• 1856 ~ Robert Schumann passed away. Schumann was a German composer and influential music critic. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest composers of the Romantic era. Schumann left the study of law, intending to pursue a career as a virtuoso pianist.
More information about Schumann
• 1887 ~ Sigmund Romberg, Hungarian-born American operetta composer, founding member of ASCAP. He was famous for his operettas “Desert Song”, “Maytime” and “Student Prince”
• 1916 ~ Charlie Christian, American guitarist and blues singer
• 1930 ~ Paul Taylor, Dancer with the Martha Graham Dance Company, New York City Ballet, Paul Taylor Dance Company, Emmy Award-winning choreographer, Kennedy Center Honors in 1992 “…for enhancing the lives of people around the world and enriching the culture of our nation.”
• 1933 ~ Randy Sparks, Folk singer, songwriter with the New Christy Minstrels
• 1935 ~ Peter Schreier, German tenor
• 1946 ~ Neal Doughty, Keyboards with REO Speedwagon
• 1953 ~ Geddy Lee, Bass, singer with Rush
• 1965 ~ The Queen of England attended the premiere of the motion picture, Help!, starring The Beatles. The command performance was held at the London Pavilion. The film later earned first prize at the Rio De Janeiro Film Festival in Brazil. The Beatles later said the film was shot in a “haze of marijuana”. According to Starr’s interviews in The Beatles Anthology, during the Austrian Alps film shooting, he and McCartney ran off over the hill from the “curling” scene set to smoke a joint.
• 1966 ~ Martina McBride, Country singer
• 1970 ~ Sir John Barbirolli died. He was the British conductor of the Halle Orchestra, and was a famous interpreter of English music, Mahler and Italian opera.
• 1870 ~ Josef Strauss, Austrian composer, died at the age of 42
• 1896 ~ Jean Rivier-Villemomble France, Composer
• 1898 ~ Ernest Willem Mulder, Composer
• 1898 ~ Sara Carter, Vocalist/guitarist with the Carter Family
• 1903 ~ Theodore Karyotakis, Composer
• 1906 ~ Daniel Ayala Perez, Composer
• 1915 ~ Floyd McDaniel ~ blues singer/guitarist
• 1920 ~ Isaac Stern, American concert violinist
Read quotes by and about Stern
More information about Stern
• 1920 ~ Manuel Valls Gorina, Composer
• 1921 ~ Billy Taylor, Orchestra leader on the David Frost Show
• 1922 ~ Kay Starr (Katherine Starks), Pop Singer
• 1925 ~ Lovro Zupanovic, Composer
• 1926 ~ Albert Fuller, American harpsichordist
• 1926 ~ Norman Jewison, Director of Jesus Christ, Superstar, Fiddler on the Roof
• 1927 ~ Stefan Niculescu, Composer
• 1931 ~ Leon Schidlowsky, Composer
• 1931 ~ Ted Husing was master of ceremonies for the very first CBS-TV program. The gala show featured singer Kate Smith, composer George Gershwin and New York City Mayor Jimmy Walker.
• 1935 ~ Kaye Stevens, Singer and comedienne on the Jerry Lewis Show
• 1938 ~ Anton Emil Kuerti, Composer
• 1938 ~ Paul Hindemith and Leonide Massines ballet premiered in London
• 1947 ~ Cat Stevens (Steven Demitri Georgiou) (Muslim name: Yusuf Islam), British folk-rock singer and songwriter
• 1948 ~ Donald Nichols Tweedy, Composer, died at the age of 58
• 1950 ~ Albert Riemenschneider, Composer, died at the age of 71
• 1958 ~ The last of Arthur Godfrey’s Talent Scouts programs aired on CBS-TV. Many artists got their start on Talent Scouts, including Tony Bennett, Pat Boone, The McGuire Sisters and a singer named Connie Francis, who not only sang, but played the accordion, as well.
• 1969 ~ Just one day after Neil Armstrong set foot on the moon, Duke Ellington and a portion of his band performed a 10-minute composition on ABC-TV titled Moon Maiden. The work featured piano, drums, bass and vocals.
• 1973 ~ Bad, Bad Leroy Brown reached the top spot on the Billboard pop-singles chart, becoming Jim Croce’s first big hit. Croce died in a plane crash two months later (September 20, 1973).
