portrait of this blog's author - by Stephen Blackman 2008

Saturday, August 03, 2019

ON THIS DAY IN MUSIC

1963 - The Beatles
The Beatles played their last ever performance at The Cavern Club in Liverpool. During their set a power cut silenced their instruments and plunged the Cavern into temporary darkness. Lennon and McCartney performed an acoustic version of 'When I'm Sixty-Four', a song they wouldn't release until 1967, while waiting for the electricity to return. The Beatles, whose fee for their first performance at the Cavern had been £5, received a fee of £300 for this performance.

1966 - The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones began nine days recording sessions for their next album at Los Angeles, RCA Studios, Hollywood, USA. Tracks recorded included: Have You Seen Your Mother, Baby, Standing In The Shadow? Let’s Spend The Night Together, My Obsession, Yesterday's Papers and Back Street Girl.




1971 - Paul McCartney
Paul McCartney announced the formation of his new group Wings with his wife Linda and former Moody Blues guitarist and singer Denny Laine.

1973 - Stevie Wonder
Stevie Wonder released his 16th studio album Innervisions. Wonder played all or virtually all instruments on six of the album's nine tracks, singles from the album were, 'Higher Ground' and 'Living for the City' and 'He's Misstra Know-It-All'.

and this in addition from Jeff Harris' blog Behind The Grooves

On this day in music history: August 3, 1973 - “Innervisions", the sixteenth album by Stevie Wonder is released. Produced by Stevie Wonder, Robert Margouleff and Malcolm Cecil, it is recorded at The Record Plant in Los Angeles, CA and Media Sound Studios in New York City from March - June 1973. Following the major breakthrough success with his previous album “Talking Book", Stevie Wonder continues his remarkably prolific streak of creativity when he begins work on his next album. Covering a wide variety of social issues and topics from relationships to drug abuse. Wonder is a virtual “one man band”, playing nearly all of the instruments on six of the albums nine tracks. Only three days after its release, Stevie is seriously injured in a car accident, suffering a contusion to the brain that puts the musician in a coma for four days. Miraculously, he survives with his physical and creative abilities intact after a long and slow recovery period. He emerges from the accident even more conscious and spiritually aware. Like its predecessor, it is another artistic and commercial triumph, and is widely regarded as one of Stevie Wonder’s most important and influential works. It spins off three hit singles including “Higher Ground" (#1 R&B, #4 Pop), “Living For The City" (#1 R&B, #8 Pop) and “Don’t You Worry ‘Bout A Thing" (#2 R&B, #16 Pop). The album wins three Grammy Awards including Album Of The Year. Originally released on CD in 1984, it is remastered and reissued by Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab as a 24k gold CD in 1991. The MoFi edition has become highly prized by audiophiles and collectors, for its excellent mastering and superior sound quality. To date, it is the only digital edition of the album to be mastered from the original first generation master tapes. Other remasters including the 2000 CD reissue by Motown/Universal, a recent gold CD release by Audio Fidelity Records and vinyl reissue by Mobile Fidelity which were all made from 1:1 safety copies of the masters. The original tapes are in Stevie Wonder’s possession, who has not let them out of his personal tape archive for further use. The album is reissued as a 180 gram vinyl LP by Motown/UMe in Europe in 2014, and in the US in 2017, replicating the original packaging. “Innervisions" spends two weeks at number one on the Billboard R&B album chart, and peak at number four on the Top 200. The album is also inducted into the Grammy Hall Of Fame in 1999.
Help support the Behind The Grooves music blog with a donation at: PayPal.Me/jharris1228 

1985 - Cars
'Drive' by The Cars was re-released following it's dramatic use on TV during the Live Aid concert. All the royalties from the record went to the Band Aid trust.

1985 - Madonna
Madonna scored her first UK No.1 single with 'Into The Groove'. The track was taken from the movie 'Desperately Seeking Susan' which featured Madonna and Rosanna Arquette. 'Into The Groove' is Madonna's best selling single in the UK, having sold over 850,000 copies.


1986 - Bill Wyman
The News Of The World in the UK printed an exclusive interview with 16 year old model Mandy Smith, who revealed she has been having an affair with Rolling Stone Bill Wyman for the past 2 and a half years.  He started seeing her therefore at 47 when she was 13 and then married her when he was 53 and she was just 19 . . . . .sheesh! She is now nearly fifty! . . . . . 



