Saturday, February 23, 2013

This Date in Rock Music History: February 24

1956:  Police in Cleveland, Ohio invoked a 1931 ordinance barring people under the age of 18 from dancing in public unless accompanied by an adult.  
1958:  For the fourth week the Silhouettes shadowed the #1 spot on the R&B chart with "Get A Job".  
1960:  Carl Dobkins, Jr., dressed in full military attire live from Fort Dix in New Jersey, where he was serving in the national guard, appeared on The Perry Como Show on NBC-TV.
                                         Dion's latest was hot...

1962:  Pretty solid Top 5 here:  "Duke Of Earl" from Gene Chandler, Dion moved to second with "The Wanderer", Sue Thompson with "Norman", former #1 "The Twist" from Chubby Checker and Bruce Channel shot up from 13 to 5 with "Hey!  Baby".
1965:  The Beach Boys recorded "Help Me Rhonda" at Universal and Radio Recorders Studios in Hollywood, California.
1967:  The Bee Gees signed a management deal with Robert Stigwood.









1968:  The Beatles remained at #1 on the Album chart for the eighth week with the Soundtrack to "Magical Mystery Tour", the movie in which they starred in.  John Wesley Harding by Bob Dylan was second with Blooming Hits from Paul Mauriat & His Orchestra jumping to #3.  Axis:  Bold As Love from the Jimi Hendrix Experience moved from #24 all the way up to #4.  The rest of the Top 10:  Diana Ross and the Supremes Greatest Hits, the Rolling Stones with Their Satanic Majesties Request, Herb Alpert's Ninth by Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass, The Turtles!  Golden Hits at #8, Are You Experienced? from the Jimi Hendrix Experience and Cream took position #10 with Disraeli Gears.








1968:  "Love Is Blue" was #1 for a third week for Paul Mauriat.  
1969:  The Jimi Hendrix Experience, which adopted England as its second home, played its final British concert before breaking up at the Royal Albert Hall in London.  The show was recorded, and some songs performed in London were later released as the album Hendrix in the West.  







ABC by Jackson 5 on Grooveshark
1970: The Jackson 5 released the single "ABC".
1973:  The Byrds (with Roger McGuinn, Gene Parsons, Clarence White and John York in their final lineup) were in concert for the final time at the Capitol Theatre in Passaic, New Jersey.






1973:  "Love Train" by the O'Jays has the distinction of being on three prestigious lists.  It is one of The Top 500 Songs of the Rock Era*, one of The Most Important Songs of the Rock Era* and one of The Top 100 R&B Songs of the 1970's*.  "Love Train" remained #1 again on this date on the R&B chart.  









1973:  Roberta Flack reached #1 for the second time in her career with "Killing Me Softly With His Song".  Eric Weissberg & Steve Mandell were second with "Dueling Banjos" while previous #1 "Crocodile Rock" by Elton John fell to #3.  Carly Simon's former #1 "You're So Vain" was still hanging around after 13 weeks while the Spinners were up to #5 with their latest--"Could It Be I'm Falling In Love".  The rest of the Top 10:  Steely Dan with "Do It Again", newcomer Edward Bear with "Last Song", which rose from 13 to 7, Lobo's "Don't Expect Me To Be Your Friend", the O'Jays rode from 15 to 9 with "Love Train" and John Denver spent a second week at #10 with "Rocky Mountain High".






1975:  Led Zeppelin released the album Physical Graffiti.











1975:  Elton John released his single "Philadelphia Freedom".
1976:  The Eagles' Greatest Hits became the first album to be certified platinum (one million sales) by the RIAA.
1978:  Barry Manilow starred in The Second Barry Manilow Special on ABC-TV with guest Ray Charles.









1979:  One of the main New Wave acts to cross into the mainstream, this group first appeared on the radio as their debut single "Roxanne" entered the charts.










 

      "In the Gallery" was helping Dire Straits become a sensation...

1979:  Rod Stewart owned the top album for a third week--Blondes Have More Fun.  The Bee Gees were close behind with Spirits Having Flown.  Cruisin' by the Village People amazingly was third while the Blues Brothers dropped with Briefcase Full of Blues.  The rest of the Top 10:  Billy Joel proved he was a star with staying power with the album 52nd Street, the debut from Dire Straits came in #6, Totally Hot from Olivia Newton-John, the Doobie Brothers entered the Top 10 with Minute By Minute, the self-titled Toto at #9 and Love Tracks by Gloria Gaynor ranked 10th.
1979:  Anne Murray had the #1 Adult Contemporary song for a third week with "I Just Fall In Love Again".





