1970 - Before gangsta rap, before Notorious and Tupac, The band Pacific Gas and Electric was shot at while leaving a club in Raleigh, USA, 41 years ago today. PG&E, as they were later known, were an American blues rock band in the late 1960s and early 1970s, led by singer Charlie Allen. Their biggest hit was this one, Are You Ready?
1974 - This was the day that the impeccable guitar playing, keyboard thumping singer, Greg Allman, played the last date of his solo tour. A 90-minute encore followed with the Allman Brothers Band, when they took to the stage for the final song. Allman was a rock and blues singer, keyboardist, guitarist and songwriter, best known as a founding member of the Allman Brothers Band. He was inducted with the band into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995, and personally received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Georgia Music Hall of Fame in 2006. He has a distinctive Southern-accent, and his singing style placed him in 70th position in Rolling Stone Magazine's list of the 100 Greatest Singers of All Time. This is the man, performing Come And Go Blues, then Jessica on David Letterman.
1974 - Four years after her husband's death, widow Pam Morrison died of a heroin overdose at the age of 27, same age if Jimmy boy when he tippled over in the bath. Just two years later, Elvis Presley recorded a concert in Saginaw, Michigan, and three of the songs later appeared on the album Moody Blue, which was released posthumously. Anybody who regularly reads my self indulgent collection of facts and videos on any genre of music will know that I love the spirit, the times and the music of The Ramones, and on this day in 1979, the movie Rock & Roll High School starring the Ramones premiered. Doesn't get much better than this piece of madness.
1981 - Paul McCartney's incredibly successful band, Wings split up 30 years ago today, supposedly, when the mighty Denny Laine left the band. up with the departure of Denny Laine. He is and English songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, guitarist and was once lead singer of The Moody Blues, and, later, best known for his role as co-founder (with Paul and Linda McCartney) of Wings. Laine was one of three constants in Wings, along with the McCartneys. Laine joined Wings in 1971 for their album Wild Life and stayed until 1981. In theiur prime they were a brilliant band live, and here to prove it are Maybe I'm Amazed, then Band On The Run.
2002 - In Honduras, Lisa 'Left Eye' Lopes, from the girl group TLC, was killed in a car accident, thus ending the career of one of the greatest groups of all time. TLC was an iconic, four time grammy award winning American girl group whose repertoire spanned R&B, Rock, Hip-Hop, Pop, Soul, Funk, and New Jack Swing. Originally consisting of band front woman, Tionne 'T-Boz' Watkins, rapper Lisa 'Left Eye' Lopes, and singer Rozonda 'Chilli' Thomas, they found unprecedented success in the 90s not only as a musical supergroup but also for an extensive series of high profiled spats with the law, each other, and with their record label. This helped to solidify them as one of the definitive recording acts to emerge during the 90s. They released four studio albums before disbanding due to Left Eye's death. Billboard magazine ranked the group as one of the greatest musical trios of all time. Between 1994 and 2000 they accumalated four number one singles, and they are one of the few muscial acts to have recorded two signature songs, Waterfalls and No Scrubs both of which dominated the Billboard Hot 100 for several consecutive weeks. In 2008, the group was inducted into the All Time Hot 100 Artist Hall of Fame by Billboard, at 56th place. They are listed in the Top R&B/Hip Hop artist for the last 25 years at #25. With the realease of their third studio album Fanmail, TLC became the second best selling female group in American music history, with 22 million certified albums sold and one of the best-selling artists of all time. They have been certified for more than 32 million albums and 20 million singles worldwide.Here's a brilliant tribute to Lisa, a truly great act, and again, such a shame shame shame she left us so young. I loved her dearly, and her band TLC. Here is a tribute to her, then TLC's two signature songs, No Scrubs and Waterfalls.
2003 – This is the day when the late and very great jazz giant Nina Simone was laid to rest in Carry-Le-Rouet, France. The funeral was attended by the legendary South African singer Miriam Makeba, and Elton John sent a bouquet of roses. The American singer, songwriter, pianist, arranger, and civil rights activist was widely associated with jazz music, although Simone aspired to become a classical pianist while working in a broad range of styles including classical, jazz, blues, soul, folk, R&B, gospel, and pop. In particular, the singer was inspired and influenced by the classical composer Bach. After 20 years of performing, Nina Simone became involved in the civil rights movement and the direction of her life shifted, her music becoming highly influential in the fight for equal rights in the U.S.A. Here then is a kick-ass version of Aint Got No I've Got No Life, followed by the highly addictive I Put A Spell On You.
2003 - Today was the day Sinead O'Connor announced, on her website, that she was going to retire. And four years later, permanent retirement came to American singer Bobby 'Boris' Pickett, who today of leukemia at the age of 69. He had scored the Halloween anthem ‘The Monster Mash’ in 1962. The song had been banned by The BBC in the UK, deemed offensive and wasn’t a hit until 1973. It was a spoof on the dance crazes popular at the time, including the Twist and the Mashed Potato. Dear reader, this is the late Bobby 'Boris' Pickett.
