Thursday, September 22, 2011

This Date in Rock Music History: September 23

1956:  Mickey Dolenz of the Monkees first appeared on television on Circus Boy on NBC-TV.
     
        16-year-old Canadian crooner with one of the early classics of the Rock Era...

1957:  "Diana" by Paul Anka took over at #1 on the R&B chart.
1960:  All four members who would become the Beatles backed Lu "Wally" Walters, bassist of Rory Storm & the Hurricanes to record the song "Summertime" in Hamburg, Germany.  John Lennon, Paul McCartney and George Harrison were already members of the Beatles while drummer Ringo Starr was a member of the Hurricanes.  Stuart Sutcliffe was with the group at the time but did not play on the recordings, nor did drummer Pete Best, who was not present in the studio.  (Note:  some websites falsely say members of the Beatles also recorded "Fever" and "September Song" on this date.  In reality, the members of the Hurricanes (including Starr), recorded the latter two songs, according to the website 'BeatlesBible'.)
1961:  Another famous date here as on September 23,1961, Stevie Wonder auditioned for Motown Records.
1961:  The Shadows' self-titled debut album was #1 on the U.K. Album chart.
1965:  The Walker Brothers owned the #1 U.K. song--"Make It Easy On Yourself".
1967:  The Mothers of Invention made their debut in the U.K. at the Royal Albert Hall in London.

                            The Box Tops reached the top with "The Letter"...

1967:  An example of what made 1967 one of the best years in the Rock Era--the progression of #1's from "Respect", "Groovin'", "Windy", "Light My Fire", "All You Need Is Love", "Ode To Billie Joe" and on this date, the Box Tops took over the coveted position with "The Letter".  That's heavy duty competition, something you always want to evaluate when looking at music.  All are members of The Top 500 Songs of the Rock Era*.  The Association had another clear winner as "Never My Love" jumped from 15-5 to enter the Top 10.
1967:  The album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band by the Beatles had been out 14 weeks with 13 of those at #1.  Even the Doors' solid debut could not topple it.  Flowers from the Rolling Stones was #3.







1968:  Steppenwolf released the single "Magic Carpet Ride".
1970:  Mick Jagger met Bianca Rose Perez Moreno de Macias after a Rolling Stones concert at the Paris Olympia.  The two would later marry.
1972:  Helen Reddy was beginning to roar as "I Am Woman" moved from 87 to 65.


1972:  Country star Mac Davis crossed over to #1 with "Baby Don't Get Hooked On Me".  Three Dog Night slipped with "Black & White" while Chicago was up to 3 with "Saturday In The Park".  The O'Jays had song #4--"Back Stabbers" while the classic "Alone Again (Naturally)" from Gilbert O'Sullivan was still at #5.  The rest of a solid Top 10:  "Ben", the first big solo hit for Michael Jackson, moved from 13-6 on this date, Main Ingredient was up strongly (16-7) with "Everybody Plays The Fool", Elton John edged up with "Honky Cat", the Raspberries entered the list with "Go All The Way" and Gary Glitter tumbled with "Rock and Roll Part 2".








1974:  John Lennon released the single "Whatever Gets You Through The Night" in the United States on Apple Records.  It would be released in the U.K. on October 4.
1974:  Robbie McIntosh, drummer of the Average White Band, died of drugs in Los Angeles at the age of 24.
1977:  Steely Dan released the best album of their career--Aja.
1978:  Sonny Bono made an appearance on the popular ABC-TV show Fantasy Island.
1978:  Chris Rea remained at #1 on the Easy Listening chart for a third week with "Fool (If You Think It's Over)".







1978:  Earth, Wind & Fire rose to #1 on the R&B chart with their remake of the Beatles' hit "Got To Get You Into My Life".
1978:  Donna Summer was on the move with her remake of the Richard Harris song  "MacArthur Park", up from 75 to 50.








    
                                   Nick Gilder gave us this great song from 1978...

