December 7, 1966 - NANCY Sinatra appeared today on the television special, 'Frank Sinatra: A Man & His Music Part II', for the American CBS-TV network. And this is the song she sang, later used in Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill movie. Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down) is a haunting, alluring original, written by Sonny Bono and released in 1966 by his singer actress partner, Cher. The song reached number three in the UK Singles Chart and number two on the Billboard Hot 100. The same year, the song was covered by Nancy Sinatra. Nancy is just to cool in this clip, her perfect-pitched honey-voice, her presentation hypnotic, the song an absolute killer. An iconic musical moment.
1963 - AS the Beatles began their very short career as a band, everyone wanted a piece of the action, including the British TV show, Jukebox Jury, on which the group appeared today. When the Beatles appeared as the four panelists for this edition of Juke Box Jury, they rated latest music releases by artists like Elvis Presley, Steve and Eydie, Bobby Vinton, Billy Fury, and the Swinging Blue Jeans. The video of the Beatles' appearance on Juke Box Jury appears to no longer exists. Their December 7 Juke Box Jury appearance and a 30 minute film of their concert earlier that afternoon at Liverpool's Empire Theatre was telecast later that night on BBC-TV. The preceding afternoon concert was held in their hometown of Liverpool, and following is a nine and a half minute revealing excerpt, the close shots of the audience being just as interesting as watching the Beatles perform. It's live and they sound awesome. Also revealing of the times, is the stage banter.
1963 - The Singing Nun started a four week run at #1 around the world music popularity charts with her song, Dominique. The song sold almost two million copies of the record. The surpassing hit song won a Grammy Award for thay year's best Gospel song.
1964 - Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys, suffered a nervous breakdown on a flight from L.A. to Houston today, the event sparking Wilson to stop touring with the group. It also led to acrimony between band members and Wilson. More importantly it demonstrated quite clearly that Wilson was the main man. A month earlier, on the afternoon of November 6, The Beach Boys rehearsed a performance of their hit song, 'I Get Around and When I Grow Up (To Be A Man) - complete with false start - for the evening transmission of the popular TV show, Ready Steady Go. The show's co-host Keith Fordyce asked Mike about surfing and Brian about his thoughts on Britain, but questions and replies were drowned out by hysterical screams from the studio audience. Later, Brian is reported to have said: "Ready Steady Go! was a blast! But they pulled Mike into the crowd off camera, which was kind of stupid." Here's that performance.
1968 - ERIC Burdon announced today that he would break-up the Animals after a December 22 concert at Newcastle City Hall in the UK. His intention was to go to California and start an acting career. The acting career did not take off and he continued in various permeations and is still successfully performing today. This following video is from a year prior, the band and Burden at their high-flying peak as they sing about an aspect of the so-called 'summer of love'.
1977 - INVENTOR, Dr Peter Carl Goldmark, who invented the long-playing microgroove record in 1945, died in a car accident today. The principles of his invention remain today. Six years later on the same day, Brit group the Police, scored their second #1 hit record with Walking on the Moon, one of the songs on their second album Reggatta De Blanc. This concert video is from six years later, in Atalanta., Georgia, during the band's Syncronicity concert of 1983.
1984 - MICHAEL Jackson testified in Chicago, Illinois, today, that he wrote the song The Girl is Mine, not an Illinois man who claimed the honour. Jackson won the case. Jackon's duet with former Beatle Paul McCartney was a smash hit, the song taken from Jackson's record-breaking 1982 album, Thriller. Personally, I prefer Say Say Say as a duo from the couple, the song written and performed by McCartney and Jackson. Produced by George Martin for McCartney's fifth solo album, Pipes of Peace, it was released in 1983. After its release in October, Say Say Say became Jackson's 7th worldwide top-ten hit inside a year. The following vid features cameo appearances by Linda McCartney and La Toya Jackson.
1991 - ACHTUNG Baby by U2 debuted on top of Billboard charts today, and in many other charts around the world. To many hardcore U2 fans, this is the band's very best. It was produced by Daniel Lanois and Brian Eno, and followed severe criticism of their 1988 release, Rattle and Hum. U2 shifted their musical direction to incorporate alternative rock, industrial, and electronic dance music influences into their sound. Achtung Baby and the subsequent multimedia-intensive Zoo TV Tour were central to the group's 1990s reinvention, which replaced their earnest public image with a more lighthearted and self-deprecating one.
