Wednesday, October 31, 2018

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2017At his show in London, the crowd pelts Harry Styles with kiwi fruit when he performs his song "Kiwi." To protect the singer when he plays Manchester three days later, the grocery store Asda refuses to sell the fruit to anyone under age 25.
2013Fifth Harmony post a video of the group performing "Wannabe" dressed as the Spice Girls. The video was recorded two days earlier at a show in Patchogue, New York.More
2013Blues guitarist Bobby Parker dies of a heart attack at age 76.
201117-year-old Justin Bieber is hit with a paternity suit from 20-year-old Mariah Yeater, who claims the singer knocked her up in a Staples Center bathroom. The suit is later dropped, but Bieber takes a paternity test anyway to prove he is not the father.
2007Elvis Presley tops the annual Forbesmagazine list of most profitable dead celebrities, his estate having taken in $49 million over the past year. John Lennon makes the #2 spot; George HarrisonJames Brown, and Bob Marley also make the list.
2005The white suit John Lennon wore on the cover of The BeatlesAbbey Road sells at a Las Vegas Amnesty International charity auction for $118,000.
2005En route to the next stop on their Never Sleep Again tour, the van carrying Bayside skids on a patch of ice and flips over on a highway in Cheyenne, Wyoming, killing 31-year-old drummer John "Beatz" Holohan. Most of the other band members sustain minor injuries, except for bassist Nick Ghanbarian who breaks his back when he's thrown from the vehicle.
2005Ronald Isley of The Isley Brothers is convicted of tax evasion. The IRS claims that he demanded cash payment for performances from 1997-2002 and hid assets under the name of his ex-wife. He is eventually ordered to pay $3.1 million in back taxes and serve 3 years in jail. He is released in April, 2010.
2002Claude "Juan" Johnson (of the R&B duo Don and Juan) dies at age 67.
2001Having fully recovered from the flu that forced her to restructure the North American tour in support of her third Jive album, BritneyBritney Spears' tour kicks off in Washington, D.C.
2000Napster announces a deal with entertainment giant BMG to make its illegal file-sharing software into a paid subscription service.
2000Lifehouse release their debut album, No Name Face. The first single, "Hanging By a Moment," takes off, becoming the most-played song on American radio in 2001.
2000Travis is named the best act in the world at the Q Awards 2000, presented in London. Badly Drawn Boy wins for best new act; Coldplay's Parachutes is named best album. The awards are voted on by readers of Q Magazine and via a telephone system operated by the event's sponsor.
1999Bryan White sings the US national anthem at the Adelphia Coliseum in Nashville prior to the match-up between the Tennessee Titans and the St. Louis Rams. Following the game, White gives his second annual Howl-O-Ween concert at the north end of the coliseum.
1998D'Angelo releases "Devil's Pie," the lead single from his second album, Voodoo.
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"Monster Mash" Rules Halloween

1962
The "Monster Mash" rules the airwaves, becoming the most popular Halloween song of all time.
The spooky song is by Bobby "Boris" Pickett, a nightclub performer who does a great impression of Boris Karloff, known for his role as Frankenstein's monster. In "Monster Mash," Pickett portrays Dr. Frankenstein, but when his monster comes alive, instead of rampaging the village, he throws a party.

The song spends two weeks at #1 on the Hot 100 and sells over a million copies, making it by far the most popular Halloween song of all time and one of the most popular novelty songs ever recorded. Every October, it rises from the dead, showing up on every respectable Halloween playlist. It re-enters the chart twice: in 1970 (#91) and in 1973 (#10).

Why are the monsters mashing? Because the Mashed Potato was the big dance craze at the time. And those spooky sounds? Done in the studio lo-tech: The coffin is a nail being pulled out of a piece of wood; the bubbles are created by blowing through a straw into a glass of water (The Beatles did this on "Yellow Submarine").

Pickett never has another hit, but "Monster Mash" serves him well. In 1995, he stars in Monster Mash: The Movie with Candace Cameron, Jimmie Walker and Carrie Ann Inaba.

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