1979:  Rod Stewart spent a third week at #1 with "Do Ya Think I'm Sexy?"  The Bruce Springsteen-penned song "Fire" by the Pointer Sisters rose to #2 with Olivia Newton-John a solid #3 with "A Little More Love".  Gloria Gaynor's "I Will Survive" edged closer while "Y.M.C.A." by the Village People was #5.  The rest of the Top 10:  The Bee Gees shot up from 19 to 6 with "Tragedy", Chic's former #1 "Le Freak" was still at #7 after 18 weeks, Nicolette Larson's "Lotta' Love", Barry Manilow had his 14th hit ("Somewhere In The Night"), with an impressive nine of those reaching the Top 10 and Leif Garrett had #10--"I Was Made for Dancin'".
1981:  Peter Noone of Hermans Hermits and Stephen Bishop appeared on Laverne & Shirley on ABC-TV.







1982:  Double Fantasy by  the late John Lennon won the Grammy for Album of the Year.
1982:  Sheena Easton captured the Grammy for Best New Artist.







 

1982:  Kim Carnes won Record of the Year at the Grammy Awards for "Bette Davis Eyes".  The writers of the song--Jackie DeShannon and Donna Weiss, won the Grammy for Song of the year.


 







 
1987:  Ray Charles posthumously received a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Grammys.  The Grammy voters, realizing that they had snubbed him while he was alive, heaped all kinds of praise on him now that he was dead, also adding a record-tying eight posthumous Grammy Awards onto the festivities.










1987:  The Fat Man, Fats Domino, was honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Grammys.
1988:  Alice Cooper announced he would run for Governor of Arizona as a member of the "Wild Party".  Yeah, good one there Alice.
1990:  Bob Dylan, David Crosby, Roger McGuinn and Chris Hillman sang "Mr. Tambourine Man" in Los Angeles as a tribute to the late Roy Orbison.  








1990:  Johnnie Ray, singer-songwriter and pianist, died of liver failure in Los Angeles at the age of 63.
1990:  "Opposites Attract" by Paula Abdul was #1 for a third week.  Janet Jackson was second with "Escapade".  Roxette moved to #3 with "Dangerous".







 

1990:  "Here We Are" by Gloria Estefan was #1 for the fifth week on the AC chart.
1990:  Paula Abdul racked up her fifth week at #1 on the Album chart with Forever Your Girl.  Janet Jackson's Rhythm Nation 1814 was second.








1993:  Eric Clapton won six Grammy Awards, including Record of the Year, for "Tears In Heaven".
1995:  Neil Tennant of the Pet Shop Boys left a hospital in London after two weeks of treatment by an AIDS specialist.









1996:  Nineteen weeks after it left the #1 position on the aAbum 
chart, Alanis Morissette's landmark Jagged Little Pill returned to the top.  










1996:  "One Sweet Day" by Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men made history with a 13th week at #1.  That tied "End Of The Road" by Boyz II Men for third in the Rock Era for the most weeks at #1.  Only "I'll Make Love To You" by Boyz II Men and "I Will Always Love You" by Whitney Houston, each with 14 weeks, were ahead of Carey & the Boyz at this juncture.









1998:  The genius John Fogerty was given a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Orville H. Gibson award ceremony in New York City.









1998:  Elton John was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace in London.








1998:  Tommy Lee, drummer of Motley Crue, was arrested in Malibu, California and charged with abusing his wife Pamela Anderson and his son Dylan.  After he was convicted, the loser was thrown in jail for six months.  Not near long enough.







 

1999:  Lauryn Hill received five Grammy awards for her debut solo album The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill.









2002:  Bon Jovi, Christina Aguilera, N' Sync, Kiss and Moby performed at the closing ceremonies of the Winter Olympics.









2002:  Paul McCartney performed "Yesterday" at a concert tribute to the late George Harrison in Liverpool, England.
2002:  Arthur Lyman, who gave us one of The Top 100 Instrumentals of the Rock Era* ("Yellow Bird" from 1961) died of throat cancer in Honolulu, Hawai'i at the age of 70.
2002:  Sting, the Very Best of was the #1 album in the U.K.







