February 1, 1939 - IT'S THE START OF WW2 and jazz ruled the musical world. It had its own sub-genres, each with its own exponent, musicians such as Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Glenn Miller, Tommy Dorsey and Benny Goodman, who was known as the 'swing king'. Today's the day Goodman recorded one of his big hits, And The Angels Sing, written by Johnny Mercer. A year earlier, on January 16, 1938 Goodman headed what has since been described as "the single most important jazz or popular music concert in history: jazz's 'coming out' party to the world of 'respectable' music." The concert at Carnegie Hall in New York City was It sold out weeks before, with the capacity 2,760 seats going for the top price of US$2.75 a seat, very expensive in the day. The mixed crowd erupted and suddenly jazz was mainstream music, and very hip. Watch this first video of Goodman and drummer Gene Krupa and the amazing orchestra and you'll see why. Absolutely stylish class. After that, the same song again taken from a scene in the biopic, The Benny Goodman Story.
1896 - GIACOMO PUCCINI was an Italian composer whose operas, including La Bohème, Tosca, Madama Butterfly, are among the most frequently performed today more than a century later, becoming part of popular culture in the process. Puccini's La Boheme was first staged in Turin, Italy today. The story of La Boheme is set in Paris in the 1830s, essentially focussing on the love between the seamstress called Mimì and the poet Rodolfo. like most operas, it has a tragic ending, with Rodolfo trying to deal with Mimi's terminal illness and her flirtatious personality. Puccini is considered as "one of the greatest exponents of operatic realism", and regarded as one of the last major Italian opera composers. La Boheme keeps being modernised and following video is from the great Pavorotti's 25th anniversary of his 1964 Moscow performance of La Boheme. It is an intense performance from all concerned, Then there is the original Moscow performance. Purely magnificent.
1940 - TOMMY DORSEY was another of the jazz brigade breaking through to across-the-board popular acceptance all over the world as some of it began to morph into popular hit parade music, featuring young singers. Today's the day Dorsey hired a skinny young dude named Frank Sinatra to replace his boy vocalist, Jack Leonard. Backed by vocal group the Pied Pipers, Frank and Dorsey recorded Too Romantic and The Sky Fell Down today. But their first hit was There Are Such Things. This is Dorsey's piano player at the time, Milt Raskin, interviewed by Chuck Cecil of radio's The Swinging Years, and Milt picks up the story of that day.
1964 - LOUIE LOUIE by the Kingsmen was deemed to be pornographic, today, as pronounced by Matthew Walsh, the Governor of Indiana. He asked the Indiana Broadcasters Association to ban the record, but radio stations claimed it was impossible to accurately figure out the lyrics from "the unintelligible rendition as performed by the Kingsmen." Much has been written about the controversy, but in the end, Indiana was the only state to actually ban the record from radio play. Indeed, after the poor old prejudiced governor made his declaration the record started selling even more copies, and eventually went to #1 and became a huge, huge hit. It also became a classic rock song for people like Iggy Pop and Ross Wilson's Pink Finks. So...here is the original by the Kingsmen, performed live on Shindig, followed by Iggy's version, then Pink Finks version, featuring two Melbourne school boys, Ross Wilson and Ross Hannaford, both of whom went on to become pivotal and integral members of the Australian music scene. Apologies for no real video of the Pink Finks' version, but do listen to the sound.
1963 - NEIL YOUNG reportedly performed his very first gig at a country club in Winnipeg, Canada 49 years ago today. OK, so this video isn't really of that very first professional gig when he was just 17. Instead this is the Swedish (I think) advertisement for Neil Young's Archives Volume 1, 1963-1972 historical music package, which goes right back to that first gig. The breakthrough box set was released in 2009 and is supposedly the first of several in a Neil Young Archives series. The box, which won a Grammy Award for Best Boxed or Special Limited Edition Package.
