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Today In Music History
July 7th...
1990, The Rolling Stones played the last of three sold out nights at Wembley Stadium, London as part of the bands 'Urban Jungle' tour.
1989, It was announced that for the first time compact discs were out selling vinyl albums. This week's UK No.1 album was 'Emergency On Planet Earth' by Jamiroquai.
1987, David Bowie played the first of two sold out nights on his Glass Spider world tour at Minisadio C.F. Barcelona, Spain.
1984, Bruce Springsteen went to No.1 on the US album chart with 'Born In The USA'. The album went on to spend a total of 139 weeks on the US chart. Its also one of three albums (Michael Jackson's Thriller and Janet Jackson's Rhythm Nation 1814) to produce seven Top-ten US singles.
1984, Prince started a five week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'When Doves Cry', his first US No.1 which went on to sell over 2 million copies, it made No. 4 in the UK.
1980, Led Zeppelin played their last-ever concert when they appeared in West Berlin at the end of a European tour. The set included ‘Black Dog’, ‘Rock and Roll’, ‘Kashmir’, ‘Trampled Underfoot’ and ‘Stairway To Heaven’. They finished the show with ‘Whole Lotta Love’.
1979, The Boomtown Rats made a personal appearance at the opening of the new Virgin Megastore in London.
1978, The Grateful Dead played the first of four nights at the Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Morrison, Colorado.
1973, Billy Preston started a two week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Will It Go Round In Circles', his first of two US chart toppers.
1969, George Harrison recorded his new song ‘Here Comes the Sun’ with just two other Beatles, Paul McCartney and Ringo Star at Abbey Road in London. John Lennon was absent recovering from a car crash in Scotland.
1968, The Yardbirds played their last gig before splitting up when they appeared in Luton.
1966, The Kinks were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Sunny Afternoon', the group's third and last UK No.1.
1963, The Rolling Stones made their UK TV debut when they appeared on 'Thank Your Lucky Stars.' Also appearing on the show was, Mickie Most, The Cadets, Helen Shapiro and Gordon Mills. The group made a total of 13 appearances on the show between 1963 and 1966.
1962, David Rose and his Orchestra went to No.1 on the US singles chart with 'The Stripper'.
1962, The Beatles played at Hulme Hall, Port Sunlight, in Birkenhead. The show was a dance for the local golf club, the capacity of the hall was 450, but 500 people squeezed in to hear and see The Beatles.
1957, More than a year into his chart career Elvis Presley scored his first UK No.1 with 'All Shook Up', (his tenth UK single release). It stayed at No.1 for seven weeks.
July 7th: Born on this day
1988, Born on this day, Ilan Rubin, drummer, Lostprophets, (2006 UK No.1 album ‘Liberation Transmission’).
1963, Born on this day, Vonda Shepard, US singer, songwriter, (1998 UK No.10 single 'Searchin' My Soul', featured in TV show Ally McBeal).
1962, Born on this day, Clive Jackson, Doctor And The Medics, (1986 UK No.1 single 'Spirit In The Sky').
1962, Born on this day, Mark White, bass, The Spin Doctors, (1993 UK No.3 & US No.7 single 'Two Princess').
1952, Born on this day, Lynval Golding, guitar, The Specials, (1981 UK No.1 single 'Ghost Town').
1950, Born on this day, David Hodo, vocals, The Village People, (1978 US No.2 & 1979 UK No.1 single 'YMCA').
1947, Born on this day, Peter Banks, guitarist, Yes, (1968-70), Flash.
1947, Born on this day, Rob Townsend, drummer, Family, (1971 UK No.4 single 'In My Own Time'), Blues Band.
1945, Born on this day, Jim Rodford, Argent, (1972 UK No.5 single 'Hold Your Head Up').
1944, Born on this day, Warren Entner, Grass Roots, (1968 US No.5 single 'Midnight Confessions', plus 13 other US Top 40 singles).
1940, Born on this day, Richard Starkey, (Ringo Starr), drums, vocals, Rory Storm, The Beatles. Sang lead vocals on one track on most Beatles albums, (The Beatles scored 21 US No.1 & 17 UK No.1 singles). Solo (1974 US No.1 & UK No.4 single 'You're Sixteen' plus 9 other US Top 40 hits). Ringo Starr and his all Star Band, (featuring; Howard Jones, Ian Hunter, Peter Frampton, Greg Lake).