• 1976 ~ “Guys & Dolls” opened at Broadway Theater New York City for 239 performances
• 1994 ~ Dorothy Collins, Singer on Your Hit Parade, died at the age of 67
• 1995 ~ Edwin “Russell” House, Saxophonist, died at the age of 65
• 2000 ~ Iain Hamilton, the Scottish composer who turned Tolstoy’s “Anna Karenina” into an opera at the age of 78. Hamilton wrote four symphonies and dozens of orchestral and chamber works but is known best for his vocal music, which includes a cantata based on the poems of Robert Burns. “Anna Karenina” premiered at the English National Opera in 1981 to critical acclaim. His other operas include “Agamemnon”, “The Catiline Conspiracy”, based on a Ben Jonson play, and an adaptation of Peter Shaffer’s play “The Royal Hunt of the Sun”. From 1961 to 1978 he was a professor of music at Duke University in North Carolina.
• 2001 ~ Norman Hall Wright, the last surviving writer who worked on the Disney film Fantasia 2000, died at the age of 91. Wright studied at the University of Southern California before being hired by Walt Disney Productions. He started as an animator but later became a writer, producer and director. Wright developed the story of The Nutcracker Suite sequence for Fantasia 2000. He also was responsible for a sequence in Bambi. He wrote several cartoon shorts for Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, and Goofy and also produced several Wonderful World of Disney television programs.
• 2002 ~ Gus Dudgeon, a respected music producer who worked on many of Elton John’s hit recordings, died in a car crash in western England. He was 59. Dudgeon produced Rocket Man,Goodbye Yellow Brick Road,Your Song,Daniel and Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me. Dudgeon also produced David Bowie’sSpace Oddity and worked with other stars, including Chris Rea and Joan Armatrading. But it was his partnership with Sir Elton in the 1970s for which he will be best remembered. Dudgeon began his career in the early 1960s as a tea boy, running errands at Olympic Studios in London before joining Decca Records. He engineered the Zombies’ classic She’s Not There and the groundbreaking Blues Breakers album by John Mayall with Eric Clapton, before moving into producing.
• 2015 ~ Theodore Meir Bikel, Austrian-American actor, folk singer, musician, composer, and activist, died at the age of 91.
• 1932 ~ Nam June Paik, Korean-born American avant-guarde composer
• 1938 ~ Jo Ann Campbell, Singer
• 1940 ~ Billboard magazine published its first listing of best-selling singles. 10 tunes were listed.
• 1943 ~ John Lodge, Guitar with Justin Hayward, singer with the Moody Blues
• 1944 ~ T.G. Shepherd (William Bowder), Country Singer
• 1946 ~ Kim Carnes, Grammy Award-winning singer, co-wrote score to Flashdance
• 1946 ~ John Almond, Reeds, keyboards, vibes with Johnny Almond and the Music Machine
• 1947 ~ Carlos Santana, Mexican-born American rock guitarist
• 1958 ~ Mick McNeil, Keyboards with Simple Minds
• 1961 ~ Stop the World, I Want to Get Off opened in London. The show went to Broadway in 1962.
• 1963 ~ Dino Esposito, Singer
• 1963 ~ Ray Conniff received two gold-record awards – for the albums, Concert in Rhythm and Memories are Made of This – on Columbia Records. Conniff recorded dozens of albums of easy listening music for the label. He had been a trombonist and arranger with Bunny Berigan, Bob Crosby, Harry James, Vaughn Monroe andArtie Shaw.
• 1964 ~ Chris Cornell, Grammy Award-winning musician: drums, singer, songwriter with Soundgarden
• 1809 ~ Joseph Quesne, Composer, died at the age of 62
• 1814 ~ Janis Cimze, Composer
• 1819 ~ Louis Theodore Gouvy, Composer
• 1846 ~ Achilles Alferaki, Composer
• 1850 ~ Alfredo Kiel, Composer
• 1854 ~ Leos Janácek, Czech composer, conductor and collector of Moravian folk songs. He is best known for his operas including “Jenufa” and “The Cunning Little Vixen” as well as for his orchestral piece “Taras Bulba.”
More information about Janácek
• 1855 ~ Piotr Maszynski, Composer
• 1860 ~ William Wallace, Composer
• 1862 ~ Friedrich Ernst Koch, Composer
• 1871 ~ Vicente Arregui Garay, Composer
• 1873 ~ Josef Michal Ksawery Jan Poniatowski, Composer, died at the age of 57
• 1878 ~ George M. Cohan, American songwriter, vaudeville performer, playwright and producer
Listen to Cohan’s music
More information about Cohan
• 1941 ~ Cab Calloway and his orchestra recorded the standard, St. James Infirmary, for Okeh Records.
