This Day In Music - August 1

 Ok, done... <whew!!!>

This Day In Music – 1 August - don't forget to get a new perspective for the Grateful Dead!

1942 - American singer-songwriter and guitarist Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead born in San Francisco, California. He was ranked 13th in Rolling Stone's "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time" cover story. Garcia also founded a variety of side projects, including the Saunders-Garcia Band, the Jerry Garcia Band, Old and in the Way, the Garcia/Grisman acoustic duo, Legion of Mary, and the New Riders of the Purple Sage. Garcia died from a drugs-related heart attack on 9 August 1995 - https://youtu.be/QmMjY6tXaEo .

1943 - Producer Denny Cordell is born Dennis Cordell-Lavarack in Buenos Aires. His productions include "A Whiter Shade Of Pale" and "American Girl" - https://youtu.be/tXkblbJqwn0 .

1946 - Rick Coonce (drummer for The Grass Roots) is born Erik Michael Coonce in Los Angeles, California. With Grass Roots had the 1968 US No.5 & AU No.9 single 'Midnight Confessions', plus 13 other US Top 40 singles Some references suggest his birth year as 1947 - https://youtu.be/5nZnqtDdsws .

1946 - English musician Boz Burrell born in Holbeach, Lincolnshire, England. With Bad Company, he scored the 1974 UK No.15, No.25 & US No.5 single 'Can't Get Enough'). He was also a member of King Crimson. Burrell suddenly died of a heart attack on 21 September 2006 aged 60 - https://youtu.be/4XwKk_LmwTI .

1947 - Canadian rock bassist Prakash John born in Mumbai, India. He migrated to Toronto in 1960. He has worked with Alice Cooper, Edgar Winter and Rick Derringer of (White Trash) as well as Bobby Whitlock (Derek & the Dominos). John was recruited in 1971 by George Clinton to work with Parliament/Funkadelic on the albums Chocolate City and America Eats Its Young while sharing bass playing duties with Bootsy Collins on tour - https://youtu.be/2ORrntrVU0w .

1947 - Rick Anderson born in St. Paul, Minnesota. Bassist with American band The Tubes known for their 1977 hit single 'White Punks On Dope' and the 1983 US No.10 single 'She's A Beauty'. Best known in for their 1979 No.39 ‘Prime Time’ - https://youtu.be/Jm6HQDKzImQ .

1951 - Guitarist Tommy Bolin (of Deep Purple and the James Gang) is born in Sioux City, Iowa. Guitarist who joined Deep Purple in 1975, member of Zephyr and The James Gang. Bolin died of a heroin overdose on 4th December 1976 - https://youtu.be/WWpsM7EX-2o .

1951 - Tim Bachman (of Bachman-Turner Overdrive) is born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Guitarist and vocalist best known for his work with rock bands Brave Belt and Bachman–Turner Overdrive (BTO). Bachman was one of the four founding members of BTO, a group that have sold nearly 30 million albums worldwide and featured his brothers Randy (guitar/vocals) and Robbie (drums), as well as Fred Turner (bass/vocals) - https://youtu.be/PBZqmJjIDPw .

1953 - Robert Cray born in Columbus, Georgia. Singer, blues guitarist, and five times Grammy Award winner. Cray played with Eric Clapton, Buddy Guy, Jimmie Vaughan, and Stevie Ray Vaughan at the Alpine Valley Music Theatre in East Troy, Wisconsin, performing 'Sweet Home Chicago'. This was Stevie Ray Vaughan's final performance before he died in a helicopter accident later that night - https://youtu.be/E_Al16VYTJU .

1959 - Joe Elliott born in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. Vocals with Def Leppard, who had the 1987 UK No.6 single 'Animal' and the 1987 worldwide No.1 album Hysteria 1988 and the US No.1 & AU No.27 single 'Love Bites'. Their best result in was the 1992 single, ‘Let’s Get Rocked’. As one of the world's best-selling music artists, Def Leppard have sold more than 100 million records worldwide - https://youtu.be/kCGfs4cbd9s .

1960 - Chubby Checker ( born Ernest Evans; October 3, 1941) releases "The Twist," starting a dance craze that soon grips the nation. The first of his numerous hits in , it peaked at No.18 in the AU singles chart - https://youtu.be/pHGXwQeUk7M .

