ON THIS DAY IN MUSIC

February 7th

1959 - Buddy Holly

Buddy Holly was buried in Lubbock, Texas. His tombstone reads "Holley", the correct spelling of his given surname and includes pictures of a guitar. On Feb 3rd 1959, after a show in Clear Lake, Iowa, Holly chartered an airplane to travel to his next show in Moorhead, Minnesota. Soon after takeoff, the plane crashed, killing Holly, Ritchie Valens, the Big Bopper and the pilot, an infamous milestone in rock history known as The Day the Music Died.

1959 - Guitar Slim

New Orleans blues guitarist Guitar Slim died of pneumonia aged 32. Born Eddie Jones he is best known for the million-selling song ‘The Things That I Used to Do’. Slim had a major impact on rock and roll and experimented with distorted overtones on the electric guitar a full decade before Jimi Hendrix. He became known for his wild stage act and had an assistant who followed him around the audience with up to 350 feet of cord between his guitar and his amplifier, and occasionally rode on his assistant's shoulders or even took his guitar outside the club, bringing traffic to a stop.

1963 - The Beatles

The first Beatles single 'Please Please Me' was released in the US on the Vee Jay label. Capitol Records, EMI's United States label, were offered the right to release the single in the US, but turned it down. Dick Biondi, a disc jockey on WLS in Chicago and a friend of Vee-Jay executive Ewart Abner, played the song on the radio from February 1963, thus becoming the first DJ to play a Beatles record in the United States.

1964 - The Beatles

Pan Am flight 101 was greeted by over 5,000 Beatles fans as it arrived at New York's JFK airport, bringing The Beatles to the US for the first time and causing riotous scenes as they touched down.

1967 - The Bee Gees

Robin, Maurice and Barry Gibb of The Bee Gees returned to the UK after living in Australia for nine years.

1969 - The Who

The Who recorded 'Pinball Wizard' at Morgan Studio's, London, England. The song is one of the band's most famous live songs, being played at almost every Who concert since its debut live performance on 2 May 1969. The track which featured on their 1969 rock opera album Tommy was released as a single in 1969 and reached No. 4 in the UK charts and No. 19 in the US.

1970 - Shocking Blue

One Hit Wonders Shocking Blue went to No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Venus', making them the first Dutch act to top the US charts. It made No.8 in the UK; Bananarama took the song to No.8 on the UK chart in 86.


1973 - The Stooges

The Stooges released their third studio album Raw Power. The album gained a cult following in the years following its release and, like its predecessor (1970s Fun House), is generally considered an influential forerunner of punk rock. Kurt Cobain said on numerous times that Raw Power was his favourite album of all time.




1976 - Paul Simon

Paul Simon started a three week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with '50 Ways To Leave Your Lover', the singers first solo US No.1.


1979 - Stephen Stills

Stephen Stills became the first rock performer to record on digital equipment in Los Angeles' Record Plant Studio.




1981 - Kool & The Gang

Kool & The Gang started a two week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Celebration' the group's first No.1 and 8th top 40 hit, a No.7 hit in the UK. 

1981 - John Lennon

John Lennon was at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Woman', an ode to his wife Yoko Ono. It was Lennon's third No.1 in seven weeks after his death on December 8, 1980.

1985 - Matt Monro

Matt Monro, 60s UK ballad singer died from liver cancer at the Cromwell Hospital, Ealing, London. 1964 UK No.4 & US No.23 single 'Walk Away' plus 10 other UK Top 40 hits including the 1965 hit with his version of The Beatles' 'Yesterday'.

1987 - George Michael

George Michael and Aretha Franklin were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)'. Written by Simon Climie it gave Aretha her first UK No.1 almost 20 years after her first hit.


1994 - Blind Melon

Blind Melon's lead singer Shannon Hoon was forced to leave the American Music Awards ceremony for his loud and disruptive behaviour. Hoon was later charged with battery, assault, resisting arrest, and destroying a police station phone. A year later he ws dead from a drug overdose after the nineties were fuelled by much alcohol and cocaine abuse

1999 - Blondie

Blondie went to No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Maria', giving the group their sixth UK No.1 single, 20 years after their first No.1 ‘Heart of Glass.’ At the age of 54, lead singer Debbie Harry became the oldest female to make No.1 in the UK.

2004 - Queen

Queen's single 'We Will Rock You' topped a poll of music fans to find the greatest rock anthem of all time. The 1977 song beat the band's classic 'Bohemian Rhapsody' into second place in a survey of 1,000 people carried out for the UCI cinema chain. The poll was carried out to mark the release of new Jack Black comedy 'School of Rock.'

2008 - Amy Winehouse

Amy Winehouse was told she could not perform at this year's Grammy awards ceremony because her US visa application has been rejected by the embassy in London. The singer was arrested for marijuana possession in Norway the previous year. Winehouse had been nominated for six Grammy awards ahead of the ceremony in Los Angeles on that Sunday.

2013 - Wilko Johnson

Music venues and fans criticised "heartless" touts and agencies selling tickets for guitarist Wilko Johnson's farewell tour at inflated prices. The former Dr Feelgood guitarist, was suffering from terminal cancer and was playing a series of farewell dates in February and March. Originally tickets sold for £20, but were now being offered online at prices of £225.

BIRTHDAYS

1974 - Danny Goffey

Danny Goffey, drummer with English group Supergrass who had the 1995 UK No.2 single 'Alright', and the 1995 UK No.1 album 'I Should Coco' which spent 35 weeks on the UK chart.

1960 - Steve Bronski

Steve Bronski, from English group Bronski Beat who had the 1984 UK No.3 single 'Smalltown Boy'.

1949 - Alan Lancaster

Alan Lancaster, bassist with English group Status Quo. He left the band in 1984. The group have had over 60 chart hits in the UK, more than any other rock band, including 'Pictures of Matchstick Men' in 1967, 'Whatever You Want' in 1979 and 'In the Army Now' in 2010. Twenty-two of these reached the Top 10 in the UK. In July 1985 the band opened Live Aid at Wembley Stadium with 'Rockin' All Over the World'.

1948 - Jimmy Greenspoon

Jimmy Greenspoon, organist with Three Dog Night, who had the 1970 UK No.3 & US No.1 single with a cover of the Randy Newman song 'Mama Told Me Not To Come'. The band scored 21 Billboard Top 40 hits (with three hitting No.1) between 1969 and 1975. He died on March 11 2015 after a long battle with cancer at the age of 67.

1934 - King Curtis

US sax player King Curtis who was stabbed to death by a vagrant on the front steps of his New York home on 13th August 1971. Curtis worked with John Lennon and had played with Jimi Hendrix as his guitarist and earlier still on The Coasters hit 'Yakety Yak'.

With Jimi on guitar

again the Curtis band with Jimi on guitar

with John

1934 - Earl King

Earl King, New Orleans Blues guitarist. He wrote 'Come On, (Let The Good Times Roll'), covered by Jimi Hendrix and Stevie Ray Vaughan. King died on April 17th 2003 from diabetes-related complications aged 69. I loved Earl King and bought a few albums by him after discovering his New Orleans roots through Doctor John, The Fess and everybody I discovered through my obsession . . . . . . . 

Here they are . . . . . . 

1924 - Dora Bryan

Dora Bryan, English actress and singer who had the 1963 UK No.20 single 'All I Want For Christmas Is A Beatle'. She died on 23 July 2014. I loved Dora Bryna and early on she made me howl with laughter and was probably one of the first female comics I truly adored. Of course we were both from the same par of the world . . . . . something funny about Northern folk!