1978:  "Boogie Oogie Oogie" by A Taste of Honey amazingly held on to #1 for a third week, but only for the moment.  On its heels was "Kiss You All Over" by Exile while Olivia Newton-John scored her 18th career hit with "Hopelessly Devoted To You".  Behind that trio, the Commodores' former #1 "Three Times A Lady", Andy Gibb's "An Everlasting Love" and yet another hit from Grease--"Summer Nights" from John Travolta & Olivia Newton-John.  The rest of the Top 10:  Boston's new release "Don't Look Back", "Hot Blooded" from Foreigner, Canada's Nick Gilder entered the Top 10 with "Hot Child In The City" and the Little River Band were up from 15-10 with "Reminiscing".
1978:  Grease returned to #1 on the Album chart after a one-week occupancy by Boston's Don't Look Back.    That gave one of the last great musicals its eighth week at the top.  Foreigner's Double Vision was third followed by Some Girls from the Rolling Stones.
1980:  With immeasurable help from Barry Gibb of the Bee Gees, Barbra Streisand released her great album Guilty on Columbia Records.



1980:  David Bowie replaced Phillip Anglim in the title role for the play "The Elephant Man" at the Booth Theatre in New York City.  (Note:  some websites erroneously put Bowie's debut on Broadway as November 15, 1990.  It was not in 1990, nor was it on November 15, according to the book 'Philosophizing Rock Performance:  Dylan, Hendrix, Bowie' by Wade Hollingshaus. 
1982:  Brenda Lee was inducted into the Georgia Hall of Fame.





1986:  Billy Idol released the single "To Be A Lover".
1986:  James Brown, Freddie Jackson and Melba Moore headed an anti-crack rally at the Plaza Hotel in New York City.
1989:  The Eurythmics owned the #1 U.K. album with We Two Are One.








                         Cher was back in a big way with this Diane Warren song...

1989:  The public chose "Girl I'm Gonna' Miss You" by Milli Vanilli to be #1 which speaks volumes as to the quality out at the time, as well as the listening public at that time.  Warrant held down #2 with "Heaven" while Cher's "If I Could Turn Back Time" was at #3.  Skid Row came in next with "18 And Life" while Madonna's "Cherish" was moving up.  The rest of the Top 10:  Gloria Estefan registered her 10th hit ("Don't Wanna' Lose You"), with seven of those going Top 10, Surface slipped up with "Shower Me With Your Love", Janet Jackson was up from 15-8 with "Miss You Much", New Kids on the Block were down with "Hangin' Tough" and Paula Abdul's "Cold Hearted" closed out the list.
1989:  A better representation of what was really popular was the Adult Contemporary chart as the Bee Gees remained at #1 with "One".
1995:  Michael Jackson made it four weeks atop the R&B chart with "You Are Not Alone".



                          Sophie B. Hawkins made it into a loaded Top 10...

1995:  The great song "Gangsta's Paradise" from Coolio prevailed for a third week at #1.  Michael Jackson's "You Are Not Alone" hung tight at 2 followed by classic #1's "Kiss From A Rose" and "Waterfalls".  The rest of the Top 10:  Janet Jackson with "Runaway", All-4-One edged up with "I Can Love You Like That", Shaggy teamed up with Rayvon on the double-sided "Boombastic"/"Summer Time", Luniz was at 8 with "I Got 5 On It", Hootie & the Blowfish with "Only Wanna' Be With You" and Sophie B. Hawkins cracked the Top 10 with "As I Lay Be Down".










1997:  Elton John released the single that was his tribute to Princess Diana--"Candle In The Wind 1997" in the United States.
1997:  MCA Records re-released the debut album Show Your Hand by the Average White Band to commemorate the group's 25th anniversary.
1997:  Elektra Records released the album The Next Voice You Hear:  The Best of Jackson Browne.
1997:  The Rolling Stones began their first American tour in three years with a concert at Soldier Field in Chicago, Illinois.