1933, Born on this day, J.J. Barrie, US singer, one hit wonder with 1976 UK No.1 single 'No Charge'.
1932, Born on this day, Joe Zawinul, pianist, Miles Davis band, Weather Report, (1976 single 'Birdland', 1977 album Heavy Weather').
1928, Born on this day, Mary Ford, US singer, (1953 UK No.7 single with Les Paul, 'Vaya Con Dios'). Ford died from cancer on 30th September 1977.
July 7th: I knew the bride
2001, Corrs singer Sharon Corr married barrister Gavin Bonner at St John's Church, Cratloe, Co Clare in Ireland.
1971, 26-year-old pop star Bjorn Ulvaeus and 21-year-old Agnetha Faltskog married in Verum, Sweden. 3000 fans arrived and in the chaos a police horse stepped on the brides foot, causing her slight injury.
So cool! The look on your boss' face must have been priceless, haha. I had a close encounter with Dudley Moore one time in NYC. We had gone there for the day and had decided to eat at Tavern on the Green. Dudley Moore was sitting 2 tables away fro...
Rainy, I worked with Bobby Vee back in the early 70s and he was one of the nicest guys that I ever worked with. I considered Bobby a good friend and I know he felt the same about me. I'd also put Ben E King and Joey Dee in that same class. They we...
1877
- Thomas Edison invents the phonograph for playing back stored sounds. The first recording he makes is "Mary Had a Little Lamb."
1915
- The Chicago Automatic Machine and Tool Company invents the jukebox that plays records (as opposed to the cylinder recordings type of player that had been around since 1889).
1917
- The first jazz record was issued in the U.S. when Nick LaRocca’s Original Dixieland Jazz Band released "The Dixieland Jazz Band One-step."
1929
- The 78 rpm record is introduced.
1931
- Adolph Rickenbacker invents the electric guitar
1936
- Billboard puts out its first record sales chart in 1936.
1938
- Bluesman Robert Johnson records his first record
- Pete Johnson and Joe Turner cut their first boogie records in Kansas City
- Boom of boogie woogie in Chicago
- Telefunken helps develop magnetic tape for use with tape recorders.
- John Hammond's 'Spirituals to Swing' concert in NYC
- Saxophonist Louis Jordan leaves Chick Webb's sax section to form his Tympany Five. This might well mark the beginnings of what we know as Rock and Roll
1939
- Leo Mintz founds a record store in Cleveland, the "Record Rendezvous", specializing in black music
1942
- Louis Jordan launches "jump blues" (rhythm and blues) with "Choo Choo Ch'Boogie "
Los Angeles bluesman T-Bone Walker incorporates jazz chords into the blues guitar with "I Got A Break Baby" Savoy is founded in Newark (NJ) to promote black music
1943
- King Records is founded in Cincinnati by Syd Nathan to record hillbilly. In 1946 adds race music.
1945
- Les Paul invents "echo delay", "multi-tracking" and many other studio techniques
- Johnny Otis assembles a combo for "Harlem Nocturne" that is basically a
shrunk-down version of the big-bands of swing
- Jules Bihari founds Modern Records in Los Angeles, specializing in black music
1946
- Muddy Waters cuts the first records of Chicago's electric blues
- Carl Hogan plays a powerful guitar riff on Louis Jordan's "Ain't That Just Like a Woman"
- Lew Chudd founds Imperial Records in Los Angeles, specializing in black music
- Specialty Records is founded by Art Rupe in Los Angeles to specialize in black popular music
1947
- Billboard writer Jerry Wexler invents the term "rhythm and blues" for electric blues
- Roy Brown writes and cuts "Good Rockin' Tonight" in Texas
- Chess Records is founded in Chicago by two Polish-born Jews, Leonard and Phil Chessm to promote blues and later rhythm and blues
- Ahmet Ertegun founds Atlantic Records in New York to promote black music at the border between jazz, rhythm and blues and pop
1948
- Detroit R&B saxophonist Wild Bill Moore releases "We're Gonna Rock We're Gonna Roll"
- John Lee Hooker records Boogie "Chillen'" for Modern Records, a a single, which topped the R&B charts in 1949.
