14 DECEMBER
In Music History
1946 Jackie McAuley (keyboardist, vocalist for Them) is born John McAuley in Coleraine, County Londonderry, Northern Ireland.
1946 Actress/singer Patty Duke is born Anna Marie Duke in Elmhurst, Queens, New York.
1943 Frank Allen (bass guitarist for The Searchers) is born Francis Renaud McNeice in Hayes, Middlesex, England.
1932 Singer/actress Abbe Lane is born Abigail Francine Lassman in Brooklyn, New York. Known as "the swingingest sexpot in show business," she would marry (and divorce) bandleader Xavier Cugat.
1932 Country singer Charlie Rich, known for the 1973 hits "Behind Closed Doors" and "The Most Beautiful Girl," is born in Colt, Arkansas.
1928 Fanny Brice records "If You Want the Rainbow (You Must Have the Rain)."
1920 Swing trumpeter Clark Terry is born in St. Louis, Missouri. One of the most recorded jazz musicians, he would play with the likes of Charlie Barnet, Count Basie, Duke Ellington and Quincy Jones.
1915 Actor/dancer Dan Dailey is born in New York City. Known for his roles in There's No Business Like Show Business (1954), It's Always Fair Weather (1955) and Meet Me in Las Vegas (1956).
1911 Spike Jones is born Lindley Armstrong Jones in Long Beach, California. He allegedly earns his nickname for being so thin, like a railroad spike.
1788 Composer Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, son of Johann Sebastian Bach, dies Hamburg, Germany, at age 74.
Saturday Night Fever Boogies Into Theaters
1977At the peak of the disco era, the film Saturday Night Fever opens in theaters. The soundtrack contains two previous #1 hits and four new ones.
Read more14 DECEMBER
Featured Events
1999 In a much-publicized show, Paul McCartney returns to play the Cavern Club in Liverpool for the first time since 1963. Joining him are Pink Floyd's David Gilmour and Deep Purple's Ian Paice. Only about 300 watch from the club, but another 4,000 or so see it simulcast on big screens at a nearby park, and many more watch a webcast of the show, which is likely the most-watched internet event in history at this point (reporting is far from reliable).
1980 At Yoko Ono's request, a 10-minute worldwide silent vigil takes place at 2:00 p.m. EST for John Lennon, who was shot and killed six days earlier. Lennon was cremated without a funeral, so the vigil is the public outpouring of support and mourning. A large crowd gathers in Central Park near where Lennon lived with Yoko to take part; this becomes a tradition on each anniversary of Lennon's death.
1978 Billy Joel plays Madison Square Garden for the first time, which growing up he considered a "temple." He later becomes the first musical act to hold residency at the Garden.
1968 Motown acts hold the top three spots on the Hot 100: 1) "I Heard It Through The Grapevine" by Marvin Gaye 2) "Love Child" by The Supremes 3) "For Once In My Life" by Stevie Wonder The chart stays the same the next week, and a week later Stevie and The Supremes trade positions.
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