1st November – On This Day In Music History Events
1940 Sgt Barry Sadler born in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. American military veteran, author, actor and singer-songwriter. Sadler served as a Green Beret combat medic with the rank of Staff Sergeant of the United States Army during the Vietnam War. Most of his work has a military theme, and he credited himself in the proper Army form as SSG Barry Sadler, although his music usually credits read SSgt Barry Sadler. He is most famously known for his hit song”(1966 US No.1 single ‘The Ballad Of The Green Berets’). He died there of cardiac arrest on November 5, 1989. He was 49 years old.
1944 Mike Burney born in Great Barr, Birmingham, England. English jazz saxophonist, most notable for his tenure in Roy Wood’s Wizzard. (1973 UK No.1 single ‘See My Baby Jive’). He died on 13 November 2014, days after his 76th birthday.
1945 John Williamson born in Kerang, Victoria. Australian country music and folk music singer-songwriter. Williamson has released over forty albums, ten videos, five DVDs, and two lyric books. His top 10 albums on the ARIA Charts are Mallee Boy (1986), Boomerang Cafe (1988), Warrigal (No. 1, 1989), Pipe Dream (1997), The Way It Is (1999), True Blue Two (compilation, 2003) and Hillbilly Road (2008). On Australia Day (26 January) 1992 Williamson was made a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) with the citation: “for service to Australian country music and in stimulating awareness of conservation issues”. He has received twenty-six Golden Guitar trophies at the Country Music Awards of Australia, he has won three ARIA Music Awards for Best Country Album and, in 2010, was inducted into the related Hall of Fame.
1946 Rick Grech born in Bordeaux, France of Ukrainian origin. was a British rock musician and multi-instrumentalist. Bass guitarist with Family, Traffic, (1970 US No.15 & UK No.11 album ‘John Barleycorn Must die’). Blind Faith, (1969 UK & US No.1 album ‘Blind Faith’). And member of Airforce. In 1990 he died of renal failure at the age of 43, as a result of alcoholism
1950 Dan Peek born in Panama City, Florida. He was a was a musician best known as a member of the folk rock band America from 1970 to 1977, together with Gerry Beckley and Dewey Bunnell. He has been called a “pioneer in contemporary Christian music”. (1972 US No.1 & UK No.3 single ‘Horse With No Name’). Peek died in his sleep of fibrinous pericarditis on July 24, 2011, at age 60 at his home in Farmington, Missouri.
1951 Ronald Bell born in Youngstown, Ohio. American saxophonist, composer, songwriter, arranger, producer and singer, who is a founding member of the band, Kool & the Gang. He is the brother of co-founder Robert “Kool” Bell (born in 1950) and Kay Gees member Kevin Bell. Kool & The Gang, (1981 US No.1 & UK No.7 single ‘Celebration’, 1984 UK No.2 single ‘Joanna’, and over 15 other Top 40 hits).
1953 David Whitfield was at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘Answer Me’. The song was also a No.1 for Frankie Laine the following week.
1954 Chris Morris born in Nottingham, England. Guitarist/Vocalist with Paper Lace, (1974 UK No.1 single ‘Billy Don’t Be A Hero’, 1974 US No.1 single ‘The Night Chicago Died’).
1957 Lyle Lovett born in Klein, Texas. American country singer-songwriter and actor. Active since 1980, he has recorded thirteen albums and released 25 singles to date, including his highest entry, the number 10 chart hit on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs chart, “Cowboy Man”. Lovett has won four Grammy Awards, including Best Male Country Vocal Performance and Best Country Album. It’s Not Big It’s Large was released in 2007, where it debuted and peaked at number 2 on the Top Country Albums chart.
1959 Eddie Macdonald, bass, The Alarm, (1983 UK No.17 single ’68 Guns’)
1962 Anthony Kiedis born in Grand Rapids, Michigan. American musician best known as the lead singer of the band Red Hot Chili Peppers, which he has fronted since its conception in 1983. (1992 UK No.26 single ‘Under The Bridge’, 2002 UK No.1 album ‘By The Way’).
1962 Mags Furuholmen – Keyboardist with A-Ha (1985 US No.1 single ‘Take On Me’, 1986 UK No.1 single ‘The Sun Always Shines On TV’). He co-wrote many of the band’s hits including “Take on Me”, “Stay on These Roads”, “Manhattan Skyline”, “Cry Wolf”, “Forever Not Yours”, “Analogue (All I Want)”, and “Foot of the Mountain”.