- Columbia introduces the 12-inch 33-1/3 RPM long-playing vinyl record
- Homer Dudley invents the Vocoder (Voice Operated recorder)
- Memphis' radio station WDIA hires Nat Williams, the first black disc jockey
- The magazine Billboard introduces charts for "hillbilly" and "race" records
1949
- Fats Domino cuts "The Fat Man," a new kind of boogie
- Hank Williams' "Lovesick Blues" reaches the top of the country charts
- Scatman Crothers cuts "I Want To Rock And Roll" (1949), with Wild Bill Moore on saxophone
- RCA Victor introduces the 45 RPM vinyl record
- Todd Storz of the KOWH radio station starts the Top 40 radio program
- The Billboard chart for "race" records becomes the chart for "rhythm and blues" records
- Aristocrat changes its name to Chess
- Dewey Phillips (white) deejays race music show 'Red Hot and Blue' in Memphis (Delta blues, Chicago blues, boogie)
1951
- The white Cleveland disc jockey Alan Freed decides to speculate on the success of Leo
- Mintz's store and starts a radio program, Moondog Rock'n'Roll Party, that broadcasts black music to an audience of white teenagers
- The first rock and roll record, Ike Turner's Rocket 88, is released
- The first juke-box that plays 45 RPM records is introduced
- Howling Wolf and Joe Turner popularize the "shouters"
- Gunter Lee Carr cuts the dance novelty "We're Gonna Rock "
1952
- Bill Haley Saddlemen become the Comets
- Bob Horn's Bandstand TV program airs from Philadelphia every weekday afternoon
- Cleveland disc jockey Alan Freed (aka Moondog) organizes the first rock and roll concert: The Moondog Coronation Ball
- Les Paul invents the first solid-body electric guitar, named the 'Les Paul', for the Gibson Guitar Company
- Sam Phillips founds Sun Records and declares "If I could find a white man who sings with the Negro feel, I'll make a million dollars"
- Charles Brown's "Hard Times" is the first hit by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller to enter the charts
- Little Richard's first records released
1953
- Bill Haley's "Crazy Man Crazy" is the first rock and roll song to enter the Billboard charts
- The Orioles' "Crying in the Chapel" is the first black hit to top the white pop charts
- Leo Fender invents the Stratocaster guitar
- Sam Phillips records the first Elvis Presley record in his Sun studio of Memphis using two recorders to produce an effect of "slapback" audio delay
- The black market constitutes 5.7% of the total American market for records
- Vee-Jay Records is founded in Indiana, is owned by James and Vivian Bracken, specializing in black music
- Elvis Presley makes his first (private) recordings
1954
- Boom of Doo Wop
- Bill Haley's "Rock Around the Clock" is the first rock song used in a movie soundtrack
- The record companies switch from 78 RPMs to 45 RPMs
- Japanese electronic company TTK (later Sony) introduces the world's first transistor radio
- Ray Charles forms his band
- Big Joe Turner recorded the original version of the 1950s hit, Shake, Rattle and Roll.
- Johnny Cash forms the Tennessee Two with Luther Perkins and Marshall Grant,
1955
- Chuck Berry cuts his first rock and roll records, the first ones to have the guitar as the main instrument, and invents the descending pentatonic double-stops (the essence of rock guitar)
- Bo Diddley invents the "hambone" rhythm
- The Chordettes and the Chantels are the first girl-groups
- Ray Charles creates "soul" music with "I Got A Woman," a secular adaptation of an old gospel
- Ace Records is formed by Johnny Vincent in New Orleans, specializing in black music
- The Blackboard Jungle is released featuring Bill Haley and His Comets "(We're Gonna) Rock Around the Clock"
- RCA signs Elvis Presley
- The Everly Brothers make their first studio recordings
- Alan Freed's Rock 'n' Roll Ball" draws huge, half-white audience
- Carl Perkins records "Blue Suede Shoes"
- Sales of 45 rpm records finally outsold 78s.
