January 9th in Rock & Roll History
The late Domenico Modugno (‘Nel Blu Dipinto Di Blu’) was born in 1928
The late Jimmy Boyd (‘I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus’) was born in 1939
Rock Factoid: Boyd’s hit record was initially condemned by the Roman Catholic Church in Boston on the grounds that it mixed kissing/sex with Christmas. Boyd, just 13 at the time, met with the Archdiocese to explain the song. After the meeting, the ban was lifted.
The late Bill Cowsill (lead singer with The Cowsills – ‘Hair’) was born in 1948
The late Tim Hart (guitarist with Steeleye Span – ‘Gaudete’) was born in 1948
The late Cassie Gaines (backing vocalist with Lynyrd Skynyrd – ‘Gimme Three Steps’) was born in 1948
Rock Factoid: Gaines died in the October 20, 1977 plane crash that also took the lives of lead singer Ronnie Van Zant, her brother, guitarist Steve Gaines, assistant road manager Dean Kilpatrick, pilot Walter McCreary and co-pilot William Gray.
A.J. McLean (Backstreet Boys – ‘I Want It That Way’) is 37
Steve Harwell (lead singer with Smash Mouth – ‘All Star’) is 48
Dave Matthews (Dave Matthews Band – ‘So Much To Say’) is 48
Crystal Gayle (born Brenda Gail Webb – ‘Don’t It Make My Brown Eyes Blue’) is 64
David Johansen (lead singer with The New York Dolls – ‘Personality Crisis’ and ‘Hot Hot Hot’ as a solo artist under the pseudonym of Buster Poindexter) is 65
Jimmy Page (guitarist with The Yardbirds – ‘Tinker Tailor Soldier Sailor’ and Led Zeppelin – ‘Stairway To Heaven’) is 71
Scott Engel (The Walker Brothers – ‘The Sun Ain’t Gonna Shine Anymore’) is 72
Kenneth ‘Wally’ Kelley (The Manhattans – ‘Kiss And Say Goodbye’) is 74
Joan Baez (‘The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down’) is 74
The Temptations recorded ‘The Way You Do The Things You Do’—1964
The Beach Boys recorded ‘Please Let Me Wonder’—1965
The Byrds released ‘So You Want To Be A Rock ‘N’ Roll Star’ / ‘Everybody’s Been Burned’—1967
Rock Factoid: The A-side was inspired by the hype surrounding the creation of The Monkees, whose television series had recently debuted in America and had launched the pre-fabricated band to international fame. The manufactured nature of the group caused songwriters Chris Hillman and Roger McGuinn to look upon the current state of the pop world with more than a little cynicism.
The Beatles recorded – but never officially released – ‘Suzy Parker’—1969
Rock Factoid: The song was copyrighted by EMI as ‘Suzy Parker’ (and credited to all four members of the band as songwriters) but John Lennon maintained he introduced it on tape as ‘Suzy’s Parlour’, and insisted that was the phrase repeated throughout the improvised song.
The Dave Clark Five released ‘Southern Man’ / ‘If You Wanna See Me Cry’ in the UK—1971
Rock Factoid: Guitarist Lenny Davidson, bassist Rick Huxley, and saxophonist Denis Payton had already left the band so the cover of Neil Young’s song was recorded by session musicians and lead singer Mike Smith.
Elvis Presley was named one of the Jaycees ’10 Outstanding Young Men In America’—1971
Mick Jagger was refused a Japanese visa because of a 1969 drug bust. The event halted the Rolling Stones’ plan to tour the Orient—1973
Ringo Starr released ‘Oh My My’ / ‘No No Song’ in the UK —1976
Rock Factoid: The A-side had already been released on Starr’s 1973 album, ‘Ringo’, and the B-side had been part of his ‘Goodnight Vienna’ album in 1974. The sole reason for the release was to promote Ringo’s new Greatest Hits album, ‘Blast From Your Past’ from which both tracks were lifted.
The Music for UNICEF benefit concert took place at the United Nations General Assembly in New York City. Some of the performers included Rod Stewart, Earth, Wind & Fire, Abba and The Bee Gees—1979
Phil Collins released ‘In The Air Tonight’ / ‘The Roof Is Leaking’—1981
Rock Factoid:Collins wrote ‘In The Air Tonight’ about the anger he felt after divorcing his first wife, Andrea, in 1979, but some fans saw other “clues” in the song that weren’t there at all.
“When I was writing this I was going through a divorce. And the only thing I can say about it is that it’s obviously in anger. It’s the angry side, or the bitter side of a separation. So what makes it even more comical is when I hear these stories which started many years ago, particularly in America, of people wondering, ‘Did you really see someone drowning?’ No, wrong. I didn’t go back to look at the thing and say, ‘Now, does this make sense because someone’s going to ask me years later?’ No, I just thought, ‘when she hears this, she’ll know how I feel.'” … Phil Collins
Silas Hogan (blues guitarist/singer – ‘Airport Blues’) died (heart disease)—1994
Rush began a 14-month recording project which resulted in the ‘Vapor Trails’ album—2001
Dave Dee (lead singer with Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich – ‘The Legend Of Xanadu’) died (prostate cancer)—2009
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