This Day In Music - October 17

This Day In Music – 17 October – The detail…

1914 - Jazz musician John Clifford Mosley Jr., a trumpeter who also played the flugelhorn, the long horn and the flute, is born in Wilkinsburg, Pennsylvania. Mosley plays the flute during the intro of The Isley Brothers' 1971 cover of "Spill the Wine." - https://youtu.be/hX2qeuAwqI0 .

1919 - The Radio Corporation of America, soon to be simply known as RCA, is founded by General Electric as a publicly held monopoly, much the same way "the phone company" was originally envisioned.

1923 - Jazz guitarist Barney Kessel is born in Muskogee, Oklahoma. Kessel was a member of the Oscar Peterson Trio and worked with Billie Holiday, Sam Cooke and many others. He also appeared on The Beach Boys' Pet Sounds album. Kessel died of a brain tumour on May 6, 2004, at the age of 80 - https://youtu.be/Leg_AqkGvWc .

1933 - Jeanne Deckers, "The Singing Nun," is born in Brussels, Belgium. In 1963, she has a #1 hit in America with "Dominique" - https://youtu.be/2bD10bNuJYA .

1934 - Cuban-born Jamaican ska and reggae trombonist Rico Rodriguez from The Specials born. Had the 1981 UK No.1 single 'Ghost Town'. He also performed and recorded with Jools Holland, Paul Young, and others. Rodriguez died on 4th Sept 2015 - https://youtu.be/RZ2oXzrnti4 .

1940 - Will Bradley and His Orchestra recorded "Five O’clock Whistle" for Columbia Records - https://youtu.be/VYA3SvkEuyE .

1941 - Alan Howard (bassist/vocalist for The Tremeloes) is born in Dagenham, Essex, England. With Brian Poole and the Tremeloes had the UK 1963 No.1 hit 'Do You Love Me' and with The Tremeloes the 1967 UK No.1 & US No.11 single 'Silence Is Golden' - https://youtu.be/WAiDkyBorm4 .

1941 - Soft rocker Jim Seals (of Seals & Crofts) is born in Sidney, Texas - https://youtu.be/ywL6tMQdG4c .

1942 - Gary Puckett (front man for Union Gap) is born in Hibbing, Minnesota, but would be raised in Yakima, Washington (not far from the city Union Gap) - https://youtu.be/TJpeRU7BnLQ .

1946 - The Doobie Brothers drummer Mike Hossack is born in Paterson, New Jersey - https://youtu.be/RX7iHsAIw9o .

1946 - Jim Tucker born. Guitarist from the American rock The Turtles who had the US 1967 No.1 single 'Happy Together' and the 1967 hit 'She'd Rather Be with Me' - https://youtu.be/EhzRutA-OaA .

1947 - Michael McKean, who portrays front man David St. Hubbins in the fictional band Spinal Tap, is born in New York City. He's also known as wacky neighbour Lenny Kosnowski on Laverne & Shirley and brilliant but troubled lawyer Chuck McGill on Better Call Saul.

1949 - Bill Hudson (the eldest of the three Hudson Brothers) is born in Portland, Oregon.

1955 - AU - Guy McDonough of the 1980’s Melbourne based band Australian Crawl was born on the 17th of October 1955 and died on the 24th of June 1984 aged 28 - https://youtu.be/FWw_Q2-7gRU .

1956 - Mickey & Sylvia record "Love Is Strange," a song written by Bo Diddley. It comes back around in 1987 when it's used in the movie Dirty Dancing - https://youtu.be/5mvN05MSa48 .

1956 - American musician Fran Cosmo born. Best known as a former lead singer of the band Orion the Hunter (who toured with Aerosmith in 1984), and the band Boston. In 1994, Cosmo was featured as the lead vocalist on the platinum Boston album Walk On, which reached No.7 on the Billboard Charts and produced three hit singles - https://youtu.be/oR4uKcvQbGQ .

1957 - The Elvis Presley film Jailhouse Rock premieres in Memphis, Tennessee - https://youtu.be/gj0Rz-uP4Mk .

1958 - Country singer Alan Jackson is born in Newnan, Georgia. He has recorded over a dozen studio albums. More than 50 of his singles have appeared on Billboard's list of the Top 30 Country Songs, for which of Jackson's entries, 35 were No.1 hits. He is the recipient of two Grammys, 16 CMA Awards, 17 ACM Awards and is also a member of the Grand Ole Opry.

1960 - The Drifters' "Save The Last Dance For Me" hits #1 in America for the first of three weeks. Doc Pomus wrote the lyric about his wedding day, when he watched his bride, the actress Willi Burke, dance with his brother - https://youtu.be/n-XQ26KePUQ .

