March 10, 1965 - THIS IS THE DAY when a bunch of immigrants, in the form of Sydney rock group THE EASYBEATS, released their debut single, For My Woman. It was an ominous song featuring Stevie Wright on vocals, described as an agonised lament, fitted snugly alongside the brittle, bluesy chopped rhythms of George Young, and a splattered lead guitar attack from Harry Vanda that brings to mind early Kinks. The band attacked their instruments and, coupled with Wright's searing, powerful lead vocals, made them one of the best bands in the world, but only Australia knew of them in their early days. In Australia, they were the reigning kings of rock & roll from the summer of 1965 onward, assembling a string of eight Top Ten chart hits in a single year and a half, including an EP that made the singles chart. They remain Australia's Beatles in terms of hysteria created by their very existence. In Australia they called it Easyfever. Stevie Wright originally came from England, although he'd been in Australia for some years, and bassist Dick Diamond hailed from the Netherlands, as did guitarist Harry Vanda, while guitarists George Young and drummer Gordon 'Snowy' Fleet, were recent arrivals from Scotland and England, respectively. Fleet was Liverpool-born and raised, and had been a member of the Mojos, one of that city's more promising bands of 1963 and 1964. They all had talent and a sense of style and an idea of what worked in rock & roll; Snowy Fleet who came up with the name the Easybeats, and the sharp image for the early group, which made them a piece of authentic Brit-beat right in the heart of Sydney, 13,000 miles from Liverpool. After honing their sound and building a name locally around Sydney in late 1964, the group was signed to Albert Productions who, in turn, licensed their releases to Australian EMI's Parlophone label. Ted Albert, their producer, seemed to recognize what he had in a group of talented, newly-transplanted Englishmen and Europeans. Easybeats were the real deal, and a rare musical commodity in Australia at that time. The band was signed up with 20 original songs already written, and as they sounded fresh, he simply let the band cut them, merely making sure the music came out right on vinyl. Working from originals primarily written by Stevie Wright in collaboration with George Young, the group's early records (especially the albums) were slightly derivative of the Liverpool sound, yet had an originality that nobody in the world could touch. What made it special was the sheer energy that the quintet brought to the equation. They remain one of my favourite top5 groups of all time. Following are three of their first hit single releases.
1960 - FREDDIE CANNON became the very first act to have a #1 album in the UK when British trade paper Record Retailer published the UK's first ever EP (extended player) chart and LP chart today. At #1 on the EP chart was Cliff Richard and the Shadows with Expresso Bongo, and on top of album charts was The Explosive Freddy Cannon, by Freddie Cannon, an American rock and roll singer, whose biggest international hits included Tallahassee Lassie, Way Down Yonder In New Orleans, and Palisades Park.
1962 - BRUCE CHANNEL and Delbert McClinton started a three week run on top of charts around the world with the highly infectious Hey! Baby, a catchy little ditty featuring a magic harmonica lick that influenced many acts at the time, including the Beatles' John Lennon. With his harmonica playing mate, McClinton, Bruce Channel toured Europe and was supported at one gig by The Beatles, who were then still unknown. John Lennon, who had Hey! Baby on his famous jukebox, was fascinated by McClinton's harmonica. A popular urban legend has it that Lennon was taught to play harmonica by McClinton, but by that time, Lennon had already been playing the instrument live for some time. The harmonica break in Hey! Baby, though, inspired Lennon's playing on The Beatles' first single, 1962's Love Me Do, as well as later Beatles records, in addition to Frank Ifield's I Remember You. To my knowledge, the harmonica on Channel's hit was the first time the instrument was used in a rock'n'roll recording - as distinct from blues records at that time, where it featured heavily.
1973 - THE PINK FLOYD album, Dark Side Of The Moon, was released in America, today and spent more than 740 weeks on the chart over a 14-year period. For more Pink Floyd go to this daily blog, but in the meantime here is a version of their song, Money from 1994 in Earl's Court, London. composer of the song, Roger Waters is not in this video.
1979 - JAMES BROWN played at the legendary Grand Ole Opry, tonight, believe it or not. If you don't think you hear anything country in his ballads, listen harder. The keyboardist in Opry host Porter Wagoner's band had spent two years playing with Brown, and after Wagoner saw Brown in concert he invited the godfather of soul to come on his show. Brown "performed a medley of Your Cheatin' Heart, Georgia on My Mind and Tennessee Waltz, then followed with some funk," according to one witness. Some Opry stars protested his presence, but the keyboardist later declared that the set "went over real big" with the audience. Brown less enthusiastically said that he "got as much praise as a white man who goes into a black church and puts $100 in the collection plate." Pretty neat and truthful self-observation. Now this isn't a video of James at that show because it doesn't exist, but later in the year he performed at Monterey, and this is one song from that show, as recently found in the 'lost James Brown tapes'.
1988 - ANDY GIBB'S story was a sad and lonely one, a typical story of how life can go in the entertainment industry. He had talent, but was the little brother of the Bee Gees, and no matter what he did he would never reach the heights of his older brothers. Ten years prior to his death I tried to interview him for a television documentary in which I was involved, Australian Music To The World. The crew and I altered our schedule several times to accommodate Gibb's time, but unfortunately, in the end, we could alter it no more. His erratic behaviour was due, in the main, to heavy cocaine usage. He died 24 years ago on this date from myocarditis, which is inflammation of the heart, following a long battle with cocaine addiction. He was 30 years old when he died. Here's a report on his death, then one of his three number one hit songs.