2004:  Estelle Axton, co-founder of Stax records, which included Booker T. & the MG's, Otis Redding and Isaac Hayes, died of natural causes at age 85 in Memphis, Tennessee.  (Note:  some naïve website owners, believe that the dates of newspaper reports are the dates that something occurred, falsely report that Estelle died on February 25.  As most people know, newspapers report news that happened the previous day, and according to the newspapers 'USA Today', 'The Los Angeles Times' and 'The Sun-Sentinel', as well as 'Billboard', the correct date of death is Tuesday, February 24.)
2006:  In today's episode of Dangerous Inmates Run Rap Music, Black Rob was arrested on a fugitive warrant in New Jersey after he did not turn himself in to begin a sentence for burglary.
2008:  Larry Norman of the group People ("I Love You" from 1968) died of heart failure at age 60 in Salem, Oregon.
2011:  Eddie Serrato, drummer with Question Mark & the Mysterians ("96 Tears") died of a heart attack in Detroit, Michigan at the age of 65.

Born This Day:
1932:  Michel LeGrand, jazz composer who wrote the music to the great Dusty Springfield song "Windmills Of Your Mind" from 1969, was born in Bécon les Bruyères, France, a suburb of Paris. 
1942:  Paul Jones (real name Paul Pond), singer and harmonica player of Manfred Mann, was born in Portsmouth, Hampshire, England.
1944:  Nicky Hopkins of Quicksilver Messenger Service and a session pianist on The White Album by the Beatles, Volunteers by Jefferson Airplane and more than a dozen Rolling Stones albums, among others, was born in Perivale, London; died September 6, 1994 in Nashville, Tennessee of complications of intestinal surgery, presumably related to his battle with Crohn's Disease.   
1947:  Rupert Holmes, who had the great album Partners In Crime and also wrote "Timothy" for the Buoys, was born in Northwich, Cheshire, England.
1947:  Lonnie Turner, bassist of the Steve Miller Band, was born in Berkeley, California.
1959:  Colin Farley of the Cutting Crew "(I Just) Died In Your Arms"
1962:  Michelle Shocked was born in Dallas, Texas.
1974:  Chad Hugo, who along with partner Pharrell Williams, has produced for Britney Spears, 'N Sync, Nelly, Jay-Z and Mystikal, wad born in Portsmouth, Virginia.
1974:  Noah "Wuv" Bernardo, Jr., drummer and founding member of P.O.D.

Friday, February 22, 2013

This Date in Rock Music History: February 23

1959:  Lloyd Price logged a third week at #1 on the R&B chart with "Stagger Lee".

1959:  "Stagger Lee" by Lloyd Price made it to a third week at #1 on the Singles chart.  "Donna" from the late Ritchie Valens was next with "16 Candles" from the Crests down a spot.
1963:  "Hey Paula" by Paul & Paula took over at #1 on the R&B chart.  
1963:  The Rooftop Singers stayed up there for the fifth week on the Easy Listening chart with "Walk Right In".  









          The Cascades with the memorable "Rhythm of the Rain"...

1963:  Paul & Paula remained at #1 for a third consecutive week with "Hey Paula".  Dion moved to challenge with "Ruby Baby" while the Four Seasons held steady with "Walk Like A Man".  The Rooftop Singers said to just "Walk Right In" while the great Cascades song "Rhythm Of The Rain" was at #5.  The rest of the Top 10:  "From A Jack To A King" by Ned Miller, Bobby Darin entered the Top 10 with "You're The Reason I'm Living", Eydie Gorme blasted from 18 to 8 with "Blame It On The Bossa Nova", the Miracles' latest--"You've Really Got A Hold On Me" and the Rebels' instrumental "Wild Weekend" was #10.  














1964:  The Dave Clark Five, featuring Clark as one of the great drummers early in the Rock Era, released the single "Bits And Pieces".
1964:  The Beatles appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show for a third time.  The show had actually been recorded on February 9, the date of their first appearance, in front of a different audience, then broadcast on February 23.
1970:  The 5th Dimension were guest stars on It Takes a Thief on ABC-TV.
1970:  Ringo Starr was a guest star on the popular television show Laugh-In on NBC, his first solo television appearance.
1972:  Elvis Presley and wife Priscilla separated.
1974:  Planet Waves by Bob Dylan was #1 for a second week on the Album chart, just ahead of John Denver's Greatest Hits.  Two new albums joined the Top 10:  The amazing Court and Spark from Joni Mitchell and Carly Simon moved from 16-7 with Hotcakes.  
1974:  Eddie Kendricks had it all going on with the #1 R&B song for the third week--"Boogie Down".