1969 - JONI MITCHELL made her Carnegie hall debut today in 1969, at the tender age of 26 - that's 43 years ago. In 1965 she moved to the United States from Canada and, touring constantly, began to be recognized when her original songs Both Sides, Now, The Circle Game were successfully covered, allowing her to sign with Reprise Records and record her own debut album in1968. Settling in Southern California, Mitchell and her popular songs like Big Yellow Taxi and Woodstock helped define an era and a generation. Her more starkly personal 1971 recording Blue has been called one of the best albums ever made. In 2006, the album Blue was listed by TIME magazine as among the All-Time 100 Albums. Musically restless, Mitchell switched labels and began moving toward jazz rhythms by way of lush pop textures on 1974's Court and Spark, her best-selling LP, featuring her radio hits Help Me. Without doubt Ms. Mitchell remains one of the major musical influences of the past four decades. this is Joni with her defining song, performing it as the Big Sur in California.
1969 - TOMMY JAMES and the Shondells started a two week run at top spot on charts around the world today, with their song Crimson And Clover. The group enjoyed 12 other Top 40 hits, including five in the top ten. Their songs have been covered by many acts, including Joan Jett and Billy Idol.
1972 - CHUCK BERRY had his first #1 song in England this very day - not with his rock'n'roll songs, but with a live recording of a song he'd been playing live for over 20 years, My Ding-a-Ling. British morality campaigner Mary Whitehouse attempted to have the song banned due to its innuendo-laden lyrics. Here's a video of Berry in BBC Studios in London - I think, even though there are German sub-titles (again, I *think* German). It's just amazing to see this predominantly female, young audience, all singing along with Chuck, all playing with their danglings, smiles on faces.
1997 - BLUR, one of the two bands that defined Brit Pop, went to #1 this very day with the highly infectious rocker, Beetlebum. Time is a great leveller, and while the other main Brit pop band, Oasis talked themselves up regarding their Beatles cred, Blur were actually doing it. Supposedly the song is about heroin and the drug experiences that Damon Albarn had with his then girlfriend, Justine Frischmann of Elastica. Albarn has stated in an interview with MTV that the song describes a complicated emotion, sort of "sleepy" and sort of "sexy". Have no idea if that story is true, by the way. Whatever the case, this is a great song…so influenced by the Beatles and Kinks they deserve a medal…and to think what was still to come from Damon Albarn - certainly one of the best contemporary music makers of post -90s rock/pop. First the official vid, then a live performance, New Year's Eve, 1997.
1896 - GIACOMO PUCCINI was an Italian composer whose operas, including La Bohème, Tosca, Madama Butterfly, are among the most frequently performed today more than a century later, becoming part of popular culture in the process. Puccini's La Boheme was first staged in Turin, Italy today. The story of La Boheme is set in Paris in the 1830s, essentially focussing on the love between the seamstress called Mimì and the poet Rodolfo. like most operas, it has a tragic ending, with Rodolfo trying to deal with Mimi's terminal illness and her flirtatious personality. Puccini is considered as "one of the greatest exponents of operatic realism", and regarded as one of the last major Italian opera composers. La Boheme keeps being modernised and following video is from the great Pavorotti's 25th anniversary of his 1964 Moscow performance of La Boheme. It is an intense performance from all concerned, Then there is the original Moscow performance. Purely magnificent.
1940 - TOMMY DORSEY was another of the jazz brigade breaking through to across-the-board popular acceptance all over the world as some of it began to morph into popular hit parade music, featuring young singers. Today's the day Dorsey hired a skinny young dude named Frank Sinatra to replace his boy vocalist, Jack Leonard. Backed by vocal group the Pied Pipers, Frank and Dorsey recorded Too Romantic and The Sky Fell Down today. But their first hit was There Are Such Things. This is Dorsey's piano player at the time, Milt Raskin, interviewed by Chuck Cecil of radio's The Swinging Years, and Milt picks up the story of that day.
