19 APRIL
In Music History
1980 The Specials become the first ska band to guest on Saturday Night Live, where they play "Gangsters" and "Too Much Too Young." Their energetic performance wows the crowd but fails to break ska music in America.
1980 Blondie's "Call Me," a song about a prostitute written for the film American Gigolo, hits #1 in America.
1975 The Raspberries split up.
1971 The Doors release their sixth album, L.A. Woman. It's their last with lead singer Jim Morrison, who dies a few months later.
1969 "Good Times, Bad Times," the first Led Zeppelin single, reaches its chart peak of #80 in America.
1968 George Harrison and John Lennon, fearing that their instructor, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, is a fraud and has been preying on women at his meditation camp in India, leave the retreat two weeks early and distance themselves from the Maharishi. Harrison though, remains dedicated to the concept of Transcendental Meditation.
1967 Nancy and Frank Sinatra's "Somethin' Stupid" goes to #1 in the UK.
1964 Drummer Dawn Richardson of 4 Non Blondes, is born.
1962 Jackie Wilson makes his stage debut with a show at the Copacabana in New York City.
1953 Rock drummer Rod Morgenstein (of Winger) is born in New York.
1947 Mark Volman (of The Turtles, Flo and Eddie, Mothers of Invention) is born in Los Angeles, California.
1943 Eve Graham of The New Seekers is born Evelyn May Beatson in Auchterarder, Perth and Kinross, Scotland.
1942 Rock guitarist Larry Ramos (of The Association) is born Hilario Ramos in Waimea, Hawaii.
1942 Alan Price (original keyboardist for The Animals) is born in Fatfield, England.
1940 Singer-songwriter Bobby Russell ("The Night The Lights Went Out In Georgia") is born in Nashville, Tennessee.
Prince Holds Top Spots With "Kiss" And "Manic Monday"
1986You don't have to watch Dynasty to have an attitude: Prince hits #1 in the US with "Kiss." The #2 song is "Manic Monday" by the Bangles, which he wrote.
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Featured Events
2017 Kid Rock and Ted Nugent join Sarah Palin at the White House, where they get a personal tour from President Trump.More
2012 Levon Helm (drummer, lead vocalist of The Band) dies of cancer at age 71. Also an actor, he was known for his role as Loretta Lynn's father in Coal Miner's Daughter.
2008 Donna Summer scores a #1 Dance hit with "I'm A Fire," making her the first artist to top that chart in every decade since its 1974 debut.
2002 Alice In Chains lead singer Layne Staley is discovered dead in his Seattle apartment after police break down his door to investigate reports that he is missing. Staley, whose addictions led him to cut off contact with friends and family, had died on April 5 of a drug overdose. He was 34.
2001 In a battle of the bark, Baha Men beat out Lil' Bow Wow at the Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards, taking Fave Song with "Who Let The Dogs Out."More
1994 Nas releases his landmark debut album Illmatic at the age of 20, helping revive the flagging New York City rap scene and birth the era of lyricism. It goes on to be widely accepted as one of the greatest rap albums of all time.More
1988 Sonny Bono (Sonny & Cher) is inaugurated as mayor of Palm Springs, California.
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