ON THIS DAY IN MUSIC

January 19th

1967 - Pink Floyd

Pink Floyd and Marmalade played at The Marquee Club, London, England. Marmalade went on to score a No.1 UK hit with their version of The Beatles' Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da in 1968.

1967 - The Monkees

The Monkees were at No.1 on the UK singles with 'I'm A Believer', the group's only UK No.1. The song composed by Neil Diamond had 1,051,280 advance orders, and went gold within two days of release. It is one of the fewer than forty all-time singles to have sold 10 million (or more) physical copies worldwide.

1971 - Charles Manson

How I choose to remember Sharon and her husband Roman Polanski

Tracks from The Beatles The White Album (including 'Helter Skelter, Piggies, etc), were played in the courtroom at the Sharon Tate murder trial to find out if any songs could have influenced Charles Manson and his followers to commit murder. Actress Sharon Tate who was married to film director Roman Polanski, was eight and a half months pregnant when she was murdered in her home, along with four others, by followers of Charles Manson. This court case and reading the books had a profound affect upon me being a Polanski fan and thus his wife too. The account of the Spahn Ranch 'Family' is a record of where society and LSD clashed at its very worst and the counter culture woke up and learned in the hardest way possible that everything wasn't going to be 'groovy' anymore. Manson was a grubby acid casualty and psychopath, a recidivist petty criminal writ large as a monster after too many bad trips, he sussed he could control people and send them out on 'creepy crawls' to rob and do his bidding. The notion is that the choice of house where Tate was staying happy in her late pregnancy with her friends may have been a mistake as they had associations with the house where Charlie had the knock back on his amateurish warbling nonsensical and just plain awful music. He sent back his 'troops' to get revenge and boy did they ever! Shocking and I never recovered somehow my innocence at least. If you read one book make it Ed Sanders' (of The Fugs) book 'The Family'. I read others including attorney Bugliosi's book and several others and have watched every film and documentary. Sanders' book prevails as the most authoritative account by far

possibly one of the saddest photographs on the internet 

Aerial view of the house where Sharon Tate, Steven Parent, Jay Sebring, Wojciech Frykowski and Abigail Folger were murdered  by the 'Manson Family'. 1 Abigail Folger 2 Fyowski 3 Tate and Sebring 4 Parent 5. Pool boy William Garretson was arrested here - later released uncharged

Be warned, the murders have attracted the most disturbed of all internet freaks and there are sites that show the murder victims, many especially focusing on the dead body of Sharon Tate and there are pro-Manson sites (really? go figure!) and conspiracy theory sites too that claim it never happened which frankly are amongst the most bizarrely motivated sites I have visited and many of which are deeply upsetting. I have shown the aerial shot of the house at Cielo Drive for reference but will show no other sensationalising shots of the bodies or Manson or his dystopian discarded flotsam and jetsam of cohorts 

Manson Family victims

Ed Sanders

The Family - Ed Sanders (Amazon UK)

1980 - The Pretenders

The Pretenders scored their first UK No.1 hit with their third single 'Brass In Pocket'. The bands self-titled debut album started a four-week run at No.1 on the UK chart also on this day. Singer Chrissie Hynde got the idea for the song's title when, during an after-show dinner, she overheard someone enquiring if anyone had, "Picked up dry cleaning? Any brass in pocket?"


1980 - Pink Floyd

Pink Floyd's The Wall started a 15-week run at No.1 on the US album chart. The group’s third US No.1, it went on to sell over 23 million copies in the US alone. The Wall is still the third largest grossing album in the US, behind Michael Jackson’s Thriller and Eagles’ 'Greatest Hits'.

1988 - Doc McGhee

Bon Jovi and Mötley Crüe manager Doc McGhee pleaded guilty to importing more than 40,000lb of marijuana into the US from Colombia via a shrimp boat. McGhee received a five-year suspended prison sentence, a fine of $15,000, and was ordered to set up an anti-drugs foundation. A suspended 5 year sentence and fine of $15,000!!! For what today would be worth about $46 million? someone had a good lawyer!

McGhee in the middle of a Kiss!

1993 - Fleetwood Mac

Fleetwood Mac re-formed to perform at Bill Clinton's inauguration. The band's "Don't Stop" was used as the theme for his campaign.