1956
- Colonel Tom Parker signed on as Elvis Presley’s manager
- Heartbreak Hotel starts Presley-mania
- Presley's first film, Love Me Tender
- The rock 'n' roll music of white rockers is called "rockabilly" (rock + hillbilly)
- Screamin Jay Hawkins' "I Put A Spell On You" introduces voodoo into rock'n'roll
- Wanda Jackson is the "Queen of Rockabilly"
- The popularity of rock and roll causes the record industry to boom and allows independent labels to flourish
- In impromptu recording session occurs at Sun Studios with the million dollar quartet consisting of Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, Elvis Presley and Johnny Cash
- Elektra pioneers the "compilation" record, containing songs by different musicians
- Buddy Holly had his first official recording session in 1956. It was held in Nashville at producer Owen Bradley’s, Barn Studio.
- Brenda Lee signs a recording contract at the age of 11, after five years of singing professionally
- Gene Vincent made his first appearance on national TV by performing on The Perry Como Show
- American Bandstand first aired on nationwide TV
1957
- Chuck Berry releases "School Day" and "Rock and Roll Music"
- Golden Age of the teen-idols
- Link Wray's Rumble invents the "fuzz-tone" guitar sound
- Buddy Holly recorded, That’ll Be the Day, at a Norman Petty's New Mexico studio.
- Billboard begins the Hot 100 singles chart
- Buddy Holly and Sam Cooke made their first appearances on the same The Ed Sullivan Show
1958
- Elvis is drafted into the Army
- Carl Perkins left Sun Records in 1958,becoming the first big rockabilly artist on the Columbia label.
- Golden age of instrumental rock
- Eddie Cochran overdubs all instruments and vocals on "Summertime Blues" and "C'mon Everybody "
- Lowman Pauling invents guitar distortion and feedback on the Five Royales' "The Slummer"
- RCA introduces the first stereo long-playing records
- Don Kirshner opens offices at the Brill Building
- David Seville's "The Witch Doctor" and the Tokens' "Tonite I Fell In Love" are the first novelty hits
- Bobby Freeman's "Do You Wanna Dance" begins the "dance craze"
- Stax Records is founded in Memphis to promote black music
- Little Richard quit rock and roll in 1958 to attend Bible college.
- Dion and The Belmonts and Laurie Records both had their first hit when the band’s, "I Wonder Why," made the Top 40
- Jerry Lee Lewis had 34 of his 37 concert dates in the U.K. cancelled when it was discovered that his new bride with him was also his 13 year old cousin.
- Buddy Holly makes his final studio recordings " It Doesn’t Matter Any More," "Moondreams," " Raining In My Heart" and "True Love Ways"
- The Dick Clark Show TV Show began
1959
- Rick Hall founds the FAME studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama
- The Drifters' "There Goes My Baby" introduces Latin rhythm to pop music
- Berry Gordy founds Tamla-Motown in Detroit to release pop-oriented soul records
- 600 million records are sold in the USA
- Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and The Big Bopper die in a plane crash
- Since 1955, the US market share of the four "majors" has dropped from 78% to 44%, while the market share of independent record companies increased from 22% to 56%
Since 1955, the US market has increased from 213 million dollars to 603 million, and the market share of rock and roll has increased from 15.7% to 42.7%
1960
- Elvis appears on the Ed Sullivan Show following his release from the Army.
- Twist is the biggest dance-craze in the year of the dance-crazes
- Larry Parnes, Britain's most famous impresario, arranges a show for the Silver Beetles in Liverpool
- Sam Cooke signed with RCA Records in 1960, bringing his hits on Keen Records with him
- The Shirelles' "Will You Love Me Tomorrow" coins a form of romantic multi-part vocal harmonies
- The British producer Joe Meek uses the recording studio like an instrument for "I Hear a New World "
- Eddie Cochran dies at 22
- Ray Charles has his first #1 hit "Georgia On My Mind "
1961
- Dick Dale uses the term "surfing" to describe his instrumental rock and roll
- Stax begins to produce soul records in Memphis
- The Peppermint Lounge opens in New York
- Roy Orbison has his first number #1 hit, "Running Scared"
- Phil Spector and partner Lester Sill released the "Oh Yeah Maybe Baby" on their new label Philles
1962
- The Supremes first recordings are released.
