1972 - Dion & The Belmonts were one of the many fifties/sixties act who reunited for one show at Madison Square Garden today. If there were any videos taken of this event, they haven't shown themselves on the usual outlets, but that won't stop us from enjoying earlier Dion & The Belmonts song videos, one of the most popular pre-Beatles groups. Dion and the Belmonts were a leading American vocal group of the late 1950s, formed when Dion DiMucci joined The Belmonts - Carlo Mastrangelo, Freddie Milano, and Angelo D'Aleo - in late 1957. After an unsuccessful first single, the group was signed to Laurie Records. Subsequent recording success ensured Dion and the Belmonts landed their first major tour in late 1958, with The Coasters, Buddy Holly and Bobby Darin, followed by inclusion on the bill for the Winter Dance Party tour with Holly, Ritchie Valens and The Big Bopper. On 2 February 1959, after playing at the Surf Ballroom, Dion decided that he could not afford the $36 cost of a flight to the next venue, so he went by road. As fate would have it, the plane crashed, and Holly and the other stars were killed. However, the tour continued, with Jimmy Clanton and Bobby Vee being added to the bill. In March 1959, Dion and the Belmonts' next single, A Teenager in Love, was released, making #5 in the Billboard Hot 100 and #28 in the UK Singles Chart, and charts all over the estern world, including Australia; this was followed by an album, Presenting Dion and the Belmonts. Their biggest hit, Where or When, was released in November 1959, and reached #3 on the Billboard Hot 100. However, in early 1960, Dion checked in to hospital for heroin addiction, a problem he had had since his mid-teens. Here's a selection of his hits with the Belmonts, and when he went solo. Dion remains working regularly working and has received critical acclaim for being a serious musical artist.
1978 - Having been forced into a three year forced hiatus from recording, Bruce Springsteen' released his fourth album, Darkness On The Edge of Town, today. The album marked the end of the forced withdrawal from recording which was brought on by contractual obligations and legal battles with his former manager Mike Appel. Although the album did not produce high charting singles it nevertheless remained on the charts for 97 weeks. In September of last year, a documentary film chronicling the making of Darkness was first shown at the Toronto International Film Festival, and in the movie Springsteen was quoted as saying, “more than rich, more than famous, more than happy, I wanted to be great”. I wonder if you've seen this bootleg before.
1984 - UK pop duo, Wham!, had their first UK No.1 with Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go, the song being inspired by a note Andrew Ridgeley left lying in his bedroom. The song was the first #1 hit for the pair, heralding the beginning of a softer, sunnier image for Wham!, who had spent the previous year as a moodier, more politically themed outfit, with protest songs about unemployment, young marriage, and battles of will between parents and their children. With the release of Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go, they re-emerged with wider smiles, more colourful clothing, and a more positive disposition in interviews.
1987 - When he received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1986, classical guitar player Andrés Segovia was cited as the most brilliant and influential of all classical guitar players. The Spanish classical guitarist was born in Linares, Spain and died 24 years ago today. At almost 90 years of age, check this out for total brilliance.
1989 - This is the day Rolling Stones' bassist Bill Wyman married 18-year-old model Mandy Smith, in a ceremony attended by all good Rolling Stones members. They divorced 2 years later, but in the meantime, Mandy managed to have a go at being a pop star, no doubt aided by her new husband. And this is one of her songs, Positive Reaction, what do you think?
1993 - Can music ever cause anybody to commit heinous crimes? Convicted American murderer Ronald Ray Howard's thought so, and said so during his murder trial, which began in Austin, Texas today. Howard killed a state trooper after supposedly listening to Tupac Shakur's 2Pacalypse Now album. Howard was convicted and sentenced to death, and executed by lethal injection on October 6, the 42nd murderer executed in the USA in 2005. Was this one of the songs?
