolf, Neil Young, Joe Walsh, and Lou Reed among the performers.
1987:  Michael Jackson moved to #1 on the R&B chart with "I Just Can't Stop Loving You".



1987:  The Soundtrack to "Dirty Dancing" was the new #1 album, taking the place of Tunnel of Love from Bruce Springsteen.  Bad by Michael Jackson fell to 3 followed by Whitesnake's self-titled release and A Momentary Lapse of Reason from Pink Floyd.  The rest of the Top 10:  Hysteria by Def Leppard, The Lonesome Jubilee from John Cougar Mellencamp, Whitney by Whitney Houston, The Joshua Tree by U2 at #9 and Billy Idol moved into the list with Vital Idol.
1987:  Whitney Houston climbed to #1 on the AC chart with "Didn't We Almost Have It All".





1987:  Los Lobos was down to 3 with "La Bamba" and Whitesnake remained at 4 with "Here I Go Again".  The rest of the Top 10:  ABC and "When Smokey Sings", Huey Lewis & the News and "Doing it All For My Baby", Dan Hill with Vonda Sheppard--"Can't We Try", Bananarama had song #8--"I Heard A Rumour", Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam moved from 16-9 with "Lost In Emotion" and Grateful Dead had their only Top 10 of their career--"Touch Of Grey".
1988:  Bon Jovi released the album New Jersey on Mercury Records.
1989:  Janet Jackson released her album Rhythm Nation 1814 on A&M Records.






1992:  Don Henley & Patti Smyth had the new #1 AC song on this date with "Sometimes Love Just Ain't Enough".
1992:  This was week #6 for Boyz II Men at #1 with "End Of The Road", one of the Top 500 Songs of the Rock Era*.











1996:  George Benson was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame (7055 Hollywood Boulevard).
1997:  A "Storytellers" concert featuring Elton John from the House of Blues in New Orleans, Louisiana was aired on VH1.
1998:  Fabian married his third wife, Andrea Patrick, who is a former Miss Pennsylvania (1980) and Miss West Virginia (1983), at the Nemacolin Woodlands Resort and Spa in Farmington, Pennsylvania.
1998:  Robbie Williams grabbed his first #1 song in the U.K. with "Millennium".





1998:  Lauryn Hill had the top album with The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill.
1999:  Edward Cobb, singer, songwriter ("Tainted Love" for Soft Cell in 1981) and producer, and member of the Four Preps ("Big Man" in 1958), died at the age of 61 from leukemia in Honolulu, Hawai'i.
1999:  Eiffel 65 from Italy had the #1 song in the U.K., Austria, Finland, Germany, Denmark and Norway ("Blue (Da Ba Dee)").
2000:  Madonna released the album Music.
2000:  Glenn Frey released his compilation 20th Century Masters -The Millennium Collection on MCA Records.
2003:  Jack Bruce, bass guitarist of Cream, underwent a successful liver transplant.




 2004:  Skeeter Davis, who gave us the great song "The End Of The World" from 1963 and others, died in Nashville, Tennessee at the age of 72 after a long battle with cancer.
2004:  Embrace had the top U.K. album with Out of Nothing.
2005:  In today's episode of Inmates Run Rap Music, Lil' Kim began a sentence of 366 days in prison for perjury.
2005:  Willie Hutch, who wrote "I'll Be There" and "Never Can Say Goodbye" for the Jackson 5, and also worked with Michael Jackson, Diana Ross, Marvin Gaye, and Smokey Robinson & the Miracles,  died at the age of 59 in Dallas, Texas.  (Note:  some websites claim Hutch was 60 when he died--according to 'Billboard', he was 59.)
2006:  Danny Flores, saxophone player of the Champs who wrote "Tequila" (and was the group member who shouted "Tequila" during the recording), died of pneumonia at the age of 77 in Huntington Beach, California.
2008: Earl Palmer, session drummer for the Beach Boys, Frank Sinatra, the Monkees, the Righteous Brothers ("You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling"), Ike and Tina Turner, Neil Young, Little Richard ("Tutti Frutti"), Fats Domino and many others, died at his home in Banning, California at the age of 83 after a long illness.

