December 14, 1963 - DINAH Washington was found dead in her home by her husband, this morning, from a lethal combination-overdose of the legal prescription drugs, secobarbital and amobarbital. She was just 39 years old. She was known as the most popular black female recording artist of the '50s, and many called cited her as 'The Queen of the Blues'. Ms. Washington was married eight times and divorced seven times, her 8th husband discovering her dead body after both fell asleep together the night before. Her first record for Mercury Records was a version of Fats Waller's Ain't Misbehavin'. She is one of music history's most successful artists with 34 top ten hits on the Billboard R&B charts. She is also a spectacular singer and entertainer.
1962 - MIXED-UP Confusion is a song written and recorded by Bob Dylan 49 years ago today. It was recorded during the sessions for The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan, but was not used on that album, which was entirely acoustic. According to rocklore, Dylan wrote the song in a cab on the way to Columbia Studios for the recording session. A different, previously unreleased take from the same session appeared on the compilation album Masterpiece. The song was backed with Corrina, Corrina, a traditional blues song. Just a little more than a year later, February '84, after attending a Mardi Gras in New Orleans, Dylan wrote Mr. Tambourine Man, and performed it later that year at the Newport Folk Festival. This is a precious gem!
1966 - One of Elvis Presley's many, many movies, Spinout, premiered 45 years ago, today, and it was only two years later that Tommy James and the Shondells released Crimson & Clover, a monster hit at the time. The song was written by the duo of Tommy James and drummer Peter Lucia Jr., and was intended as a change in direction for the group's sound and composition. It has since sold more than six million copies. Following that is a cover version from the stomping' Joan Jett.
1972 - Alexander's department store in New York stayed open late so Alice Cooper could do his Christmas shopping. Absurd, but there you go. More money for Alexander's I reckon. This is one of the benefits of being rich, but it only demonstrates why the rich should not be privileged…the rich get rich and the poor get poorer…at the time Alice was a star, gathering school kids everywhere to sing along with the chorus, "School's Out For Summer."
1972 - RINGO Starr's directorial debut movie about UK rocker Marc Bolan, debuted in London tonight. Born to Boogie stars Elton John and is essentially 1972 concert film based around a show at Wembley Empire, starring Marc Bolan and T. Rex. Directed by Ringo Starr, the movie was released on The Beatles' Apple Films label. the film was mostly filmed at Apple Studios in Savile Row, London, although 'The Tea Party' sequence was filmed at John Lennon's estate in the same spots as his Imagine video was filmed. Here is part 2 & 5 of the doco.
1980 - YOKO Ono called for a 10-minute silent vigil around the world for her late husband, John Lennon, who had been shot to death six days earlier. More than 100,000 people went to Central Park in New York to honour Yoko's request.
1991 - MICHAEL Jackson's Dangerous album debuted at #1 on Billboard's pop albums chart, today, and following is an MTV advert from 20 years ago for the record. Dangerous was Jackson's eighth studio album and it was his second to debut at #1. The album has since sold more than 34 million copies, making it one of the best selling albums ever. The music, a fusion genre spearheaded by producers Teddy Riley and Bernard Belle, was dubbed new jack swing, popular from the late-1980s into the mid-1990s, its influence, along with hip-hop, meshed into the so-called 'black New York club scene'. New jack swing fused rhythms, samples and production techniques of hip-hop and dance-pop with the urban contemporary sound of R&B, combining elements of older styles with newer sensibilities. R&B-style vocals are sung over hip-hop and dance-pop instrumentation. New jack swing captures the hip hop swing beats created by drum machine, and hardware samplers, which was popular during the golden age of hip hop. So, without further ado…
1995 - CLASSIFIED documents from the White House were released today, revealing the FBI had spied on John Lennon and his anti-war activities during the early '70s in a possible attempt to have the singer deported. Four years later to the day, and John's old mate returned to Liverpool and did a show at the group's old haunt, The Cavern Club. It was the first time that Paul McCartney had played at the club since 1963, and what a buzz it must have been - as this video demonstrates very clearly. Wait a minute - is that a Pink Floyd I see on guitar?
1962 - MIXED-UP Confusion is a song written and recorded by Bob Dylan 49 years ago today. It was recorded during the sessions for The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan, but was not used on that album, which was entirely acoustic. According to rocklore, Dylan wrote the song in a cab on the way to Columbia Studios for the recording session. A different, previously unreleased take from the same session appeared on the compilation album Masterpiece. The song was backed with Corrina, Corrina, a traditional blues song. Just a little more than a year later, February '84, after attending a Mardi Gras in New Orleans, Dylan wrote Mr. Tambourine Man, and performed it later that year at the Newport Folk Festival. This is a precious gem!
1966 - One of Elvis Presley's many, many movies, Spinout, premiered 45 years ago, today, and it was only two years later that Tommy James and the Shondells released Crimson & Clover, a monster hit at the time. The song was written by the duo of Tommy James and drummer Peter Lucia Jr., and was intended as a change in direction for the group's sound and composition. It has since sold more than six million copies. Following that is a cover version from the stomping' Joan Jett.
1972 - Alexander's department store in New York stayed open late so Alice Cooper could do his Christmas shopping. Absurd, but there you go. More money for Alexander's I reckon. This is one of the benefits of being rich, but it only demonstrates why the rich should not be privileged…the rich get rich and the poor get poorer…at the time Alice was a star, gathering school kids everywhere to sing along with the chorus, "School's Out For Summer."
1972 - RINGO Starr's directorial debut movie about UK rocker Marc Bolan, debuted in London tonight. Born to Boogie stars Elton John and is essentially 1972 concert film based around a show at Wembley Empire, starring Marc Bolan and T. Rex. Directed by Ringo Starr, the movie was released on The Beatles' Apple Films label. the film was mostly filmed at Apple Studios in Savile Row, London, although 'The Tea Party' sequence was filmed at John Lennon's estate in the same spots as his Imagine video was filmed. Here is part 2 & 5 of the doco.
1980 - YOKO Ono called for a 10-minute silent vigil around the world for her late husband, John Lennon, who had been shot to death six days earlier. More than 100,000 people went to Central Park in New York to honour Yoko's request.
1991 - MICHAEL Jackson's Dangerous album debuted at #1 on Billboard's pop albums chart, today, and following is an MTV advert from 20 years ago for the record. Dangerous was Jackson's eighth studio album and it was his second to debut at #1. The album has since sold more than 34 million copies, making it one of the best selling albums ever. The music, a fusion genre spearheaded by producers Teddy Riley and Bernard Belle, was dubbed new jack swing, popular from the late-1980s into the mid-1990s, its influence, along with hip-hop, meshed into the so-called 'black New York club scene'. New jack swing fused rhythms, samples and production techniques of hip-hop and dance-pop with the urban contemporary sound of R&B, combining elements of older styles with newer sensibilities. R&B-style vocals are sung over hip-hop and dance-pop instrumentation. New jack swing captures the hip hop swing beats created by drum machine, and hardware samplers, which was popular during the golden age of hip hop. So, without further ado…
1995 - CLASSIFIED documents from the White House were released today, revealing the FBI had spied on John Lennon and his anti-war activities during the early '70s in a possible attempt to have the singer deported. Four years later to the day, and John's old mate returned to Liverpool and did a show at the group's old haunt, The Cavern Club. It was the first time that Paul McCartney had played at the club since 1963, and what a buzz it must have been - as this video demonstrates very clearly. Wait a minute - is that a Pink Floyd I see on guitar?
