On This Day In Music 23rd March
1940 Alan Blaikley born in Hampstead Garden Suburb, London, England. UK songwriter. He formed a song writing team with Ken Howard. Honeycombs (“Have I The Right?”64), Dave Dee Dozy etc Legend Of Zanadau, Bend It, Hold Tight, Save Me and Ok
1941 Boyd Robertson born in New Zealand. One half of the duo Bill & Boyd.
1942 Jimmy Miller, New York-born record producer and musician. He is best known for his lengthy association with the Rolling Stones, for whom he produced a string of singles and albums during the band’s career: Beggars Banquet (1968), Let It Bleed (1969), Sticky Fingers (1971), Exile on Main St. (1972) and Goats Head Soup (1973). Miller died on 22 October 1994.
1944 Michael Nyman born in Stratford, London. UK composer, pianist, (1993 ‘The Piano’ film soundtrack). Worked with Damon Albarn from Blur.
1949 Ric Ocasek (richard Otcasek) born in Baltimore, Maryland. Guitarist/Vocalist with The Cars, (1978 UK No.3 single ‘My Best Friend’s Girl.’ 1984 US No.3 & 1985 UK No.4 ‘Drive’ was used as part of the soundtrack for the ‘Live Aid’ concert.
1952 Dave Bartram born in Leicester, England. UK Singer with Showaddywaddy, (1976 UK No.1 single ‘Under The Moon Of Love’ plus over 20 other UK Top 40 hits).
1953 Chaka Khan (Yvette Marie Stevens) born in IIIinois. US singer, (1984 UK No.1 & US No.3 single ‘I Feel For You’), Rufus, (1974 US No.3 single ‘Tell Me Something Good’).
1953 Phil Judd born in Napier, New Zealand. NZ Singer, Musician & Actor. He was an original member of Split Enz. After leaving them in the 1977, he later formed The Swingers who had a No.1 hit in 1981 with ‘Counting the Beat’.
1958 Peter O’Doherty born in Auckland, New Zealand. O’Doherty and his family emigrated to Sydney in 1969. Guitarist with Mental As Anything. His brother Reg Mombassa (Chris O’Doherty) also played in the band.
1961 Elvis Presley had his seventh UK No.1 single with ‘Wooden Heart.’ The song was based on a German folk song and was featured in Presley’s film GI Blues.
1963 Ruby and the Romantics went to No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘Our Day Will Come’, it made No.38 in the UK.
1963 The Beach Boys single ‘Surfin’ USA was released in America on this day.
1963 Paul & Paula went to No.1 on the Australian Singles Chart with ‘Hey Paula’. Staying at No.1 for 2wks.
1964 John Lennon’s book of verse and rhyme ‘In His Own Write’ was published in the UK. Some of the content was first published in Lennon’s ‘Beachcomber’ column in Mersey Beat.
1966 Mark McLoughlin (Marti Pellow) born in Scotland. Lead Vocalist with Wet Wet Wet, (1994 UK No. 1 single ‘Love Is All Around’ which spent 15 weeks at the top of the charts plus over 20 other UK Top 40 singles). Left the band in 1999.
1967 John Stohm born in in Bloomington, Indiana. Drummer in The Lemonheads from 1987 – 1989 and guitar during the years 1993-1994 and 1996-1997. (1993 UK No.14 single ‘Into Your Arms’).
1967 At a ceremony held at the Playhouse Theatre in London, The Beatles were awarded three Ivor Novello awards for 1966: Best-selling British single ‘Yellow Submarine’, most-performed song ‘Michelle’, and next-most-performed song ‘Yesterday’. None of the Beatles attended and the winning songs were played by Joe Loss and his Orchestra. The lead vocal for ‘Michelle’ was sung by Ross MacManus, whose son would go on to become the professional musician Elvis Costello.
1968 Damon Albarn born in Whitechapel, London, England. Lead Vocalist with Blur, (1994 UK No.1 album ‘Parklife’ spent over 2 years on the UK chart, 1995 UK No. 1 ‘Country House’, plus over 12 other UK Top 40 singles), Gorillaz, (2001 UK No.4 single, ‘Clint Eastwood.’). The Good, The Bad & The Queen, (2007 self-titled album with Paul Simonon, Tony Allen and Simon Tong).
1969 During a UK tour Stevie Wonder played two shows at the Coventry Theatre in the West Midlands. Also on the bill, The Foundations, The Flirtations and Emperor Rosko.
1971 American session drummer Abe Laboriel, Jr. Has worked with Paul McCartney for many years as well as many other artists including Shakira, B.B. King, Sting, Eric Clapton, Steve Winwood, Les Paul, Ashlee Simpson and LeAnn Rimes.
1972 Beverly Knight born in Wolverhampton, England. UK singer, (2002 UK No. 10 single ‘Shoulda Woulda Coulda’).
1972 The film of The Concert For Bangladesh featuring George Harrison, Bob Dylan and Eric Clapton premiered in New York. The event was the first benefit concert of this magnitude in world history. The concert raised $243,418.51 for Bangladesh relief, which was administered by UNICEF. Sales of the album and DVD continue to benefit the George Harrison Fund for UNICEF.