1960 - Dion & The Belmonts' breakup becomes official when it is reported in Billboard magazine. Lead singer Dion DiMucci claims the group's not bluesy enough; the band claims Dion just wants a taste of solo fame - https://youtu.be/3u1doOc3njI .

1963 - The Beatles record the first of their "Christmas Records," spoken word greetings sent out on vinyl to members of their fan club.

1964 - The Rolling Stones release their second American album, 12X5 - https://youtu.be/MC_XZbjPMSM .

1964 - Manfred Mann's version of "Do Wah Diddy Diddy," written by Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich, hits #1 in America for the first of two weeks. The song was first recorded in 1963 by the female group The Exciters, who took it to #78 - https://youtu.be/Uc0x7xOap4I .

1967 - Rene Dif (of Aqua) is born in Frederiksberg, Denmark. Aqua scored the 1997 UK No.1 single 'Barbie Girl' a song that topped the charts worldwide. - https://youtu.be/-1jPUB7gRyg .

1967 - Bob Dylan records "Drifter's Escape," "I Dreamed I Saw St. Augustine," and "The Ballad Of Frankie Lee And Judas Priest" - https://youtu.be/Ed4sKRSmHmo .

1967 - The musical "Hair" premiered at New York's Public Theatre. The show ran for 1,758 performances - https://youtu.be/y2CoR1vggYc .

1968 - Reggae musician Ziggy Marley is born David Nesta Marley in Kingston, Jamaica. Of Ziggy Marley & The Melody Makers, they have the 1988 UK No.22 single 'Tomorrow People'. His father Bob Marley had his last haircut the year Ziggy was born - https://youtu.be/AM8M-HHSbp0 .

1969 - The Kinks play their first US concert in four years when they open for Spirit at the Fillmore East in New York. They were kept out of the country by a musician's union ban incurred on their 1965 American tour.

1969 - Wyclef Jean of Fugees is born in Croix-des-Bouquets, Haiti. When he is 9, his family moves to Brooklyn, New York, where he is raised. Some references suggest his birth was 1972. With The Fugees had the 1996 UK No.1 single 'Killing Me Softly' and the 1998 solo 1998 UK No.3 single 'Gone Till November'. Jean has won three Grammy Awards for his musical work - https://youtu.be/oKOtzIo-uYw .

1970 - The Jackson 5's "I'll Be There" hits #1 for the first of five weeks. The group's fourth No.1 of 1970, it made No.4 in the UK. Motown records claimed the group had sold over 10 million records during this year - https://youtu.be/VzLzUqdGBNo .

1971 - Chris Kirkpatrick is born in Clarion, Pennsylvania. He joins 'N Sync, and also makes cameo appearances in music videos for A Day to Remember's "2nd Sucks," and Good Charlotte's "Lifestyles of the Rich & Famous." Some references suggest his birth was 1977. Among the group's singles, 'Bye Bye Bye', 'This I Promise You', 'Girlfriend' and 'It's Gonna Be Me' reached the top 10 in several international charts. The group's second album, No Strings Attached, sold over one million copies in one day - https://youtu.be/6thmPrTxBtI .

1972 - Eminem is born Marshall Bruce Mathers III in St. Joseph, Missouri. He eventually settles in Warren, Michigan.

1977 - "Street Survivors" was released by Lynyrd Skynyrd. Three days later vocalist Ronnie Van Zant, guitarist Steve Gaines, Cassie Gaines (Steve's sister) and road manager Dean Kilpatrick were killed when their plane crashed in Gillsburg, MS. The other four members of the band were seriously injured but survived the crash - https://youtu.be/VwMDSeJ3xcs .

1978 - Neil Diamond and Barbra Streisand record "You Don't Bring Me Flowers." The superstar session is produced by Bob Gaudio, who keeps a full orchestra standing by in the lobby - https://youtu.be/Z3yu2c-0_w4 .

1981 - Christopher Cross started a three-week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Arthur's Theme, (Best That You Can Do)', his second US No.1. and a No.7 hit in the UK - https://youtu.be/qMdwFkO8xA0 .

1987 - The Bee Gees became the only group to have a UK No.1 single in each of the three decades, (60s, 70s & 80s), when 'You Win Again' went to No.1 on the UK singles chart. The brothers fifth and last No.1 - https://youtu.be/cxiKAnIGweI .

1989 - Billy Joel releases the album Storm Front, with his enduring hit "We Didn't Start The Fire" - https://youtu.be/eFTLKWw542g .

