in

December 17 – Today in Music History Events

1933 Country singer Nat Stuckey is born in Cass County, Texas. He recorded for various labels between 1966 and 1978, charting in the top 10 of Hot Country Songs with “Sweet Thang”, “Plastic Saddle”, “Sweet Thang and Cisco” and “Take Time to Love Her” On August 24, 1988, Stuckey died of lung cancer in a Nashville, Tennessee hospital aged 54.
1934 Karl Denver born in Springburn, Glasgow, Scotland. UK Singer/Songwriter (1962 UK No.4 single ‘Wimoweh’, 1990 UK No.46 hit ‘Lazyitis- One Armed Boxer’ with Happy Mondays). Denver died on 21st December 1998. 
1936 Tommy Steele (Thomas Hicks) born in Bermondsey, London, England. British Singer/Actor, (1957 UK No.1 single ‘Singing The Blues’, plus over 20 other UK Top 40 singles). 
1937 Art Neville born in New Orleans, Louisiana. US Singer/Pianist/Songwriter with The Neville Brothers, (1989 UK No.47 single ‘With God On Our Side’) 
1939 Eddie Kendricks born in Union Springs, Alabama. US Singer with The Temptations, (1971 US No.1 & UK No.8 single ‘Just My Imagination’ and re- issued ‘My Girl’ UK No.2 in 1992, solo US No.1 & UK No.18 single ‘Keep On Truckin’). Died on 5th October 1992 of lung cancer in Birmingham at age 52. 
1942 Paul Butterfield, blues singer, harmonica player, (1965 album ‘Paul Butterfield Blues Band’). Appeared at The Bands, ‘Last Waltz’. Died on 3rd May 1987. 
1943 Dave Dee (David Harman) born in England. Lead Singer for UK 60’s band Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick and Tich (1968 UK No.1 single ‘Legend Of Xanadu’). He suffered from prostate cancer from early 2001, but continued to perform with his band almost up until his death from that disease[6] in Kingston Hospital, South West London, on 9 January 2009. He was 67.
1948 Jim Bonfanti born in Windber, Pennsylvania. US Drummer with The Raspberries, (1972 US N.5 single ‘Go All The Way’). 
1949 Paul Rodgers born in Middlesbrough, Cleveland, England. Singer/Guitarist with Free, (1970 UK No.2 & US No.4 single ‘All Right Now’), Bad Company, (1974 UK No.15 single ‘Can’t Get Enough’). The Firm, with Jimmy Page. Birthdate also known as The 12th Dec. 
1950 Carlton ‘Carlie’ Barrett born in Kingston, Jamaica. Drummer with The Wailers, (1983 UK No.4 single with Bob Marley, Buffalo Soldier’, plus 10 other UK Top 40 singles). Barrett was shot dead outside his home on 17th April 1987. 
1951 Wanda Hutchinson born in Chicago IIIinois. Vocalist with The Emotions, (1977 US No.1 & UK No.4 single ‘Best Of My Love’). 
1953 Mark Gane – Canadian Guitarist/Keyboard Player/Songwriter with Martha & The Muffins. 
1954 Bill Haley and his Comets’ “Shake, Rattle and Roll” (originally recorded by Big Joe Turner) becomes the first rock song to hit the UK chart, where it lands at #4. 
1955 The Platters’ “The Great Pretender” enters the American R&B charts. 
1958 Mike Mills born in Orange, California. Bass/Vocals with R.E.M. (1991 UK No.6 & US No.10 single ‘Shiny Happy People’, plus over 20 Top 40 UK singles, 1992 UK No.1 & US No.2 album ‘Automatic For The People’). 
1959 Bob Stinson, guitar, The Replacements died of an accidental drug overdose, (1984 album ‘Let It Be’). 
1960 Returning from Hamburg, The Beatles appeared at the Casbah Coffee Club in Liverpool. Chas Newby joined The Beatles on bass guitar (to replace Stuart Sutcliffe, who had remained in Hamburg), a position he would hold for only two weeks and four performances. When Newby bowed out to return to college, Paul McCartney became The Beatles’ bass player. 
1961 Sarah Dallin born in Bristol, England. Vocalist with UK trio Bananarama, (1984 UK No.3 single ‘Robert De Niro’s Waiting’, plus over 20 other UK Top 40 singles, 1986 US No.1 single ‘Venus’). 
1962 Bob Dylan arrived in England for the first time; he played his first UK date the following night at the Troubadour Club in London. 
