November 12, 1956 - JOHNNIE Ray has never been inducted into the Rock'n'Roll Hall of Fame, but his music and singing style, alongside his onstage theatrics, was a pre-cursor - way back in the early fifties - of a future animated rock'n'roll style. He remains one of the most controversial performers of his day. In live performance, he would beat up his piano, lie on the floor as if he were in pain, tear at his hair, literally cry and sob, and add further animations to his singing. Sound familiar? A lot of rock and roll performers who came after him, copied his animated performing style. He entered the studio in October of 1951 and recorded a two-sided hit with vocal backing provided by the Four Lads. One side was The Little White Cloud That Cried, and the other Cry. Both were two of the biggest hits of year 1951 and firmly established Johnny Ray on the pop charts for most of the decade. Influenced by LaVern Baker and Ivory Joe Hunter, Ray developed a unique rhythm-based style, described as alternating between pre-rock R&B and a more conventional classic pop approach. He sold more than two million 78 records to a mostly-teenage audience, who embraced his style, turning him into a teen idol. Ray quickly earned the nicknames 'Mr. Emotion', and 'Prince of Wails'.
1966 - THIS song and its lyrics pretty well sum up Donovan in a nut shell...and for that matter, a large part of the sixties is in this time capsuled video. This is the song that shot Donovan to prominence, and it was released 45 years ago today...Sitting on a cornflake eating an electrical banana, dancing beneath the diamond sky with one hand waving free….take another toke for me.
1967 - COUSIN to proven hypocrite southern American preacher Jimmy Swaggart, Jerry Lee Lewis switched to his roots of country music on this day when he released the beautiful song, To Make Love Sweeter For You. The killer performs the song in this video, and it eventually went to #1 in 1968. The rock'n'roll pioneer was a versatile musician and one of the forefather creators and architects of rock'n'roll music. Hail, hail Jerry Lee.
1970 - AT the Warehouse club in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA, Jim Morrison had his final appearance with the Doors, on this day 40 years ago. During this performance Morrison had a meltdown. He gave up during mid song, suddenly slammed the microphone into the stage floor, sat down on the stage, and refused to sing anymore. The Doors decided it was perhaps best not to perform live again. And so it was. Morrison and his then-squeeze, Pam Courzon soon moved to Paris in the early part of 1971. This video of their very final performance - in black and white, of course - was bootlegged from the Australian TV show at the time, GTK. can anyone out there in real land confirm whether or not this was the final Doors performance?
1979 - EVERYONE thought they could write rock operas, and Marty Balin from Jefferson Starship was no exception. His contribution to the genre was Rock Justice, which began a four-day run on this day, at San Francisco's Old Waldorf night club, and it has never been heard of since. And on that same day, 27 years ago, in 1984, Madonna released the shiny and new song that took her to the top, and this is that song, dear reader, live on MTV. Oh how we've all changed in a quarter century.
1987 - FUNKSTER Sly Stone was arrested for non-payment of child support, today, when he arrived an hour late for his so-called comeback concert in LA. Stone was a super freak, no doubt about it, musically on his own trip, setting the tone for funk riffs, but he was also a drug fiend and that's what ruined his entire career. Sad, sad, sad. He was located by the New York Times, just two days ago, living in a caravan in downtown Los Angeles. Hope he can make it back to real life. Here's one of his biggest hits, Thank You, with one of the greatest funk bass riffs of all time.
1993 - MICHAEL Jackson's possibly being a prescription drug addict first came to light today in '93 when he cancelled a world tour, telling the world that he had a dependence on painkillers. And yet, did nobody take notice in hid family or circle of friends? Sixteen years later he died from a prescription drug overdoes. And what was he singing in 1993? Any Jackson doubters out there should check out this live clip of Jam, from Mexico in 1993 - an awesome artist, no question.
