Saturday, August 26, 2017

26 AUGUST

In Music History

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2009Hit songwriter Ellie Greenwich dies from a heart attack at age 68 after a bout of pneumonia.
2005A post office in Los Angeles is officially renamed after singer Ray Charles due to its close proximity to the studio where he recorded later in life. 
2004"Gloria" singer Laura Branigan dies from a cerebral aneurysm in East Quogue, New York, at age 47.
2002Herman's Hermits original lead singer Peter Noone files an unsuccessful lawsuit against the group's drummer Barry Whitwam, attempting to block him from touring with new musicians under the group name.
2000Allen Woody (bass guitarist for The Allman Brothers Band and Gov't Mule) dies in Queens, New York, from an indeterminate cause at age 44. 
2000De La Soul's Art Official Intelligence: Mosaic Thump, their first album in four years, debuts at #9 on the Billboard 200 chart and #3 on the R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart.
1996Delegates at the Democratic National Convention take a break to do the "Macarena," including First Lady Hillary Clinton, who's rocking the dance's hand motions from the crowd.
1995Ronnie White (of The Miracles) dies after a battle with leukemia at age 56 in Detroit, Michigan. White had also lost his first-born daughter to the disease when she was 9 years old.
1994Scottish singer/songwriter Frankie Millersuffers a brain hemorrhage while in New York, lapsing into a five-month coma that eventually forces him into physical therapy to regain his motor skills.
1993A recording of the Beatles playing "Kansas City" and "Some Other Guy" at the Cavern Club in Liverpool in 1962 fetches a record of approximately $32,000 at Christie's auction house in London.
1990Randy Newman wins an unlikely Emmy for his score to the legendary ABC-TV flop series Cop Rock.
1983The film Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence, starring David Bowie, opens in New York City.
1981Folk singer Lee Hays (bass vocalist for The Weavers) dies from diabetic cardiovascular disease at age 67 in Croton-on-Hudson, Westchester County, New York. Hays penned a farewell poem wishing for his ashes to be mixed with his compost pile. That wish was fulfilled.
1981The mayor of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, Marion Dewar, declares today "Paul Anka Day" in honor of its Paul Anka.
1980Tom Peterson leaves Cheap Trick - he will return eight years later.
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Isle Of Wight Is Bigger Than Woodstock

1970
The five-day Isle of Wight festival kicks off in England, boasting a very impressive lineup, including Bob DylanJoan BaezJoni MitchellDonovanJethro TullMiles DavisEmerson, Lake And PalmerThe DoorsThe Who, Spirit, The Moody BluesChicagoProcol HarumSly and the Family StoneFree, and in his last concert appearance in England, Jimi Hendrix.

This third consecutive Isle of Wight Festival is one of the biggest musical events of the era, surpassing even Woodstock with an estimated 600,000 people descending on the tiny British island. The numbers are so great that the sound system is unable to make the grade, and The Who step in to assist with their equipment. The entire event is captured on film in what will be the most comprehensively recorded festival to date.

The organizers have booked an eclectic range of artists but many are unsuited to such a large show. The folk contingent are well represented but acoustic artists like DonovanJoan Baez and Leonard Cohen struggle to cut through and connect with the massive crowd. On this, the opening day, Kris Kristofferson falls victim to the poor sound and is booed off-stage by the audience.

There are pockets of unrest, with anarchists, Hells Angels and skinheads arriving en masseand demanding free entry. Thousands of people have set up a camp at nearby Afton Down, overlooking the site, with the intention of enjoying the festival for free. Attempts are made by security to encourage them to make a financial contribution under the threat of their camp being floodlit for the remaining four nights, but this is largely ineffective. Still, the event is relatively peaceful. The only arrests made by the woefully outnumbered local police force are a handful for drug offenses.

Thanks to the invasion of freeloaders and poor financial management by the organizers, the festival loses money despite the huge numbers in attendance. It isn't until 2002 that the Isle of Wight again hosts a major music festival. Even the officially commissioned film, titled Message to Love: The Isle of Wight, doesn't come off as planned: it isn't released until 1997.

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