Musician Birthdays: J. Geils (singer, guitarist for the J. Geils Band, famous for the hit, “Centerfold”, born in 1946), Kurt Cobain (singer, guitarist for Nirvana, famous for hits, “Smells Like Teen Spirit”, “Come As You Are”, “Heart Shaped Box”, “All Apologies”, and more, born in 1967), Rihanna (R&B soul, pop singer, famous for hit “Umbrella”, born in 1988)

– In 1958: Billed as ‘The Big Gold Record Stars’ Bill Haley and his Comets, The Everly Brothers, Buddy Holly & The Crickets, Jerry Lee Lewis and Jimmie Rodgers all appeared on the first date of a six day tour of Florida.

– In 1960: Jimi Hendrix made his stage debut when he played a show at a High School in Seattle.

– In 1963: The Beatles drove through the night from Liverpool to London to appear on the live lunchtime BBC radio program “Parade of the Pops.” Performing ‘Love Me Do’ and ‘Please Please Me’, the appearance lasted just over 4 minutes. They then drove another 180 mile trip back north for their performance that night at the Swimming Baths, Doncaster, Yorkshire.

– In 1967: Gary Lewis and the Playboys started a two week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘This Diamond Ring.’ Lewis is the son of actor Jerry Lewis.

– In 1971: The soundtrack to ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’ went to No.1 on the US album chart. The album peaked at No.6 on the UK chart.

– In 1972: During a tour of Australia Led Zeppelin appeared at the Kooyong Tennis Courts, Melbourne in Australia.

– In 1976: All four members of Kiss had their footprints implanted on the pavement outside Grauman’s Chinese Theatre in Hollywood.

– In 1977: Winners at this years Grammy Awards included Stevie Wonder for Best album with ‘Songs In The Key Of Life’, and Best Vocal performance for ‘I Wish.’ Best album went to Chicago for ‘Chicago X’ and Best new artist went to the Starland Vocal Band.

– In 1980: Bon Scott, singer from AC/DC was pronounced dead on arrival at a London hospital after a heavy night’s drinking. Scott was found in the passenger seat of a friend’s parked car. The official coroner’s report stated that he had “drunk himself to death”, after suffocating on his own vomit.

– In 1991: Bob Dylan was awarded a lifetime achievement award at the 33rd annual Grammy’ Awards.

– In 2003: 100 people died after pyrotechnics ignited a club during a gig by Great White in West Warwick, Rhode Island. Great White singer Ty Longley was also killed in the accident. Two brothers who owned the club were charged, along with the former tour manager with involuntary manslaughter. Foam soundproofing material at the edge of the stage set alight and the blaze spread quickly in the one-storey wooden building as fans all tried to escape through the same exit. Great White began a tour in July 2003 to raise money for the survivors and families of victims.

Enough talk about drugs & death, lets talk about positive things about the iconic pop star.

What will the music industry have in store us in the future? I’m sure Whitney has plenty of unreleased songs and rarities that were thrown out over the years and I’m pretty sure the industry are going to release some of them. Maybe Whitney even recorded a new album before her passing, who knows?

We all know that she just completed a new film before her passing called, “Sparkle”, which I’m sure the movie industry will release that as soon as possible.

It’ll be interesting to see what the music industry will do. She maybe gone, but her music lives on, love her or hate her. I picked up her double “Greatest Hits” album just so I won’t own her regular albums. I’m sure the industry will release another “Greatest Hits” album sometime this year.

The industry will still keep her legacy alive. There’s probably going to be a big tribute concert for her too with all sorts of famous artists covering her songs.

Kev

Musician Birthdays: Smokey Robinson (US singer, songwriter, producer, famous for hits, “Tears of a Clown”, “Being With You”, more, born in 1940), Tony Iommi (guitarist for Black Sabbath, responsible for starting the genre of heavy metal, born in 1948)

– In 1956: Elvis Presley performed three shows at Fort Homer Hesterly Armory in Tampa, Florida, (2 matinee and 1 evening). A full scale riot broke out after the show when Elvis announced to the 14,000 strong crowd, “Girls, I’ll see you backstage.” Fans chased Elvis into the dressing room tearing off his clothes and shoes.

– In 1965: Working at Abbey Road studios in London, The Beatles recorded a new John Lennon song ‘You’re Going To Lose That Girl’ in two takes. The track was released on the Help! album.

– In 1972: Led Zeppelin appeared at the Memorial Drive, Adelaide in Australia. A local paper who reviewed the show printed: Singer Robin Plant (sic) overcame an ‘Australian bug’ in his throat and broke into his own in ‘Black Dog’ and ‘Stairway To The Stars’ (sic).

– In 1977: Manfred Mann’s Earth Band scored a No.1 single in the US with their version of the Bruce Springsteen song ‘Blinded By The Light.’ The track was the first single from Bruce Springsteen’s 1973 debut album Greetings from Asbury Park N.J. The Earth Band’s version features several changed lyrics. The most prominent change is in the chorus, where Springsteen’s “cut loose like a deuce” is replaced with “revved up like a deuce.” Springsteen himself has said that it was not until Manfred Mann rewrote the song to be about a “feminine hygiene product” that it became popular.

– In 1982: Ozzy Osbourne was arrested in San Antonio, Texas for urinating on the Alamo. Osbourne was wearing a dress at the time of his arrest, (due to his wife Sharon hiding all his clothes so he couldn’t go outside). Osbourne who apparently thought he was relieving himself on a pile of rubble was banned from ever playing in San Antonio, Texas again, (a ban which was lifted in 1992).

– In 1995: Motley Crue drummer Tommy Lee married Baywatch actress Pamela Anderson on a Cancun beach, Mexico, the bride wore a white bikini. Anderson and Lee who married only four days after meeting had videotaped their sexual activities while on vacation which was later stolen and released on the Internet. After suing the video company who released the tape, the Lees entered into a confidential settlement agreement. The couple divorced in 1998.

– In 1996: Bjork was shown on UK breakfast TV attacking a news reporter as she arrived at Thailand Airport. The footage showed the singer pulling the female reporter to the floor and banging her head on the ground. Bjork later apologised for the attack.

– In 2004: Johnny Cash’s family blocked an attempt by advertisers to use his hit song ‘Ring of Fire’ to promote haemorrhoid-relief products. The idea is said to have been backed by Merle Kilgore, who co-wrote the song with Cash’s wife, June Carter Cash. Cash’s daughter Rosanne said the family “would never allow the song to be demeaned like that.”

…still you shouldn’t blame crack that killed her. Not fair. I watched an older Oprah interview where she admitted to doing it. Maybe she did it in her past, but don’t immediately think that crack got her.

She may had personal problems, but don’t always blame it on the drugs. I wasn’t much of a fan of hers, so I don’t know too much about her life and didn’t follow her career much, but I respected her legacy and talent as I said before.

That’s the whole point of me doing this. Trying to give people a reality check that they shouldn’t blame all deaths on drugs. Wait until the toxicology reports.

Kev