• 1945 ~ Johnny Lee, Country singer
• 1945 ~ Victor Borge was first heard on NBC radio. The network gave the comedian/pianist the summer replacement slot for Fibber McGee and Molly.
More information about Borge
• 1948 ~ Paul Barrere, Musician, guitarist with Little Feat
• 1952 ~ Daniel Zamudio, Composer, died at the age of 64
• 1953 ~ Harry Belafonte was shown with actress Janet Leigh and film star Tony Curtis on the cover of Ebony magazine. It was the first time a black person and two Caucasians were seen together on a U.S. magazine cover.
• 1954 ~ “Wonderful Town” closed at Winter Garden Theater New York City after 559 performances
• 1955 ~ Neil Clark, Musician, guitarist with Lloyd Cole & The Commotions
• 1957 ~ Laura Branigan, Singer
• 1957 ~ Richard Mohaupt, German Composer (Bucolica), died at the age of 52
• 1958 ~ “Andy Williams Show” premiered on ABC (later on CBS & NBC)
• 1960 ~ Alfred Henry Ackley, Composer, died at the age of 73
• 1961 ~ Vince Clarke, Songwriter, keyboards
• 1965 ~ Clarence Loomis, Composer, died at the age of 75
• 1966 ~ Andre Gailhard, Composer, died at the age of 81
• 1969 ~ Brian Jones, guitarist (Rolling Stones), drowns to death at 25
• 1969 ~ Hermann Grabner, Composer, died at the age of 83
• 1971 ~ Jim Morrison, rock singer (Doors), died of heart failure at 27
• 1971 ~ The Newport Jazz Festival’s reputation was tarnished as gate crashers stormed the stage. The unruly mob forced the show to leave Newport, Rhode Island and move to New York City. Oh, and the artist the crowd got unruly over? Not Bob Dylan, not Miles Davis, but Dionne Warwick’s! She was singing Whatthe World Needs Now is Love at the time of the incident.
• 1972 ~ Mississippi Fred McDowell, jazz artist, died at the age of 68
• 1973 ~ Charles Ancerl, Czech conductor (Prague/Toronto), died at the age of 63
• 1973 ~ Clint Holmes received a gold record for his hit single, Playground in MyMind.
• 1976 ~ Brian Wilson rejoined The Beach Boys, who were appearing at Angels Stadium in Anaheim, CA (before 74,000 fans). Wilson had been out of the group’s road tour schedule for 12 years.
• 1977 ~ Hugh Le Caine, Composer, died at the age of 63
• 1986 ~ Rudy Vallee, singer (Vagabond Dreams), died at the age of 84
• 1986 ~ Mikhail Baryshnikov, considered by many to be the world’s greatest ballet dancer, became a U.S. citizen in ceremonies at Ellis Island, New York Harbor.
• 1991 ~ Irina Nijinska, Russian/US dancer, died at the age of 77
• 1995 ~ Brad Lee Sexton, bass guitarist, died at the age of 47
• 2001 ~ Country guitar player Roy Nichols, who played in Merle Haggard’s band for 22 years and helped create the Bakersfield Sound, died after being hospitalized with kidney inflammation and a bacterial infection. He was 68. Nichols began recording with Haggard’s band The Strangers in 1963 and played with some of country music’s biggest names from the time he was 16 years old. “A lot of people may or may not know that he played for Johnny Cash on TennesseeFlat Top Box, the original version, and also on The Ballad of Ira Hayes,” Haggard told the Associated Press in a telephone interview. Haggard credits Nichols with jump-starting his own career and playing a key role in developing The Stranger’s distinctive sound.
• 2001 ~ Grand Ole Opry star Johnny Russell, whose song Act Naturally was recorded by Buck Owens and The Beatles, died of leukemia, diabetes and other ailments at the age of 61. Russell once said that it took him two years to get someone to recordActNaturally, co-written with Voni Morrison. When Owens recorded a version in 1963, it went to No. 1 on the country charts. Two years later, it was recorded by the Beatles, with Ringo Starr singing the vocal. In 1989, Starr and Owens recorded a duet of the song that was nominated for Grammy and Country Music Association awards. Russell’s own recording career took off in the 1970s. His biggest hit was the working class anthem Rednecks, White Socks and Blue Ribbon Beer, which went to No. 4 in 1973 and was nominated for a Grammy. Russell joined the cast of the Grand Ole Opry in 1985, and over the years became its regular closing act. A jolly, 275-pound man, he would joke to audiences in his opening line: “Can everybody see me all right?” Russell also wrote the No. 1 hit Let’s Fall to Pieces Together, recorded in 1984 by George Strait, and Making Plans, which was recorded by DollyParton, Emmylou Harris and Linda Ronstadt on their Trio album in 1987.