1999:  Bono of U2 met the Pope John Paul II in Castelgandolfo, Italy to discuss his initiative for ending Third World debt.  (Note:  some websites claim the meeting took place on September 22 at the Vatican.  It was September 23 in Castelgandolfo, according to 'CNN', MTV and the newspaper 'The Guardian'.)
1999:  While Bono was at that historic meeting with the Pope, Shirley Manson of Garbage unveiled her line of lip gloss.
2001:  Kylie Minogue reached #1 in the U.K. with "Can't Get You Out of My Head".
2001:  Jay-Z had the #1 album with The Blueprint.






2002 Sting won an Oscar for Best Musical Performance for Sting In Tuscany...All This Time.
2003:  Outkast released the two-album set of solo releases Speakerboxxx/The Love Below on LaFace Records.
2003:  Dave Matthews released a solo album, Some Devil on RCA Records.
2006:  The #1 album was B'Day by Beyonce.
2007:  James Blunt went to #1 on the U.K. Album chart with All the Lost Souls.






2010:  The Ray Charles Memorial Library opened in Los Angeles.
2011:  Clarence Johnson of the Chi-Lites, who left the group in 1964 before they became popular to become a producer (he worked with Deniece Williams among others), died in Olympia Fields, Illinois.  (Note:  several websites incorrectly state Johnson died in Chicago, Illinois.  He died in St. James Hospital in Olympia Fields, a village in Cook County.)




Born This Day:

1930:  Soul superstar Ray Charles was born in Albany, Georgia; died June 10, 2004 in Beverly Hills, California of alcoholic liver disease and hepatitis C.
1939:  Guitar ace Roy Buchanan was born in Ozark, Alabama; died August 14, 1988 by hanging himself while in police custody.






1943:  Julio Iglesias was born in Madrid, Spain.
1943:  Steve Boone, bass guitarist of Lovin' Spoonful, was born in Camp Lejeune U.S. Marine Corps base in North Carolina. 
1943:  Wallace Scott of the Whispers, twin brother of Water, was born in Fort Worth, Texas.
1943:  Walter Scott of the Whispers was born in Fort Worth, Texas.  
1943:  John Banks, founding member and drummer of the Merseybeats, was born in Liverpool, Lancashire, England; died April 20, 1988 of throat cancer in Tel Aviv, Israel.
1945:  Paul Petersen, actor who had several hits including the Top 10 "My Dad" in 1962, was born in Glendale, California.
1947:  Jerry Corbetta, founder, keyboardist and lead singer of Sugarloaf ("Don't Call Us, We'll Call You" and "Green-Eyed Lady") was born in Denver, Colorado; died September 16, 2016 of Picks disease in Denver.
1947:  Neal Smith, drummer with Alice Cooper, was born in Akron, Ohio.

1949:  Bruce Springsteen was born in Long Branch, New Jersey.  (Note:  some sites report his birthplace as Freehold, New Jersey.  Springsteen was born in a hospital in Long Branch according to the book 'The Words and Music of Bruce Springsteen' by Rob Kirkpatrick; he grew up in Freehold.)










1959:  Martin Page, who has written many songs such as "We Built This City" for Starship and "These Dreams" for Heart as well as his own "In The House Of Stone And Light", was born in Southampton, Hampshire, England.











1970:  Ani DiFranco was born in Buffalo, New York.
1972:  Jermaine Dupri, rapper, songwriter and producer, was born in Asheville, North Carolina.  (Note:  some sources report his birthplace as Atlanta, Georgia.  'The Encyclopedia of African American Popular Culture' lists it as Asheville, and the ebook 'Media Now, 2010 Update: Understanding Media, Culture, and Technology', reports his birthplace as Asheville, and that he moved to Atlanta, where he graduated from high school.)
1979:  Erik-Michael Estrada of O-Town was born in Bronxville, New York.  (Note:  several websites naively say Estrada was born in the Bronx, New York.  That is a different place than Bronxville (15 miles north of Manhattan), the place where Estrada was born.)
1985:  Diana Ortiz of Dream was born in San Fernando Valley, California.

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