2000 - It's the turn of the century and this was the day when the Record Industry Association of America certified Garth Brooks' Double Live at the 13 million level, thus matching the highest-certified live album record held by Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band's Live 1975-1985 album. Three years later on June 2, The New York Philharmonic announced that it would return to Carnegie Hall. The orchestra cited Carnegie's acoustics as a key reason for the move. Just five years later and Bo Diddley - one of the founding fathers of rock ’n’ roll - died today after months of ill health, at the ripe old age of 73. Diddley's distinctive “shave and a haircut, two bits” rhythm and innovative guitar effects inspired legions of other musicians, while his self-titled song, Bo Diddley, is a rhythm and blues song first recorded and sung by him at the Universal Recording Studio in Chicago and released on the Chess Records subsidiary, Checker Records in 1955. It became an immediate hit single that stayed on the R&B charts for a total of 18 weeks, two of those weeks at #1, and seven more weeks than its flipside, I'm a Man. It was the first recording to introduce African rhythms into rock and roll directly by using the patted juba beat. It was Bo Diddley's first recording and his first hit single. It is #62 on Rolling Stone's list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, the rhythm used still 'borrowed' by contemporary acts. The legendary singer and performer, known for his homemade square guitar, dark glasses and black hat, was an inductee into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame; had a star on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame, and received a lifetime achievement award in 1999 at the Grammy Awards. In recent years he also played for the elder President Bush and President Clinton. His style of rhythm guitar playing was mimicked by many, including the Rolling Stones.
1978 - Having been forced into a three year forced hiatus from recording, Bruce Springsteen' released his fourth album, Darkness On The Edge of Town, today. The album marked the end of the forced withdrawal from recording which was brought on by contractual obligations and legal battles with his former manager Mike Appel. Although the album did not produce high charting singles it nevertheless remained on the charts for 97 weeks. In September of last year, a documentary film chronicling the making of Darkness was first shown at the Toronto International Film Festival, and in the movie Springsteen was quoted as saying, “more than rich, more than famous, more than happy, I wanted to be great”. I wonder if you've seen this bootleg before.
1984 - UK pop duo, Wham!, had their first UK No.1 with Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go, the song being inspired by a note Andrew Ridgeley left lying in his bedroom. The song was the first #1 hit for the pair, heralding the beginning of a softer, sunnier image for Wham!, who had spent the previous year as a moodier, more politically themed outfit, with protest songs about unemployment, young marriage, and battles of will between parents and their children. With the release of Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go, they re-emerged with wider smiles, more colourful clothing, and a more positive disposition in interviews.
1987 - When he received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1986, classical guitar player Andrés Segovia was cited as the most brilliant and influential of all classical guitar players. The Spanish classical guitarist was born in Linares, Spain and died 24 years ago today. At almost 90 years of age, check this out for total brilliance.
1989 - This is the day Rolling Stones' bassist Bill Wyman married 18-year-old model Mandy Smith, in a ceremony attended by all good Rolling Stones members. They divorced 2 years later, but in the meantime, Mandy managed to have a go at being a pop star, no doubt aided by her new husband. And this is one of her songs, Positive Reaction, what do you think?
1993 - Can music ever cause anybody to commit heinous crimes? Convicted American murderer Ronald Ray Howard's thought so, and said so during his murder trial, which began in Austin, Texas today. Howard killed a state trooper after supposedly listening to Tupac Shakur's 2Pacalypse Now album. Howard was convicted and sentenced to death, and executed by lethal injection on October 6, the 42nd murderer executed in the USA in 2005. Was this one of the songs?
2000 - It's the turn of the century and this was the day when the Record Industry Association of America certified Garth Brooks' Double Live at the 13 million level, thus matching the highest-certified live album record held by Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band's Live 1975-1985 album. Three years later on June 2, The New York Philharmonic announced that it would return to Carnegie Hall. The orchestra cited Carnegie's acoustics as a key reason for the move. Just five years later and Bo Diddley - one of the founding fathers of rock ’n’ roll - died today after months of ill health, at the ripe old age of 73. Diddley's distinctive “shave and a haircut, two bits” rhythm and innovative guitar effects inspired legions of other musicians, while his self-titled song, Bo Diddley, is a rhythm and blues song first recorded and sung by him at the Universal Recording Studio in Chicago and released on the Chess Records subsidiary, Checker Records in 1955. It became an immediate hit single that stayed on the R&B charts for a total of 18 weeks, two of those weeks at #1, and seven more weeks than its flipside, I'm a Man. It was the first recording to introduce African rhythms into rock and roll directly by using the patted juba beat. It was Bo Diddley's first recording and his first hit single. It is #62 on Rolling Stone's list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, the rhythm used still 'borrowed' by contemporary acts. The legendary singer and performer, known for his homemade square guitar, dark glasses and black hat, was an inductee into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame; had a star on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame, and received a lifetime achievement award in 1999 at the Grammy Awards. In recent years he also played for the elder President Bush and President Clinton. His style of rhythm guitar playing was mimicked by many, including the Rolling Stones.