1963 James Carroll at WWDC in Washington, DC, became the first disc jockey to broadcast a Beatles record on American radio. Carroll played ‘I Want To Hold Your Hand’, which he had obtained from his stewardess girlfriend, who brought the single back from the UK. Due to listener demand, the song was played daily, every hour. Since it hadn’t been released yet in the States, Capitol Records initially considered court action, but instead released the single earlier than planned. 
1964 David Walls, ‘Ginger’, vocals, guitar, The Wildhearts, (1996 UK No.14 single ‘Sick Of Drugs’). 
1965 Judy Garland and The Supremes perform at the grand opening of the new Houston Astrodome. 
1965 The Beatles release The Beatles’ Third Christmas Record. 
1966 The Four Tops’ “Standing In The Shadows Of Love” enters the pop charts. 
1967 The Beatles’ John Lennon and George Harrison throw a party in London for the area secretaries of their official Fan Club. The film Magical Mystery Tour is screened here for the first time. 
1968 The Who played their Xmas party at the Marquee Club, London. Also on the bill was a new group called Yes. Members 15 shillings, ($1.80) or £1 ($2.40) on the night. Other acts appearing at the club this month included Joe Cocker, Free and Led Zeppelin. 
1969 Mick Quinn born (Michael Milton Quinn) in Cambridge, England. Bass Guitarist with Supergrass, (1995 UK No.2 single ‘Alright’, 1995 UK No.1 album ‘I Should Coco’ spent 35 weeks on the UK chart). 
1970 DJ Homicide, Sugar Ray, (1999 UK No. 10 single ‘Every Morning’). 
1971 David Bowie released his fourth album Hunky Dory, which was the first to feature all the members of the band that would become known the following year as Ziggy Stardust’s Spiders From Mars. 
1973 Slade were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘Merry Xmas Everybody’ their sixth chart topper. It has been released during every decade since 1973, and has been covered by numerous artists. In a 2007 poll, ‘Merry Xmas Everybody’ was voted the UK’s most popular Christmas song. 
1973 Eddie Fisher, drummer and percussionist in OneRepublic who had the 2013 UK No.1 hit ‘Counting Stars’. 
1977 Mr David Ackroyd purchased the one-millionth copy of ‘Mull Of Kintyre’, by Wings in the UK and became the first record buyer to receive a Gold Disc. 
1977 Deputising for The Sex Pistols on NBC- TVs ‘Saturday Night Live’, Elvis Costello stops his performance of ‘Less Than Zero’, saying ‘ there’s no reason to do this’, and launches into ‘Radio Radio’ which he’d been told not to perform 
1977 George Harrison played an unannounced live set for the regulars at his local pub in Henley-On-Thames near his home in the UK. 
1978 Neil Christopher, drummer, Three Days Grace. 
1982 American Delta blues musician and songwriter Big Joe Williams died in Macon, Mississippi aged 79. Wrote ‘Baby Please Don’t Go’, a 1965 UK Top 10 for Them, (featuring Van Morrison). 
1982 Karen Carpenter made her last live appearance with The Carpenters when she performed in Sherman, California. Carpenter suffered from anorexia nervosa, the eating disorder which was a little-known illness at the time. She died at the age of 32 from heart failure, on February 4, 1983 caused by complications related to her illness. 
1982 The Who play the last show of their farewell tour at Toronto’s Maple Leaf Gardens, which is filmed for an HBO special called Who’s Last. They re-form to play Live Aid in 1985, then tour again in 1989. 
1983 Duran Duran Appearing on the children’s UK TV show ‘Saturday Superstore’, Culture Club, Duran Duran and The Police. 
1984 Frankie Goes To Hollywood, Big Country, Duran Duran, Ultravox, Paul Young and Wham! all appeared on the UK TV show ‘Razzmatazz Solid Gold Christmas Special’. 
1984 Run-DMC’s self-titled debut album is certified gold, making it the first ever rap album to do so. 
1988 Bros Featured on the front page of the NME, Bros, interviewed for the paper, a quote from Matt, ‘We’ve got the quickest selling debut LP in the history of CBS Records. You don’t do that if your talentless’. 
1989 Taylor York, guitarist, Paramore, 2009 UK No.1 album ‘Brand New Eyes’ and their 2013 self-titled fourth studio album hit No.1 on the US chart. 