2009:  Arthur Ferrante, half of the amazing piano duo Ferrante & Teicher ("Exodus", "Theme from 'The Apartment'", "Midnight Cowboy" and "Tonight"), known as "The Grand Twins of the Twin Grands", died of natural causes at his home in Longboat Key, Florida at the age of 88.
2009:  Whitney Houston returned to #1 on the Album chart for the first time in 17 years with I Look To You.
2010:  Joey Dee was honored in his hometown of Passaic, New Jersey as "Joey Dee & the Starliters Square" was dedicated.
2010:  A bust of Frank Zappa was dedicated at a library in his hometown of Baltimore, Maryland.


Born This Day:
1921:  Bill Ward of the Dominoes was born in Los Angeles, California; died February 16, 2002 in Inglewood, California.

1931:  Brook Benton was born in Lugoff, South Carolina; died April 9, 1988 of pneumonia in Queens, New York.  (Note:  many sources report his birthplace as Camden.  Brook was born in Lugoff, and sang in choir in nearby Camden, according to 'The New York Times' and 'The Daily Item', a newspaper in nearby Sumpter.)










1934:  Brian Epstein, manager of the Beatles, was born in Liverpool, Lancashire, England; died of an overdose of Carbitrol, a form of sleeping pill, on August 27, 1967 in London.
1935:  Nick Massi, bass singer and bass guitarist of the Four Seasons, was born in Newark, New Jersey; died of cancer in Newark on December 24, 2000.
1936:  Gene Dinwiddie, saxophone player with Paul Butterfield Blues Band, was born in Louisville, Kentucky; died January 11, 2002 in Los Angeles, California.

1940:  Bill Medley of the Righteous Brothers and later a successful solo star, was born in Los Angeles, California.  (Note:  some sources report his birthplace as Santa Ana--according to his own website, he was born in Los Angeles and moved to Santa Ana.)
1942:  Danny Kalb of the Blues Project was born in Brooklyn, New York.  (Note:  sources are split on Kalb's birthday between the 9th and the 19th.  The most reliable ones show the 19th.  The latter sources also report that he was born in Brooklyn and moved to Mount Vernon, New York, while some sources report his birthplace as Mount Vernon.)
1940:  Paul Williams, successful songwriter of tunes such as "We've Only Just Begun" and "Rainy Days And Mondays" for the Carpenters, "An Old Fashioned Love Song" for Three Dog Night and "Evergreen" for Barbra Streisand, was born in Omaha, Nebraska.
1942:  Lee Dorman, bass guitarist of Iron Butterfly, was born in St. Louis, Missouri; died December 21, 2012 of natural causes in Laguna Niguel, California.  (Note:  some sources report birthday as September 15, but 'The New York Times' and 'Huffingtonpost.com', among others, report his birthday as the 19th.

1943:  Cass Elliot (real name Ellen Cohen) of the Mamas & Papas was born in Baltimore, Maryland; died of a heart attack on July 19, 1974 in her hotel room in London after a concert series at the London Palladium.
1945:  Freda Payne, who gave us "Band Of Gold" in 1970, was born in Detroit, Michigan.
1945:  David Bromberg, guitarist, fiddler and mandolin player who worked with Bob Dylan and Willie Nelson, among others, was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
1946:  John Coghlan, drummer of Status Quo, was born in London, England.
1947:  Lol Creme of 10cc and Godley & Creme ("Cry") was born in Prestwich, Lancashire, England.  (Note:  some sources report the birthplace as Prestwich, Manchester, but that is incorrect.  Prestwich was not included in the county of Manchester until 1974 by virtue of the Local Government Act of 1972.  As that was 27 years after Creme was born, it is physically impossible for him to have been born in the county of Manchester.)
1951:  Daniel Lanois, producer of U2 (The Joshua Tree), Peter Gabriel, Bob Dylan, Robbie Robertson and many others, was born in Hull, Quebec, Canada.

1952:  Nile Rodgers, songwriter and guitarist of Chic, who became a prolific producer and arranger, was born in the Bronx, New York.
1956:  Rex Smith ("You Take My Breath Away") was born in Jacksonville, Florida.








1958:  Lita Ford, guitarist of the Runaways and a solo artist, was born in London.  (Note:  some sources report birth year as 1959.  According to 'Billboard', Lita was born in 1958.)
1969:  Candy Dulfer, saxophone player ("Lily Was Here" with David Stewart) was born in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
1977:  Ryan Dusick, drummer of Maroon 5, was born in Los Angeles.