1960 - Chuck D, (Carlton Ridenhour) born in Queens, New York. Public Enemy, (1988 UK No.18 single 'Don't Believe The Hype' & the No.19 ‘Give It Up’ in 1994) - https://youtu.be/xlCxBD5ROB8

1963 - Coolio is born Artis Leon Ivey Jr. in Compton, California. He gets his stage name when a friend sees him playing guitar and says, "Who do you think you are, Coolio Iglesias?" 1995 , US & UK No.1 single 'Gangsta's Paradise' - https://youtu.be/GIkKGW628aQ - Alternate “Weird” Al Yankovic, ‘Amish Paradise’ - https://youtu.be/lOfZLb33uCg .

1963 - The first Beatles Monthly was published. A magazine devoted to the group, it continued for 77 editions until 1969 and at its peak was selling over 350,000 copies a month - See pics...

1964 - With The Beatles' album A Hard Day's Night already at No.1 in America, the title track also hits the top spot, where it stays for two weeks. Simultaneously, it hits No.1 in and stays there for 6-weeks. In some locations globally, the group had now spent seventeen or more weeks at the No.1 position in this year.

1964 - Adam Duritz born in Berkeley, California. From American rock band Counting Crows, who had the 1994 & UK hit single 'Mr Jones', and the 1996 US No.1 album Recovering The Satellites. ‘Big Yellow Taxi’, a remake of Joni Mitchell’s 1970 No.3 hit, also hit No.3 in in 2003 - https://youtu.be/tvtJPs8IDgU .

1964 - Nick Christian Sayer born. Guitarist with Transvision Vamp he had the 1989 & UK No.3 single 'Baby I Don't Care' - https://youtu.be/r26krlXFmOI .

1965 - During a UK tour, The Rolling Stones appeared at the London Palladium supported by The Walker Brothers, The Fourmost, Steampacket featuring Rod Stewart and Sugar Pie Desanto with The Shevelles.

1968 - Dan Donegan born in Oak Lawn, Illinois, U.S.A. Guitarist with Disturbed, (2005 US No.1 album 'Ten Thousand Fists'). Donegan is a self-taught guitarist.[7] He uses one handed and two handed tapping in many of his solos, with pull-offs, legatos and hammer-ons, sometimes using the "flick off" technique, as used in the solo for the song "Indestructible", and in others as well. His heavy riffs and sweep picking are seen in many music videos. Best known in for their 2016 cover of ‘The Sound Of Silence’, which peaked at No.13 - https://youtu.be/u9Dg-g7t2l4 .

1969 - Carl Wilson of The Beach Boys is indicted in Los Angeles for failing to perform his required community service hours, which were imposed upon him after he refused to be drafted as a conscientious objector; rather than the janitorial duty he was sentenced to at LA County Hospital, Wilson taught music classes there instead.

1971 - George Harrison hosts the Concert For Bangladesh, the first major charity concert and the precursor to Live Aid. Guests include Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, Billy Preston and Ringo Starr. The whole thing came together in about six weeks. The show sold out quickly, so another show with the same lineup - billed as "George Harrison and Friends" - was added, which gives them more material for the album and film. The show opens with a set of Indian music by Ravi Shankar. Harrison then takes the stage and joins his guests for a mix of his own songs and ones they made famous, including "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" with Clapton, "It Don't Come Easy" with Ringo, and "That's the Way God Planned It" with Preston. After doing the Beatles favourite "Here Comes the Sun," he looks over his shoulder to see if Bob Dylan has arrived. He has, and Dylan delights the crowd with a five-song set that includes his most famous songs, "Blowin' In The Wind" and "Mr. Tambourine Man." It would be his last performance until 1974. Harrison had to shell out his own money to maintain the fund after legal problems froze all proceeds. The triple album release (the second in a row by Harrison), hit No.1 in the UK, No.2 in the US & No.3 in and received the Grammy Award for Album of the Year - https://youtu.be/Tby39qh9Lts .

1980 - Def Leppard made their US live debut when they appeared at the New York City concert opening for AC/DC. It was also Def Leppard singer Joe Elliott's 21st birthday.

