ON THIS DAY IN MUSIC

September 17th

1956 - Bill Haley and His Comets

The BBC announced the removal of Bill Haley and His Comets' ‘Rockin' Through The Rye’ from its playlist because they felt the song went against traditional British standards, (and included the lyrics "All the lassies rock with me when rockin' through the rye"). The record, based on an 18th century Scottish Folk tune, was at No.5 on the UK charts.

1962 - The Beatles

The Beatles played the last of three Monday night gigs at The Queen's Hall, Widnes, Cheshire. Also on the bill, Billy J. Kramer and the Coasters, Rory Storm and the Hurricanes and Sonny Kaye and the Reds. Tickets cost 3s/6d.

1964 - The Beatles

During a US tour The Beatles appeared at the Municipal Stadium in Kansas City. The Beatles were paid $150,000 for the show, which was more than any other act had ever been paid for a live show. Tickets cost $4.50.

1964 - The Rolling Stones

Police arrived at a Rolling Stones gig at the ABC Theatre in Carlisle, England, after a trouble broke out with the 4,000 fans at the concert.

1967 - The Doors

The Doors were banned from The Ed Sullivan Show after Jim Morrison broke his agreement with the show’s producers. Morrison said before the performance that he wouldn’t sing the word '"higher", as in ‘Girl, we couldn’t get much higher,’ from 'Light My Fire' but he did anyway and you can actually see Robbie grin at his friend's tenacity and refusal to conform. The Doors also performed their new single 'People Are Strange.'

1969 - Paul McCartney

Media on both sides of the Atlantic were running stories that said Paul McCartney was dead. He was supposedly killed in a car accident in Scotland on November 9th, 1966 and that a double had been taking his place for public appearances. In fact, Paul and his girlfriend Jane Asher were on vacation in Kenya at the time.

1976 - Sex Pistols

The Sex Pistols played a gig for the inmates at Chelmsford Prison, Essex in England.

1978 - Queen

The video for Queen's single 'Bicycle Race' was filmed at Wimbledon Stadium, Wimbledon, UK. It featured 65 naked female professional models racing around the stadium's track on bicycles, which had been hired for the day. The rental company was reported to have requested payment for all the saddles when they found out how their bikes had been used.

1996 - Bjork

A bomb was found at a South London sorting office addressed to Icelandic singer Bjork. Police in Miami had alerted the post office after finding the body of Ricardo Lopez who had made a video of himself making the bomb and then killing himself.

More on the story here in Far Out Magazine

2000 - Paula Yates

Paula Yates was found dead in bed from a suspected drug overdose. Yates had presented the UK music TV show The Tube during the 80s, married Bob Geldof and was the girlfriend of INXS singer Michael Hutchence.

2003 - P Diddy

Moore and Bode Cigars were suing P Diddy after film footage of their "secret" production process turned up in his latest video. The company claimed an unidentified cameraman filmed their "unique method of rolling cigars" which was then used in the rappers 'Shake Ya Tailfeather' video without permission.

2004 - Madonna

Israeli police arrested two of Madonna's bodyguards after they assaulted photographers waiting for the singer outside her hotel. Madonna was in Israel with 2,000 other students of Kabbalah, the Jewish mystical offshoot.

2007 - Barry Manilow

Barry Manilow cancelled his plans to appear on the TV talk show The View because he did not want to be interviewed by its conservative co-host Elisabeth Hasselbeck, an abortion opponent and supporter of the Iraq war. Manilow had requested to speak only with co-hosts Joy Behar, Barbara Walters or Whoopi Goldberg, but the show's producers refused to comply with what they called Manilow's "completely disrespectful" demands.

“I had made a request that I be interviewed by (co-hosts) Joy (Behar), Barbara (Walters) or Whoopi (Goldberg), but not Elisabeth Hasselbeck. Unfortunately, the show was not willing to accommodate this simple request so I bowed out,” he said in a statement on his Manilow is a well known funder of Democratic causes

“It’s really too bad because I’ve always been a big supporter of the show, but I cannot compromise my beliefs.” He had previously described Hasselbeck as "dangerous" and "offensive" Sounds about right to me!

