What Happened Today In Music

October 12th

1955 - Chrysler

The Chrysler Corporation launched high fidelity record players for their 1956 line-up of cars. The unit measured about four inches high and less than a foot wide and was mounted under the instrument panel. The seven inch discs spun at 16 2/3 rpm and required almost three times the number of grooves per inch as an LP. The players were discontinued in 1961.

1957 - Little Richard

During an Australian tour, Little Richard publicly renounced rock 'n' roll and embraced God, telling a story of dreaming of his own damnation after praying to God when one of the engines on a plane he was on caught fire. The singer threw four diamond rings, valued at $8,000, into Sydney's Hunter River and soon after launched a Gospel career. Five years later, he would switch back to Rock.

1965 - The Beatles

The Beatles began recording their sixth UK album, Rubber Soulrecording takes of new songs 'Run For Your Life' and 'Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)'. 

1968 - Janis Joplin

Big Brother And The Holding Company went to No.1 on the US album chart with 'Cheap Thrills'. The cover, drawn by underground cartoonist Robert Crumb, replaced the band's original idea, a picture of the group naked in bed together. Crumb had originally intended his art to be the LP's back cover, but Joplin demanded that Columbia Records use it for the front cover. Initially the album title was to have been Sex, Dope and Cheap Thrills, but this didn't go down too well at Columbia Records.

1969 - Paul McCartney

A DJ on Detroit's WKNR radio station received a phone call telling him that if you play The Beatles 'Strawberry Fields Forever' backwards, you hear John Lennon say the words "I buried Paul." This started a worldwide rumour that Paul McCartney was dead.

1971 - Gene Vincent

Gene Vincent (Vincent Eugene Craddock), died from a perforated ulcer, aged 36. Had the 1956 US No.7 & UK No.16 single 'Be Bop A Lula'. Appeared in the film, The Girl Can't Help It with Jayne Mansfield. In 1960, while on tour in the UK, Vincent and songwriter Sharon Sheeley were seriously injured the car crash that killed Eddie Cochran.

1974 - Bay City Rollers

The Bay City Rollers went to No.1 on the UK album chart with their debut album 'Rollin.' The album included three British chart hits 'Remember', 'Shang-a-Lang', 'Summerlove Sensation') and the debut of 'Saturday Night', never a British hit yet a No.1 smash in America.

1974 - Blondie

Blondie appeared at CBGB’s in New York City, under the name Blondie for the first time. The name is derived from comments made by truck drivers who catcalled "Hey, Blondie" to Harry as they drove by.

1975 - Rod Stewart

Rod Stewart and the Faces made their final live appearance when they played at Nassau Coliseum, Long Island. The group produced four studio albums: First Step (1970), Long Player (1971), A Nod Is As Good As a Wink... to a Blind Horse (1971) and Ooh La La (1973). 

1978 - Sid Vicious

Whilst living at the Chelsea Hotel in New York City, Sex Pistol Sid Vicious called the police to say that someone had stabbed his girlfriend Nancy Spungen. He was arrested and charged with murder and placed in the detox unit of a New York prison. Vicious died of a heroin overdose before the case went to trial.

1979 - Fleetwood Mac

Fleetwood Mac released their twelfth album Tusk, an experimental set of songs that cost the band over $1 million to record. The double album peaked at No.4 in the US and achieved sales in excess of two million copies, spawning two Top Ten singles, 'Sara' and the title track. It reached No.1 in the UK and achieved Platinum status.

1985 - Ricky Wilson

Ricky Wilson of the B-52's died of complications from aids. The B-52's, had the 1990 UK No.2 & US No.3 single 'Love Shack'.

1985 - Jennifer Rush

Jennifer Rush was at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'The Power Of Love'. The song stayed at No.1 for five weeks and became the biggest selling single of the year and the biggest single ever for a woman in the UK. Celine Dion enjoyed a No.1 US hit with her version in 1993.

1991 - Mick Hucknall

Simply Reds fourth album 'Stars' went to No.1 on the UK chart for the first of five times, featuring the singles 'Thrill Me', 'For Your Babies' and the title track 'Stars.' The album became the biggest seller of 1991 and 1992 in the UK spending 134 week's on the chart.

1994 - Pink Floyd

Pink Floyd played the first of a 15-night run at Earls Court, London, England. Less than a minute after the band had started playing 'Shine On You Crazy Diamond', a scaffolding stand holding 1200 fans, collapsed, throwing hundreds of people 20 feet to the ground. It took over an hour to free everyone from the twisted wreckage, ninety-six people were injured, with 36 needing hospital treatment. Six were detained overnight with back, neck and rib injuries. Pink Floyd sent a free T-shirt and a note of apology to all the fans who had been seated in the stand that collapsed. The show was immediately cancelled and re-scheduled. 