1995 - FORMER STONE ROSES manager Gareth Evans' £10 million (AU$25 approx) lawsuit with the band was settled out of court over alleged wrongful dismissal for an undisclosed sum. The Stone Roses are an English alternative rock band formed in Manchester in 1983. They were one of the pioneering groups of the Madchester movement that was active during the late 1980s and early 1990s. The band's most successful lineup consisted of vocalist Ian Brown, guitarist John Squire, bassist Gary Mani Mounfield, and drummer Alan Reni Wren. The band released its debut album, The Stone Roses, in 1989. The album was a breakthrough success for the band.
2005 - MUSIC VIDEO CHANNEL MUSIC CHOICE concluded that Angels by Robbie Williams was the song Britons would most like played at their funeral. Frank Sinatra's My Way was second and Monty Python's Always Look on the Bright Side of Life'was voted into third place.
1960 - FREDDIE CANNON became the very first act to have a #1 album in the UK when British trade paper Record Retailer published the UK's first ever EP (extended player) chart and LP chart today. At #1 on the EP chart was Cliff Richard and the Shadows with Expresso Bongo, and on top of album charts was The Explosive Freddy Cannon, by Freddie Cannon, an American rock and roll singer, whose biggest international hits included Tallahassee Lassie, Way Down Yonder In New Orleans, and Palisades Park.
1962 - BRUCE CHANNEL and Delbert McClinton started a three week run on top of charts around the world with the highly infectious Hey! Baby, a catchy little ditty featuring a magic harmonica lick that influenced many acts at the time, including the Beatles' John Lennon. With his harmonica playing mate, McClinton, Bruce Channel toured Europe and was supported at one gig by The Beatles, who were then still unknown. John Lennon, who had Hey! Baby on his famous jukebox, was fascinated by McClinton's harmonica. A popular urban legend has it that Lennon was taught to play harmonica by McClinton, but by that time, Lennon had already been playing the instrument live for some time. The harmonica break in Hey! Baby, though, inspired Lennon's playing on The Beatles' first single, 1962's Love Me Do, as well as later Beatles records, in addition to Frank Ifield's I Remember You. To my knowledge, the harmonica on Channel's hit was the first time the instrument was used in a rock'n'roll recording - as distinct from blues records at that time, where it featured heavily.
1973 - THE PINK FLOYD album, Dark Side Of The Moon, was released in America, today and spent more than 740 weeks on the chart over a 14-year period. For more Pink Floyd go to this daily blog, but in the meantime here is a version of their song, Money from 1994 in Earl's Court, London. composer of the song, Roger Waters is not in this video.
1979 - JAMES BROWN played at the legendary Grand Ole Opry, tonight, believe it or not. If you don't think you hear anything country in his ballads, listen harder. The keyboardist in Opry host Porter Wagoner's band had spent two years playing with Brown, and after Wagoner saw Brown in concert he invited the godfather of soul to come on his show. Brown "performed a medley of Your Cheatin' Heart, Georgia on My Mind and Tennessee Waltz, then followed with some funk," according to one witness. Some Opry stars protested his presence, but the keyboardist later declared that the set "went over real big" with the audience. Brown less enthusiastically said that he "got as much praise as a white man who goes into a black church and puts $100 in the collection plate." Pretty neat and truthful self-observation. Now this isn't a video of James at that show because it doesn't exist, but later in the year he performed at Monterey, and this is one song from that show, as recently found in the 'lost James Brown tapes'.
1988 - ANDY GIBB'S story was a sad and lonely one, a typical story of how life can go in the entertainment industry. He had talent, but was the little brother of the Bee Gees, and no matter what he did he would never reach the heights of his older brothers. Ten years prior to his death I tried to interview him for a television documentary in which I was involved, Australian Music To The World. The crew and I altered our schedule several times to accommodate Gibb's time, but unfortunately, in the end, we could alter it no more. His erratic behaviour was due, in the main, to heavy cocaine usage. He died 24 years ago on this date from myocarditis, which is inflammation of the heart, following a long battle with cocaine addiction. He was 30 years old when he died. Here's a report on his death, then one of his three number one hit songs.
1995 - FORMER STONE ROSES manager Gareth Evans' £10 million (AU$25 approx) lawsuit with the band was settled out of court over alleged wrongful dismissal for an undisclosed sum. The Stone Roses are an English alternative rock band formed in Manchester in 1983. They were one of the pioneering groups of the Madchester movement that was active during the late 1980s and early 1990s. The band's most successful lineup consisted of vocalist Ian Brown, guitarist John Squire, bassist Gary Mani Mounfield, and drummer Alan Reni Wren. The band released its debut album, The Stone Roses, in 1989. The album was a breakthrough success for the band.
2005 - MUSIC VIDEO CHANNEL MUSIC CHOICE concluded that Angels by Robbie Williams was the song Britons would most like played at their funeral. Frank Sinatra's My Way was second and Monty Python's Always Look on the Bright Side of Life'was voted into third place.