Go Barry!

2011 - Jimi Hendrix

The estate of Jimi Hendrix gave the go-ahead for another round of archival releases nearly 41 years to the day after the singer's death. The four new products included an expanded version of his landmark Winterland concerts in 1968, a revamp of a 1972 live compilation, an upgraded DVD of his final U.K. festival gig, and a DVD reissue of some old talk-show appearances.

2011 - Adele

Adele went to No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Someone Like You'. The track was also No.1 in Australia, Ireland, New Zealand, Finland, France, Italy, Poland, Switzerland, the United Kingdom.

BIRTHDAYS

1969 - Keith Flint

Keith Flint, vocals, with English electronic dance music group The Prodigy who scored the 1996 UK No.1 & US No. 30 single 'Firestarter' and the 1997 UK & US No.1 album 'The Fat Of The Land'. Flint died by his own hand at his Essex home in England on 4 March 2019 age 49.

©️Amy Muir/REX/Shutterstock

1968 - Anastacia

Anastacia,  is an American singer-songwriter, producer and former dancer, (2000 UK No. 6 single 'I'm Outta Love', her 2000 album 'Not That Kind' spent 65 weeks on the UK album chart) .Known for her powerful mezzo-soprano voice and her small stature of 5 feet 2 inches (157 cm), she has been dubbed "the little lady with the big voice". Also famed for her trademark glasses, she underwent corrective LASIK surgery in August 2005, although she still frequently wears them.
During her life Anastacia has battled many health problems. She was diagnosed with Crohn's disease at age 13, breast cancer at age 34, and supraventricular tachycardia at age 39. In 2013, Anastacia was diagnosed with breast cancer for a second time. In recognition of her decade-long charitable efforts in breast cancer awareness, Anastacia became only the second woman to be presented with the Humanitarian Award at the GQ Men of the Year Awards in 2013.

1962 - Baz Luhrmann

Baz Luhrmann is an Australian writer, director, and producer with projects spanning film, television, opera, theatre, music, and recording industries, including 1999 UK No.1 single 'Everybody's Free To Wear Sunscreen'). Regarded by many as a contemporary example of an real auteur for his distinctly recognisable style and deep involvement in the writing, directing, design, and musical components of all his work. He is the most commercially successful Australian director, with four of his films in the top ten highest worldwide grossing Australian films of all time

Red Curtain Trilogy:
Strictly Ballroom (1992)
Romeo + Juliet (1996)
Moulin Rouge! (2001)
Australia (2008)
The Great Gatsby (2013)

1959 - William Owen Gregory

William Owen Gregory, keyboards and synthesizer, Goldfrapp, (2008 UK No.2 album 'Seventh Tree').

1950 - Fee Waybill

Fee Waybill, vocals, with American band The Tubes known for their 1977 hit single 'White Punks On Dope' and the 1983 US No.10 single 'She's A Beauty'.

1933 - Jeanine Deckers

Jeanine Deckers, The Singing Nun, (1963 US No.1 & UK No.7 single 'Dominique'). Deckers died on 29th March 1985 of an overdose of sleeping pills in a suicide pact with a friend. This fascinated me as a youngster in a car crash horrifying kind of way . . . . as repetitive ear worms go it is one of the worst! You have been warned!

1923 - Hank Williams

Born on this day in Mount Olive, Alabama, was Hank Williams (born Hiram King Williams). The American singer-songwriter and musician is regarded as one of the most important country music artists of all time indeed one might credit him as the father of the pop song, altering the structure of the popular song ever since. Williams recorded 35 singles (five released posthumously) that would place in the Top 10 of the Billboard Country & Western Best Sellers chart, including 11 that ranked No.1. During his last years Williams's consumption of alcohol, morphine and painkillers severely compromised his professional life. Williams died aged 29 on January 1, 1953.

Does this look like a 28 year old to you?

Hank Williams' charge sheet

thanks to This Day In Music