1996 - Los Del Rio
Los Del Rio started a 14 week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Macarena'. The song which has sold 11 million copies world-wide was ranked the No.1 Greatest One Hit Wonder of all Time by VH1 in 2002.
As ear worms go this is a doozie but do you EVER remember the name of then 'band'? No me neither . . . . . . hah!
2002 - Bob Dylan
After an absence of 37 years, Bob Dylan returned to the Newport Folk Festival (now known as the Apple and Eve Newport Folk Festival) where he performed a 2 hour show of 19 songs, wearing a false beard and a wig. Songs played included: Subterranean Homesick Blues, 'Desolation Row', 'Positively 4th Street', 'The Wicked Messenger', 'Like A Rolling Stone' and 'Mr. Tambourine Man'.


2006 - Arthur Lee
Arthur Lee singer and guitarist of the influential 1960s band Love died in Memphis at the age of 61 following a battle with acute myeloid leukaemia. He called himself the "first black hippie" and formed Love in Los Angeles in 1965. Best known for the critically revered 1967 album, 'Forever Changes.'

Fairly certain I will have mentioned this before but I was despondent when Arthur cancelled his appearance locally with the members of Baby Lemonade who are rarely given enough credit (David Ramsay et al) but I got a refund and I also regret that Ramsay and his crew went ahead anyway played the gig on their own which would have been worth it too and not much longer after that Arthur died of acute myeloid leukemia so any chance I had of seeing my hero the singer guitarist poet who penned most of 'Forever Changes' still amongst my top ten albums of all time and usually makes my top 3!
 Amongst many rumours and legendary gossip about Arthur was not least that he had introduced Elektra Records to The Doors but also that he introduced Jimi Hendrix to heroin and also that his careless and wreckless loosing off a firearm (apparently in his back garden - sic!) got him a prison sentence under the three strikes and your out principal of 25 years in the penitentiary but he was released after 5 and half years and he was to enjoy something of an Indian Summer in his late carer before succumbing to his illness (this latter fact is true! the other gossip? Who knows?)


BIRTHDAYS

1967 - Skin
Skin, (Deborah Anne Dyer), singer with British rock band Skunk Anansie who had the 1996 UK No.20 single 'Weak'. The band have spent a total of 141 weeks on both the singles and album charts.
I like her. She seems nice . . . . 

1971 - Deirdre Roper
Deirdre Roper, (DJ Spinderella), from American hip-hop/rap trio from New York City Salt-N-Pepa who had the 1991 hit single 'Let's Talk About Sex'.



any excuse hey?

1926 - Tony Bennett
Tony Bennett, American singer, (1955 UK No.1 single 'Stranger In Paradise'1965 UK No.25 single 'I Left My Heart In San Francisco').




and this from Jeff Harris' blog Behind The Grooves . . . gotta finish the day with some Talking Heads huh? (any excuse I Zimbra!)
On this day in music history: August 3, 1979 - “Fear Of Music”, the third album by Talking Heads is released. Produced by Talking Heads and Brian Eno, it is recorded at Chris and Tina’s Loft, The Hit Factory, and Atlantic Studios in New York City from April - May 1979. Recorded in just three weeks, mostly in Chris Frantz and Tina Weymouth’s New York City loft, with The Record Plant’s mobile recording truck, they expand on the sound of their previous album “More Songs About Buildings And Food”, incorporating more dance oriented rhythms along with David Byrne’s eclectic lyrics and vocals featured front and center. The album’s cover art features a matte black cover with a metal diamond plate floor pattern embossed on the front and back with the band name and title printed in green ink. The initial idea was to make the LP jacket out of a plastic material, but when that proves to be too expensive, the artwork is printed on regular cardboard paper stock. It spin off two singles including “Life During Wartime” (#80 Pop) and “I Zimbra”. Originally released on CD in the mid 80’s, it is remastered and reissued in 2006 as a hybrid DualDisc featuring four additional bonus tracks. The DVD side features the album remixed into 5.1 surround sound, and also contains the videos for “Cities” and “I Zimbra”. It is also reissued as a 180 gram vinyl LP by Rhino Records in 2013. The same year, a limited pressing on marbled green vinyl (500 copies only) sold exclusively through Boston based record store Newbury Comics. “Fear Of Music” peaks at number twenty one on the Billboard Top 200, and is certified Gold in the US by the RIAA.
Help support the Behind The Grooves music blog with a donation at: PayPal.Me/jharris1228 

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