15 DECEMBER
In Music History
1942 Dave Clark (of The Dave Clark Five) is born in Tottenham, North London, England.
1941 Lena Horne records "Stormy Weather."
1939 Cindy Birdsong is born in Mount Holly, New Jersey. One of the original members of Patti LaBelle & The Blue Belles, she quits the group in the mid-'60s to join The Supremes as a replacement for Florence Ballard. The remaining Blue Belles rebrand themselves as Labelle.
1934 Opera singer Raina Kabaivanska is born in Burgas, Bulgaria.
1932 Jesse Belvin, known for the 1956 R&B hit "Goodnight My Love," is born in Texarkana, Texas.
1928 Ernest Ashworth is born in Huntsville, Alabama. Known for the 1963 chart-topping country hit "Talk Back Trembling Lips."
1916 Buddy Cole is born Edwin LeMar Cole in Irving, Illinois. The jazz pianist will accompany the likes of Rosemary Clooney and Bing Crosby.
1911 Jazz pianist/composer Stan Kenton is born in Wichita, Kansas.
1910 Producer and record executive John Hammond is born in New York City. A mainstay at Columbia Records, he champions jazz music at the label, and in 1961, signs Bob Dylan.
1831 A small advertisement in the London Times announces the publication of a patriotic song "dedicated to Earl Grey and his noble confederates in the cause of constitutional reform."
John And Yoko Declare Peace
1969John Lennon and Yoko Ono launch the "War Is Over" campaign with billboards declaring peace around the world.
Read more15 DECEMBER
Featured Events
2014 Little Big Town release "Girl Crush," a jealousy ballad in 6/8 time. The unusual song becomes a huge hit, going to #1 on the Country chart and winning the CMA Awards for Single of the Year and Song of the Year.
1992 Dr. Dre releases his debut solo album, The Chronic, a G-funk landmark featuring Snoop Doggy Dogg.More
1979 Pink Floyd's "Another Brick In The Wall (part II)" goes to #1 on the UK singles chart.
1979 The Buggles song "Video Killed The Radio Star" reaches its American chart peak of #40 (in the UK, it hit #1 in September). On August 1, 1981, it becomes the first music video played on MTV. Record stores in areas with high cable penetration are baffled when folks show up looking for the song.
1974 Young Frankenstein opens in theaters. When members of Aerosmith take a break from recording the Toys in the Attic album and see the film, they laugh hysterically at the scene where Igor (Marty Feldman) tells Dr. Frankenstein (Gene Wilder) to "walk this way," and the doctor imitates Igor's walk. Returning to the studio, they have the title to the track they've been working on.More
1921 Alan Freed is born in Johnstown, Pennsylvania. At the Cleveland radio station WJW, he becomes the first white disc jockey to play upbeat rhythm and blues records north of the Mason Dixon line. At the time, they are called "race" records, but Freed calls the music "rock and roll." Freed attracts a large following on WJW, and his late-night radio show, the Moondog Rock 'n' Roll Party, helps increase the popularity of rhythm and blues and makes Cleveland a trendsetter in Midwestern pop culture.
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