ON THIS DAY IN MUSIC

December 8th

1966 - The Beatles

Working at Abbey Road in London, Paul McCartney overdubbed his lead vocal for ‘When I'm Sixty-Four’. Then The Beatles set about remaking a new John Lennon song ‘Strawberry Fields Forever.’

1968 - Graham Nash

Singer and guitarist Graham Nash left The Hollies and started work with David Crosby and Stephen Stills who went on to form Crosby Stills & Nash.

1969 - Jimi Hendrix

On trial in Canada on drug possession charges, Jimi Hendrix told a Toronto court that he had only smoked pot four times in his life, snorted cocaine twice and took LSD no more than five times. Telling the jury that he had now 'outgrown' drugs. They found the guitarist not guilty. Interestingly perhaps for some it has since come to light Jimi was found with traces of heroin and hashish in his cases but he had by then found heroin not to his taste and had a fear of needles, showed no signs of tracks and carried no drug paraphernalia whatsoever alongside the substances (almost unheard of by drug users of any kind) That it was plant seems to now be universally accepted and it is worth noting this particular bust has been associated with several all on the same day again the anti-establishment figures. Hendrix was not the only prominent rock musician who found himself in legal trouble during May 1969. On May 16, the US embassy in London revoked John Lennon's visa in response to his 1968 drug conviction, describing him as "an inadmissible immigrant". That same day, Jefferson Airplane bassist Jack Casady was arrested for possession of marijuana, and on May 28, Mick Jagger and Marianne Faithfull were arrested at their London home for marijuana possession. Jimi's reaction to that one bust was to sink into depression and anxiety for the next seven months while waiting for the trail and this is felt may have been in no small part to realising that the authorities could do anything to him if they felt he warranted it. 

1973 - Roxy Music

Roxy Music had their first UK No.1 album when 'Stranded' went to the top for one week. The sleeve featured Playboy's Playmate of The Year, model Marilyn Cole, (who was the magazines's first full-frontal nude centerfold).

1977 - Blondie

Four people were arrested after a riot broke out when Blondie didn't arrive for a gig in Brisbane. Over 1,000 Australian fans had waited over an hour for the group to appear on stage, but the gig was cancelled due to singer Debbie Harry being unwell.

1980 - John Lennon

John Lennon was shot five times by 25 year old Mark Chapman outside the Dakota building in New York City where John and Yoko lived. Chapman had been waiting for Lennon outside the Dakota apartments since mid-morning and had asked for an autograph earlier in the day. Lennon was pronounced dead from a massive loss of blood at 11.30pm. Chapman has since said he shot the former Beatle because he wanted to "steal" his fame — stating that now he was a bigger nobody than he was before. He also revealed he planned the killing for three months and considered murdering other celebrities who he thought were "phonies."

Like so many growing up with The Beatles we had an ambivalent relationship with the individual 'brothers' for indeed they were like brothers to us fans, that while I may have a begun developing a critical voice that saw a less than perfect John as a flawed and damaged individual, the shock upon hearing of his being shot was palpably visceral. Like losing a member of our family, I mourned the death and brutal end of one of my older 'brothers' in such a cowardly and horrific manner and felt so strongly for his widow, and children ever since. I visited the Dakota building when I first stayed in New York for work and found the visit almost unbearably sad. I have said before I crossed over in Central Park to perform my own personal ritual and act of remembrance. I still miss him.

1984 - Frankie Goes To Hollywood

Frankie Goes To Hollywood were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'The Power Of Love'. The group's third No.1 of the year and final UK No.1. This made them the first group since Gerry And The Pacemakers to have a UK No.1 with their first three singles.

1995 - Courtney Love

Courtney Love appeared on the ABC TV show '10 Most Fascinating People', telling the presenter that she wished she had done 'eight thousand million things differently' to have prevented the death of her husband Kurt Cobain. 

1999 - Heinz

1960s singer Heinz was given a formal caution by magistrates in Southampton for playing music to loud in his flat. The singer who scored 4 Top 40 singles in the 60s became wheelchair bound with motor neurone disease. Heinz died in 2000, aged 57 following a stroke.

2000 - John Lennon

A plaque to commemorate the 20th anniversary of John Lennon's death was unveiled outside his childhood home in Liverpool.