1964 - LOUIE LOUIE by the Kingsmen was deemed to be pornographic, today, as pronounced by Matthew Walsh, the Governor of Indiana. He asked the Indiana Broadcasters Association to ban the record, but radio stations claimed it was impossible to accurately figure out the lyrics from "the unintelligible rendition as performed by the Kingsmen." Much has been written about the controversy, but in the end, Indiana was the only state to actually ban the record from radio play. Indeed, after the poor old prejudiced governor made his declaration the record started selling even more copies, and eventually went to #1 and became a huge, huge hit. It also became a classic rock song for people like Iggy Pop and Ross Wilson's Pink Finks. So...here is the original by the Kingsmen, performed live on Shindig, followed by Iggy's version, then Pink Finks version, featuring two Melbourne school boys, Ross Wilson and Ross Hannaford, both of whom went on to become pivotal and integral members of the Australian music scene. Apologies for no real video of the Pink Finks' version, but do listen to the sound.
1963 - NEIL YOUNG reportedly performed his very first gig at a country club in Winnipeg, Canada 49 years ago today. OK, so this video isn't really of that very first professional gig when he was just 17. Instead this is the Swedish (I think) advertisement for Neil Young's Archives Volume 1, 1963-1972 historical music package, which goes right back to that first gig. The breakthrough box set was released in 2009 and is supposedly the first of several in a Neil Young Archives series. The box, which won a Grammy Award for Best Boxed or Special Limited Edition Package.
1969 - JONI MITCHELL made her Carnegie hall debut today in 1969, at the tender age of 26 - that's 43 years ago. In 1965 she moved to the United States from Canada and, touring constantly, began to be recognized when her original songs Both Sides, Now, The Circle Game were successfully covered, allowing her to sign with Reprise Records and record her own debut album in1968. Settling in Southern California, Mitchell and her popular songs like Big Yellow Taxi and Woodstock helped define an era and a generation. Her more starkly personal 1971 recording Blue has been called one of the best albums ever made. In 2006, the album Blue was listed by TIME magazine as among the All-Time 100 Albums. Musically restless, Mitchell switched labels and began moving toward jazz rhythms by way of lush pop textures on 1974's Court and Spark, her best-selling LP, featuring her radio hits Help Me. Without doubt Ms. Mitchell remains one of the major musical influences of the past four decades. this is Joni with her defining song, performing it as the Big Sur in California.
1969 - TOMMY JAMES and the Shondells started a two week run at top spot on charts around the world today, with their song Crimson And Clover. The group enjoyed 12 other Top 40 hits, including five in the top ten. Their songs have been covered by many acts, including Joan Jett and Billy Idol.
1972 - CHUCK BERRY had his first #1 song in England this very day - not with his rock'n'roll songs, but with a live recording of a song he'd been playing live for over 20 years, My Ding-a-Ling. British morality campaigner Mary Whitehouse attempted to have the song banned due to its innuendo-laden lyrics. Here's a video of Berry in BBC Studios in London - I think, even though there are German sub-titles (again, I *think* German). It's just amazing to see this predominantly female, young audience, all singing along with Chuck, all playing with their danglings, smiles on faces.
1997 - BLUR, one of the two bands that defined Brit Pop, went to #1 this very day with the highly infectious rocker, Beetlebum. Time is a great leveller, and while the other main Brit pop band, Oasis talked themselves up regarding their Beatles cred, Blur were actually doing it. Supposedly the song is about heroin and the drug experiences that Damon Albarn had with his then girlfriend, Justine Frischmann of Elastica. Albarn has stated in an interview with MTV that the song describes a complicated emotion, sort of "sleepy" and sort of "sexy". Have no idea if that story is true, by the way. Whatever the case, this is a great song…so influenced by the Beatles and Kinks they deserve a medal…and to think what was still to come from Damon Albarn - certainly one of the best contemporary music makers of post -90s rock/pop. First the official vid, then a live performance, New Year's Eve, 1997.