1991 - Sixties British singer Sandie Shaw is arrested and fined 100 pounds for refusing to take a Breathalyzer test outside her home in London - https://youtu.be/Xx5otxLS3qc .

1991 - John Mellencamp faints during a radio station appearance in Seattle and is rushed to the hospital, where the cardiologist cites "too much coffee, stress and not enough breakfast" as the cause. His chain-smoking doesn't help either - https://youtu.be/KF0gsbQKhD8 .

1995 - Rhino Home Video released 58 episodes of "The Monkees" on 21 cassettes. It was the largest video boxed set to be released.

1999 - Steel guitarist Tommy Durden, who co-wrote Elvis Presley's "Heartbreak Hotel," dies at age 79 - https://youtu.be/e9BLw4W5KU8 .

2000 - Limp Bizkit go to Times Square in New York City to celebrate the release of their third album, Chocolate Starfish And The Hot Dog Flavoured Water. They appear on MTV's TRL and sign autographs for some of the 2000 fans who show up to greet them, before heading to the hip-hop station Hot 97 for an interview with Funkmaster Flex. Like their previous album, Significant Other, it debuts at #1 in America.

2001 - Composer Jay Livingston dies in Los Angeles, California, at age 86. Known for his work with song writing partner Ray Evans, including the Doris Day hit "Que Sera, Sera (Whatever Will Be, Will Be)" - https://youtu.be/xZbKHDPPrrc .

2002 - The Ronettes lose their case against Phil Spector, claiming they are owed royalties for songs used in movies, TV shows and commercials. The 1963 contract, which the Ronettes signed without legal counsel, gives Spector the right to "make phonograph records, tape recordings or other reproductions of the performances embodied in such recordings by any method now or hereafter known." And while it makes no mention of synchronization licenses, the court rules that such licenses are covered under Spector's full ownership rights - https://youtu.be/tBBys5TLxCI .

2004 - AU - At the ARIA (Australian Recording Industry Association) Music Awards, Jet dominates the competition, winning awards for six of their seven nominations, including Album of the Year, Single of the Year, Best Group and Breakthrough Artist. During the ceremony Nic Chester performs as a member of the Australian super-group The Wrights - https://youtu.be/tuK6n2Lkza0 .

2005 - Fats Domino returns to his Ninth Ward home for the first time since Hurricane Katrina to find it utterly destroyed, with his piano and several of his gold records among the ruined items - https://youtu.be/aTQs34AdlFE .

2007 - Teresa Brewer, known for the 1953 hit, "Till I Waltz Again with You," dies of progressive supranuclear palsy at age 76. - https://youtu.be/feM6fFBaaNo .

2008 - The Four Tops lead singer Levi Stubbs died at his Detroit home, aged 72. Stubbs had been in ill health since being diagnosed with cancer in 1995 and a stroke and other health problems led him to stop touring in 2000 - https://youtu.be/AUZ3INx3-KA .

2017 - Gord Downie, leader of the Canadian band The Tragically Hip, dies at 53 after a battle with cancer.

This Day In Music - October 14

 This Day In Music – 14 October – The detail…

1926 - Bill Justis, known for his 1957 hit "Raunchy," is born in Birmingham, Alabama, raised in Memphis, Tennessee - https://youtu.be/fp5borFGZsY .

1930 - Ethel Merman becomes a star overnight with her rendition of "I Got Rhythm," featured in the new Broadway hit Girl Crazy - https://youtu.be/0pWug6_RoQA .

1939 - Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI) was organized. BMI competed directly with ASCAP (American Society of Composers and Publishers).

1940 - Pop singer Cliff Richard is born Harold Rodger Webb in Imperial India. Britain's most successful solo artist, his first AU hit was in 1959; the No.3 single 'Living Doll'. The 1958 song ‘Move It’ was a minor hit in AU, reaching the early 40’s. Sir Cliff has over 40 AU Top 40 hits). He once worked as a clerk at Fergusons TV factory - https://youtu.be/RPiJLDgf5SE .

1942 - Billy Harrison is born in Belfast, Ireland. Guitarist with the Northern Irish band Them who had the 1965 hits 'Baby, Please Don't Go' and 'Here Comes The Night' with Van Morrison on lead vocals. Morrison quit the band in 1966 and went on to a successful career as a solo artist - https://youtu.be/sCm-xNvltbo .

1945 - Colin Hodgkinson (bassist for Whitesnake) is born in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England. Known in AU for the 1987 No. 10 hit ‘Is This Love” & the 1988 AU No.25 single 'Here I Go Again' - https://youtu.be/WyF8RHM1OCg .