1962 The Beatles started a run of appearances over 14 nights at the star Club, Hamburg, Germany. While The Beatles were appearing at The Star Club in Hamburg, Germany, a recording was made on a small, portable tape recorder which would be pressed and issued by Singasong Records in 1977 as “Live! At the Star Club in Hamburg, Germany, 1962”.
1963 Rick Allen, drums, Def Leppard, (1987 UK No.6 single ‘Animal’, and 1987 world wide No.1 album ‘Hysteria’, 1988 US No.1 single ‘Love Bites’).
1963 The Beatles kicked off a UK tour performing two shows at the Odeon Cinema in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire. Their repertoire for the tour was ‘I Saw Her Standing There’, ‘From Me to You’, ‘All My Loving’, ‘You Really Got a Hold On Me’, ‘Roll Over Beethoven’, ‘Boys’, ‘Till There Was You’, ‘She Loves You’, ‘Money’, and ‘Twist and Shout’. Supporting The Beatles were The Rhythm & BluesQuartet, The Vernons Girls, Frank Berry, The Brook Brothers, Peter Jay & the Jaywalkers, and The Kestrels.
1965 The Rolling Stones played at the War Memorial Auditorium, New York during the bands 4th North American tour.
1966 Mary Hanson, singer, Stereolab, died in a cycling accident on 9th December 2002.
1966 Elvis Presley’s LPs Elvis Presley, Elvis’ Golden Records, Vol. 2, and Elvis’ Golden Records, Vol. 3 is certified gold.
1967 Tina Arena born in Keilor East, Victoria. Australian singer-songwriter, musical theatre actress, and record producer. She is one of Australia’s highest selling female artists who, as of July 2014, has sold over 10 million records worldwide.
1969 Darren Partington, 808 State, (1989 UK No.10 single ‘Pacific State’).
1969 Elvis Presley went to No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘Suspicious Minds’, his 18th US No.1 single. A No.2 hit in the UK.
1969 The Beatles scored their 13th US No.1 album with ‘Abbey Road’. The final studio recordings from the group featured two George Harrison songs; ‘Something’ & ‘Here Comes The Sun’. The cover supposedly contained clues adding to the ‘Paul Is Dead’ phenomenon: Paul is barefoot and the car number plate ‘LMW 281F’ supposedly referred to the fact that McCartney would be 28 if he was still alive. ‘LMW’ was said to stand for ‘Linda McCartney Weeps.’ And the four Beatles, represent; the priest (John, dressed in white), the Undertaker (Ringo, black suit), the Corpse (Paul, barefoot), and the Gravedigger (George, in jeans and a denim shirt).
1970 Southern Comfort were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with their version of the Joni Mitchell song ‘Woodstock.’
1975 Elton John started a three week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘Island Girl’, his 5th US No.1, a No.14 hit in the UK.
1979 Blue Oyster Cult kicked off an 11-date UK tour at Brighton Centre. Tickets £4.00.
1981 LaTavia Roberson, Destiny’s Child, (2000 US No.1 & UK No.3 single ‘Say My Name’). Quit the group in 2000.
1983 Siouxsie and the Banshees Appearing live at the Royal Albert Hall, London, Siouxsie and the Banshees.
1985 Dexy’s Midnight Runners appearing live at The Playhouse, Edinburgh, Scotland, Dexy’s Midnight Runners.
1986 Boston started a four-week run at No.1 on the US album chart with ‘Third Stage’.
1986 Ultravox kicked off a 14 date UK tour sponsored by Harp Larger at Glasgow Barrowlands, tickets £7
1986 Virgin Records was floated on the British Stock Market.
1987 Fatback Band and Steve Walsh had a version of ‘I’ve Found Lovin’, in the charts. The Fatback Band were booked to appear on Top Of The Pops but after a complaint to equity their performance was pulled and Walsh appeared inst
1987 Public Enemy the first of 3 shows at the Hammersmith Odeon featuring; LL Cool J, Eric B & Rankin and Public Enemy. Each night was marred by violence and crime.
1988 appearing at The Dominion, London, Julia Fordham.
