The late Screamin’ Lord Sutch (born David Edward Sutch – the original “shock rock” performer who never had a hit record, but was incredibly popular in England) was born in 1940

The late Kyu Sakamoto (‘Sukiyaki’) was born in 1941

The late Glen Buxton (guitarist with Alice Cooper – ‘School’s Out’ and later a passionate speaker for Born Again Christian groups) was born in 1947

The late Ronnie Hammond (lead singer with Atlanta Rhythm Section – ‘I’m Not Going To Let It Bother Me Tonight’) was born in 1950

Frank Maudsley (bass guitar with A Flock Of Seagulls – ‘Space Age Love Song’) is 57

Mario Cipollina (bass guitar with Huey Lewis & The News – ‘The Power Of Love’) is 61

Greg Lake (bass guitar and lead singer with Emerson, Lake & Palmer – ‘Lucky Man’ and ‘I Believe In Father Christmas’ as a solo artist) is 68

Dave Loggins (‘Please Come To Boston’) is 68
Rock Factoid: Loggins, the second cousin of singer Kenny Loggins, wrote ‘Pieces Of April’ (a hit for Three Dog Night), ‘Morning Desire’ (a #1 country hit for Kenny Rogers) and ‘Nobody Loves Me Like You Do’ (a #1 country duet he sand with Anne Murray).
Rock Factoid #2: In 1982, Loggins composed the theme music (‘Augusta’) that is used on broadcasts of the Masters Golf Tournament. It is the longest running sports theme in sports history. The next time you hear sportscaster Jim Nantz saying “A tradition unlike any other, The Masters on CBS,” you’ll know who wrote that beautiful music playing behind him.

Donna Fargo (‘The Happiest Girl In The Whole U.S.A.’) is 70

Sir Timothy Miles Bindon Rice (Academy Award, Golden Globe Award, Tony Award and Grammy Award winning lyricist – ‘Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat’, ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’, ‘Evita’ and ‘The Lion King’) is 71

Tommy Facenda (‘High School U.S.A.’) is 76

A songwriter met Elvis Presley in his hotel room—1955
Rock Factoid: No, it wasn’t what you think. Mae Boren Axton had been turned down by several artists when she offered them a song she and Thomas Durden had written.
Rumors had been circulating in the press for several weeks that Presley, who had begun his career at Sun Records, was ready to move to RCA Victor to help launch him nationally. He was in the market for a hit song. Axton – who worked part-time as a publicist for “Colonel” Tom Parker – arranged to meet Elvis in his room at the Andrew Jackson Hotel in Nashville and played the demo for him. His reaction? “Hot dog, Mae, play that again!”
The song, called “the silliest thing I’ve ever heard” by one artist who had rejected it, and “strange and almost morbid” by another, was ‘Heartbreak Hotel’—1955
Rock Factoid #2: Axton wasn’t the only songwriter in her family. Her son, the late Hoyt Axton, wrote ‘Joy To The World’ and ‘Never Been To Spain’, both hits for Three Dog Night, ‘No No Song’, a hit for Ringo Starr, ‘Greenback Dollar’, a hit for the Kingston Trio, ‘The Pusher’ and ‘Snowblind Friend’, both hit songs for Steppenwolf.

Billboard published its annual disc-jockey poll, with Kay Starr’s ‘Rock And Roll Waltz’ voted the year’s top record—1956
Rock Factoid: Some of the songs that were overlooked for the award that year included:
‘Blueberry Hill’, ‘The Great Pretender’, ‘The Wayward Wind’, ‘My Prayer’, ‘Heartbreak Hotel’, ‘Hound Dog’, ‘Don’t Be Cruel’ and ‘Singing The Blues’.

Sam Cooke and Lou Rawls were injured in a car crash in Arkansas. Rawls’ injuries were so severe he was initially pronounced dead at the scene—1958

The Beatles recorded ‘The Word’—1965

The Rolling Stones recorded ‘My Obsession’ and ‘Miss Amanda Jones’—1966

The Beatles filmed three videos for ‘Hello Goodbye’ at London’s Saville Theatre. The three clips were edited to create one video, but the BBC refused to air the clip due to a ban on lip-synching—1967

The Moody Blues released ‘Nights In White Satin’—1967
Rock Factoid: The song bombed when it was released in 1967, primarily because of the length (7′ 38”). The song was re-released in 1972 after the success of such longer-running songs as ‘Hey Jude’ and ‘Layla’ had reshaped music, and it reached #2 in the United States.

Change Of Habit, the 31st and final film acting role by Elvis Presley (his remaining film appearances were in concert documentaries), premiered in theaters—1969

Badfinger released ‘Day After Day’—1971
Rock Factoid: The song was produced by George Harrison, who shared the slide guitar break with band member Pete Ham. It became the group’s highest charting single in the U.S., peaking at #4.

David Essex released ‘Rock On’—1973

Thomas ‘Zeke’ Zettner (briefly the bass guitarist with The Stooges in 1971 before his drug addiction led to his dismissal) died (heroin overdose)—1973

The ‘Edmund Fitzgerald’ sank in Lake Superior. The tragedy later became the subject of Gordon Lightfoot’s song—1975

The Beach Boys recorded ‘Johnny Carson’—1976

Billy Idol released his ‘Rebel Yell’ album—1983

Columbia Records released ‘Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band Live/1975-85’—1986
Rock Factoid: The long-awaited and highly anticipated live album generated advance orders of more than 1.5 million copies, making it the largest dollar-volume pre-order in the history of the record business at the time.

Bob Dylan inducted Gordon Lightfoot into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame—1986

Ronnie Dyson (‘Why Can’t I Touch You’) died (heart failure)—1990

A St. Louis judge found Axl Rose of Guns N’ Roses guilty of assault and property damage in connection with a riot at a concert in St. Louis—1991

Axl Rose was found guilty of assault and property damage at a 1991 Guns N’ Roses concert in Maryland Heights, MO. He was given two years probation and ordered to pay $50,000 to community groups—1992

Tommy Tedesco (“Wrecking Crew” session guitarist) died (lung cancer)—1997
Rock Factoid: Tedesco played on hit songs with The Beach Boys, The Association, Everly Brothers, Sam Cooke, Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra, Joan Baez, Cher and literally thousands more.
Rock Factoid #2: Called ‘the most recorded guitarist in history’ by Guitar Player magazine, Tedesco was featured on several television theme songs you might recall, including Bonanza, Green Acres, M*A*S*H, Batman and The Twilight Zone.

Johnny Griffith (keyboard player with the Funk Brothers, Motown’s house band) died (following a long illness )—2002
Rock Factoid: Just a few of the songs Griffith played on include ‘(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher And Higher’ (Jackie Wilson), ‘Wonderful One’ and ‘I Heard It Through The Grapevine’ (Marvin Gaye), ‘Stop In The Name Of Love’ (Supremes) and ‘I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch)’ by The Four Tops.

Gerald Levert (lead singer with R&B soul group LeVert – ‘Casanova’ and ‘Taking Everything’ as a solo artist) died (combination of prescription narcotics and over-the-counter drugs)—2006

Miriam Makeba (‘Pata Pata’) died (heart attack)—2008

Tony West (founding bass guitarist with The Searchers who left the band prior to recording success) died (natural causes)—2010

Compiled by Ray Lemire ©2014 RayLemire.com. All Rights Reserved.