1946 - Dan McCafferty is born in Dunfermline, Scotland. Lead singer from Scottish hard rock band Nazareth, who had the 1973 single 'Broken Down Angel', and the 1976 single, 'Love Hurts' - https://youtu.be/cOvBk1GuApk .

1946 - Justin Hayward is born Swindon, Wiltshire, England. Songwriter, lead singer, and guitarist with English rock band The Moody Blues who had the 1965 single 'Go Now' and other hit singles including 'Nights in White Satin' and 'Question' - https://youtu.be/-wDHvmCVRxU .

1948 - R&B singer Marcia Barrett (of Boney M.) is born in St Catherine, Jamaica. They had the 1978 AU No.1 single 'Rivers Of Babylon' and with more than 150 million records sold, are one of the best-selling artists of all time - https://youtu.be/HTq7vE_5un4 .

1947 - Al Atkins - the first frontman for Judas Priest - is born at West Bromwich, England.

1953 - AU - Dave Warner, od Dave Warner’s From The Suburbs, was born on the 14th of October 1953. Best known for the 1978 modest #27 hit, Suburban Boy - https://youtu.be/qR8yEX3MwKc .

1955 - Buddy Holly, Larry Welborn, and Bob Montgomery open for Bill Haley & the Comets in Lubbock, TX. Eddie Crandell saw the show later arranges for Holly to record his first demo.

1957 - The Everly Brothers score their first #1 hit with "Wake Up Little Susie." - https://youtu.be/v1fImXAeS-s .

1958 - New wave/synthpop singer Thomas Dolby is born Thomas Morgan Robertson in London, England. Had the 1984 single 'Hyperactive'. Also member of Camera Club, Lene Lovich band, as a producer worked with Joni Mitchell and Prefab Sprout.

1959 - Bobby Darin was at No. 7 on the AU singles chart with 'Mack The Knife'. From Kurt Weill's Threepenny Opera, the song won the Grammy Award for Record of the Year in 1960 - https://youtu.be/4jcCwmtVAIM .

1959 - Anthony Jude Pero (A.J. Pero, drummer for Twisted Sister) is born in Staten Island, New York. Had the 1983 single 'I Am, I'm Me', 1984 album 'Stay Hungry'). Pero died from an apparent heart attack on March 20th, 2015 - https://youtu.be/E_0aQOxkLZI .

1964 - The Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts marries Shirley Ann Shepherd, and in a remarkable display of fidelity, remains married to her the rest of his life.

1965 - R&B singer Karyn White is born in Los Angeles, California.

1966 - Grace Slick makes her first stage appearance with the band Jefferson Airplane at their Fillmore West gig in San Francisco.

1967 - After 15 weeks at #1, The Beatles album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band is knocked out of the top spot by Bobbie Gentry's Ode To Billie Joe - https://youtu.be/nv33eaygVDQ .

1969 - The Supremes release "Someday, We'll Be Together," their last single with Diana Ross, who launches a solo career and is replaced by Jean Terrell - https://youtu.be/HXGz8i0I2L0 .

1971 - Little Richard's publisher sues Creedence Clearwater Revival, claiming "Travelin' Band" is too similar to Richard's "Good Golly Miss Molly." A settlement is eventually reached.

1972 - Michael Jackson's "Ben," a song about a boy and his love for a pet rat, hits #1 in AU & the US - https://youtu.be/RntxCmqQqSA .

1972 - AU - Joe Cocker and six members of his touring band are arrested after a concert in Adelaide, Australia, when police allegedly discover marijuana and heroin in their hotel rooms. The group are not charged but instead given four hours to leave the country.

1974 - Nashville veterans worry about the sanctity of country music when Olivia Newton-John wins Female Vocalist of the Year at the Country Music Association (CMA) Awards - https://youtu.be/GAKJVuEE6lQ .

1974 - Natalie Maines (lead singer for Dixie Chicks) is born in Lubbock, Texas. 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 - https://youtu.be/J4_wXPZ1Bnk .

1975 - R&B singer Shaznay Lewis (of All Saints) is born in Islington, London, England. All Saints had the 1998 AU No.1 single 'Never Ever'. The group's debut album, All Saints (1997), went on to become the third best-selling girl group album of all time in the UK - https://youtu.be/nPXqkjpXZ_k .

1977 - KISS release Alive II, recorded over three nights at the Forum in Los Angeles.

1977 - Bing Crosby dies of a heart attack after finishing a round of golf in Spain, at age 74.