• 1284 ~ The Pied Piper exacted his revenge upon the German town of Hamelin this day. The townspeople had promised to pay the piper a large fee if he could rid their town the nasty rats running all over the place. He had played his trusty pipe and the rats had followed him out of town and into the River Weser. But once the rodents were eliminated, the local folks decided not to pay after all. The piper was not pleased and repaid the townspeople by playing his pipe for the children of Hamelin, just like he had done for the rats. And just like the rats, the children followed him out of town.
• 1582 ~ Johannes Schultz, Composer
• 1657 ~ Tobias Michael, Composer, died at the age of 65
• 1893 ~ “Big Bill” Broonzy, American blues singer and guitarist
• 1894 ~ Bill Wirges, American orchestra leader
• 1901 ~ William Busch, Composer
• 1902 ~ Antonia Brico, Conductor and pianist. Because there were so few opportunities for female conductors, she organized the Woman’s Symphony Orchestra in 1935.
• 1909 ~ “Col Tom” Parker (Dries Van Kruijk), Elvis Presley’s manager
• 1933 ~ Claudio Abbado, Italian conductor
More information about Abbado
• 1933 ~ The Kraft Music Hall debuted. It turned out to be one of radio’s longest- running hits. The first program presented Paul Whiteman and his orchestra. SingerAl Jolson became the host of the show shortly thereafter. Several years later, crooner Bing Crosby was named the host. The Kraft Music Hall continued on NBC radio until 1949 and then on TV for many more years; the first year as Milton Berle Starring in the Kraft Music Hall, then Kraft Music Hall Presents: The Dave King Show followed by Perry Como’s Kraft Music Hall for four seasons. From 1967 on, The Kraft Music Hall featured a different host.
• 1934 ~ Dave Grusin, Composer of film scores
• 1934 ~ Luis Felipe Pires, Composer
• 1940 ~ Billy Davis, Jr., Singer with The 5th Dimension
• 1942 ~ Larry Taylor, Musician, bass with Canned Heat
• 1943 ~ John Allen Strang, Composer
• 1943 ~ Georgie Fame (Clive Powell), Singer
• 1945 ~ Barry Schrader, Composer
• 1945 ~ Erno Rapee, Composer, died at the age of 54
• 1956 ~ Clifford Brown, American jazz trumpeter, died at the age of 25
• 1964 ~ A Hard Day’s Night was released by United Artists Records. The album featured all original material by The Beatles and became the top album in the country by July 25, 1964.
• 1965 ~ Mr. Tambourine Man, by The Byrds, reached the number one spot on the pop music charts. The song was considered by many to be the first folk-rock hit. The tune was written by Bob Dylan, as were two other hits for the group: All I Really Wantto Do and My Back Pages. The group of James Roger McGinn, David Crosby, Gene Clark, Chris Hillman and Mike Clarke charted seven hits. The Byrds were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1991.
• 1966 ~ “Time for Singing” closed at Broadway Theater New York City after 41 performances
• 1971 ~ Inia Te Wiata, opera singer, died
• 1971 ~ Juan Manen, Composer, died at the age of 88
• 1971 ~ “Man of La Mancha” closed at ANTA Washington Square Theater New York City after 2329 performances
• 1972 ~ David Lichine (Lichtenstein), Russian/American choreographer, died at the age of 61
• 1973 ~ Arnold Richardson, Composer, died at the age of 59
• 1973 ~ London production of “Grease” premiered
• 1977 ~ Lou Reizner, Rock vocalist/producer, died at the age of 43
• 1977 ~ Elvis Presley sang the last performance of his career, in Indianapolis. He died two months later.
• 1981 ~ Peter Kreuder, German composer, died
• 1982 ~ André Tchaikowsy, Pianist and composer, died
• 1983 ~ Walter O’Keefe, Songwriter and TV host, died at the age of 82
• 1983 ~ “Show Boat” closed at Uris Theater New York City after 73 performances
• 2001 ~ French soprano Gina Cigna, famed for singing Puccini’s “Turandot”, died at the age of 101. Born in Paris in 1900, Cigna made her stage debut at Milan’s La Scala opera house at age 27 under the name Ginette Sens. Her breakthrough came two years later when she performed in Mozart’s “Don Giovanni” at La Scala under her own name. Arturo Toscanini, the conductor, was particularly fond of Cigna’s expressive voice, which received widespread acclaim. An auto accident ended Cigna’s performing career in 1947. Until 1965, she coached opera singers in Milan, Siena and Canada.