 




1978:  Three hallmark winners at the Grammys that are all some of the best of all-time in their categories:  Album of the Year--to Rumours by Fleetwood Mac.
1978:  The Eagles won Record of the Year for "Hotel California".








1978:  Best Pop Vocal Performance went to the Bee Gees for "How Deep Is Your Love".
1979:  Dire Straits began their first tour of North America at the Paradise Club in Boston, Massachusetts.
1980:  A new rock group first appeared on the charts, although most of us wouldn't get to know them until later.  Survivor debuted with their first single--"Somewhere In America".
1980:  "Give It All You Got" from Chuck Mangione, the theme of the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, New York, was the new #1 song on the Adult Contemporary chart.  








1980:  "Special Lady" by Ray, Goodman & Brown was the new #1 on the R&B chart.  
1980:  Officially, Queen scored their first #1 song with "Crazy Little Thing Called Love", although anyone with sense reported "Bohemian Rhapsody" as a #1 song in 1976. 



















1981:  Rick Springfield released the single "Jessie's Girl".













Rosanna by Toto on Grooveshark
1983:  Toto deservedly dominated the Grammy Awards with six trophies, including Record of the Year ("Rosanna") and Album of the Year (Toto IV).
1985:  "Missing You", the Diana Ross tribute to the late Marvin Gaye, hit #1 on the R&B chart.  
1986:  MTV, which used to stand for "Music Television", aired 22 hours of the Monkees television episodes to celebrate the group's 20th anniversary.  (Note:  several websites report that this marathon occurred on February 22.  The correct date is February 23, according to the newspaper 'The Chicago Tribune' and 'Billboard' magazine.)
1985:  Like a Virgin was #1 on the Album chart for Madonna.
1985:  "Careless Whisper" from Wham!  was #1 on the AC chart for the third straight week.
1988:  Michael Jackson was in concert at the Kemper Arena in Kansas City, Missouri.
1989:  Isaac Hayes was thrown in jail in Atlanta, Georgia for owing $346,300 in child support and alimony.





1991:  C&C Music Factory reached #1 on the R&B chart with "Gonna' Make You Sweat".









1991:  Whitney Houston amazingly had her ninth career #1 in 14 releases with "All the Man That I Need".  C&C Music Factory politely gave way with "Gonna' Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now)".  Timmy T remained third with "One More Try" and Mariah Carey hit #4 with "Someday".  The rest of a good Top 10:  Celine Dion with "Where Does My Heart Beat Now", Surface dropped with "The First Time", Chris Isaak moved into the Top 10 with "Wicked Game", Keith Sweat and "I'll Give All My Love To You", INXS with the excellent "Disappear" and Warrant moved to #10 with "I Saw Red".






1993:  Little Richard received a Lifetime Achievement Grammy.
1995:  Melvin Franklin of the Temptations died of heart failure at the age of 52 in Los Angeles.
1999:  Paul Arthurs, guitarist of Oasis, was arrested and
thrown in jail in London for drunk and disorderly conduct.








1999:  Garth Brooks attended spring training camp as a non-roster player with the San Diego Padres of Major League Baseball.  The Padres' organization agreed to donate to the Touch 'Em All Foundation in lieu of a salary for Brooks.  
2000:  In today's episode of Dangerous Inmates Run Rap Music, Sean "Puffy" Combs was indicted on charges of bribing a witness.  In Combs' trial for a nightclub shooting in New York City on December 27, 1999, the Manhattan District Attorney's office learned that Combs offered money and jewelry to his driver if the driver would claim ownership of the gun that police recovered from Combs' car.





2000:  Santana received a record-tying eight Grammy Awards, tying the mark set by Michael Jackson.
2001:  Frankie Avalon appeared on Sabrina, the Teenage Witch on ABC-TV.
2002:  LeAnn Rimes, 19, married dancer Dean Sheremet, 21.







 

2002:  The Bee Gees gave their last concert at the Love and Hope Ball in Miami Beach, Florida.
2003:  Howie Epstein, bassist of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, who also worked with Bob Dylan, Linda Ronstadt, Stevie Nicks, Roy Orbison, Carl Perkins and Del Shannon, died from drugs at age 47 in Santa Fe, New Mexico.













2003:  Norah Jones captured five Grammy Awards for her superb album Come Away With Me--Record of the Year, Song of the Year and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance ("Dont' Know Why"), Album of the Year, Best New Artist and Best Pop Vocal Album. 







