What Happened Today In Music
1959 - The Platters
Doo-wop group The Platters scored their only UK No.1 hit with 'Smoke Gets In Your Eyes' (also a US No.1 hit). The song was a show tune written by American composer Jerome Kern and lyricist Otto Harbach for their 1933 musical Roberta. Paul Whiteman had the first hit recording of the song in 1934.
1964 - The Beatles
The Beatles set a new record for advance sales in the US with 2,100,000 copies of their latest single 'Can't Buy Me Love.' When pressed by American journalists in 1966 to reveal the song's 'true' meaning, Paul McCartney stated 'I think you can put any interpretation you want on anything, but when someone suggests that 'Can't Buy Me Love' is about a prostitute, I draw the line'.
1965 - The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'The Last Time', the bands third UK No.1 and first No.1 for songwriters Mick Jagger and Keith Richards.
1968 - Otis Redding
The posthumously released Otis Redding single '(Sittin' On) The Dock Of The Bay' started a five week run at No.1 on the US chart, (a No.3 hit the UK). Otis was killed in a plane crash on 10th December 1967 three days after recording the song. 'Sittin' On The Dock Of The Bay', became the first posthumous No.1 single in US chart history and sold over four million copies worldwide.
1970 - Tammi Terrell
Motown singer Tammi Terrell died of a brain tumour at the age of 24. She had collapsed onstage on October 14, 1967 into Marvin Gaye's arms during a concert in Hampton, Virginia. Initially Terrell recorded solo, but from 1967 onwards she recorded a series of duets with Marvin Gaye, including the 1967 US No.5 'Your Precious Love' and the 1968, ‘Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing’. Marvin Gaye reacted to her death by taking a four year hiatus from concert performance and went into self-isolation.
1971 - Simon and Garfunkel
Winners at this years Grammy Awards included, Simon and Garfunkel who won Record of the year, Song of the year and Album of the year for Bridge Over Troubled Water. The Carpenters won Best new act and Best vocal performance for 'Close To You'.
1972 - John Lennon
John Lennon lodged an appeal with the US immigration office in New York, after he was served with deportation orders arising from his 1968 cannabis possession conviction.
1974 - Elvis Presley
During a US tour, Elvis Presley played the first of four nights at the Midsouth Coliseum in Memphis Tennessee. This was the first time Elvis had played in Memphis since 1961.
1977 - Paper Lace
Paper Lace were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with the anti-war pop song 'Billy Don't Be A Hero,' the group's only No.1. Bo Donaldson and the Heywoods scored a US No.1 with their version of the song.
1977 - Sex Pistols
After being with the label for just six days the Sex Pistols were fired from A&M due to pressure from other label artists and its Los Angeles head office. 25,000 copies of 'God Save The Queen' were pressed and the band made £75,000 ($127,500) from the deal.
1991 - Reba Mcentire
Seven members of Country singer Reba McEntire's band and her road manager were among 10 people killed when their private jet crashed in California just north of the Mexican border. McEntire, who had given a private concert in San Diego for IBM employees the night before, was not on the plane.
1992 - Metallica
During a Metallica gig at Orlando Arena fans dangled an usher by his ankles from the balcony as trouble broke out at the concert. The band were charged $38,000 (£22,353) for repairs and cleaning after the audience trashed the building.
1996 - Charles Pope
Charles Pope singer with the American vocal group The Tams died of heart failure. They had the 1964 US hit 'What Kind of Fool (Do You Think I Am)' and the 1971 UK No.1 single 'Hey Girl Don't Bother Me'. The group took their name from the Tam O'Shanter hats they wore on stage.
2010 - Led Zeppelin
A rare Led Zeppelin recording from the group's 1971 gig at St Matthew's Baths Hall in Ipswich, England was unearthed at a car boot sale. The bootleg copy of the audio from the group's gig on November 16th 1971 was picked up for just 'two or three pounds' by music fan Vic Kemp who said 'I was going through a stand of CDs at the car boot at Portman Road and the guy who was selling them said, 'You might be interested in this. It must have been recorded by someone standing at the front with a microphone. You can hear Robert Plant talking to the audience quite clearly.'
2012 - Morrissey
A series of 'medical mishaps' forced Morrissey to cancel the rest of his forthcoming concerts in the US. The ex-Smiths frontman had suffered a number of illnesses including a bleeding ulcer, Barrett's oesophagus and double pneumonia. The 53-year-old, had already called off 21 gigs this year due to poor health.
2015 - Sam Smith
Sam Smith stopped Madonna from topping the UK album chart, denying her the 12th No.1 of her career. Madonna's latest album, Rebel Heart, had been in pole position throughout the week, but Smith's In The Lonely Hour sneaked ahead at the last minute, beating Madonna by 12,000 sales. In The Lonely Hour had now spent six separate spells at No.1 - a record for a male solo artist.