1993 Flav Public Enemy Flavor Flav from Public Enemy was arrested charged with attempted murder of his neighbour. Flav claimed he had sex with his girlfriend.
1996 U2 set up a video link to an internet site from their recording studio in Dublin so fans could watch them record their new album.
1997 Scandinavian dance-pop act Aqua started a four-week run at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘Barbie Girl.’ A massive world-wide hit the single has sold more than 8 million copies.
2000 All Saints came top of a poll to find the sexiest female act. 12,000 UK television viewers voted for the group, The Spice Girls came second and Atomic Kitten third. The 50’s group The Beverley Sisters were voted into 11th place beating TLC.
2000 Robbie Williams offered to donate his bone marrow to save a fan’s life after meeting leukaemia suffer Johanna MacVicar. Williams asked his fans to sign up as potential donors after being told of the desperate shortage of male donors.
2001 two men were shot outside The Astoria in London after a So Solid Crew concert.
2002 To celebrate his 33rd birthday party in Morocco, P Diddy hired two private jets to fly 300 guests from New York to Marrakech.
2003 Organisers of the MTV Europe Awards 2003 recruited 500 ‘screamers’ to attend this year’s event. The music lovers were selected at an audition held in Edinburgh’s Princes Street Gardens. About 1,500 pop-mad teenagers and adults screamed themselves hoarse in a bid to get their hands on a ticket to the exclusive event.
2004 A man who allegedly stalked Australian pop star Natalie Imbruglia, was deemed too mentally ill to be interviewed by police. The 44-year-old fan was arrested after turning up on the doorstep of the singer’s £2m home in Berkshire after flying to London from Australia.
2004 61-year old Terry Knight, the former manager of Grand Funk Railroad, was murdered at his home in Killeen, Texas. Knight was defending his daughter during a domestic disturbance, when he was stabbed by her boyfriend, 26 year old Donald Alan Fair. Knight began his music career by leading a Michigan band called Terry Knight and the Pack, who scored a Billboard top 50 hit with ‘I, Who Have Nothing’.
2005 Black Sabbath is inducted into the UK Music Hall of Fame by Brian May of Queen. The band played “Paranoid” at the ceremony and Ozzy mooned the crowd, feeling that they weren’t rocking hard enough.
2007 Winners at this year’s MTV Europe Music Awards held in Munich, Germany included Avril Lavigne who was named best solo artist, and her song Girlfriend was voted most addictive track. Muse won two awards for best UK and Ireland act and best headline act, Linkin Park won the award for best band of 2007, and German band Tokio Hotel took the prize for best international act. Amy Winehouse won the Artist Choice prize, an award chosen by her fellow musicians and The ultimate urban prize went to R&B star Rihanna.
2008 Shakir Stewart shot himself dead in the bathroom of his home in Atlanta. Worked as a music promoter and was a vice-president of Def Jam Music Group, he signed Rick Ross, Karina Pasian, Ciara and Young Jeezy and worked with LL Cool J and Nas.
2008 US drummer and singer Jimmy Carl Black died. Was a member of The Keys, The Soul Giants, The Mothers Of Invention and Jimmy Carl Black And The Mannish Boys. Also worked with Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, The Doors, Joe Cocker, Grateful Dead and The Turtles.
2012 Metal Hammer magazine published a list of the “Top ten rock and heavy metal moustaches…Ever”. The list which included moustaches worn by the likes of Frank Zappa, all the members of Black Sabbath, (except Ozzy Osbourne). James Hetfield, and Lemmy placed Freddie Mercury at the top of the list.
2015 Taylor Swift was being sued for $42m (£27m) for allegedly stealing the lyrics to her hit 2014 song ‘Shake It Off’, which topped music charts around the world. R&B singer Jesse Braham claimed in legal papers Swift stole the words from a song he wrote in 2013 called ‘Haters Gone Hate’.
2016 Bap Kennedy, singer, songwriter from Belfast, Northern Ireland, died in Belfast in hospice care from pancreatic and bowel cancer. He is noted for his collaborations with Steve Earle, Van Morrison, Shane MacGowan and Mark Knopfler, as well as for writing the song ‘Moonlight Kiss’ which was on the soundtrack for the film Serendipity. Kennedy was also in the rock band Energy Orchard