1989 The Simpsons debuts on Fox with the episode “Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire.” The show quickly attracts big-name guest stars, including many musicians. In Season 3, Michael Jackson, Sting and Aerosmith appear. 
1993 Sting’s wife Trudie Styler gave birth to a son, Giacomo Luke, at a London hospital. 
1994 Celine Dion married her manager Rene Angelil at the Notre Dame Basilica, Montreal. 
1994 A remixed version of The Four Seasons’ “December, 1963 (Oh, What A Night)” re-entered the US Hot 100, where it stayed for another 27 weeks, just as it did when it first charted in 1976. The combined run will establish a record for the longest total chart appearance in US chart history. 
1995 A statue of the late Frank Zappa was unveiled in Vilnius, the capital of the Republic Of Lithuania. It had been organised by Zappa fan club President Saulius Pauksty. 
1996 Two of Charlie Daniels’ band members show real dedication to the road by scheduling outpatient surgical procedures to coincide with a procedure Daniels is having. Bass player Charlie Hayward (tonsillectomy) and drummer Jack Gavin (shoulder surgery), wanti
1997 David Bowie launched his BowieNet on the Internet. 
1999 American jazz-funk, soul-jazz saxophonist Grover Washington Jr died of a heart attack aged 56. He collapsed in the green room after taping four songs for The Early Show, at CBS Studios in New York City, He released over 20 solo albums and featured on the 1981 Bill Withers hit ‘Just The Two of Us.’ 
1999 Singing cowboy Rex Allen Sr. dies in Tucson, Ariz., when his caregiver accidentally hits him with a car in his driveway. He is 78.
2000 Bob The Builder started a three-week run at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘Can We Fix It’. Taken from the children’s television programme Bob the Builder. 
2000 Eminem was the subject of a sick Internet hoax after MTV reported that the rapper had been killed in a car crash en route to a party. 
2004 Elvis Presley’s daughter Lisa Marie Presley agreed to sell 85% of his estate to businessman Robert Sillerman in a deal worth $100m. Sillerman would run Presley’s Memphis home Graceland, and own Elvis’ name and the rights to all revenue from his music and films. In the deal Lisa Marie would retain possession of Graceland and many of her father’s ‘personal effects.’ 
2005 U2 had the top-grossing tour of 2005, according to an end-of-year chart compiled by US magazine Billboard. More than three million people watched the band’s sell-out 90-date Vertigo tour which grossed $260m (£146.6m). The Eagles, took $117m (£66m) from 77 shows and Neil Diamond grossed more than $71m (£40m). Kenny Chesney was fourth with $63m (£35.5m), Paul McCartney $60m (£33.8m), Rod Stewart with $49m (£27m), Elton John with $45.5m (£25.6m), Dave Matthews Band with $45m (£25.3m), Jimmy Buffett with $41m (£23m) and Green Day with $36.5m (£20.5m). 
2006 English saxophonist Denis Payton died. Member of Dave Clark Five who had the 1964 UK No.1 single ‘Glad All Over’, 1965 US No.1 single ‘Over And Over’, plus over 15 other UK top 40 singles. 
2006 Leona Lewis started a 4 week run at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘A Moment Like This’, also a US No.1. 
2010 Captain Beefheart died aged 69 from complications from multiple sclerosis. The American musician, singer-songwriter, artist and poet born Don Glen Vliet in Glendale, California recorded 13 studio albums. 
2010 Sir Paul McCartney performed an intimate lunchtime gig at the 100 Club on London’s Oxford Street, the historic music venue threatened with closure. Around 300 fans were treated to a set lasting almost two hours, in what was McCartney’s smallest gig in the UK for nearly 10 years. A campaign to keep the 100 Club open had attracted support from Primal Scream’s Bobby Gillespie and Sir Mick Jagger. 
2012 Adele was named Billboard’s top artist of 2012, while her hit record 21 was named top album of the year in the music magazine’s annual review. The 24-year-old became the first to receive both accolades two years in a row. The year’s top three songs were Gotye’s Somebody That I Used to Know, Carly Rae Jepsen’s Call Me Maybe and Fun’s We Are Young. respectively. 
2015 A London judge said he was concerned at how much Liam Gallagher and his ex-wife Nicole Appleton were spending in a legal dispute over how their assets should be split after it was revealed that the pair had spent over £800,000 on legal fees. Judge O’Dwyer decided their money and property should be divided equally, with each receiving £5.4m.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

December 16 – Today in Music History

December 18 – Today in Music History