1927 - They called Sophie Tucker the 'last of the red hot mamas', her risque comical music deliveries being both brash and loud. The piano-playing Tucker sang burlesque and vaudeville tunes, firstly, made up as a black face. She later said that this was at the insistence of theatre managers, who said she was "too fat and ugly" to be accepted by an audience if she looked white. She even sang songs that acknowledged her weight, such as Nobody Loves a Fat Girl, But Oh How a Fat Girl Can Love. She was one of the most popular entertainers in America during the first half of the 20th century, performing mainly African American influenced songs. Sophie Tucker hired some of the best African American singers of the time to give her lessons, and even hired African American composers to write songs for her act. We could go on all night long with Sophie, but this was the day she recorded her song, Some of These Days. Was she the first rapper?
1931 - It's September 2, and the budding new American radio network, CBS, debuted the new show, '15 Minutes With Bing Crosby'', and four years later, on the same day, Gershwin completed the orchestral score for the opera Porgy and Bess. One of the compositions was an aria entitled Summertime, lyrics written by DuBose, Dorothy Heyward, and Ira Gershwin. The song soon became a popular jazz standard, and there have been many great versions of the song, not least of which was from Janis Joplin. But this was the original.
1963 - In the early sixties, girl groups were awash all over the music sales charts, and one such group, the Angels, became the first white all-female group to have a #1 record. The song was My Boyfriend's Back, an they took their place alongside other girl groups in the charts, such as the Shirelles, the Ronettes and the Chantels.
1965 - This is the day the Beatles received a gold record for the song, Help! I've never seen this video before. Was this in the movie, Help? Anyone out there give us a hand on that one?They clearly had fun filming this clip.
1965 - You won't see another video like this one of The Rolling Stones as they appeared on the British rock TV show Ready Steady Go! Mick Jagger, their manager, Andrew Loog Oldham and all the Stones members performed a parody of Sonny & Cher's I Got You Babe. This is hilarious...the Stones in drag, miming Sonny and Cher - bet you aint seen this one before.
1970 - Progressive rock group, Genesis, bought an advert in today's Melody Maker, requiring a drummer, and Phil Collins answered the ad, and eventually joined the group. This is the day, too, that the Grateful Dead's ex-manager took hippy love a bit too far and was caught, charged and arrested for embezzling $70,000 from the band. Seven years later, same day, and George Harrison got married to one of the secretaries at his record company, Dark Horse, her name being Olivia Trinidad Arias. And on this day in 1978 the Animal House movie soundtrack was released, and leashed John Belushi onto the world. And for you folks who missed John Belushi, and for those who may well have forgotten, here's a little bit of comedy genius from Belushi.
1986 - After releasing 20 top 40 hits in the UK, and a few worldwide hits, including their #1 hit, House of Fun, Madness announced today that they were giving the game away. Like Dame Nellie Melba, though, they had a few farewells and reformations; they reformed in 1992, then again in 1999.
1987 - The Amnesty International Tour started in London, tonight, and it starred Bruce Springsteen, Sting, Peter Gabriel and Tracy Chapman. This is amazing footage here, dear reader, as Springsteen leads London in this massive sing-along of Twist and Shout.
2000 - This is the day, 11 years ago, that the Spice Girls had five places the top 20 of another kind, this time in a list of the UK Top 20 earning celebrity directors. Their companies are as follows; Monsta Productions (Emma), Moody Productions, (Posh), Red Girl Productions, (Mel C), Moneyspider Productions, (Mel B) and Geri Productions, each with £6m each. I guess that calls for this video at the turn of the century. These are business directors, the Spice Girls, applying their s&m fantasies in this soft porn torture of their male slave boy.
1931 - It's September 2, and the budding new American radio network, CBS, debuted the new show, '15 Minutes With Bing Crosby'', and four years later, on the same day, Gershwin completed the orchestral score for the opera Porgy and Bess. One of the compositions was an aria entitled Summertime, lyrics written by DuBose, Dorothy Heyward, and Ira Gershwin. The song soon became a popular jazz standard, and there have been many great versions of the song, not least of which was from Janis Joplin. But this was the original.
1963 - In the early sixties, girl groups were awash all over the music sales charts, and one such group, the Angels, became the first white all-female group to have a #1 record. The song was My Boyfriend's Back, an they took their place alongside other girl groups in the charts, such as the Shirelles, the Ronettes and the Chantels.
1965 - This is the day the Beatles received a gold record for the song, Help! I've never seen this video before. Was this in the movie, Help? Anyone out there give us a hand on that one?They clearly had fun filming this clip.
1965 - You won't see another video like this one of The Rolling Stones as they appeared on the British rock TV show Ready Steady Go! Mick Jagger, their manager, Andrew Loog Oldham and all the Stones members performed a parody of Sonny & Cher's I Got You Babe. This is hilarious...the Stones in drag, miming Sonny and Cher - bet you aint seen this one before.
1970 - Progressive rock group, Genesis, bought an advert in today's Melody Maker, requiring a drummer, and Phil Collins answered the ad, and eventually joined the group. This is the day, too, that the Grateful Dead's ex-manager took hippy love a bit too far and was caught, charged and arrested for embezzling $70,000 from the band. Seven years later, same day, and George Harrison got married to one of the secretaries at his record company, Dark Horse, her name being Olivia Trinidad Arias. And on this day in 1978 the Animal House movie soundtrack was released, and leashed John Belushi onto the world. And for you folks who missed John Belushi, and for those who may well have forgotten, here's a little bit of comedy genius from Belushi.
1986 - After releasing 20 top 40 hits in the UK, and a few worldwide hits, including their #1 hit, House of Fun, Madness announced today that they were giving the game away. Like Dame Nellie Melba, though, they had a few farewells and reformations; they reformed in 1992, then again in 1999.
1987 - The Amnesty International Tour started in London, tonight, and it starred Bruce Springsteen, Sting, Peter Gabriel and Tracy Chapman. This is amazing footage here, dear reader, as Springsteen leads London in this massive sing-along of Twist and Shout.
2000 - This is the day, 11 years ago, that the Spice Girls had five places the top 20 of another kind, this time in a list of the UK Top 20 earning celebrity directors. Their companies are as follows; Monsta Productions (Emma), Moody Productions, (Posh), Red Girl Productions, (Mel C), Moneyspider Productions, (Mel B) and Geri Productions, each with £6m each. I guess that calls for this video at the turn of the century. These are business directors, the Spice Girls, applying their s&m fantasies in this soft porn torture of their male slave boy.