• 1884 ~ Hans Rott, Composer, died at the age of 25
• 1886 ~ Nineteen-year-old Arturo Toscanini moved from the cello section to the conductor’s stand of the Rio de Janeiro Orchestra. The maestro conducted Verdi’sopera, Aida, this day.
• 1887 ~ George Abbott, Director: Damn Yankees, The Pajama Game
• 1889 ~ Ethel Glenn Hier, Composer
• 1897 ~ Hans Barth, German pianist and composer
• 1901 ~ Adolf Brunner, Composer
• 1910 ~ The first performance of “The Firebird”, a ballet by Igor Stravinsky, took place in Paris.
• 1938 ~ A Tisket A Tasket by Ella Fitzgerald with Chick Webb hit #1
• 1940 ~ Clint Warwick (Eccles), Musician, bass with The Moody Blues
• 1945 ~ Carley Simon, American Grammy Award-winning singer – Best New Artist in 1971; Academy Award-winning song, Let the River Run, 1988
• 1946 ~ Allen Lanier, Musician, guitarist, keyboards with Blue Oyster Cult
• 1946 ~ Ian McDonald, Musician, instrumentalist with Foreigner
• 1952 ~ “Wish You Were Here” opened at Imperial Theater New York City for 597 perfomances
• 1955 ~ “Can Can” closed at Shubert Theater New York City after 892 performances
• 1961 ~ Pat Boone spent this day at number one for one last time with Moody River. Boone, a teen heart-throb in the 1950s, had previously walked his way up the music charts, wearing white buck shoes, of course, with these other hits: Ain’t That a Shame, I Almost Lost My Mind, Don’t Forbid Me, Love Letters inthe Sand and April Love.
• 1963 ~ George Michael (Yorgos Panayiotou), Singer
• 1966 ~ The Beatles’Paperback Writer, single went #1 & stayed #1 for 2 weeks
• 1967 ~ 400 million watched The Beatles “Our World” TV special
• 1969 ~ The Guess Who from Canada received a gold record for their hit single, TheseEyes.
• 1971 ~ Stevie Wonder released Where I’m Coming From
• 1976 ~ Johnny Mercer, American songwriter, died at the age of 66 He wrote the lyrics for a number of award winning songs including Moon River.
• 1977 ~ Endre Szervanszky, Composer, died at the age of 65
• 1977 ~ Petko Staynov, Composer, died at the age of 80
• 1983 ~ “Evita” closed at Broadway Theater New York City after 1568 performances
• 1987 ~ Boudleaux Bryant, Song writer for the Everly Brothers, died at the age of 67
• 2000 ~ Andrew Lloyd Webber’sCats, the longest-running production in Broadway history, closed after 7,397 performances.
• 2000 ~ Arnold Black, a composer and violinist who started a beloved classical music program in the rural Berkshires, died at the age of 77.
More information on Arnold Black
• 2002 ~ Nellie Monk, wife and muse of the jazz musician Thelonious Monk, died of a cerebral hemorrhage. She was 80. Born Nellie Smith in St. Petersbrug, Fla., she moved to New York with her family and met Thelonious Monk at the age of 16 at a neighborhood basketball court. Throughout their nearly four-decade relationship, Thelonious Monk, who was known as an eccentric absorbed in his work, depended on his wife for financial and emotional support. Nellie Monk worked as a seamstress during World War II, and afterward occasionally made clothes for her husband and others. While she was never her husband’s official manager, she paid musicians, collected money from promoters, and made sure band members had plane tickets. Thelonious Monk wrote a famed ballad, Crepuscule With Nellie, when she was undergoing surgery for a thyroid problem in 1957. The couple was together from about 1947 until Thelonious Monk died in 1982.
• 1972 ~ I Am Woman, by Helen Reddy, was released by Capitol Records. The number one tune (December 9, 1972) became an anthem for the feminist movement. Reddy, from Australia, made her stage debut when she was only four years old. She had her own TV program in the early 1960s. Reddy came to New York in 1966 and has appeared in the films Airport 1975, Pete’s Dragon and Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. Reddy also had four million-sellers: I Am Woman, Delta Dawn, Leave Me Alone (Ruby Red Dress) and Angie Baby. She had a total of 14 hits on the pop music charts.
• 1992 ~ Billy Joel,American pianist, singer-songwriter, and composer, received an honorary diploma from Hicksville HS at 43
• 2000 ~ British actor David Tomlinson, who starred as father George Banks in the classic 1964 musical movie “Mary Poppins”, died at the age of 83.
