today

#TBT Number 1 Hits This Day — August 14

1951- Rosemary Clooney – Come On-a My House

1956- Elvis Presley – Don’t Be Cruel / Hound Dog

1967- Beatles – All You Need Is Love

1973- Diana Ross – Touch Me In The Morning

1981- Diana Ross and Lionel Richie – Endless Love

1984- Ray Parker Jr. – Ghostbusters

1986- Madonna – Papa Don’t Preach

1989- Richard Marx – Right Here Waiting

1990- Mariah Carey – Vision of Love

1998- Brandy and Monica – The Boy Is Mine

2003- Beyonce feat. Jay-Z – Crazy In Love

2006- Fergie – London Bridge

 

 

 

This Day in Music History — August 13

1963 : The Four Seasons sue their struggling first label, Vee Jay, for non payment of royalties and move to Mercury/Philips Records. This would be the first of a long line of incidents that would doom the label.

1967 : A planned Joan Baez concert at Washington DC’s Constitution Hall is canceled after the Daughters of the American Revolution protest her recent anti-war remarks concerning Vietnam.

1975 : Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band play the first of five sold-out shows at The Bottom Line in New York City. The shows help establish Springsteen as a great live performer and draw national attention.

1993 : Steely Dan, who broke up in 1981, re-form and begin a US tour at The Palace in Auburn Hills, Michigan. Walter Becker explains: “We spent all the money from the last tour. We made $800 each and it’s all gone now.”

2011 : At the Indiana State Fair, music fans are assembling for a performance by country band Sugarland. Although police had issued a warning to the attendees that they may have to take cover due to severe weather, the concert is going on as planned. During a gust of high wind, the rigging from the top of the stage is blown off, causing the stage to collapse on the crowd, killing five attendees and injuring dozens more. A sixth person would die several days later from injuries. Janet Jackson and Lady Antebellum, both of whom were scheduled to perform, choose to cancel their appearances.

This Day in Music History — July 24

1978 : The film Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band opens in America, and it tanks hard. Savaged by critics, it becomes a legendary Hollywood flop despite appearances by Peter Frampton, Billy Preston, Aerosmith and The Bee Gees.

1982 : Survivor started a six week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with “Eye Of The Tiger,” taken from the film Rocky III. Also No.1 in the UK. Survivor won the Grammy Award for Best Rock Performance for the song.

1995 : A three-night career retrospective honoring Frank Sinatra on his 80th birthday begins at Los Angeles’ Shrine Auditorium. A visibly ailing Sinatra attends but does not perform. Meanwhile, in New York City, the Empire State Building is lit with blue lights in his honor.

2007 : The game “Guitar Hero Encore Rocks the 80s” was released in North America.

This Day in Music History — July 23

1966 – Frank Sinatra went to No.1 on the US album chart with ‘Strangers In The Night’. The LP would be the most successful of his career, being certified Platinum for 1 million copies sold in the US. The title track would earn him two Grammy awards for Record Of The Year and Best Male Vocal Performance.

1989 – Ringo Starr begins his first tour since The Beatles stopped touring in 1966, introducing his “All-Starr Band” of Seventies icons in Dallas, TX

2004 – A 21 year-old man was arrested after being involved in a fight with Babyshambles singer Pete Doherty in Kentish Town, London. Doherty ran off before police arrived after being beaten up by three men.

2011 – Amy Winehouse was found dead at her north London home, she was 27. A Metropolitan Police spokesman confirmed that a 27-year-old woman had died in Camden and that the cause of death was as yet unexplained. London Ambulance Service said it had been called to the flat at 1554 BST and sent two vehicles but the woman died. The troubled singer had a long battle with drink and drugs which overshadowed her recent musical career.

2013 – Miranda Lambert earns a double-platinum single for “The House That Built Me”

This Day in Music History — July 11

1969 – Rolling Stones release “Honky Tonk Woman”

1969– ‘Space Oddity’ by David Bowie was released in the UK for the first time. It was timed to coincide with the Apollo moon landing but had to be re-released before it became a hit, later in the year in the UK (but not until 1973 in the US).

1970– Three Dog Night started a two-week run at No.1 in the US with their version of the Randy Newman song ‘Mama Told Me Not To Come’, which was also a No.3 hit in the UK. The song was first covered by Eric Burdon on his first solo album in 1966 and gave Tom Jones & Stereophonics a No.4 hit on the UK Singles Chart in 2000.

1996 – Beck made a surprise performance at Lollapalooza ’96 in St. Louis, MO.

1998 – MTV premiered the special “Beastiography,” a profile of the Beastie Boys.

1999– Ricky Martin started a three week run at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘Livin’ La Vida Loca’. A US No.1 for 5 weeks. The song was the first No.1 song to be recorded, edited, and mixed totally on a DAW (digital audio workstation).

2000 – Lars Ulrich (Metallica) was the first witness to testify at a U.S. Senate hearing over copyright law issues concerning free sharing of music files on Web sites such as Napster and MP3.com.

This day in Music History — July 9th

1954– Elvis Presley recorded ‘Blue Moon of Kentucky’, (the B-side for his first single) at Sun Studio in Memphis, Tennessee. Presley had recorded the A-side ‘That’s Alright’ four days earlier.

1958– Johnny Cash signed with Columbia Records, where he would remain for the next 30 years releasing over 60 albums.

1972– Paul McCartney and Wings played their very first show in the small French town of Chateauvillon. The band included Denny Laine, Denny Seiwell, Henry McCullough and Paul’s wife, Linda. It was McCartney’s first time on the road since the Beatles quit touring in 1966. The band traveled on a double Decker London bus with a psychedelic interior.

1977– Elvis Costello quit his day job at Elizabeth Arden Cosmetics to become a full time musician.

1995– The Grateful Dead gave their last concert with leader Jerry Garcia at Chicago’s Soldier Field. Jerry would die of a heart attack a month later while in drug rehab.

2013– Former Fugees singer Lauryn Hill began a three-month prison sentence in Connecticut for tax evasion. The 38-year-old was sentenced in May for failing to pay tax on $1.8m  of her earnings between 2005-07. After her release, Hill would be under parole supervision for a year, with the first three months to be spent confined to her home.