1942: Glenn Wallichs began Capitol Records in the United States. Capitol would become the home for Frank Sinatra, the Beach Boys, Dean Martin, Bobby Darin, Glen Campbell, Steve Miller, Anne Murray, Dr. Hook, Bob Seger, Tina Turner, Heart and many, many others.
1956: Elvis Presley was on The Milton Berle Show, where he was presented with a Billboard Triple Crown Award to commemorate "Heartbreak Hotel" being #1 on the pop, R&B and country charts.
1962: The Beach Boys released the single "Surfin' Safari".
1963: The Searchers first appeared on the U.K. chart with the song "Sweets For My Sweet".
1964: The Beatles began their first world tour in Denmark at the KB Hallen in Fredericksberg, Copenhagen.
1966: On this date, a new group debuted with their first hit single. They would go on to become one of the top acts of the 60's with 19 hits, 7 Top 10 records and 2 #1's. "Hanky Panky" debuted on the chart for Tommy James & the Shondells.
1966: "Strangers In The Night" hit #1 for Frank Sinatra on the Adult Contemporary chart.
1967: Procol Harum, the Jimi Hendrix Experience and Denny Laine (later of the Moody Blues) performed at the Saville Theatre in London.
1967: Stevie Wonder released the single "I Was Made To Love Her".
1967: A brand new act debuted on this date. They would become not only one of the great acts of the 60's but one of The Top 100 Artists of the Rock Era*. The Association's first single "Along Comes Mary" entered the chart.
1967: The Monkees won an Emmy Award for Best Comedy Series.
1969: Nicky Hopkins, pianist for the Jeff Beck Group, announced he was leaving.
1969: Hundreds of people in Glenrowan, Australia signed petitions against the casting of Mick Jagger in an upcoming film.
1969: Tommy Roe hit #1 in the U.K. with "Dizzy".
1970: Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young released the single "Ohio". (Note: Unfortunately, most of the Internet gets the events leading up to the release of the single wrong. Some websites claim the band released the single on May 14, 1970. You already know about the ridiculous song and artist rankings of Rolling Stone, but the magazine claims the song was recorded May 15. This is physically impossible. The book Encyclopedia of Great Popular Recordings by Steve Sullivan reports that Neil Young wrote "Ohio" on May 19, while saying the group recorded it on May 15 in the same article--very difficult to record a song if it hasn't been written yet, so that's out.
1972: Pink Floyd begins recording for their next album at Abbey Road Studios in London. It was originally going to be entitled Eclipse but wound up being called Dark Side of the Moon.
1974: Randy Newman appeared on the U.K. television show The Old Grey Whistle Test.
1976: Elton John performed at the Capitol Theatre in Leeds, England.
1976: Live recordings were made of Blondie, the Talking Heads and others at the new wave night club GBGB's in New York City. The tracks can be heard on the album Live at GBGB's New York.
1977: "Best of My Love" by the Emotions was #1 on the R&B chart.
1977: Barry Manilow reached #1 with "Looks Like We Made It" on the Easy Listening chart.
1977: Stevie Wonder made it three weeks in a row at #1 with "Sir Duke". K.C. & the Sunshine Band followed with "I'm Your Boogie Man" while "Dreams" by Fleetwood Mac crept up to #3. Marvin Gaye was right behind with "Got To Give It Up".
1977: Bad things happen in Florida. The 2000 presidential election debacle, the training ground for 9/11 terrorists and back in 1977, a Led Zeppelin concert in Tampa Bay was canceled after fans had rioted the night before.
1980: The Go-Go's were at Tiffany's in Great Yarmouth, England.
1983: The Police had the #1 song in the U.K. with "Every Breath You Take"
1983: Thriller by Michael Jackson was #1 for the 15th week in a row.
1984: Bruce Springsteen released the album Born in the U.S.A.
1986: U2, Bryan Adams, Sting and Peter Gabriel performed at the Cow Palace in San Francisco, California as part of the Conspiracy of Hope concert tour.
1987: Fans at a Eurythmics concert in West Berlin could hear people in East Berlin chanting "The wall must go!" And it did.
1988: Hysteria by Def Leppard spent its 37th week in the Top 10 of the album chart.
1992: The United States Postal Service announced that people preferred a stamp design featuring "the younger Elvis" in a vote that had concluded.
1993: The beginning of the end for Kurt Cobain. He was arrested after a dispute at his house in Seattle, Washington.
1994 The U.K. magazine NME featured Oasis on the cover.
1994: "Back & Forth" by Aaliyah was #1 for the third week on the R&B chart.
1994: All-4-One remained at #1 with "I Swear". Madonna could not budge with "I'll Remember", Ace of Base remained at 3 with their former #1 "The Sign" and Enigma was at 4 with "Return To Innocence".
1994: Derek Leckenby, guitarist for Herman's Hermits, died of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in Manchester, England at the age of 51. (Note: some websites claim Leckenby died August 4, 1994, but according to the newspaper 'The Independent', he died June 4.)