1998 - Carl Perkins

American singer, songwriter Carl Perkins died aged 65 from throat cancer. He wrote the classic rock & roll song 'Blue Suede Shoes', the first record on the Sun label to sell a million copies. His songs were recorded by Elvis Presley, The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix and Johnny Cash.  Paul McCartney claimed that "if there were no Carl Perkins, there would be no Beatles."


2001 - Paul McCartney

It was reported that Paul McCartney was set to become the world's first pop star billionaire. McCartney was said to be worth £725 million ($1,233) and was expected to become a billionaire after huge sales from The Beatles compilation hits album.

2006 - Wilson Pickett

American soul singer, Wilson Pickett died in hospital near his Ashburn, Virginia home of a heart attack aged 64. Pickett recorded the soul classics ‘Mustang Sally’, ‘Everybody Needs Somebody to Love’ and ‘In The Midnight Hour’ plus Pickett scored 15 other US Top 40 singles.

2007 - Denny Doherty

Canadian singer songwriter and former Mamas and the Papas singer Denny Doherty died at the age of 66 at his home near Toronto, Canada after a short illness. The group scored the 1966 US No.1 & UK No.2 single 'Monday Monday.' Doherty started his musical career in 1956 with a band called the Hepsters and in 1963, established a friendship with Cass Elliot when she was with a band called The Big 3. They joined forces with Zal Yanovsky (later of The Lovin' Spoonful) in the Mugwumps whose first album I loved.

2012 - Winston Riley

Jamaican singer, songwriter and record producer Winston Riley died aged 68. He had been shot in the head at his home in Kingston. After being in a coma since the shooting, he died on 19 January. He formed the band The Techniques in 1962 and Riley's own song, ‘Double Barrel’, performed by Dave and Ansell Collins under his own production, was one of the first international reggae hits, reaching No.1 in the Dutch and UK Singles Chart.

2017 - Alanis Morissette

The former business manager of Alanis Morissette has admitted stealing over $7m (£5.7m) from the singer and other celebrities. Jonathan Schwartz was charged with fraud over claims he transferred the singer's money into his own accounts. When initially confronted about the theft, Mr Schwartz lied and said he had invested the money in an illegal marijuana growing business.

BIRTHDAYS

1949 - Robert Palmer

Robert Palmer, singer, songwriter, member of Vinegar Joe and solo artist, (1986 US No.1 & UK No.5 single 'Addicted To Love'). Palmer died on 26th Sept 2003 aged 54.

I bought these two singles when they came out . . . . . 1980?

1947 - Rod Evans

English singe Rod Evans who was an early member of Deep Purple who had the US No.14 single 'Hush' which was taken from the bands debut 1969 album Shades of Deep Purple.

1946 - Dolly Parton

Dolly Parton US singer, songwriter, actress, (1976 UK No.7 single 'Jolene', 1981 US No.1 single '9 to 5'). Parton wrote 'I Will Always Love You' which was a US Country No.1 for her in 1974 and became a UK & US No.1 for Whitney Houston in 1992. I worry always about women pressured into what I consider the self harm of of the plastic surgeon's knife but Dolly was in her prime one sheer heck of a gal! Dismiss her as ersatz country at your peril. The writer of some classic country songs and associated in seniority with the wonders of female legitimate country stars like Emmylou, Nanci, Reba, LeAnn, Roseanne and all the other sisters too. Dolly simply IS. 

1943 - Janis Joplin

Janis Joplin, US singer, who had a 1971 U.S No.1 single with 'Me And Bobby McGee' and the 1971 U.S No.1 album 'Pearl'. Janis died on October 4th 1970 after an accidental heroin overdose. Joplin was cremated in the Pierce Brothers Westwood Village Mortuary in Los Angeles; her ashes were scattered from a plane into the Pacific Ocean and along Stinson Beach.

1939 - Phil Everly

Phil Everly, singer, songwriter, The Everly Brothers, (1958 UK & US No.1 single 'All I Have To Do Is Dream' plus over 25 other Top 40 hits). Everly died on 3rd Jan 2014 aged 74 of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Both brothers had the most extrapdainarily gifted voices in pop music and despite all the arguing and the falling out the stand the test of time. 

with eternal thanks to On This Day In Music