Archive for December, 2008

1894 – Composer Ernest John Moeran was born.

1904 – Composer Nathan Milstein was born.

1923 – Singer Eddie Cantor opened in the lead role of “Kid Boots.”

1929 – Guy Lombardo and his Royal Canadians played “Auld Lang Syne” as a New Year’s Eve song for the first time.

1940 – As a result of a dispute between the radio networks and ASCAP (the American Society of Composers and Publishers), the radio industry was prevented from playing any ASCAP-licensed music. The ban lasted for ten months.

1961 – The Beach Boys played a show under this name for the first time at a Ritchie Valens memorial concert in Long Beach, CA.

1969 – Jimi Hendrix introduced his new Band of Gypsys at a show that was recorded and later released as the live album “Band of Gypsys.”

1970 – Paul McCartney filed a suit to dissolve the Beatles.

1971 – The Beatles broke up.

1971 – David Clayton-Thomas made his last appearance with Blood, Sweat & Tears (until their reunion).

1975 – Elvis Presley performed for 60,000 fans at the Silverdome, in Pontiac, MI. He set a world record for earning $800,000 for a single concert by a single artist.

1976 – The Cars gave their debut performance at Pease Air Force Base, Portsmouth, NH.

1978 – The Bauhaus gave their performance debut in England.

1981 – MTV hosted the first New Year’s Eve Rock and Roll Ball.

1982 – Steve Van Zandt, of the E Street Band, married Maureen Santora.

1983 – MTV completed its first profitable quarter.

1984 – Def Leppard drummer Rick Allen lost his left arm in an auto accident in England.

1985 – Ricky Nelson and six others died in an airplane crash near DeKalb, TX. A fire had broken out on the plane.

1986 – At a birthday party for Don Henley, Gary Hart and Donna Rice met each other.

1993 – Barbra Streisand performed her first paid concert in 22 years at the MGM Grand Garden in Las Vegas, NV.

1999 – “Rave Un2 The Joy 2000″ was aired. Prince had recorded the show on December 18, 1999 at Paisley Park Studios.

2002 – 50 Cent and four other men were arrested and charged with two counts of criminal possession of a weapon. Police had found two guns in the vehicle the men were riding in.

http://www.on-this-day.com/onthisday/thedays/music/dec31.htm

1756 – Composer Pavel Vranicky was born.

1853 – Composer Andre-Charles-Prosper Messager was born.

1859 – Composer Josef Bohuslav Foerster was born.

1904 – Composer Dmitri Borisovich Kabalevsky was born.

1962 – Brenda Lee’s home was destroyed by fire.

1970 – Paul McCartney sued the other three Beatles to dissolve the partnership and gain control of his interest.

1979 – Emerson, Lake & Palmer announced their break-up.

1989 – Krist Novoselic (Nirvana) and Shelli Dilley were married.

1999 – George Harrison and his wife were attacked in their home during a robbery. Though, Harrison was stabbed in the chest four times, he and his wife were able to subdue the assailant until police arrived.

2002 – In Tucson, AZ, Diana Ross was arrested on suspicion of drunken driving.

http://www.on-this-day.com/onthisday/thedays/music/dec30.htm

1812 – Beethoven’s Opus 96: Violin Sonata No. 10 in G major was performed for the first time.

1943 – “San Fernando Valley” was recorded by Bing Crosby.

1957 – Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gorme were married.

1963 – The Weavers gave their farewell concert at Orchestra Hall in Chicago.

1967 – Orchestra leader Paul Whiteman died at the age of 76.

1967 – Dave Manson quit Traffic and started a solo career.

1975 – Paul Kantner and Grace Slick of Jefferson Airplane were divorced.

1980 – Folksinger/songwriter Tim Hardin died at age forty due to a heroin overdose.

1982 – Jamaica issued a Bob Marley commemorative stamp.

1994 – Lisa “Left-Eye” Lopes plead guilty to arson charges for setting fire to and destroyed boyfriend Andre Rison’s $1 million Atlanta mansion.

http://www.on-this-day.com/onthisday/thedays/music/dec29.htm

1812 – Composer Julius Rietz was born.

1944 – The musical “On the Town” opened in New York City and ran for 462 performances. It features the song, “New York, New York.”

1968 – The Doors’ “Touch Me” was released.

1969 – “Temptations Day” was declared in Detroit, MI.

1975 – Twenty-five year old David Gelfer pointed a .44 magnum at Ted Nugent and was then brought down to the ground by members of the audience and security guards. Gelfer was charged with “intimidating with a weapon.”

1981 – WEA Records (Warner-Elektra-Atlantic) raised the price of its 45-rpm records from $1.68 to $1.98.

1983 – Dennis Wilson of the Beach Boys drowned while swimming near his boat in the harbor at Marina del Ray, CA.

1998 – Usher sued the Tommy Hilfigger company for alleged infringement of publicity rights and false endorsement.

2001 – A district court judge reduced a charge against Marilyn Manson. The original charge, fourth-degree criminal sexual misconduct, was reduced to disorderly conduct. A second charge, a misdemeanor count of assault and battery, remained unchanged. The incident stemmed from a concert on July 30, 2001 in Clarkston, MI, in which Manson allegedly assaulted a security guard.

http://www.on-this-day.com/onthisday/thedays/music/dec28.htm

1903 – In New York City, the barbershop quartet favorite, “Sweet Adeline,” was sung for the first time.