1994: Wet Wet Wet had one of the biggest hits of all-time in the U.K. as their remake of the Troggs' hit "Love Is All Around" began a 15-week run at #1.
1994: All-4-One remained at #1 for the third week with "I Swear". Madonna peaked at #2 with "I'll Remember" while Ace of Base was still strong after 23 weeks of release with "The Sign".
1996: Metallica released the album Load.
1996: Crowded House announced they were breaking up.
1997: Ronnie Lane, bass guitarist of Faces, died at the age of 51 after a long battle with multiple sclerosis.
1998: Ray Charles performed in Chicago to celebrate 50 years as an entertainer.
2000: Bon Jovi had the #1 U.K. album with Crush.
2003: Justin Timberlake and Christina Aguilera toured together, beginning in Phoenix, Arizona.
2012: Herb Reed of the Platters died at the age of 80 of several ailments in Boston, Massachusetts.
Born This Day:
1940: Nancy Sinatra was born in Jersey City, New Jersey.
1944: Roger Ball of the Average White Band
1944: Holly Michelle Gilliam (Michelle Phillips) of the Mamas and Papas was born in Long Beach, California.
1945: Gordon Waller of Peter & Gordon was born in Braemar, Scotland; died of a heart attack in Norwich, Connecticut on July 17, 2009.
1952: Jimmy McCulloch of Thunderclap Newman ("Something in the Air") and later Wings was born in Glasgow, Scotland; died September 27, 1979 from heroin in Maida Vale, West London, England at the age of 26.
1954: Raphael Ravenscroft, who played the famous saxophone solo on "Baker Street" by Gerry Rafferty, and who also worked with ABBA, Marvin Gaye, America, Pink Floyd, Bonnie Tyler, Maxine Nightingale, Daft Punk, and many others, was born in Stoke-on-Trent, England; died October 19, 2014 of a heart attack in Exeter, England. (Note: Some websites report he was born in Dumpfries, Scortland, but according to the 'BBC' and the newspaper 'The Telegraph', Raphael was born in Stoke-on-Trent.)
1961: El DeBarge, lead singer and co-founder of the family group DeBarge and a solo artist ("Who's Johnny"), was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
1974: Stefan Lessard, bass guitarist with the Dave Matthews Band, was born in Anaheim, California.
1956: Elvis Presley was on The Milton Berle Show, where he was presented with a Billboard Triple Crown Award to commemorate "Heartbreak Hotel" being #1 on the pop, R&B and country charts.
1962: The Beach Boys released the single "Surfin' Safari".
1963: The Searchers first appeared on the U.K. chart with the song "Sweets For My Sweet".
1964: The Beatles began their first world tour in Denmark at the KB Hallen in Fredericksberg, Copenhagen.
1966: On this date, a new group debuted with their first hit single. They would go on to become one of the top acts of the 60's with 19 hits, 7 Top 10 records and 2 #1's. "Hanky Panky" debuted on the chart for Tommy James & the Shondells.
1966: "Strangers In The Night" hit #1 for Frank Sinatra on the Adult Contemporary chart.
1967: Procol Harum, the Jimi Hendrix Experience and Denny Laine (later of the Moody Blues) performed at the Saville Theatre in London.
1967: Stevie Wonder released the single "I Was Made To Love Her".
1967: A brand new act debuted on this date. They would become not only one of the great acts of the 60's but one of The Top 100 Artists of the Rock Era*. The Association's first single "Along Comes Mary" entered the chart.
1967: The Monkees won an Emmy Award for Best Comedy Series.
1969: Nicky Hopkins, pianist for the Jeff Beck Group, announced he was leaving.
1969: Hundreds of people in Glenrowan, Australia signed petitions against the casting of Mick Jagger in an upcoming film.
1969: Tommy Roe hit #1 in the U.K. with "Dizzy".
1970: Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young released the single "Ohio". (Note: Unfortunately, most of the Internet gets the events leading up to the release of the single wrong. Some websites claim the band released the single on May 14, 1970. You already know about the ridiculous song and artist rankings of Rolling Stone, but the magazine claims the song was recorded May 15. This is physically impossible. The book Encyclopedia of Great Popular Recordings by Steve Sullivan reports that Neil Young wrote "Ohio" on May 19, while saying the group recorded it on May 15 in the same article--very difficult to record a song if it hasn't been written yet, so that's out.
Neil Young wrote the lyrics to the song after seeing the story in Life magazine, according to numerous sources, including Time magazine. That copy of Life magazine was published on May 15 (as you can see from the photo of the Life cover above), making it impossible to read it, write and arrange the song, book a recording studio, and then record it, either on May 14 or May 15. According to the book Neil Young: Long May You Run: The Illustrated History, Updated Edition by Daniel Dudrcholz and Gary Graff, Crosby handed Young a copy of Life. Neil took out his guitar, and had the song 20 minutes later. According to album liner notes written by Crosby, the group booked the Record Plant for May 21, and released the song within a week after recording. The book American Reckoning: The Vietnam War and Our National Identity by Christian G. Appy confirms that "Ohio" was recorded on May 21.