1981 - MTV goes on the air, bringing music videos to the masses - at least the ones with cable. With the words "Ladies and gentlemen: Rock and roll," spoken by network co-creator John Lack, Viacom-owned MTV ("Music Television") makes its broadcast debut. Following a montage of NASA footage, culminating in the iconic photo of an Apollo astronaut standing near the American flag he planted on the Moon (but with the Stars And Stripes replaced by the network's logo), MTV segues into its first music video, "Video Killed The Radio Star" by British duo The Buggles, which had peaked at #40 in the US back in 1979, but was a #1 hit in five European countries as well hitting No.1 in - https://youtu.be/W8r-tXRLazs .

1981 - - Australian singer Rick Springfield started a two-week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Jessie's Girl', which later won the singer a Grammy Award for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance. The song was at No.1 when MTV launched on 1 August 1981. Rick had played Noah Drake in the TV show General Hospital. The song peaked at No.1 in on 31 July - https://youtu.be/l4cCzdpRqqM .

1987 - MTV Europe makes its debut. The first video shown is Dire Straits' "Money for Nothing," a song where Sting proclaims, "I want my MTV" - https://youtu.be/oIDYl-bfvw0 .

1987 - Guns N' Roses head to Park Plaza and 450 South La Brea in Hollywood and shoot their first video, for "Welcome To The Jungle" - https://youtu.be/o1tj2zJ2Wvg .

1987 - Bob Seger scored his first US No.1 single (No.14 in ) with the Harold Faltermeyer penned 'Shakedown', which was taken from the film 'Beverly Hills Cop II'. The song was nominated for both the Academy Award for Best Original Song and Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song, but it lost both awards to Dirty Dancing's '(I've Had) The Time of My Life'. Better know in for the 1987 No.3, ‘Old Time Rock And Roll’, as shown in the movie ‘Risky Business’ - https://youtu.be/G2UVsyVLLcE . (Full Version: https://youtu.be/SoaAb5MnKtY )

1987 - Los Lobos were at No.1 on the & UK singles chart with their version of the Ritchie Valens song 'La Bamba', which was also a No.1 hit in the US. The song was the title track from the film based on Ritchie Valens who died in the same plane crash the killed Buddy Holly - https://youtu.be/nLAWPrCUQQ0 .

1998 - The Spice Girls scored their seventh UK No.1 & No.4 single with 'Viva Forever'. The song was originally set to be released alongside the track 'Never Give Up on the Good Times' as a double A-Side which was pulled as member Geri Halliwell left the group - https://youtu.be/3wkuqRFXNvI .

1999 - Ronan Keating scored his first UK No.1 solo single with 'When You Say Nothing At All' ( No.3). The country song written by Paul Overstreet and Don Schlitz was a hit for Keith Whitley, who took it to the top of the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart in 1988. The song also appeared in the hit movie ‘Notting Hill’ - https://youtu.be/IobNcpiwpSc .

2014 - The movie Guardians of the Galaxy opens in America, reviving '70s favourites like "Hooked On A Feeling" and "Come And Get Your Love." In the film, Chris Pratt plays a human who totes a Walkman with a tape his mother gave him: the Awesome Mix Vol. 1. As he goes on galactic adventures, he plays songs from the tape, jamming out to "Go All The Way" on his ship and playing "Fooled Around And Fell In Love" for a romantic interlude. The music goes over very well with viewers, who scoop up enough copies of the soundtrack (called Guardians of the Galaxy: Awesome Mix Vol. 1) to send it to #1 in the US for two weeks. For many younger audience members, it's an introduction to many of the songs their parents grew up with. When the sequel is released in 2017, we learn that Pratt's character has discovered Awesome Mix Vol. 2, with more '70s favourites - https://youtu.be/ULL7apmAJTE .

2015 - Rush play their last concert, closing out their R40 Live tour with a show at The Forum near Los Angeles. It's not announced as their farewell, but the band has hinted it might be. At the end of the show, drummer Neil Peart uncharacteristically comes to the front of the stage to take a bow with his bandmates - https://youtu.be/EYYdQB0mkEU .

2015 - English singer, actress and entertainer Cilla Black died at her holiday home near Marbella, Spain, aged 72. Along with a successful recording career in the 1960s and early 1970s, Black hosted her own eponymous variety show, Cilla, for the BBC between 1968 and 1976 and later shows such as Blind Date (1985-2003) and Surprise Surprise (1984-2001) - https://youtu.be/_FoOU-6q3SM .