1927 – The musical “Showboat” opened in New York.

1932 – Radio City Music Hall opened its doors to the public for the first time.

1939 – “The Glenn Miller Show,” also known as “Music that Satisfies,” debuted on CBS radio.

1940 – Singer Al Jolson and actress Ruby Keeler were divorced after 12 years of marriage that included that final year of separation.

1963 – The Animals perform on their first radio broadcast on the BBC show “Saturday Club.”

1964 – The Supremes made their first appearance on TV’s “Ed Sullivan Show.”

1970 – “Hello, Dolly!” closed on Broadway after a run of 2,844 performances.

1971 – The “Sonny & Cher Show” began airing on CBS. The show ran for four 1/2 years.

1975 – The Four Seasons, “December 1963 (Oh, What A Night)” was released.

1985 – Metallica finished working on “Master of Puppets.”

1989 – Chuck Berry was sued by a former cook in his restaurant for allegedly putting a camera in the ladies’ restroom.

1992 – Harry Connick Jr. was arrested at New York’s Kennedy Airport after a 9mm pistol was discovered in his carry-on luggage.

1992 – The musical revival of “3 From Brooklyn” closed after 45 performances.

1992 – The musical revival of “Tommy Tune Tonite! A Song and Dance Act” opened.

1997 – Mark Morrison was arrested outside the Pink Coconut nightclub in central Derby. The singer was convicted of threatening an off-duty police officer with an electric stun gun.

1998 – Busta Rhymes (AKA Trevor Smith) was arrested and charged with criminal possession after police found a loaded, unregistered pistol in his car. The police originally pulled Rhymes over for changing lanes three times without signaling.

http://www.on-this-day.com/onthisday/thedays/music/dec27.htm

1678 – Composer Johann Georg Pisendel was born.

1762 – Composer Franz Wilhelm Tausch was born.

1931 – George Gershwin’s musical, “Of Thee I Sing,” opened at the Music Box Theatre in New York City. It became the first American musical to be awarded a Pulitzer Prize.

1939 – W.C. Handy recorded the classic “St. Louis Blues.”

1955 – Bill Haley and the Comets’ “See You Later Alligator” was released by Decca Records.

1961 – Jay & the Americans recorded “She Cried.”

1963 – Capitol Records released the Beatles’ “I Want to Hold Your Hand” backed with “I Saw Her Standing There.”

1967 – The Dave Brubeck Quartet formally disbanded after Paul Desmond left the group.

1967 – The Beatles film, “Magical Mystery Tour,” premiered on BBC-TV.

1968 – Led Zeppelin began its first U.S. tour in Boston.

1987 – Run D.M.C.’s Jason Mizell was hospitalized when his Jeep was hit head-on by a driver going the wrong-way.

1997 – The movie “Spice World” was released in the United Kingdom.

http://www.on-this-day.com/onthisday/thedays/music/dec26.htm

1583 – Composer Orlando Gibbons was born.

1818 – “Silent Night” was performed for the first time, at the Church of St. Nikolaus in Oberndorff, Austria.

1959 – Richard Starkey, 18, who later would be known as Ringo Starr, received a drum set for Christmas.

1967 – Paul McCartney and Jane Asher become engaged, but they never married.

1977 – Harlem’s Apollo Theater re-opened.

1978 – Public Image Ltd. made its debut performance at the Rainbow Theatre in London.

1978 – Abba’s pre-recorded appearance on BBCI-TV’s “Mike Yarwood Christmas Show” aired in Britain.

1990 – James Brown gave his first concert performance in two years for soldiers of Ft. Jackson, SC. Brown was on a 4-day furlough from prison.

1995 – Singer Dean Martin died at the age of 78.

1996 – “The People vs. Larry Flynt,” starring Courtney Love was released.

http://www.on-this-day.com/onthisday/thedays/music/dec25.htm

1719 – Composer Johann Christoph Altnikol was born.

1818 – Franz Gruber of Oberndorf, Germany composed the music for “Silent Night” to words written by Josef Mohr.

1871 – In Cairo, Egypt, Verdi’s opera “Aida” had its world premiere.

1906 – Reginald A. Fessenden became the first person to broadcast a music program over radio, from Brant Rock, MA.

1920 – Enrico Caruso gave his last public performance, when he sang in Jacques Halevy’s “La Juive” at the Metropolitan Opera in New York.

1951 – Gian Carlo Menotti’s “Amahl and the Night Visitors,” was first broadcast by NBC. It was the first opera written specifically for television.

1954 – Johnny Ace shot himself and died while playing Russian roulette backstage at a concert in Houston, TX.

1955 – The Lennon Sisters debuted as featured vocalists on “The Lawrence Welk Show” on ABC-TV.

1966 – Tommy James recorded “I Think We’re Alone Now”.

1973 – Tom Johnson of the Doobie Brothers was arrested in Visalia, CA, on charges of marijuana possession.

1978 – Bjorn Ulvaeus & Agnetha Falkstad (both of ABBA) announced their seperation and that they were filing for divorce.

http://www.on-this-day.com/onthisday/thedays/music/dec24.htm