Musician Birthdays: Billy Joe Armstrong (guitarist, singer of Green Day, born in 1972), Paris Hilton (business woman, heiress, socialite, singer, actress, etc. She made it in the music business with her hit, “The Stars Are Blind”, born in 1981)

– In 1960: Elvis Presley won his first Gold record for the album ‘Elvis’.

– In 1967: The Beatles started recording a new John Lennon song ‘Being For the Benefit of Mr. Kite’ at Abbey Road studios, London. John’s lyrics for the song came almost entirely from an antique poster advertising a circus performance scheduled to take place in Rochdale, Lancashire, in February 1843. John had purchased the poster in Sevenoaks on January 31 while The Beatles were on location for the filming of the ‘Strawberry Fields Forever’ promotional film.

– In 1969: Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash recorded ‘Girl From The North Country’ together in Nashville at CBS Studios. The track appeared on Dylan’s ‘Nashville Skyline’ album.

– In 1970: Joni Mitchell announced she was retiring from live performances during a concert at London’s Royal Albert Hall. Joni was on stage again by the end of the year.

– In 1971: James Taylor made his TV debut on The Johnny Cash Show. Other guests included Neil Young, Linda Ronstadt and Tony Joe White.

– In 1972: Los Angeles radio station KDAY played two new Rolling Stones tracks non-stop for a day after obtaining stolen tapes from a producer’s home.

– In 1975: AC/DC released their debut album ‘High Voltage’. The album featured a cover of ‘Baby, Please Don’t Go’ a blues song first recorded by Big Joe Williams and ‘She’s Got Balls’ which was written about singer Bon Scott’s ex-wife Irene – the first AC/DC song for which he wrote lyrics.

– In 1979: The Clash opened the US leg of their ‘Pearl Harbour ’79’, North American tour at New York’s Palladium.

– In 1996: A Platinum American Express card once belonging to Bruce Springsteen was sold for $4,500 (£2,650) at a New York memorabilia sale. The singer had given the expired card to a waiter in a LA restaurant by mistake and let them keep it as a souvenir.

– In 2000: John Lennon’s Steinway piano, on which he composed ‘Imagine’, went on display at the Beatles Story Museum in Liverpool, England. The piano was set to be auctioned on the Internet later in the year and was expected to fetch more than £1 million ($1.7 million).

– In 2004: Prosecutors in the murder case of producer Phil Spector demanded that a fingernail overlooked by police investigating Lana Clarkson’s shooting should be put forward as evidence. They claimed the fingernail, blackened with gunpowder, could indicate that the 40-year old actress killed herself at Spector’s Los Angeles mansion. Spector, had denied murdering Clarkson.

– In 2005: A 1965 Fender Stratocaster guitar belonging to Jimi Hendrix sold for £100,000 at an auction in London. Other Hendrix items sold included a poem written two weeks after his appearance at the Monterey Festival which went for £10,000 and the first Jimi Hendrix Experience’s single ‘Hey Joe’, signed by all the band sold for £2,000.

Musician Birthdays: Sonny Bono (US Singer/songwriter, actor, comedian, politician. Most famous as the musical duo with Cher and for the hit, “I Got You Babe”, born in 1935) Ice – T (US rapper, actor, can be seen on “Law & Order: SVU”, born in 1959) Taylor Hawkins (drummer for the Foo Fighters, born in 1972)

– In 1964: The Beatles made their second live appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show, exactly one week after the first. Before an audience of 3,500 at the Deauville Hotel in Miami Beach, Florida, The Beatles performed ‘She Loves You’, ‘This Boy’, ‘All My Loving’, ‘I Saw Her Standing There’, ‘From Me to You’, and ‘I Want to Hold Your Hand’.

– In 1972: Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watt’s wife Shirley was arrested after an incident at Nice Airport for swearing and hitting custom’s officials.

– In 1972: Led Zeppelin made their Australian live debut when they kicked off a six-date tour at the Subiaco Oval, Perth. Police battled with over 500 fans who rammed locked gates trying to get into the concert. Over 4,000 fans stood outside the venue without tickets and local residents jammed police phone lines to complain about the noise.

– In 1974: Bob Dylan started a four week run at No.1 on the US album chart with Planet Waves, his first US No.1. The album was originally set to be titled Ceremonies Of The Horsemen, a reference to the song ‘Love Minus Zero / No Limit’, from the 1965 album ‘Bringing It All Back Home’. When Dylan decided to change the title at the last minute, the release was delayed for two weeks.

– In 1985: Bruce Springsteen went to No.1 on the UK album chart with ‘Born In The USA’, his first UK No.1 album. The singers seventh studio album, was the best-selling album of 1985 in the United States (and also Springsteen’s most successful album ever). The album produced a record-tying string of seven Top 10 singles.