1970: Elvis Presley began five days of recording at RCA Studios, beginning his day at 6 p.m. and working until dawn.1972: Pink Floyd begins recording for their next album at Abbey Road Studios in London. It was originally going to be entitled Eclipse but wound up being called Dark Side of the Moon.
1976: Elton John performed at the Capitol Theatre in Leeds, England.
1976: Live recordings were made of Blondie, the Talking Heads and others at the new wave night club GBGB's in New York City. The tracks can be heard on the album Live at GBGB's New York.
1977: "Best of My Love" by the Emotions was #1 on the R&B chart.
1977: Barry Manilow reached #1 with "Looks Like We Made It" on the Easy Listening chart.
1977: Stevie Wonder made it three weeks in a row at #1 with "Sir Duke". K.C. & the Sunshine Band followed with "I'm Your Boogie Man" while "Dreams" by Fleetwood Mac crept up to #3. Marvin Gaye was right behind with "Got To Give It Up".
1977: Bad things happen in Florida. The 2000 presidential election debacle, the training ground for 9/11 terrorists and back in 1977, a Led Zeppelin concert in Tampa Bay was canceled after fans had rioted the night before.
1980: The Go-Go's were at Tiffany's in Great Yarmouth, England.
1983: The Police had the #1 song in the U.K. with "Every Breath You Take"
1983: Thriller by Michael Jackson was #1 for the 15th week in a row.
1984: Bruce Springsteen released the album Born in the U.S.A.
1986: U2, Bryan Adams, Sting and Peter Gabriel performed at the Cow Palace in San Francisco, California as part of the Conspiracy of Hope concert tour.
1987: Fans at a Eurythmics concert in West Berlin could hear people in East Berlin chanting "The wall must go!" And it did.
1988: Hysteria by Def Leppard spent its 37th week in the Top 10 of the album chart.
1993: The beginning of the end for Kurt Cobain. He was arrested after a dispute at his house in Seattle, Washington.
1994 The U.K. magazine NME featured Oasis on the cover.
1994: "Back & Forth" by Aaliyah was #1 for the third week on the R&B chart.
1994: All-4-One remained at #1 with "I Swear". Madonna could not budge with "I'll Remember", Ace of Base remained at 3 with their former #1 "The Sign" and Enigma was at 4 with "Return To Innocence".
1994: Derek Leckenby, guitarist for Herman's Hermits, died of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in Manchester, England at the age of 51. (Note: some websites claim Leckenby died August 4, 1994, but according to the newspaper 'The Independent', he died June 4.)
1994: Wet Wet Wet had one of the biggest hits of all-time in the U.K. as their remake of the Troggs' hit "Love Is All Around" began a 15-week run at #1.
1994: All-4-One remained at #1 for the third week with "I Swear". Madonna peaked at #2 with "I'll Remember" while Ace of Base was still strong after 23 weeks of release with "The Sign".
1996: Metallica released the album Load.
1996: Crowded House announced they were breaking up.
1997: Ronnie Lane, bass guitarist of Faces, died at the age of 51 after a long battle with multiple sclerosis.
1998: Ray Charles performed in Chicago to celebrate 50 years as an entertainer.
2000: Bon Jovi had the #1 U.K. album with Crush.
2003: Justin Timberlake and Christina Aguilera toured together, beginning in Phoenix, Arizona.
2012: Herb Reed of the Platters died at the age of 80 of several ailments in Boston, Massachusetts.
Born This Day:
1944: Roger Ball of the Average White Band
1944: Holly Michelle Gilliam (Michelle Phillips) of the Mamas and Papas was born in Long Beach, California.
1945: Gordon Waller of Peter & Gordon was born in Braemar, Scotland; died of a heart attack in Norwich, Connecticut on July 17, 2009.
1952: Jimmy McCulloch of Thunderclap Newman ("Something in the Air") and later Wings was born in Glasgow, Scotland; died September 27, 1979 from heroin in Maida Vale, West London, England at the age of 26.
1954: Raphael Ravenscroft, who played the famous saxophone solo on "Baker Street" by Gerry Rafferty, and who also worked with ABBA, Marvin Gaye, America, Pink Floyd, Bonnie Tyler, Maxine Nightingale, Daft Punk, and many others, was born in Stoke-on-Trent, England; died October 19, 2014 of a heart attack in Exeter, England. (Note: Some websites report he was born in Dumpfries, Scortland, but according to the 'BBC' and the newspaper 'The Telegraph', Raphael was born in Stoke-on-Trent.)
1961: El DeBarge, lead singer and co-founder of the family group DeBarge and a solo artist ("Who's Johnny"), was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
1974: Stefan Lessard, bass guitarist with the Dave Matthews Band, was born in Anaheim, California.
