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Featured Events
2009A jury finds the now 69-year-old Phil Spector guilty of second-degree murder in the 2003 shooting death of actress Lana Clarkson.
1982David Crosby is busted for freebasing cocaine, leading to a downward spiral that winds through the Dallas County Jail.More
1968Bobby Goldsboro's "Honey" hits #1 in the US, where it stays for five weeks. A love-it-or-hate-it song, it tells the story of a man whose wife dies and is reminded of her every time he looks at the tree she planted.
1965The Beatles win their first Grammy Awards, taking Best New Artist and Best Performance by a Vocal Group for "A Hard Day's Night." Record of the Year goes to "The Girl From Ipanema" by Stan Getz and Joao Gilberto.
1962The Beatles begin their legendary stint at the new Star-Club in Hamburg, Germany. Performing three to four hours a night for 48 days (with only one day off), the group logs a total of 172 hours of performance. When they return to England, they're already stars with a recording contract.
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In Music History
2019UFO keyboard player Paul Raymond dies of a heart attack at 73.
2019Billie Eilish hits #1 in America with her debut album, When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?, making the 17-year-old singer the first artist born in the '00s to top the chart.
2015"See You Again" by Wiz Khalifa breaks the Spotify record for most-streamed track in a single day in America when it is streamed 4.2 million times.
2011New American Idol judge Jennifer Lopez is named People magazine's Most Beautiful Person of 2011.
2010Ron Isley of The Isley Brothers is released from jail after serving 3 years for tax evasion. He came up with song ideas in prison and releases the album Mr. I on November 30.
2008Cult '60s Detroit Soul hero Nathaniel Mayer collapses from the brain hemorrhage that will, within the year, take his life.
2007Bring Me the Horizon vocalist Oli Sykes appears in Magistrate's Court, after being accused of urinating on a female fan at one of the band's gigs six days earlier. Due to lack of evidence, charges are later dropped.
2005Blues pianist Johnnie Johnson, known for his work with Chuck Berry, dies in St. Louis, Missouri, at age 80.
2004Crossfade release their self-titled debut album. The profanities on the album are censored, but the band are unable to release an explicit version due to lack of funds.
2004Songwriter Ritchie Cordell, who wrote the '60s-turned-'80s hits "I Think We're Alone Now" and "Mony Mony," dies at age 61 of pancreatic cancer.
2004Pixies return to the stage after 12 years with a 27-song set at the Fine Line Music Cafe in Minneapolis.
2001Kiss wrap up their "Farewell Tour" with a show in Queensland, Australia. Just two years later, they head out on the World Domination Tour.
1996Seconds before their first Saturday Night Live performance, Rage Against the Machine's roadies place upside-down American flags on their amplifiers in a band-sanctioned protest of the American political system - billionaire candidate Steve Forbes is hosting the show. The SNL crew quickly tears them down, and the band is booted from building without a second song.
1994After nine years of a very public marriage, Billy Joel and Christie Brinkley announce they have separated. They divorce later in the year.
The Wailers Spark Up Interest In Reggae With Catch a Fire
1973
The Wailers, led by Bob Marley, release their fifth studio album, Catch a Fire. The first album on their new label, Island Records, it makes Marley and the Wailers international recording stars and brings reggae music to the forefront.
The motivation for the album is desperation. It is not desperation for fame: the band was stranded in England. Marley and his bandmates Peter Tosh and Lee Perry were left there after their tour with fellow reggae singer, Johnny Nash, came to an abrupt halt. Nash and co-founder of JoDa Records, Danny Sims, bolted back to the US after getting word that sales of their 1972 hit, "I Can See Clearly Now," had begun to drop.
With no money for the airfare back to Kingston, Marley visits Chris Blackwell at his London music studio. Blackwell was born in England but grew up in Jamaica and already knew about the Wailers. After hearing about Marley's dilemma, he fronts the band 8,000 pounds under the condition that they record an album for his Island label.
Blackwell reworks the band's sound, adds background vocals, and creates the reggae-rock sound that becomes the hallmark of the Wailers. The sixth track of the album, "Stir it Up," is an ode that Marley had written for his wife, Rita, in 1967. Nash recorded the song the previous year, taking it to #12 in America and #13 in the UK.
The memorable original album cover is designed to look like a giant Zippo lighter. Opening the cover reveals the inner workings of the lighter, complete with blazing wick. This cover is scrapped after the first 20,000 printings due to cost concerns and is replaced by something less subtle: a photo of Marley puffing away on a joint.
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