1973 John Lennon was ordered to leave the US within 60 days by the immigration authorities; he began a long fight to win his ‘Green Card’ which he was given on 27th July 1976.
1974 Cher went to No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘Dark Lady’, the singers third solo No.1, it made No.36 in the UK.
1974 Marvin Gaye and Diana Ross entered the UK singles chart with ‘You Are Everything’ which was originally recorded by the Philadelphia soul group The Stylistics. Released as the second UK single from the Diana & Marvin album, the song reached No.5 in the UK Singles Chart in this year.
1977 Elvis Presley appeared at the Arizona State University in Tempe, Arizona. This was the first date of 49 date US tour over three months and Presley’s last ever tour. (His last ever show was on 26th June 1977 at the Indianapolis Indiana Market Square Arena).
1979 American Grammy-winning record producer Ariel Rechtshaid who has worked with many artists including Adele, Brandon Flowers, Vampire Weekend, Madonna, Tobias Jesso Jr., Usher, We Are Scientists, Plain White T’s and Kylie Minogue
1983 The Smiths played at The Rock Garden, London, England, the group’s first ever London show.
1985 Former Creedence Clearwater Revival front man John Fogerty went to No.1 on the US album chart with ‘Centerfield.’
1985 Billy Joel married model Christie Brinkley on a boat moored alongside the Statue Of Liberty. They divorced in 1993.
1990 Fleetwood Mac kicked off their Behind The Mask world tour with 14 dates in Australian starting at the Boondall Entertainment Centre in Brisbane.
1991 Comedy duo Hale And Pace And The Stonkers were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with the charity record ‘The Stonk.’
1991 Timmy T went to No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘One More Try’, not a hit in the UK.
1991 R.E.M. scored their first UK No.1 album with their seventh LP ‘Out Of Time’ featuring the singles ‘Losing My Religion’ (which became R.E.M.’s highest-charting hit in the US, reaching No.4), and ‘Shiny Happy People.’ The video for ‘Losing My Religion’ won two Grammy Awards and six MTV Awards.
1992 Janet Jackson signed with Virgin Records for $16,000,000 (£9,412,000).
1994 Oasis played at The Angel in Bedford, England. They were paid £100 ($170) for the gig.
1995 Alan Barton of UK pop band Black Lace died. Had the 1984 UK No.2 single ‘Agadoo.’ Black Lace represented the UK in the Eurovision Song Contest 1979 in which they finished in 7th position. Agadoo earned them the dubious accolade of being voted as the worst song of all time by a panel of music writers for Q Magazine.
1996 Celine Dion went to No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘Because You Loved Me’, her second US No.1, a No.5 hit in UK. The Diane Warren song was taken from the film ‘Up Close And Personal’ starring Robert Redford and Michelle Pfeiffer. And on the same day her album ‘Falling Into You’ went to No.1 on the UK album chart.
1997 U2 were at No.1 on the US album chart with ‘Pop’ the bands fifth US No.1 album.
2005 (Is This The Way To) Amarillo by Tony Christie featuring Peter Kay was the No.1 UK single, Candy Shop by 50 Cent was at No.1 on the US chart and Almost Here by Delta Goodrem and Brian McFadden was at No.1 on the Australian singles chart.
2008 Neil Aspinall, who ran the Apple Corps music empire for the Beatles from 1970 – 2007 died at a hospital in New York from cancer aged 66. A school friend of Sir Paul McCartney and George Harrison, he was regarded by some of the band as the “fifth Beatle” becoming the Beatles’ road manager in 1961 before becoming their personal assistant. He led the legal battle with Apple computers over the use of the Apple name and a royalties dispute between the Beatles and record label EMI. Aspinall had also played background instruments on Beatles tracks including Magical Mystery Tour, Within You Without You and Being for the Benefit of Mr Kite.
2008 Jack Johnson was at No.1 on the US album chart with his fifth album ‘Sleep Through The Static’, the album spent three weeks at the top of the charts. Also a No.1 in the UK and Australia.
2008 British soul singer Estelle feat Kayne West started a four week run at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘American Boy’. The song won a Grammy Award for ‘Best Rap Collaboration.
2009 Taylor Swift went to No.1 on the Australian singles chart with “Love Story”. Staying at the top spot for one week.
2011 The Who’s Pete Townshend told Uncut magazine that he regretted ever forming the band. “What would I have done differently? I would never have joined a band. Even though I am quite a good gang member and a good trooper on the road, I am bad at creative collaboration.”
2015 British artist Lil’ Chris was found dead in Suffolk at the age of 24. Chris Hardman first rose to fame on the UK reality show Rock School in 2006 when he was just 15 years old. He later released a hit single, ‘Checkin’ It Out,’ which reached No.3 on the UK singles chart.
2016 Gloria Gaynor’s hit ‘I Will Survive’ was selected to enter the US National Recording Registry. It joined Metallica’s Master of Puppets and Mahler’s Symphony No 9 on the list of culturally significant recordings.