This Day In Music - July 21

 This Day In Music – 21 July

1922 - American pop and jazz singer Kay Starr is born Katherine Laverne Starks on a reservation in Dougherty, Oklahoma. She enjoyed considerable success in the 40s and 50s and is best remembered for introducing two songs that became No.1 hits in the 50s, 'Wheel of Fortune' and 'The Rock And Roll Waltz'. Starr died on 3 November 2016, age 94 from complications of Alzheimer's disease - https://youtu.be/FWosiGsjoss .

1931 - American soul-jazz and hard bop tenor saxophonist Plas Johnson born in Donaldson, Louisiana. He is best known as the tenor saxophone soloist on Henry Mancini's 'The Pink Panther Theme', as well as playing on innumerable records by Peggy Lee, Nat King Cole, The Beach Boys, Frank Sinatra, Ricky Nelson and Bobby Vee - https://youtu.be/jBupII3LH_Q .

1939 - Kim Fowley born in Los Angeles, California. US singer, producer, worked with The Murmaids, PJ Proby, The Beach Boys, The Runaways, Frank Zappa, Slade, Family. Produced the 1962, B Bumble And The Stingers No.5 'Nut Rocker.' Fowley died of bladder cancer in Hollywood, California on January 15, 2015 at the age of 75 - https://youtu.be/Op2U-qGUDkg .

1945 - Rosalie "Rosie" Méndez Hamlin is born in Klamath Falls, Oregon. An American singer-songwriter, she was the frontwoman of the group Rosie and the Originals. Raised in Anchorage, Alaska, Hamlin was best known for the 1960 song "Angel Baby", which became a Top 40 hit in 1961 when Hamlin was only fifteen years old. "Angel Baby" was covered by several artists, including Linda Ronstadt and John Lennon, who cited Hamlin as one of his favourite singers. She was the first Latina to be honoured by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame - https://youtu.be/bu2dAQ3xb8s .

1946 - Barry Whitwam born in Prestbury, Cheshire, England. Drummer with English beat rock band, Herman's Hermits who scored the 1965 No.1 single 'Mrs Brown You've Got A Lovely Daughter' - https://youtu.be/LyIlFsQgRvY .

1948 - Cat Stevens born Steven Demetre Georgiou in Marylebone, London, England. Singer - songwriter who had the 1967 No.4 single 'Matthew And Son', and the 1972 No.3, UK No.9 & US No.6 single, 'Morning Has Broken'. Stevens converted to the Muslim religion in 1977 changing his name to Yusef Islam - https://youtu.be/hYjv6bAXWNQ .

1953 - - Jeff Fatt was born in Casino, New South Wales. He was a member of the children's group the Wiggles from its founding in 1991 to 2012 and was also in the 1980s and 1990s pop band the Cockroaches. The Cockroaches self-titled album spawned the single "She's the One", which became the band's biggest hit when it peaked at No. 7 on the Kent Music Report Singles Chart in April 1987. In 1988, The Daily Telegraph described the Cockroaches, who played over 300 gigs a year, as the "Hardest Working Rock'n'Roll Band" in the country. As a Wiggle, Fatt wore a purple skivvy. He originated the Wiggles character Henry the Octopus and occasionally voiced Wags the Dog. Fatt's schtick was sleeping at odd times, which led to a Wiggles catchphrase and the title of one of their songs, "Wake Up, Jeff!" - https://youtu.be/K-Tp6QSuNio .

1953 - Eric Bazilian (frontman for The Hooters) is born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, arranger and producer, best known in as a founding member of The Hooters with the hits “All You Zombies" (No. & “And We Danced” (No. 9) - https://youtu.be/vwxFXtyEzq0 .

1955 - Swing entertainer Taco is born Taco Ockerse in Jakarta, Indonesia. After signing his first record contract in 1981, he released his first single in 1982, "Puttin' On the Ritz", issued by RCA Records. The single peaked at No. 3 in August 1983 in the charts - https://youtu.be/TMstTM01m28 .

1955 - Howie Epstein born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Bassist for Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, (1981 No.10 single with Stevie Nicks 'Stop Draggin' My Heart Around', 1989 No.17 single 'I Won't Back Down', 1991 album 'Into The Great Wide Open'). Died of a suspected drug overdose in New Mexico on 23rd February 2003 - https://youtu.be/nvlTJrNJ5lA .

1958 - Elvis Presley's "Hard Headed Woman" hits US #1; it peaks at #9 in - https://youtu.be/MR6k3q3gXKo .

1958 - The Coasters' "Yakety Yak" hits #1 in the US and peaks at #8 in - https://youtu.be/epCN0f7FTIY .

1959 - - Brett Ford was born in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia on the 30th of December 1959 and died on the 21st of July 2007 aged 47. Ford was a founder of noise rockers “Lubricated Goat” (1986–89) in Perth. During the 1980s Ford played in many different bands, including the Kryptonics (1986–87) and X (with Ian Rilen of Rose Tattoo). In 1987 Ford and his then-wife, Melanie Greensmith, established a rock couture fashion label, Wheels and Doll Baby. According to Ford's family, he died in 2007 from Cardiac arrest - https://youtu.be/oq8Gw0lNH6A .

1961 - Jim Martin born in Hayward, California, United States. Guitarist from rock band, Faith No More who had the 1993 no.1, UK No.3 and US No.4 hit single with their version of The Commodores “Easy”. They had the best-selling albums The Real Thing (1989) and Angel Dust (1992) - https://youtu.be/vPzDTfIb0DU .

1969 - Duke Ellington and a portion of his band performed a 10-minute composition on American ABC-TV titled, "Moon Maiden." The event took place just one day after Neil Armstrong became the first man to set foot on the moon - https://youtu.be/98qq5Cvrst8 .