1996 - AUSTRALIAN singer Peter Andre scored his second #1 UK single, today, with I Feel You. Andre scored a further four Top 10 hits by the end of 1998. I couldn't do that to you, though, dear reader, have that video here, too cruel. So instead, we have Andre's Mysterious Girl, his second overall single and third British single from Andre's second studio album, Natural. The song was released as a single by Melodian Records in Australia in September 1995, however, it was not released until May 1996 in the United Kingdom due to problems regarding the administration of Andre's British record label, Mushroom Records.
1963 - AS the Beatles began their very short career as a band, everyone wanted a piece of the action, including the British TV show, Jukebox Jury, on which the group appeared today. When the Beatles appeared as the four panelists for this edition of Juke Box Jury, they rated latest music releases by artists like Elvis Presley, Steve and Eydie, Bobby Vinton, Billy Fury, and the Swinging Blue Jeans. The video of the Beatles' appearance on Juke Box Jury appears to no longer exists. Their December 7 Juke Box Jury appearance and a 30 minute film of their concert earlier that afternoon at Liverpool's Empire Theatre was telecast later that night on BBC-TV. The preceding afternoon concert was held in their hometown of Liverpool, and following is a nine and a half minute revealing excerpt, the close shots of the audience being just as interesting as watching the Beatles perform. It's live and they sound awesome. Also revealing of the times, is the stage banter.
1963 - The Singing Nun started a four week run at #1 around the world music popularity charts with her song, Dominique. The song sold almost two million copies of the record. The surpassing hit song won a Grammy Award for thay year's best Gospel song.
1964 - Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys, suffered a nervous breakdown on a flight from L.A. to Houston today, the event sparking Wilson to stop touring with the group. It also led to acrimony between band members and Wilson. More importantly it demonstrated quite clearly that Wilson was the main man. A month earlier, on the afternoon of November 6, The Beach Boys rehearsed a performance of their hit song, 'I Get Around and When I Grow Up (To Be A Man) - complete with false start - for the evening transmission of the popular TV show, Ready Steady Go. The show's co-host Keith Fordyce asked Mike about surfing and Brian about his thoughts on Britain, but questions and replies were drowned out by hysterical screams from the studio audience. Later, Brian is reported to have said: "Ready Steady Go! was a blast! But they pulled Mike into the crowd off camera, which was kind of stupid." Here's that performance.
1968 - ERIC Burdon announced today that he would break-up the Animals after a December 22 concert at Newcastle City Hall in the UK. His intention was to go to California and start an acting career. The acting career did not take off and he continued in various permeations and is still successfully performing today. This following video is from a year prior, the band and Burden at their high-flying peak as they sing about an aspect of the so-called 'summer of love'.
1977 - INVENTOR, Dr Peter Carl Goldmark, who invented the long-playing microgroove record in 1945, died in a car accident today. The principles of his invention remain today. Six years later on the same day, Brit group the Police, scored their second #1 hit record with Walking on the Moon, one of the songs on their second album Reggatta De Blanc. This concert video is from six years later, in Atalanta., Georgia, during the band's Syncronicity concert of 1983.
1984 - MICHAEL Jackson testified in Chicago, Illinois, today, that he wrote the song The Girl is Mine, not an Illinois man who claimed the honour. Jackson won the case. Jackon's duet with former Beatle Paul McCartney was a smash hit, the song taken from Jackson's record-breaking 1982 album, Thriller. Personally, I prefer Say Say Say as a duo from the couple, the song written and performed by McCartney and Jackson. Produced by George Martin for McCartney's fifth solo album, Pipes of Peace, it was released in 1983. After its release in October, Say Say Say became Jackson's 7th worldwide top-ten hit inside a year. The following vid features cameo appearances by Linda McCartney and La Toya Jackson.
1991 - ACHTUNG Baby by U2 debuted on top of Billboard charts today, and in many other charts around the world. To many hardcore U2 fans, this is the band's very best. It was produced by Daniel Lanois and Brian Eno, and followed severe criticism of their 1988 release, Rattle and Hum. U2 shifted their musical direction to incorporate alternative rock, industrial, and electronic dance music influences into their sound. Achtung Baby and the subsequent multimedia-intensive Zoo TV Tour were central to the group's 1990s reinvention, which replaced their earnest public image with a more lighthearted and self-deprecating one.
1996 - AUSTRALIAN singer Peter Andre scored his second #1 UK single, today, with I Feel You. Andre scored a further four Top 10 hits by the end of 1998. I couldn't do that to you, though, dear reader, have that video here, too cruel. So instead, we have Andre's Mysterious Girl, his second overall single and third British single from Andre's second studio album, Natural. The song was released as a single by Melodian Records in Australia in September 1995, however, it was not released until May 1996 in the United Kingdom due to problems regarding the administration of Andre's British record label, Mushroom Records.