- James Brown record his famous Live At the Apollo album
1963
- Surf music rules the airwaves
- Little Stevie Wonder recorded his first #1 hit, "Fingertips – Pt. 2,"
1965
- Alan Freed, the man who gave rock ‘n’ roll its name, died in 1965 at the early age of 43
Gone But Not Forgotton
2008
January 15 - Brad Renfro, actor (Mark Shay in "The Client") age 25
January 17 - Bobby Fischer, world class chess champion, age 64
January 18 - Lois Nettleton, actor (Evelyn in "Crossing Jordan") age 80
January 19 - Suzanne Pleshette,actress ("Bob Newhart Show" and "Rome Adventure"), age 70
January 22 - Heath Ledger, actor (A Knight's Tale" and "Brokeback Mountain") age 28
January 26 - Christian Brando, son of actor Marlon Brando, age 49
February 1 - Shell Kepler, actress (Amy Vining on "General Hospital" ) age 49
February 2 - Barry Morse, actor (Lt. Philip Gerard on "The Fugitive") age 89
February 5 - Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, taught transcendentalist meditation to the Beatles, age 96
February 10 - Roy Scheider, actor ( Police Chief Brodie in "Jaws") age 75
February 13 - David Groh, actor (Rhoda's hubby Joe, on "Rhoda") age 68
February 27 - William F. Buckley, author and conservative commentator, age 82
March 18 - Arthur C. Clarke, writer ("2001: A Space Odyssey") age 90
March 19 - Paul Scofield, actor ("A Man for All Seasons") age 86
March 24 - Richard Widmark, actor ("How the West Was Won," "Madigan" ) age 93
April 5 - Charlton Heston,actor (Moses in "The Ten Commandments") age 84
June 2- Bo Diddley,musician (one of the founding fathers of "Rock & Roll") age 79
June 7- Jim McKay,sportscaster (anchored ABC Wide World of Sports)
June 13 - Tim Russert, political journalist and host of NBC's "Meet the Press"
July 4 - Sen. Jesse Helms, (5 term Senator from N Carolina and outspoken conserative) age 86
July 22- Estelle Getty, actress (best known for her role on The Golden Girls) age 85
June 22 - George Carlin, Comedian (best known for his use of off color language) age 71
August 9 - Bernie Mac, Comedian (starred in his own sitcom titled The Bernie Mac Show) age 50
August 10- Isaac Hayes, Musician (famous for writing the musical theme to Shaft) age 65
Rock'n'Roll Facts & Myths
Rock and roll has a longstanding association with sex, drugs and general depravity, so it’s a natural breeding ground for myths and legends surrounding some of its more famous and colorful practitioners.
It was common in the '70s for rock artists’ deaths to be attributed to government conspiracies, and for artists themselves to start or perpetuate rumors of their alleged illicit exploits.
Surprisingly enough, some of rock’s most outlandish myths are still circulating, masquerading as true stories.
1. Paul McCartney, Lou Reed and Ginger Baker are dead
Myths:
McCartney died in an auto accident in 1966 and was replaced by an impersonator. Reed and Baker died of drug overdoses.
Facts:
The McCartney and Reed myths started with what looked like legitimate wire service reports being fed to radio stations. The fact that it took McCartney a while to deny the rumour added fuel to it. The Reed hoax came shortly after the death of fellow punk rocker Joey Ramone, which gave it an additional touch of plausibility.
Baker was addicted to heroin throughout most of the '60s and '70s. After Cream disbanded in 1968, he dropped out of public view, leading some to believe that he had died a drug-related death. He kicked the habit in the early '80s and is quite alive, as are McCartney and Reed.
2. Elvis Presley and Jim Morrison are alive
Myths:
Elvis didn’t die in 1977 but used that as a cover to go into seclusion and get out of the public spotlight. Jim Morrison is alive and someone else’s body is in his grave.
Facts:
In spite of extensive and largely irrefutable evidence to the contrary, there are still those who believe that Elvis is alive and is periodically spotted in convenience stores, restaurants and trailer parks all over the world.
Some people still don’t believe that Morrison’s body is the one buried in his grave in a Paris cemetery. The official cause of Morrison’s was listed as a heart attack -- believed by many to have been drug related -- in 1971. One enterprising gentleman has even produced a video (for $24.95 plus shipping) that he claims is Morrison living the life of a cowboy in the Pacific Northwest. People who have seen the video say the man in it bears no resemblance whatsoever to Morrison, and other than the fact that many of his song lyrics had mystical themes, there is no evidence to suggest that his death was faked.