– In 1991: The Simpsons were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘Do The Bartman’. The song was written by Michael Jackson and Bryan Lorenand, The Simpsons became the first cartoon characters to make No.1 since the Archies hit ‘Sugar Sugar’ in 1969. Jackson was a massive fan of The Simpsons and had called the producers one night offering to write Bart a number one single and do a guest spot on the show.

– In 2003: 50 Cent was at No.1 on the US album chart with his debut album ‘Get Rich or Die Tryin’, a No.2 hit in the UK.

– In 2005: Kid Rock was arrested for allegedly punching a DJ at a strip club in Nashville, Tennessee. Police were called to the incident but Rock escaped from the club. Shortly after, he was pulled over by an officer who got an autograph but did not do a breath test despite smelling alcohol. (The officer has since been fired). The star was eventually arrested a few hours later, taken to the night court and released on $3,000 (£1,600) bail.

– In 2009: Chris Brown talked about his recent arrest for the first time. The R&B singer was being investigated by police over claims he attacked a woman. In a statement Chris Brown said “I am seeking the counselling of my pastor, my mother and other loved ones and I am committed, with God’s help, to emerging a better person.” There had been speculation that his girlfriend Rihanna was the woman in the attack and had been seen with bruises on her face

Loren Weisman said:

Dont worry over the awards! So many people are concerned with winning this award or that award. They set it as the end all be all goal and then begin to lose site of the original goal, lose common sense and lose smart business sense. Often times, this is followed by making decisions that will hurt their career, chances at long term success as well as losing percentages and ownership they will never get back. Work to understand the dream you want and how to execute it. Dont get lost in the delusions. A Grammy doesn’t mean that much anymore. I think it is a greater award where an artist has a sustaining amount of sales, sustaining amount of touring and sustaining amount of income while keeping majority control of their art and their career.

See her blog post, here.

Well, I’m glad I’m not alone on this.

Bands obsess with wanting to win awards like Battle of the Bands stuff and other stupid songwriting contests or radio station contests. I mean, who cares about all that, right? Like I said in a different blog post, that stuff will MEAN NOTHING TO ME!

It’s  more rewarding when people are supporting your music: listening to it, buying it and going to your shows. That’s all they should care about. The love of music.

Kev

Musician Birthdays: Ali Campbell (singer of UB40, famous for hit “Red Red Wine”, “Can’t Help Falling In Love”, and more. Born in 1959)

– In 1964: The Beatles scored their first US No.1 album with ‘Meet The Beatles!’ The album stayed at No.1 for eleven weeks.

– In 1965: American singer and pianist Nat King Cole died of lung cancer. First hit was the 1943 ‘Straighten Up and Fly Right’, had the 1955 US No.2 single ‘A Blossom Fell’ and 1957 UK No.2 single ‘When I Fall In Love’ plus over 20 other US & UK Top 40 singles. Father of singer Natalie Cole. In 1956 he became the first black American to host a television variety show.

– In 1968: John and Cynthia Lennon, along with George and Patti Harrison, flew to India to study meditation with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. Paul and Ringo joined them a few days later, but Starr would become bored and leave on March 1st, comparing the experience to be like a ‘Butlins holiday camp.’ Much of the Beatles’ ‘White Album’ was written during their stay.

– In 1969: Sly and the Family Stone started a four week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘Everyday People’, their first No.1.

– In 1975: Linda Ronstadt went to No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘You’re No Good’, the singers only solo chart topper out of 12 other top 40 hits. Also today Ronstadt went to No.1 on the US album chart with ‘Heart Like A Wheel.’

– In 1977: Glen Matlock was fired as bass player from The Sex Pistols, being replaced by Sid Vicious. Matlock rejoined in the 90’s when the Pistol’s reformed.

– In 1981: American guitarist Mike Bloomfield was found dead in his car in San Francisco from an accidental heroin overdose. He was a member of the Paul Butterfield band and Electric Flag and had played on Bob Dylan’s album ‘Highway 61 Revisited’. In 2003 he was ranked at number 22 on Rolling Stone’s 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time.

– In 1986: Whitney Houston started a two week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘How Will I Know’, which was also a No.5 in the UK.

– In 1994: A federal court jury ruled Michael Jackson did not steal the idea for his hit song ‘Dangerous’ from a Denver woman who had sent him a demo tape.

– In 2000: Sting pulled-out of a concert in Vienna in protest at the inclusion of Jorg Haider’s far right freedom party in Austria’s new government. Lou Reed had also cancelled shows in the country.

– In 2009: Lily Allen went to No.1 on the UK album chart with ‘It’s Not Me, It’s You’ the singers second album.