• 2002 ~ Dolores Gray, a Tony-winning actress and singer, died of a heart attack at her Manhattan apartment. She was 78. Gray began performing in Hollywood clubs when she was 14, and at 15 she was discovered by Rudy Vallee and given a guest spot on his national radio show. She landed her first major theater success in 1947 as Annie in “Annie Get Your Gun” in London. In 1954, she won a Tony award for best musical actress in “Carnival in Flanders.” After signing a contract with MGM in 1955, Gray began to star in musical movies, including “Kismet,” and “The Opposite Sex.” She performed alongside Gene Kelly in “It’s Always Fair Weather” and with Gregory Peck and Lauren Bacall in “Designing Women.” Gray continued to perform in clubs, on stage, and on television variety shows, including the Bell Telephone Hour. She returned to Broadway for several productions, including “Destry Rides Again,” during which the stage curtain once caught fire as she sang “Anyone Would Love You.” As the theater’s firefighters and stagehands battled the blaze backstage, Gray kept singing, and was credited with keeping the audience calm until they could evacuate the theater. The show resumed after a 40-minute intermission.
• 2002 ~ Joe Derise, a musician, cabaret artist and former big band vocalist, died. He was 76. Derise sang with Tommy Dorsey at the age of 21 and performed as a singer, guitarist and arranger with the Claude Thornhill Orchestra. He went on to form his own group, Four Jacks and a Jill, which performed around the country. Derise made several records and composed some of his own songs with the lyricist Marcia Hillman. His last major performance was at the Algonquin Hotel in New York in 1999.
• 1846 ~ Adolphe Sax patented the saxophone he invented in 1840
• 1862 ~ Henry Holden Huss, Composer
• 1865 ~ Albert Herbert Brewer, Composer
• 1868 ~ Wagner’s opera “Die Meistersinger von Nuernberg” premiered in Munich
• 1887 ~ Adolf Schimon, Composer, died at the age of 67
• 1892 ~ Hilding Rosenberg, Swedish composer
• 1893 ~ Alois Hába, Czech opera composer and writer
• 1900 ~ Gunnar Ek, Composer (he died on 81st birthday)
• 1900 ~ Polibo Fumagalli, Composer, died at the age of 69
• 1903 ~ Louis Krasner, violinist
• 1906 ~ Luis Maria Millet, Composer
• 1908 ~ Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Russian Composer, died at the age of 64 He was best known for his orchestral piece “Sheherezade” and the opera “The Golden Cockerel” as well as his re-orchestration of Moussorgsky’s opera “Boris Godunov.”
More information about Rimsky-Korsakov
• 1941 ~ Wayne King and his orchestra recorded Time Was, with Buddy Clark providing the vocal accompaniment, for Victor Records.
• 1944 ~ Ray Davies, Musician, guitar, singer, songwriter with The Kinks
• 1945 ~ Chris Britton, Guitarist with The Troggs
• 1946 ~ Brenda Holloway, American singer and songwriter
• 1946 ~ Heinrich Kaminski, Composer, died at the age of 59
• 1948 ~ Columbia Records announced that it was offering a new Vinylite long-playing record that could hold 23 minutes of music on each side. One of the first LPs produced was of the original cast of the Broadway show, South Pacific. Critics quickly scoffed at the notion of LPs, since those heavy, breakable, 78 RPM, 10- inch disks with one song on each side, were selling at an all-time high. It didn’t take very long though, for the 33-1/3 RPM album — and its 7-inch, 45 RPM cousin to revolutionize the music industry and the record buying habits of millions.
• 1951 ~ Nils Lofgren, Musician, guitar, keyboards, singer, songwriter
• 1958 ~ Splish Splash was recorded by Bobby Darin. It was his first hit and it took Darin only ten minutes to write the song.
• 1972 ~ Billy Preston received a gold record for the instrumental hit, Outa-Space. Preston, who played for gospel singer Mahalia Jackson, back in 1956, was also in the film St. Louis Blues as a piano player. He was a regular on the Shindig TV show in the 1960s; and recorded with The Beatles on the hits Get Back and Let It Be. Preston also performed at The Concert for Bangladesh in 1969. Many well-known artists have utilized his keyboard talents, including Sly & The Family Stone and the Rolling Stones.
