15 AUGUST
Featured Events
2009 On the first UK gig of their 360 tour, U2 breaks the Wembley Stadium Attendance record when 88,000 show up. Their "claw" set design allows more fans to fit in the stadium and breaks Rod Stewart's record of 83,000 set in 1995.
2000 The estate of Jimi Hendrix acquires jimihendrix.com, which was registered in 1996 by a domainer who is using it to sell email addresses (yourname@jimihendrix.com). This is one of many cases that rules against registrants who are squatting names of famous people.
1992 Boyz II Men and TLC, both on the 2 Legit 2 Quit tour opening for MC Hammer, claim the top two spots in the US with "End Of The Road" and "Baby-Baby-Baby." Both songs were written and produced by Babyface, L.A. Reid and Daryl Simmons.
1983 Paul Simon marries Carrie Fisher, famous for playing Princess Leia in the Star Wars series. Saturday Night Live producer Lorne Michaels is Simon's best man; Penny Marshall is Fisher's maid of honor. Guests include Robin Williams, Billy Joel and his wife Christie Brinkley, Randy Newman and George Lucas. The couple split up a year later, but resume their relationship in less formal terms throughout much of the '80s.
1980 George Harrison becomes the first Beatle to release an autobiography when his book I Me Mine is published.
1979 Led Zeppelin release their eighth and final studio album, In Through The Out Door. It's the last album released by the band while drummer John Bonham is still alive.
1969 It's Day 1 of the Woodstock festival on Max Yasgur's 60-acre farm in Bethel, New York (the festival was originally going to be in Woodstock, New York, so they kept the name). Day 1 doesn't have the biggest names, but massive crowds make it clear that something's happening here. Artists to appear this day include Richie Havens, Joan Baez, Tim Hardin and Arlo Guthrie.
1965 The Beatles play Shea Stadium in New York - home of The Mets - marking the first time a rock band headlines a stadium in America. With Beatlemania in full force, the screaming girls drown out the band in a less-than-intimate, but very memorable performance in front of a sold-out crowd of 56,000.More
1964 Proving there is room to croon during the British Invasion, Dean Martin's "Everybody Loves Somebody" knocks The Beatles' "A Hard Day's Night" from the #1 spot on the Hot 100.
15 AUGUST
In Music History
2012 Members of the metal band Baroness are injured when their tour bus falls off the road while traveling in England. Lead singer John Baizley's left arm is shattered and his left leg broken; drummer Allen Blickle and bass player Matt Maggioni each suffer spinal fractures. Baizley manages to keep his arm and resume his duties as frontman/guitarist, but Blickle and Maggioni leave the band.
2011 Lyricist Betty Thatcher (of Renaissance) dies of cancer in Hayle, Cornwall, England, at age 67.
2009 Rock musician Jim Dickinson (frontman for Mud Boy and the Neutrons) dies after triple-bypass heart surgery in Memphis, Tennessee, at age 67.
2008 Music producer Jerry Wexler dies of congestive heart failure in Sarasota, Florida, at age 91. Known for reviving Aretha Franklin's career in the '60s and producing Bob Dylan's Slow Train Coming album.
2007 The Osmonds reunite for the first time in over two decades to perform their 50th anniversary concert for PBS.
2005 Leonard Cohen files a lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court alleging that his former manager, Kelley Lynch, mismanaged his retirement funds to the tune of at least $5 million. The fraudulent activities purportedly began during the five years Leonard spent away from his career in seclusion at the Mt. Baldy Zen Center.
2005 Sly Stone comes out of a long seclusion to visit the Knitting Factory in Los Angeles, where his little sister Vet headlines with the latest version of the Family Stone.
2004 At their Coventry Festival in the group's home state of Vermont, Phish play what they say is their last show, ending with the song "The Curtain With." The breakup proves temporary: in 2009, the band gets back together.
2000 David Bowie's wife, the supermodel Iman, gives birth to their daughter, Alexandria Zahra Jones. "The couple are overjoyed," says a spokesman for Bowie. "David assisted in the delivery and he cut the umbilical cord."
1998 Pete Townshend, Joni Mitchell and Lou Reed, along with original Woodstock acts Richie Havens and Melanie, play Day 2 of the A Day In The Garden festival in Bethel, New York, where the 1969 festival took place. Mitchell closes her set with "Woodstock."
1996 A New York women's shelter refuses to take money raised by a recent benefit concert when they learn that one of the performers was James Brown, often accused of emotional and physical abuse of women.
1995 Garbage release their self-titled debut album, adding a much-needed female voice (Shirley Manson) to the alternative rock scene. Hits from the album include "Queer" and "Only Happy When It Rains."
1992 Reggae musician Jackie Edwards dies of a heart attack in Jamaica at age 54. Penned "Keep On Running" and "Somebody Help Me" for The Spencer Davis Group.
1991 Nirvana play a concert at The Roxy Theater in Los Angeles, where they invite fans to attend the shoot for their first video, "Smells Like Teen Spirit." Hundreds of fans show up at the shoot, which takes place two days later; many are turned away.More
1991 Paul Simon gives a free concert in Central Park, much as he had in 1981 with partner Art Garfunkel. It airs live on HBO and eventually becomes the album Paul Simon's Concert In The Park.
"Macarena" Comes To America
1995Spanish pop duo Los del Rio release the single "Macarena" in the US. Inspired by a beautiful flamenco dancer, the song lights a fire in Miami beach clubs and spreads across the country, igniting the '90s hottest dance craze.
Thanks to an English-language remix from the Miami production trio The Bayside Boys, "Macarena" becomes the biggest hit of Los Del Rio's career, but the duo is not an overnight success. By the time their dance song hits #1, Antonio Romero and Rafael Ruiz have been performing together for over 30 years, releasing 31 rumba albums with some success in small Spanish towns. In 1992, a fateful visit to Caracas, Venezuela, leads them to a flamenco dancer named Diana Patricia Herrera, whose dance moves inspire Romero to write "Macarena," named for a town in Seville. The following year, they record the song for their album A Mí Me Gusta, and the single starts to gain traction in their native Spain. It soon immigrates to Miami, where Gloria Estefan's Latin-flavored Miami Sound Machine found success in the '80s, and catches the attention of local radio station Power 96. Under orders from the station's program manager, DJ Jammin' John Caride and his production team, The Bayside Boys, revamp the tune with English lyrics and restructured melodies. Within two days, the demo is on the air. After 33 weeks on the chart, the remix lands at #1 on the Hot 100 on August 3, 1996, where it stays for a record 14 weeks. But you can't have a hot dance number without a hot dance to go along with it. In the song, Macarena is a restless woman who gets even with her absentee lover by shaking her groove thing all over town. With a few simple hand movements and a hip swivel, even the most rhythmically challenged can handle the "Macarena," and everyone – and we mean everyone – gives it a try. From clubs and cruises to weddings and sporting events, the dance is inescapable. Even at the 1996 Democratic National Convention, politicians take a break to jiggle their hips, including First Lady Hillary Clinton. Vice President Al Gore pokes fun at his stuffy reputation by demonstrating his version of the "Macarena." Standing stock still for a few moments, he quips, "Would you like to see it again?" Meanwhile at Yankee Stadium, over 50,000 baseball fans break the record for largest group dance when they do the "Macarena." Los Del Rio never returns to the Hot 100, but their legacy impresses their fellow Latin performers, with Julio Iglesias adding his praise: "My success singing in English from Miami is nothing compared to yours; coming out of Dos Hermanas with little international exposure elsewhere and selling these many records in Spanish takes two huge sets of cojones."
Categories
©2024 Songfacts®, LLC
Comments
send your comment