3. Cass Elliot choked to death on a ham sandwich
Myth:
Mama Cass died when she choked on the sandwich she was eating, the uneaten remains of which were found near her body.
Fact:
There may have been a partially eaten sandwich somewhere in the vicinity, but she died of heart failure brought on by the effects of obesity and crash dieting. The coroner found no evidence of anything, ham sandwich or otherwise, blocking her windpipe.
4. Grace Slick named her daughter “god”
Myth:
Shortly after her baby was born, Slick told a hospital attendant that the baby would be named god, with a small “g” out of respect for the religious significance.
Fact:
Slick admits that she made the remark to a nurse who was wearing a crucifix, but says she meant it as a joke. Given her well known drug use and her prominent role in the pioneering Psychedelic Rock group Jefferson Airplane, it wasn’t hard to believe that she was serious. Slick’s daughter’s name is and always has been China Kantner (her father being Jefferson Airplane guitarist/vocalist Paul Kantner.)
5. Mr. Greenjeans was Frank Zappa’s father
Myth:
The gentle, kindly character on the children’s TV show, Captain Kangaroo was the father of Frank Zappa, who specialized in absurd humor and not-so-gentle social satire in his many song lyrics.
Fact:
Zappa was the son of a Sicilian immigrant named Francis Zappa, who lived in Baltimore. The fact that among Zappa’s many songs were two titled “Mr. Green Genes” and “Son of Mr. Green Genes” no doubt served as the basis of the myth. Coupled with the fact that Zappa's persona was such that you could easily believe most anything about him, it isn’t hard to see how this myth started and lasted.
6. The Beatles smoked dope in Buckingham Palace
Myth:
Prior to the ceremony in which they received Member of the British Empire (MBE) awards, the Beatles smoked a joint in one of the Palace’s bathrooms.
Fact:
It was actually John Lennon who made this claim, saying that the band’s members were nervous and smoked a joint to calm down. Paul McCartney later refuted this as a joke, with its probable basis being in the fact that the boys did share a cigarette of the tobacco variety to calm their nerves before meeting the queen.
7. Keith Richards had his blood replaced
Myth:
Prior to a European tour in 1973, the Rolling Stones’ Keith Richards went to Switzerland to have his blood removed and replaced with a supply that was devoid of drugs and alcohol.
Fact:
He did undergo a procedure that removes impurities from the blood, but it was a far cry from having his entire blood supply replaced. Richards eventually admitted that he got tired of answering questions about the procedure and made up the story himself.
8. Robert Johnson made a deal with Satan
Myth:
Robert Johnson, a mediocre blues guitarist, sold his soul to the devil in exchange for being able to master the instrument.
Fact:
Johnson had a profound influence on artists like Eric Clapton, Keith Richards, Jimmy Page and Bob Dylan. True, he didn’t start recording until three years before he died, and he recorded songs with titles like “Hellhound On My Trail” and “Me and the Devil Blues.” A vast improvement in his playing was accomplished by incessant practice, not a pact with Lucifer.
9. Gene Simmons had a tongue transplant from a cow
Myth:
KISS bassist/vocalist Gene Simmons, famous for wagging his considerable tongue as part of his onstage antics, had a cow’s tongue surgically attached to his own.
Fact:
Simmons’ tongue is abnormally long, and he has learned to use it in ways that draw abnormal attention to it. The fact is that '70s medical technology didn’t extend to successfully attaching animal parts to humans, and a cow’s tongue looks nothing like Simmons’ or any other human’s.
10. Ozzy Osbourne bit the heads off of live bats on stage
Myth:
Osbourne routinely bit the heads off of live bats as part of his outrageous live performance antics.
Fact:
Given his trailblazing efforts in achieving a high shock value with his live concert shenanigans, this myth isn’t too hard to swallow. The fact is, Oz did bite a live bat onstage – once, and by accident. He thought it was a prop made of rubber. The fact that the bat bit back, requiring Osbourne to undergo rabies treatments, kept him from ever attempting it on purpose.