• 1972 ~ Seth Bingham, Composer, died at the age of 90
• 1975 ~ Heinz Lau, Composer, died at the age of 49
• 1985 ~ Ron Howard directed his first music video. The TV star of The Andy Griffith Show and Happy Days also directed the film Cocoon, which included Gravity, the song used in the video. Michael Sembello, a guitarist who played on StevieWonder’s hits between 1974 and 1979 was responsible for Gravity.
• 1990 ~ Little Richard recieved a star on Hollywood’s walk of fame
• 1992 ~ Thomas Whitfield, Gospel vocalist, died of heart attack at 38
• 1993 ~ “Camelot” opened at the Gershwin Theater New York City for 56 performances
• 1997 ~ Art Prysock, Jazz musician, died at the age of 68
• 2000 ~ Alan Hovhaness, a prolific composer who melded Western and Asian musical styles, died at the age of 89.
More information about Hovhaness
• 2001 ~ Bluesman John Lee Hooker, whose foot stompin’ and gravelly voice on songs like Boom Boom and Boogie Chillen electrified audiences and inspired generations of musicians, died of natural causes at the age of 83. He recorded more than 100 albums over nearly seven decades. He won a Grammy Award for a version ofI’m In The Mood, was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1991 and received a Lifetime Achievement Award at last year’s Grammys. His distinctive sound influenced rhythm and blues musicians, as well as rock ‘n’ rollers including Van Morrison, the Rolling Stones, Eric Clapton, BruceSpringsteen, Bonnie Raitt and ZZ Top. Hooker’s 1990 album “The Healer“, featured duets with Carlos Santana, Raitt and Robert Cray. It sold 1.5 million copies and won him his first Grammy Award, for a duet with Raitt on I’m in the Mood. Born in Clarksdale, Miss., August 22, 1917, Hooker was one of 11 children born to a Baptist minister and sharecropper who discouraged his son’s musical bent. In Detroit, he was discovered and recorded his first hit, Boogie Chillen, in 1948.
• 2003 ~ William Leslie died at the age of 78. He was a jazz saxophonist who toured the world with the Louis Jordan Band in the 1950s in Sellersville, Pa. He played with the Jordan Band in New York, Chicago, Las Vegas and Europe and on the television show “Your Hit Parade.” Mr. Leslie had played the saxophone since he was 12. After serving in World War II, he attended the Landis School of Music in West Philadelphia, Pa., on the GI Bill.
• 1819 ~ Jacques Offenbach, German-born French conductor, cellist and composer of operettas
Read quotes by and about Offenbach
More information about Offenbach
• 1833 ~ Philip Knapton, Composer, died at the age of 44
• 1837 ~ Giovanni Furno, Composer, died at the age of 89
• 1842 ~ Michael Umlauf, Composer, died at the age of 60
• 1931 ~ Arne Nordheim, Norwegian conductor and composer
• 1934 ~ Cornel Taranu, Composer
• 1938 ~ Nikolay Avksentevich Martinov, Composer
• 1939 ~ first TV broadcast of an operetta, “The Pirates of Penzance” by Gilbert and Sullivan W2XBS (later WCBS-TV) in New York City televised Pirates of Penzance. It was presented to a very small viewing audience since television was a new, experimental medium at the time.
• 1936 ~ Billy Guy, Singer with The Coasters
• 1937 ~ Jerry Keller, Singer
• 1940 ~ Jehan Alain, French organist and composer, died in battle at 29
• 1942 ~ Brian Wilson, Bass player, singer with the The Beach Boys, inducted into Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988
• 1949 ~ Lionel Richie, Tenor sax, songwriter, singer with the Commodores
• 1951 ~ Peter Gordon, Composer
• 1953 ~ Cyndi Lauper, Singer
• 1953 ~ Alan Longmuir, Musician, bass with Bay City Rollers
• 1955 ~ Michael Anthony, Musician, bass with Van Halen
• 1955 ~ “Almost Crazy” opened at Longacre Theater New York City for 16 performances
• 1960 ~ John Taylor, Musician: guitar, bass with Duran Duran
• 1963 ~ The Beatles formed “Beatles Ltd” to handle their income
• 1969 ~ Guitarist Jimi Hendrix earned the biggest paycheck ever paid (to that time) for a single concert appearance. Hendrix was paid $125,000 to appear for a single set at the Newport Jazz Festival.
• 1970 ~ The Long and Winding Road, by The Beatles, started a second week in the number one spot on the pop music charts. The tune was the last one to be released by The Beatles.
