February 11 & 12, 2000 - SCREAMIN' J HAWKINS died today, aged 61, the singer being best remembered for his astoundingly successful song, I Put a Spell on You. Hawkins' performances were mostly powerful, operatic, and wildly theatrical, his powerful voice booming. He sometimes used macabre props onstage, making him one of the few early shock rockers. His most successful recording was the 1956 recording, I Put a Spell on You, selected as one of The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll. According to the All Music Guide to the Blues: "Hawkins originally envisioned the tune as a refined ballad. On the night of the recording, rocklore has it, the entire band was intoxicated during the recording session where "Hawkins screamed, grunted, and gurgled his way through the tune with utter drunken abandon." The resulting performance was no ballad but instead a "raw, guttural track" that became his greatest commercial success and reportedly surpassed a million copies in sales. Hawkins opened shows for Fats Domino, Tiny Grimes and the Rolling Stones, the exposure, in turn, influenced rock groups such as Manson, Alice Cooper, The Cramps, Screaming Lord Sutch, Black Sabbath, Arthur Brown, Dread Zeppelin, The Horrors.
1963 - ALMOST HALF A CENTURY has gone by since the Beatles recorded their biggest early hysteria hits, Twist & Shout and I Saw Her Standing There. Here they are, live, the first from a bootleg televised concert in Liverpool, the second in a live Swedish Television studio in front of a live audience. These are both genuine, original videos, and not enhanced. As half a century looms it is fitting tor emend ourselves that the Beatles were a damn fine love rock'n'roll band.
1966 - Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down), that much-covered song was written by there late Sonny Bono and recorded by his wife, Cher, on this day in 1966. The song was the second single by singer-actress Cher from her second studio album The Sonny Side of Cher. In the same year, the song was covered by Nancy Sinatra. It was this latter version that featured in the Quentin Tarantino movie, Kill Bill. Other cover versions of the song came from Beau Brummels, Audio Bullies, Stevie Wonder, Vanilla Fudge, Petulia Clark and many more. Here we have four versions. Which one do you think is best?
1970 - THE MAGIC CHRISTIAN movie debuted in New York City, 42 years ago today, starring Beatles drummer, Ringo Starr, alongside the comedic genius of Peter Sellers. This was a breakthrough movie, in hindsight, if only for the final animal body explosion scene filmed on a piece of wasteland on which the National Theatre now exists. Also in the movie were John Cleese, Raquel Welch, Christopher Lee, Richard Attenborough and Roman Polanski. It was loosely adapted from the 1959 comic novel of the same name by American author Terry Southern. The word bent comes to mind.
1972 - DAVID BOWIE, that timeless chameleon performer, gave his first performance as Ziggy Stardust today. It has the late great Mick Ronson on guitar. For more details and videos of David Bowie, go to this daily blog.
1972 - YES were at the very front guard of so-called prog rock 40 years ago, som music critics saying it was they who kicked it off. This was the groups breakthrough song, released 40 years ago today.
1986 - Would you believe boy George as a special guest on an episode of hunky-macho American TV series, the A-Team? check it out, if you're brave enough.
1987 - THE SMITHS remain one of the great sublime rock'n'roll bands, with lyrics like no other. It is now 25 years since the Morrissey-led band were at the top of British indie charts, today, with their delicious pop song, Shoplifters Of The World Unite. As was sometimes the case with Smiths singles, it did not appear on an original studio album. It can be found on the Louder Than Bombs, Singles and The World Won't Listen compilations. I think the title alludes to the communist slogan 'workers of the world, unite', and the 1966 David and Jonathan hit Lovers of the World Unite. The man on the record cover is a young Elvis Presley, with a too cool hair cut.
2001 - OUTKAST and their subtle form of rap and sleaze first went to #1 today, with Mrs Jackson, the song taken from their fourth album, Stankonia. Hotspot. It won a 2002 Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group. It also reached number one in Germany and number two in the United Kingdom, Australia and other countries.
1963 - ALMOST HALF A CENTURY has gone by since the Beatles recorded their biggest early hysteria hits, Twist & Shout and I Saw Her Standing There. Here they are, live, the first from a bootleg televised concert in Liverpool, the second in a live Swedish Television studio in front of a live audience. These are both genuine, original videos, and not enhanced. As half a century looms it is fitting tor emend ourselves that the Beatles were a damn fine love rock'n'roll band.
1966 - Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down), that much-covered song was written by there late Sonny Bono and recorded by his wife, Cher, on this day in 1966. The song was the second single by singer-actress Cher from her second studio album The Sonny Side of Cher. In the same year, the song was covered by Nancy Sinatra. It was this latter version that featured in the Quentin Tarantino movie, Kill Bill. Other cover versions of the song came from Beau Brummels, Audio Bullies, Stevie Wonder, Vanilla Fudge, Petulia Clark and many more. Here we have four versions. Which one do you think is best?
1970 - THE MAGIC CHRISTIAN movie debuted in New York City, 42 years ago today, starring Beatles drummer, Ringo Starr, alongside the comedic genius of Peter Sellers. This was a breakthrough movie, in hindsight, if only for the final animal body explosion scene filmed on a piece of wasteland on which the National Theatre now exists. Also in the movie were John Cleese, Raquel Welch, Christopher Lee, Richard Attenborough and Roman Polanski. It was loosely adapted from the 1959 comic novel of the same name by American author Terry Southern. The word bent comes to mind.
1972 - DAVID BOWIE, that timeless chameleon performer, gave his first performance as Ziggy Stardust today. It has the late great Mick Ronson on guitar. For more details and videos of David Bowie, go to this daily blog.
1972 - YES were at the very front guard of so-called prog rock 40 years ago, som music critics saying it was they who kicked it off. This was the groups breakthrough song, released 40 years ago today.
1986 - Would you believe boy George as a special guest on an episode of hunky-macho American TV series, the A-Team? check it out, if you're brave enough.
1987 - THE SMITHS remain one of the great sublime rock'n'roll bands, with lyrics like no other. It is now 25 years since the Morrissey-led band were at the top of British indie charts, today, with their delicious pop song, Shoplifters Of The World Unite. As was sometimes the case with Smiths singles, it did not appear on an original studio album. It can be found on the Louder Than Bombs, Singles and The World Won't Listen compilations. I think the title alludes to the communist slogan 'workers of the world, unite', and the 1966 David and Jonathan hit Lovers of the World Unite. The man on the record cover is a young Elvis Presley, with a too cool hair cut.
2001 - OUTKAST and their subtle form of rap and sleaze first went to #1 today, with Mrs Jackson, the song taken from their fourth album, Stankonia. Hotspot. It won a 2002 Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group. It also reached number one in Germany and number two in the United Kingdom, Australia and other countries.