1996 - EMINEM is one of my favourite acts of all time, and it is already 15 years since he released his debut album on this day. No longer a new artist, Eminem has since gone on to be the man who mainstreamed rapping and introducing a new sub-genre of rap...just like Elvis did with rock'n'roll decades earlier. Both popularised African-American music, and took it to a new audience. This is a song from way back when Eminem was brand new, like a virgin.
2000 - DESTINY'S Child started an eleven week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with Independent Women Part 1, 11 years ago today. Can you believe that? Taken from the group's third studio album, Survivor, the song first appeared on the soundtrack to the 2000 film Charlie's Angels. This is a version, live from Rotterdam in 2002.
1966 - THIS song and its lyrics pretty well sum up Donovan in a nut shell...and for that matter, a large part of the sixties is in this time capsuled video. This is the song that shot Donovan to prominence, and it was released 45 years ago today...Sitting on a cornflake eating an electrical banana, dancing beneath the diamond sky with one hand waving free….take another toke for me.
1967 - COUSIN to proven hypocrite southern American preacher Jimmy Swaggart, Jerry Lee Lewis switched to his roots of country music on this day when he released the beautiful song, To Make Love Sweeter For You. The killer performs the song in this video, and it eventually went to #1 in 1968. The rock'n'roll pioneer was a versatile musician and one of the forefather creators and architects of rock'n'roll music. Hail, hail Jerry Lee.
1970 - AT the Warehouse club in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA, Jim Morrison had his final appearance with the Doors, on this day 40 years ago. During this performance Morrison had a meltdown. He gave up during mid song, suddenly slammed the microphone into the stage floor, sat down on the stage, and refused to sing anymore. The Doors decided it was perhaps best not to perform live again. And so it was. Morrison and his then-squeeze, Pam Courzon soon moved to Paris in the early part of 1971. This video of their very final performance - in black and white, of course - was bootlegged from the Australian TV show at the time, GTK. can anyone out there in real land confirm whether or not this was the final Doors performance?
1979 - EVERYONE thought they could write rock operas, and Marty Balin from Jefferson Starship was no exception. His contribution to the genre was Rock Justice, which began a four-day run on this day, at San Francisco's Old Waldorf night club, and it has never been heard of since. And on that same day, 27 years ago, in 1984, Madonna released the shiny and new song that took her to the top, and this is that song, dear reader, live on MTV. Oh how we've all changed in a quarter century.
1987 - FUNKSTER Sly Stone was arrested for non-payment of child support, today, when he arrived an hour late for his so-called comeback concert in LA. Stone was a super freak, no doubt about it, musically on his own trip, setting the tone for funk riffs, but he was also a drug fiend and that's what ruined his entire career. Sad, sad, sad. He was located by the New York Times, just two days ago, living in a caravan in downtown Los Angeles. Hope he can make it back to real life. Here's one of his biggest hits, Thank You, with one of the greatest funk bass riffs of all time.
1993 - MICHAEL Jackson's possibly being a prescription drug addict first came to light today in '93 when he cancelled a world tour, telling the world that he had a dependence on painkillers. And yet, did nobody take notice in hid family or circle of friends? Sixteen years later he died from a prescription drug overdoes. And what was he singing in 1993? Any Jackson doubters out there should check out this live clip of Jam, from Mexico in 1993 - an awesome artist, no question.
1996 - EMINEM is one of my favourite acts of all time, and it is already 15 years since he released his debut album on this day. No longer a new artist, Eminem has since gone on to be the man who mainstreamed rapping and introducing a new sub-genre of rap...just like Elvis did with rock'n'roll decades earlier. Both popularised African-American music, and took it to a new audience. This is a song from way back when Eminem was brand new, like a virgin.
2000 - DESTINY'S Child started an eleven week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with Independent Women Part 1, 11 years ago today. Can you believe that? Taken from the group's third studio album, Survivor, the song first appeared on the soundtrack to the 2000 film Charlie's Angels. This is a version, live from Rotterdam in 2002.
