3 APRIL
In Music History
1961 Eddie Murphy is born in New York City. In 1985, he has a hit with "Party All The Time," written and produced by Rick James. Murphy also makes the charts with the novelty song "Put Your Mouth On Me" and the Michael Jackson collaboration "Whatzupwitu."
1960 Working at RCA's Studio B in Nashville, Elvis Presley pulls an all-nighter, recording nine songs, finishing with "Are You Lonesome Tonight" in the wee hours of the morning. The mournful song becomes one of his biggest hits, going to #1 in America for six weeks.
1960 Elvis Presley records "It's Now or Never" in Nashville at RCA Studio B. With a melody lifted from the 1907 song "O Sole Mio," it veers away from rock and roll but is a huge hit and the song Elvis later says is his favorite of all his recordings.
1956 Elvis Presley performs "Heartbreak Hotel" and "Blue Suede Shoes" onboard the aircraft carrier USS Hancock in San Diego. It's broadcast live on The Milton Berle Show.
1949 Guitarist and songwriter Richard Thompson (of Fairport Convention) is born in Notting Hill Gate, London, England.
1944 Tony Orlando is born Michael Anthony Orlando Cassavitis in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood of New York City. He becomes a teen singing sensation with the 1961 hit "Bless You," but by 1970 is working in music publishing. That year, he is asked to record vocals for a song called "Candida," as the original singer didn't work out. When it becomes a hit, Orlando resumes his singing career as Tony Orlando & Dawn.
1943 Richard Manuel (lead singer of The Band) is born in Stratford, Ontario, Canada.
1942 "Down In The Boondocks" singer Billy Joe Royal is born in Valdosta, Georgia.
1942 Wayne Newton is born Carson Wayne Newton in Norfolk, Virginia.
1941 Surf rocker Jan Berry (of Jan & Dean) is born William Jan Berry in Los Angeles, California.
1938 Songwriter Jeff Barry is born Joel Adelberg in Brooklyn, New York. In 1964, 17 songs he co-wrote make the Hot 100, including three chart-toppers: "Do Wah Diddy Diddy," "Chapel Of Love" and "Leader of the Pack."
1928 Country singer-songwriter Don Gibson ("Sweet Dreams," "I Can't Stop Loving You") is born in Shelby, North Carolina.
1924 The married Beulah Annan murders her lover Harry Kalstedt then sits drinking cocktails and playing "Hula Lou" over and over again while he dies.
1902 The first series of Alessandro Moreschi's solo recordings is made; he is the only castrato to be recorded solo.
1897 German composer and pianist Johannes Brahms dies at his Vienna apartment.
Jay Z Gets His Own Record Label
2008Jay-Z joins Madonna and U2 in signing a huge contract with Live Nation; he scores a 360 deal that includes his own label.
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Featured Events
1998 With the big "alternative" acts now squarely in the mainstream, the Lollapalooza festival is officially cancelled, with Green Day, Radiohead and Foo Fighters among the bands turning down offers to headline. The festival launcheded in 1991 with Jane's Addiction, Nine Inch Nails and Siouxsie and the Banshees at the top of the bill.
1995 The RealAudio Player is introduced, allowing users to stream audio over the internet for the first time. Over the next few years, many artists use it to post songs (or samples of them) on their websites.
1989 In Pittsburgh, it's a shakedown outside a Grateful Dead concert as police make about two dozen arrests after some fans try to get in without tickets. "I don't want those deadenders ever back again," Mayor Sophie Masloff says.
1980 In Memphis on their first US tour, Chrissie Hynde of The Pretenders gets in an altercation at a bar and is arrested. She kicks out the window of the police cruiser sent to take her away and spends the night in jail. Her group performs the next night at Poet's Music Hall.
1976 Johnnie Taylor's "Disco Lady" hits #1 on the Hot 100, becoming the first chart-topper with the word "disco" in the title.
1967 Peaking at #93, The Who make the US singles chart for the first time, with "I Can't Explain."
1959 Because of its references to bad behavior in school (writing on the wall, throwing spitballs), The British Broadcasting Corporation bans The Coasters song "Charlie Brown." The ban is lifted two weeks later.
1922 Actress and singer Doris Day is born Doris Mary Ann Kappelhoff in Cincinnati, Ohio. She turns to singing when a car accident wrecks her dreams of becoming a professional dancer.More
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