 


2003:  John Mayer won the Grammy for Best Male Pop Vocal for "Your Body Is A Wonderland" at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
2003:  Sheryl Crow took the prize for Best Female Rock Vocal for "Steve McQueen" at the Grammys.











2003:  Simon & Garfunkel appeared together for the first time in 10 years to accept the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Grammys.
2003:  Howie Epstein, bassist of Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, died from drugs at age 47 in Santa Fe, New Mexico.  (Note:  several websites report that Epstein died on February 24.  More credible sources, such as the newspapers 'The New York Times' and 'The Los Angeles Times', state that he died on Sunday, February 23.)
2004:  Not the way to win friends and influence people.  Wes Scantlin of Puddle of Mudd was arrested in Toledo, Ohio when he halted a concert after just four songs, saying he was too loaded to perform.  Scantlin then wouldn't leave the stage for half an hour, lacing the crowd with profanity.  Thanks for reminding me why I'm not a fan of theirs.
2006:  The surviving members of Alice in Chains announced they would reform for a series of concerts.
2007:  Donnie Brooks ("Mission Bell" from 1960) died of congestive heart failure in Panorama City, California at the age of 71.










2010:  England made Abbey Road studios in London a Grade II listed building, which protected it forever from any plans to radically alter it.







2015:  Marlene Barrow-Tate, one of the studio stars of Motown for many years, died at the age of 73. 

Marlene Barrow was a member of the Andantes, which sang backing vocals on many memorable songs such as "Love Child" by the Supremes, "I Heard It Through The Grapevine" by Marvin Gaye, "Reach Out, I'll Be There", "Bernadette", "Baby I Need Your Loving", "Standing In The Shadows Of Love" and "It's The Same Old Song" by the Four Tops, "My Guy" by Mary Wells', "Higher And Higher" by Jackie Wilson, and "Jimmy Mack" by Martha & the Vandellas, just to name a few.  Barrow-Tate also sang backing vocals for Stevie Wonder, the Temptations, the Marvelettes, Jimmy Ruffin, Edwin Starr, and Brenda Holloway.

Barrow-Tate also filled in for Florence Ballard at concerts by the Supremes.  The Andantes were inducted into the Rhythm and Blues Music Hall of Fame in 2014.







Born This Day:
1944:  Johnny Winter of the Edgar Winter Group was born in Beaumont, Texas; died July 16, 2014 in Zurich, Switzerland.
1944:  Mike Maxfield, songwriter and guitarist of Billy J. Kramer & the Dakotas, was born in Manchester, England.
1946:  Rusty Young, pedal steel guitar player of Buffalo Springfield and Poco
1949:  Terry Comer, bass guitarist of Ace ("How Long" from 1975), was born in Burnley, Lancashire, England.
1950:  Steven Priest, founding member and bassist of Sweet, was born in Hayes, Middlesex, England.
1952:  Brad Whitford, rhythm guitarist of Aerosmith, was born in Winchester, Massachusetts.






1955:  Howard Jones was born in Southampton, England.










1962:  Michael Wilton, elite guitarist of Queensryche, was born in San Francisco, California.
1967:  Chris Vrenna, drummer of Nine Inch Nails, Grammy award-winning producer and engineer who worked with U2, the Smashing Pumpkins, David Bowie, and more, was born in Erie, Pennsylvania.
1971:  Jeff Beres, bassist of Sister Hazel ("All for You")
1973:  Lasse Johansson, keyboardist and guitarist of the Cardigans ("Lovefool") was born in Huskvarna, Sweden.

Five Best Songs: John Denver

How much the world misses the strong voice of this rocky mountain pioneer.  This list just scratches the surface of the wonder and depth of John from Denver: 

1.  Rocky Mountain High









2.  Sunshine On My Shoulders









3.  Take Me Home, Country Roads









4.  Annie's Song








5.  Calypso








6.  The Eagle and the Hawk

 







7.  Poems, Prayers and Promises








(Please click on 'Skip Ad" after five seconds...)

8.  Perhaps Love (with Placido Domingo)







9.  Thank God I'm A Country Boy







10.  I'm Sorry







11.  Follow Me








12.  Fly Away
(with Olivia Newton-John)








 
13.  I Want To Live

 
 





 
 

14. Wild Montana Skies (with Emmylou Harris)








15.  Goodbye Again








16.  Back Home Again
 
 





 
17.  My Sweet Lady