1969 - Blind Faith, a group comprised of Eric Clapton, Steve Winwood, Ginger Baker and Ric Grech, release their self-titled debut album in the United States.

1969 - The Beatles started work on the John Lennon song 'Come Together' at Abbey Road studios in London. The track became the opening song on The Beatles Abbey Road album and was later released as a double A-sided single with 'Something', their twenty-first single in the UK and twenty-sixth in the US where it reached the top of the charts - https://youtu.be/45cYwDMibGo .

1970 - The Carpenters' "(They Long To Be) Close To You" hits US #1, which peaks at #2 in - https://youtu.be/tT86AoSGEL8 .

1971 - Carole King's "It's Too Late" hits #1 in America and peaks at #5 in - https://youtu.be/VkKxmnrRVHo .

1973 - Jim Croce started a two-week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Bad, Bad Leroy Brown' and peaks at No.13. Croce was killed in a plane crash three months later - https://youtu.be/EwPRm5UMe1A .

1974 - Terry Caldwell born. From English pop boy band East 17 who had the 1994 UK No.1 & No. 4 single 'Stay Another Day' and were one of the UK's most popular boy bands during the early to mid-1990s. They had an No. 1 in 1994 with “It’s Alright” - https://youtu.be/tP_WRk-xV7I .

1979 - Tubeway Army scored their first UK No.1 album with 'Replicas'. The band led by lead singer Gary Numan were the first band of the post-punk era to have a synthesizer-based hit, with their single 'Are 'Friends' Electric?', which peaked at No.18 in - https://youtu.be/QzSM3pRtgcM .

1981 - Paloma Faith born. A British singer-songwriter and actress. Her 2009 debut album Do You Want the Truth or Something Beautiful?, featured the top twenty singles 'Stone Cold Sober' and 'New York'. Her song “Only Love Can Hurt Like This” was No.1 in in July 2014 - https://youtu.be/PaKr9gWqwl4 .

1987 - Guns N' Roses release their first album, Appetite For Destruction. It's a landmark debut, featuring the hits "Welcome To The Jungle" and "Sweet Child O' Mine" (No.12 in ). The album now has worldwide sales in excess of 28 million, 18 million of which are in the US, making it the best-selling debut album of all time there - https://youtu.be/1w7OgIMMRc4 .

1990 - Roger Waters' The Wall took place at the Berlin Wall in Potzdamer Platz, Berlin to commemorate the fall of the Berlin Wall eight months earlier. Over 350,000 people attended and the event was broadcast live throughout the world, Van Morrison, Bryan Adams, Joni Mitchell, The Scorpions, Cyndi Lauper, Sinead O'Connor and others took part - https://youtu.be/-cfJqYtmmqA .

1996 - Alanis Morissette started a second run at No.1 on the UK album chart with Jagged Little Pill which stayed at the top for eight weeks. Overall, the album has sold over 33 million copies worldwide, becoming one of the most successful albums in music history - https://youtu.be/Jne9t8sHpUc .

2002 - Producer Gus Dudgeon, who worked with artists including Elton John, David Bowie, The Beach Boys, Kiki Dee, The Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band, The Strawbs, XTC, and Joan Armatrading, was killed aged 59 in a car accident near Reading, together with his wife Sheila. They had been driving along the M4 motorway on their way home from a party when Gus fell asleep at the wheel of the Jaguar XK8 convertible, crashing down an embankment at speed and ending up in a ditch.

2003 - Coldplay singer Chris Martin was charged with malicious damage in Australia after he allegedly attacked a photographer's car after he had taken pictures of him surfing at Seven Mile Beach. Martin admitted he had lost his temper due to the constant harassment by that journalist, and consequently smashed his windscreen and let the air out of his tyres.

2005 - UK singer Long John Baldry died of a chest infection. One of the founding fathers of British Rock 'n' Roll in the 1960s performing with Blues Incorporated and Cyril Davies' R&B All Stars. Later fronting the Hoochie Coochie Men, with Rod Stewart, then Steam Packet with Brian Auger and Julie Driscoll. A member of Bluesology with Elton John. He had a #1 UK hit with "Let The Heartaches Begin" (#22 ). His biggest hit in was “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin“, which peaked at #4 - https://youtu.be/o7ILsOMFFZU .

2006 - Herbie Kalin (of The Kalin Twins) dies of a heart attack at age 72. The Kalin Twins (born February 16, 1934) were a pop music recording and song writing duo, comprising twin brothers Harold Kalin and Herbert Kalin (died August 24, 2005 and July 21, 2006, respectively). The Kalin Twins, who were known affectionately as "Hal and Herbie", are best known for their 1958 hit "When", which reached No.1 in - https://youtu.be/ufrYzuG1qC4 .

2009 - The iTunes Music Store reached 8 billion songs sold.

2017 - - John "Catfish" Purser was born on the 23 May 1933 in Petersham, Sydney. He died this day in 2017. John "Catfish" Purser was one of the first breed of drummers during the fifties, who came to fame as Johnny O'Keefe's original drummer in the golden age of the rock'n'roll era. An immensely popular musician on the local club scene with his band The Dee Jays he drummed in with O'Keefe. Catfish was celebrating his 60th year as a live musician, when sadly he passed away in a Gold Coast hospital on 21 July 2017 after a short battle with illness, aged, 83 - https://youtu.be/cBJ5T8CXSCY .

2017 - The day after the suicide of lead singer Chester Bennington, Linkin Park cancel their upcoming tour and set up a tribute page on their website with resources for suicide prevention.