2004 - Darrell Abbott

Former Pantera guitarist Dimebag Darrell was one of five people killed after a man stormed the stage during a Damageplan show at the Alrosa Villa Club in Columbus. Nathan Gale, aged 25, began firing at the band and crowd, was then shot and killed by a police officer who arrived shortly after the first shots were fired.

2016 - Mick Jagger

Sir Mick Jagger became a father again at the age of 73, after his 29-year-old girlfriend, American ballerina Melanie Hamrick, gave birth to a boy in New York City. The singer already had seven children, whose ages range from 17 to 45 and he became a great-grandfather in 2014.

BIRTHDAYS

1974 - Nick Zinner

Nick Zinner, guitarist, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, (2006 UK No. 18 single 'Gold Lion').

1973 - Corey Taylor

Corey Taylor, lead singer with American heavy metal band Slipknot, (sometimes known by the number 8). Their 2008 fourth album All Hope Is Gone gave them their first US No.1. The band's early performances included extreme acts such as stage dives from high balconies and band members setting each other on fire. Taylor is also a founding member of Stone Sour. I didn't get that heavy metal schtick but since Corey appeared on QI (sic) i LIKED him! Not a stupid man and great fun

1966 - Sinead O'Connor

Sinead O’Connor, Irish singer, songwriter, (1990 UK, US and world-wide No.1 single with the Prince penned 'Nothing Compares To U'). Her version of the song was also a No.1 hit in 18 other countries. Troubled by poor mental health in recent time awe wish this interstellar singer and creative force well wherever she is

1959 - Paul Rutherford

Paul Rutherford, vocals with Frankie Goes To Hollywood, the British band who formed in Liverpool and had the 1984 UK No.1 & US No.10 single 'Relax'. The single eventually sold 2 million copies in the UK alone, making it the seventh best-selling single in the UK Singles Chart's history. Their debut album, Welcome to the Pleasuredome, reached No.1 in the UK in 1984 with advanced sales of over one million.
No Holly here but Paul take centre stage . . . . . . . 

1955 - Nathan East

American jazz, R&B and rock bass player and vocalist Nathan East. He has recorded, performed and co-written songs with Eric Clapton, Michael Jackson, Joe Satriani, George Harrison, Phil Collins, Stevie Wonder, Toto, Kenny Loggins, Daft Punk, and Herbie Hancock.

1949 - Ray Shulman

Ray Shulman who was a member of Simon Dupree And The Big Sound, who had the 1967 UK No.9 single 'Kites' and later worked with Gentle Giant. I loved this when it came out out . . . . . . . 

1947 - Gregg Allman

Gregg Allman, keyboards, guitar, vocals, The Allman Brothers Band who released the classic album Eat a Peach in 1972 and had the 1973 US No.12 single 'Ramblin Man'. Allman was referred to as a Southern rock pioneer and received numerous awards, including several Grammys. Following a series of health problems, including hepatitis C and a 2010 liver transplant, Allman died at his home in Richmond Hill, Georgia, on 27 May 2017, due to complications of liver cancer.

1943 - Jim Morrison

Jim Morrison singer and lyricist with The Doors who had the 1967 US No.1 single 'Light My Fire' and 1971 single 'Riders On The Storm'. Due to his wild personality and performances, he is regarded by some people as one of the most iconic, charismatic and pioneering frontmen in rock music history. Morrison died of heart failure in a bathtub in a Paris hotel room on 3rd July 1971. The events surrounding his death continue to be the subject of controversy, as no autopsy was performed on his body after death, and the exact cause of his death is disputed by many to this day. It seems however most like he cam in from a Paris Nightclub after a good evening socialising taken some of his partner, Pam's, heroin believing it to be cocaine, after snorting a good one or two realising something was not quite right took a bath under advice (as was often the case with OD'ed people back then) and to have suffered a heart attack as a result. As to rumours he never died and continues to exist in exile somewhere John Densmore said, when he saw Pam after her return from France, "I looked in her eyes and I knew Jim was dead". That'll do for me . . . . anything else is typical fan obsessed hogwash and wishful thinking.  To help perpetuate the mystery as was his won't, Ray Manzarek had said "If anyone was capable of doing it (disappearing and reinventing themselves) Jim could"

with great thanks to On This Day in Music