2015 - Andy Fraser
Andy Fraser songwriter and bass guitarist with Free died of a heart attack caused by Atherosclerosis in California aged 62. The London-born musician became a founding member of the British group when he was just 15 and went on to write most of the material with lead singer Paul Rodgers, including Free's 1970 hit 'All Right Now', 'My Brother Jake' and 'The Stealer'. Fraser also penned 'Every Kinda People', a hit for Robert Palmer as well as songs for Joe Cocker, Chaka Khan, Rod Stewart and Paul Young.
2017 - James Cotton
American blues harmonica player, singer and songwriter James Cotton died from pneumonia aged 81. Cotton worked in Howlin' Wolf's band in the early 1950s. In 1955, he was recruited by Muddy Waters to come to Chicago and join his band. In 2006, Cotton was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame.
2019 - Justin Carter
American country singer Justin Carter died after being accidentally shot during the filming of a music video at his apartment in Woodlands, an area north of Houston. The singer had just released a new song titled ‘Love Affair’ a week earlier.
2019 - Dick Dale
American rock guitarist Dick Dale died of heart failure at the age of 81. He was known as The 'King of the Surf Guitar'. He pioneered and created what many call the surf music style. Dale worked closely with Fender to produce custom made amplifiers, including the first-ever 100-watt guitar amplifier. His song 'Misirlou' featured over the opening credits to Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction.
March 16th
1936 - Fred Neil
American folk singer-songwriter Fred Neil who wrote 'Everybody's Talkin'', which became a hit for Harry Nilsson after being used for the film Midnight Cowboy. His song 'The Other Side of This Life" was covered by the Lovin’ Spoonful, The Animals, The Youngbloods, Peter Paul & Mary and Jefferson Airplane. Neil died of natural causes on July 7th 2001, as he battled skin cancer.
1942 - Jerry Jeff Walker
American country music singer and songwriter Jerry Jeff Walker. He wrote 'Mr Bojangles' a hit for The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band in 1970. Since then Walker's song has been recorded by many popular artists, including Garth Brooks, Chet Atkins, Jim Croce, Jamie Cullum, John Denver, Neil Diamond, Bob Dylan, Billy Joel, Elton John, Don McLean and Dolly Parton. He died of throat cancer on 23 Oct 2020 age 78.
1948 - Michael Bruce
American rock musician Michael Bruce, guitarist with the Alice Cooper Band, who had the 1972 UK No.1 & US No.7 single 'School's Out' and the 1973 US & UK No.1 album Billion Dollar Babies.
1950 - Matt Irving
Scottish musician Matt Irving best known as the bass guitar player for Manfred Mann's Earth Band between 1981 and 1986. Irving has also worked with with The Lords of the New Church, Squeeze, Chris Rea, Paul Young and Roger Waters. He died on 3 April 2015.
1954 - Jimmy Nail
English singer-songwriter, actor, film producer, and television writer Jimmy Nail who had the 1985 UK No.3 hit 'Love Don't Live Here Anymore' and the 1992 UK No.1 single 'Ain't No Doubt'. Nail also appeared in the TV series Auf Wiedersehen, Pet, Spender and Crocodile Shoes.
1954 - Nancy Wilson
American musician, singer, songwriter, Nancy Wilson who with Heart had the 1986 US No.1 single 'These Dreams, and the 1987 US No.1 & UK No.3 single 'Alone'.
1959 - Flavor Flav
American musician, rapper, Flavor Flav who rose to prominence as a member of the hip-hop group Public Enemy. They had the 1991 US No.4 album Apocalypse 91... The Enemy Strikes Black.
1963 - Stuart Kerr
Stuart Kerr, drummer with Love & Money and then Texas who had the 1989 UK No.8 single 'I Don't Want A Lover'.
1966 - H.P. Baxxter
H.P. Baxxter (born Hans-Peter Geerdes in Leer), German techno group Scooter who have sold over 14 million records and are considered the most successful single-record German act with 20 top ten hits. 2008 UK No.1 album 'Jumping All Over The World.'
1970 - Alex Lee
Alex Lee, guitarist who has worked with Goldfrapp, Suede, Placebo, Strangelove and The Blue Aeroplanes.
1972 - Andrew Dunlop
Andrew Dunlop, guitarist with Scottish rock band Travis. Their 1999 UK album The Man Who spent nine weeks at No.1 on the UK Charts and one-hundred and thirty-four weeks in the top 100 of the chart. Travis had and 1999 UK No.10 single 'Why Does It Always Rain On Me', plus over 10 other UK Top 40 singles.
1979 - Lordi
Leena Peisa, keyboards, Lordi. Became Finland's first ever Eurovision Song Contest winners after their song 'Hard Rock Hallelujah' won the contest held in Athens in 2006.
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