1964 - Louis Armstrong was already a stalwart performer when he began a six week run at #1 on the US album chart today with Hello Dolly! Armstrong's first #1 hit was the title song of the popular 1964 musical of the same name. The music and lyrics were written by Jerry Herman, who also wrote the scores for many other popular musicals including Mame and La Cage aux Folles. Armstrong's version of Hello Dolly won him a Grammy Award for best vocal, and the song itself won for best song, and his version was inducted in the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2001.
1969 - When Brian Jones had to leave the Rolling Stones in June '69, Mick Jagger called British blues iconic legend, John Mayall, and asked him if he would recommend a young guitarist as Jones' successor. John who had just disbanded his band, the Bluesbreakers, told him to contact Mick Taylor, who subsequently joined the Rolling Stones on June 10th. Mick Taylor recorded five studio LPs and one live LP with the Rolling Stones. Here is a rare interview with Taylor, in 1972, in Australia, which appeared on ABC's GTK rock show.
1972 - Clyde McPhatter, original lead vocalist with The Drifters, died of a heart attack today, in New York. Joined Billy Ward & the Dominoes in 1950, formed The Drifters in 1953, had several solo hits including 1962 Lover Please, was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987. Great voice, great act, and here he is with another brilliant act, Bobby Darin.
1975 - This is the night in '75, when John Lennon made his last ever TV appearance, performing on Salute To Sir Lew Grade. He sang two songs that night, Slippin' And Slidin', and Imagine. Lennon did not make many stage appearances during his short solo career after departing The Beatles, and this, Lennon's final performance before a live audience, has been largely forgotten today. He wore a unique two-faced mask he had designed to project his true feelings of Sir Lew Grade. Sculptor Ruby Jackson created masks for Lennon and his backing unit especially for this television production.
1985 - Live Aid concerts took place in Philadelphia, PA and London today, and same day in 1989, Jerry Lee Lewis got a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. It's June 13, 1992 and British group, Erasure, started a five-week run at #1 in the UK with the Abba-Esque EP. The release featured four covers of Abba hits and Vince Clark & Andy Bell dressed up as the two Abba girls for the videos. This is their take on...Take A Chance.
1992 - Law enforcement officials in Texas called for a ban on Ice-T's Cop Killer album, hence inciting talk of music censorship once again, and three years later, same day, in 1995, Alanis Morissette released her album and single, Jagged Little Pill. The album went on to sell over 30 million copies world-wide, and Morissette was the first female Canadian to score a US #1 album.
1969 - When Brian Jones had to leave the Rolling Stones in June '69, Mick Jagger called British blues iconic legend, John Mayall, and asked him if he would recommend a young guitarist as Jones' successor. John who had just disbanded his band, the Bluesbreakers, told him to contact Mick Taylor, who subsequently joined the Rolling Stones on June 10th. Mick Taylor recorded five studio LPs and one live LP with the Rolling Stones. Here is a rare interview with Taylor, in 1972, in Australia, which appeared on ABC's GTK rock show.
1972 - Clyde McPhatter, original lead vocalist with The Drifters, died of a heart attack today, in New York. Joined Billy Ward & the Dominoes in 1950, formed The Drifters in 1953, had several solo hits including 1962 Lover Please, was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987. Great voice, great act, and here he is with another brilliant act, Bobby Darin.
1975 - This is the night in '75, when John Lennon made his last ever TV appearance, performing on Salute To Sir Lew Grade. He sang two songs that night, Slippin' And Slidin', and Imagine. Lennon did not make many stage appearances during his short solo career after departing The Beatles, and this, Lennon's final performance before a live audience, has been largely forgotten today. He wore a unique two-faced mask he had designed to project his true feelings of Sir Lew Grade. Sculptor Ruby Jackson created masks for Lennon and his backing unit especially for this television production.
1985 - Live Aid concerts took place in Philadelphia, PA and London today, and same day in 1989, Jerry Lee Lewis got a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. It's June 13, 1992 and British group, Erasure, started a five-week run at #1 in the UK with the Abba-Esque EP. The release featured four covers of Abba hits and Vince Clark & Andy Bell dressed up as the two Abba girls for the videos. This is their take on...Take A Chance.
1992 - Law enforcement officials in Texas called for a ban on Ice-T's Cop Killer album, hence inciting talk of music censorship once again, and three years later, same day, in 1995, Alanis Morissette released her album and single, Jagged Little Pill. The album went on to sell over 30 million copies world-wide, and Morissette was the first female Canadian to score a US #1 album.