1997 - John Denver

John Denver was killed when the handmade, experimental airplane he was flying ran out of gas and crashed off the coast of Monterey Bay, California. The 53 year old star had scored 15 songs on Billboard's Top 40 Pop chart, ten of which reached number one on either Billboard's Adult Contemporary or Country chart. 

1999 - Bee Gees

The island of their birth, The Isle Of Man, issued six stamps honouring The Bee Gees. Their mother had run a local post office on the island.

2005 - Tommy Lee

Motley Crue drummer Tommy Lee suffered minor burns at a concert in Casper, Wyoming during a pyrotechnics explosion. Lee was treated at a local hospital for the injuries to his arm and face, which occurred while he was suspended from a wire 30 feet above the stage.

2005 - Midge Ure

Singer and Live Aid co-founder Midge Ure received an honorary degree from Dundee's University of Abertay. He said: "Having left school at the age of 15, I never expected to receive such an accolade."

2008 - Oasis

Oasis went to No.1 on the UK album chart with 'Dig Out Your Soul' the band's seventh and final studio album.

2014 - George Ezra

British singer-songwriter George Ezra was at No.1 on the UK album chart with his debut studio album Wanted on Voyage which became the third best-selling album of 2014 in the UK. The album's title is a reference to the sticker used on the suitcase of Paddington Bear, who was Ezra's hero when he was a child.

2016 - Sonny Sanders

American soul music singer, songwriter, arranger, and record producer Sonny Sanders died age 77. He formed the Satintones in Detroit in 1957 becoming the first vocal group signed to Motown, and released their first record, 'Going to the Hop' / 'Motor City' in 1960. He later arranged strings on may hits including Jackie Wilson’s 'Higher and Higher' and 'I Get the Sweetest Feeling'. 

2016 - David Bowie

David Bowie and Prince were both new entries in the latest list of top-earning dead celebrities compiled by Forbes. Prince's pre-tax income from 1 October 2015 to 1 October 2016 was estimated at $25m (£20.5m) by the business magazine, putting him fifth in the list. Bowie, meanwhile, was ranked at 11th for an estimated income of $10.5m (£8.5m). Both, however, are dwarfed by Michael Jackson who topped the list once again with a record-breaking estimated income of $825m (£672.8m).

Born Today In Music

October 12th

1935 - Luciano Pavarotti

Luciano Pavarotti, Italian singer, (1990 UK No.2 single 'Nessun Dorma', 1990 UK No.1 album 'The Essential Pavorotti', spent 72 weeks on the UK chart). He died on 6 September 2007.

1935 - Sam Moore

Sam Moore, singer, (Sam & Dave, 1964 UK No.24 & 1967 US No.2 single 'Soul Man').

1942 - Melvin Franklin

Melvin Franklin, vocals, The Temptations, (1971 US No.1 & UK No.8 single 'Just My Imagination' and re-issued 'My Girl' UK No.2 in 1992). He died on 23rd February 1995.

1948 - Rick Parfitt

Rick Parfitt, singer, guitarist with Status Quo. The group have had over 60 chart hits in the UK, more than any other rock band, including 'Pictures of Matchstick Men' in 1967, 'Whatever You Want' in 1979 and 'In the Army Now' in 2010. Twenty-two of these reached the Top 10 in the UK. In July 1985 the band opened Live Aid at Wembley Stadium with 'Rockin' All Over the World'. Parfitt died on 24th Dec 2016 in hospital in Marbella, Spain aged 68.

1955 - Pat Dinizio

American singer, songwriter Pat Dinizio, founder member of The Smithereens. Dinizio also released a number of solo albums. In 2000, DiNizio made an unsuccessful run for the New Jersey seat of the United States Senate, running on the Reform Party ticket. He finished 4th. He died on December 12, 2017.

1955 - Jane Siberry

Jane Siberry, Canadian singer, songwriter, (1989 album 'Bound By The Beauty').

1956 - David Letts

David Letts, from English punk rock band The Damned, who had the 1983 UK No.3 single 'Eloise'.

1966 - Brian Kennedy

Brian Kennedy, Irish singer, songwriter, worked with Van Morrison band & solo, (1996 UK No.27 single 'Life, Love and Happiness', 1996 UK No.19 album 'A Better Man'). Appeared on Broadway in The River Dance.

1969 - Martie Maguire

Martie Maguire, multi-instrumentalist with Dixie Chicks. With sales of 27.2 million albums in the US alone, they have become the top selling all-female band and biggest selling country group in the US during the Nielsen SoundScan era (1991–present). Maguire formed Court Yard Hounds with her sister and fellow Dixie Chick Emily Robison.