1978 - The KISS solo LPs Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, Ace Frehley, and Peter Criss enter Billboard Albums chart at these positions: Peter Criss: #85 Ace Frehley: #87 Gene Simmons: #88 Paul Stanley: #89 Simmons ends up selling the most copies - https://youtu.be/LKdHy18rZcI .

1978 - R&B performer Usher is born Usher Raymond IV in Dallas, Texas. He had the 1998 AU No.4 single 'You Make Me Wanna', 2004 AU No.1 singles, 'Yeah' & ‘Burn’. His 2004 album Confessions sold over a million copies in the US in its first week of release, selling the greatest number of records in one week for any R&B artist. To date, his worldwide sales stand at 43 million albums and 75 million records overall, making him one of the best-selling music artists of all time - https://youtu.be/t5XNWFw5HVw .

1983 - Cyndi Lauper, formerly a member of the group Blue Angel, issues her first solo album, She's So Unusual. With the MTV hits "Girls Just Want To Have Fun" and "Time After Time," it becomes an '80s touchstone - https://youtu.be/PIb6AZdTr-A .

1988 - Def Leppard became first act in chart history to sell seven million copies of two consecutive LPs, with Pyromania (their third studio album released in 1983) and Hysteria, (which became the band's best-selling album to date, selling over 20 million copies worldwide, and spawning six hit singles).

1990 - Multi-Emmy and Grammy award-winning American composer, pianist and conductor, Leonard Bernstein died of pneumonia, aged 72. Composed music for the 1957 musical 'West Side Story', and 'On The Waterfront'. Bernstein conducted the New York Philharmonic aged 25 and wrote three symphonies, two operas, five musicals, and numerous other pieces.

1990 - In Baghdad, Yusuf Islam (formerly Cat Stevens), secures the release of four British prisoners (all Muslin) detained as Iraq prepares for the Gulf War.

1994 - Pulp Fiction opens in theatres, reviving classic '60s songs such as "Misirlou," "Son Of A Preacher Man" and "Girl, You'll Be A Woman Soon." - https://youtu.be/WSLMN6g_Od4 .

1997 - Max Steiner's acclaimed score to 1942's legendary film Casablanca is finally released, including selected dialogue and the vocal hit "As Time Goes By" - https://youtu.be/7vThuwa5RZU .

1997 - Paul McCartney's symphonic poem "Standing Stone" debuted.

1998 - B.B. King picks up a lifetime achievement award at the Music of Black Origin (MOBO) Awards, held at the Royal Albert Hall in London

2000 - Five Pearl Jam bootlegs released from their European tour make the Billboard 200 albums chart, setting a record for most entries on the chart in a single week.

2003 - Ozzy Osbourne seeks treatment for Parkinson's Disease-like tremors and postpones a fall European tour. The veteran rock artist says in a statement, "I have been in Boston for the last three weeks, having medical tests for a tremor which has become markedly worse over the last two years."

2004 - The iTunes Music Store reached 150 million songs sold.

2006 - Country/rock singer and guitarist Freddy Fender dies of lung cancer in Corpus Christi, Texas, at age 69. Known for standards as ‘Before the Next Teardrop Falls’ (AU No.4 in 1975) and ‘Wasted Days and Wasted Nights’ - https://youtu.be/TUVgkXVDkBA .

2006 - Opening for Rascal Flatts at Madison Square Garden, Eric Church goes off-kilter, playing a little "Crazy Train" and staying on stage past his allotted time. He is kicked off the tour and replaced by a talented newcomer named Taylor Swift.

2007 - The Tom Petty documentary film, Running Down A Dream, debuts at the New York Film Festival - https://youtu.be/1lWJXDG2i0A .

2011 - Chuck Ruff (drummer for Edgar Winter Group and Sammy Hagar) dies in San Francisco, California, after a lengthy illness at age 60.

2014 - David Bowie debuts his new single "Sue (Or In A Season Of Crime)," a jazzy seven-and-a-half-minute song, on BBC Radio 6 to promote his upcoming compilation album Nothing Has Changed - https://youtu.be/nFX1y62l9C4 .

2014 - Pop singer Kesha files a civil lawsuit against her long-time producer, Dr. Luke (Lukasz Gottwald), in a bid to be released from her contract. She cites years of physical, verbal, emotional, and sexual abuse at the hands of the producer, who denies all charges.

2018 - Fifty years after they first started touring, Steppenwolf play their last show, a concert in Baxter Springs, Kansas - https://youtu.be/eGkGNCUQtWY .

2020 - AU - Paul Matters (Bassist AC/DC 1975) died on the 14th of October 2020 - https://youtu.be/biaGJ_4rEzE .