• 1975 ~ Daniel Ayala Perez, Composer, died at the age of 68
• 1980 ~ Gustaf Allan Pettersson, Composer, died at the age of 68
• 1987 ~ Whitney Houston’s album, Whitney, debuted on Billboard magazine’s album chart at number one. Houston became the first female to have an LP debut at the top. The singer, daughter of Cissy Houston and cousin of Dionne Warwick, began her singing career at age 11 with the New Hope Baptist Junior Choir in New Jersey. Houston first worked as a backup vocalist for Chaka Khan and Lou Rawls; entered modeling in 1981, appearing in Glamour magazine and on the cover of Seventeen. Whitney married soul singer, Bobby Brown, in the late 1980s.
• 1997 ~ Lawrence Payton, singer with the Four Tops, died at the age of 59
• 1686 ~ Johann Quirsfeld, Composer, died at the age of 43
• 1726 ~ Giuseppe Scarlotti (1723) Composer
• 1726 ~ Michel-Richard Delalande, Composer, died at the age of 68
• 1726 ~ August Holler (1744) Composer
• 1726 ~ Ignaz Joseph Pleyel (1757) Composer
• 1780 ~ Michael Henkel, Composer
• 1799 ~ Johann André, Composer, died at the age of 58
• 1821 ~ Charles Hague, Composer, died at the age of 52
• 1821 ~ Opera “Der Freischütz” by Carl Maria von Weber was produced in Berlin
• 1822 ~ Henry David Leslie, Composer
• 1850 ~ Richard Heuberger, Composer
• 1850 ~ Antoni Weinert, Composer, died at the age of 99
• 1859 ~ Joseph Hartmann Stuntz, Composer, died at the age of 65
• 1876 ~ August Rockel, Composer, died at the age of 61
• 1892 ~ Edward Steuermann, Composer
• 1901 ~ Jeanette MacDonald, Singer with Nelson Eddy
• 1902 ~ Louis Alter, Composer
• 1904 ~ Manuel Rosenthal, French composer
• 1905 ~ Eduard Tubin, Composer
• 1906 ~ Kaye Kyser, Bandleader Kay Kyser and His Kollege of Musical Knowledge
More information about Kyser
• 1907 ~ Benny Payne, American pianist for the Billy Daniels Show
• 1909 ~ Learmont Drysdale, Composer, died at the age of 42
• 1934 ~ Ray McKinley (1910) Musician, drummer, led Glenn Miller Band for the estate from 1956 until 1966.
• 1911 ~ Franjo Zaver Kuhac, Composer, died at the age of 76
• 1913 ~ Sammy Cahn, Composer and lyricist
Read quotes by and about Cahn
More information about Cahn
• 1915 ~ Victor Legley, Composer
• 1917 ~ Akhmet Jevdet Ismail Hajiyev, Composer
• 1918 ~ Bob Carroll, Singer and actor
• 1923 ~ Herman Krebbers, Dutch violist and concert master
• 1925 ~ Herman “Ace” Wallace, Blues guitarist and singer
• 1927 ~ Simeon Pironkov, Composer
• 1933 ~ Tommy Hunt, American singer
• 1934 ~ Francisco Lacerda, Composer, died at the age of 65
• 1935 ~ August Reusner, Composer, died at the age of 64
• 1941 ~ Lamont Dozier, Composer
• 1942 ~ Hans Vonk, Dutch conductor
• 1942 ~ Arthur Willard Pryor, Composer, died at the age of 71
• 1942 ~ Paul McCartney, British rock singer, songwriter and guitarist
More information about McCartney
• 1944 ~ Paul Lansky, Composer
• 1944 ~ Douglas Young, Composer
• 1948 ~ Eva Marton, Hungarian soprano
• 1949 ~ “Along Fifth Avenue” closed at Broadhurst Theater NYC after 180 perfomances
• 1953 ~ Jerome Smith, Musician, guitarist with KC & The Sunshine Band
• 1955 ~ Walter Rein, Composer, died at the age of 61
• 1955 ~ Willy Burkhard, Composer, died at the age of 55
• 1962 ~ Volkmar Andreae, Swiss conductor and Composer, died at the age of 82
• 1964 ~ Alexander Shamil’yevich Melik-Pashayev, Composer, died at the age of 58
• 1965 ~ George Melachrino, Composer, died at the age of 56
• 1973 ~ Fritz Mahler, Composer, died at the age of 71
• 1977 ~ Fleetwood Mac worked Dreams to the number one spot on the pop music charts this day. It would be the group’s only single to reach number one. Fleetwood Mac placed 18 hits on the charts in the 1970s and 1980s. Nine were top-ten tunes.
MaryO'Studio 