17 MARCH
In Music History
1978 Jimmy Buffett releases his eighth studio album, Son Of A Son Of A Sailor, which features his popular tune "Cheeseburger In Paradise."
1978 The Alan Freed biopic American Hot Wax, widely considered one of the best Rock and Roll movies of all time, premieres in New York City, featuring appearances and performances by Jerry Lee Lewis, Chuck Berry, and Screamin' Jay Hawkins.
1978 The Irish high school band U2, which just recently changed their name from The Hype, win the Limerick Civic Week Pop '78 talent competition, earning about $1,000 and a chance to record a demo for CBS Records.
1976 Stephen Gately (of Boyzone) is born in Dublin, Ireland.
1975 Cher appears on the cover of Time magazine.
1975 Justin Hawkins (lead singer/guitarist for The Darkness) is born in Chertsey, Surrey, England.
1973 The sci-fi musical Lost Horizon, scored by Burt Bacharach, bombs at the box office. The failure precipitates Bacharach's split from longtime songwriting partner Hal David and Dionne Warwick, who had performed their songs for more than a decade.More
1973 Yes's The Yes Album and Yessongs are both certified Gold.
1973 Caroline Corr (singer, drummer for The Corrs) is born in Dundalk, County Louth, Ireland.
1972 Melissa Auf der Maur (of Hole, The Smashing Pumpkins) is born in Montreal, Quebec.
1968 The Bee Gees appear on the Ed Sullivan Show, marking their first appearance on American TV.
1967 Billy Corgan (frontman for The Smashing Pumpkins) is born in Elk Grove Village, a suburb of Chicago, Illinois.
1967 Jimi Hendrix releases "Purple Haze" in the UK.
1966 Keith Moon of The Who marries his pregnant girlfriend, Kim Kerrigan, in secrecy.
1962 Deke Leonard makes his debut in a talent contest at the Car Bay Club in Wales with Lucifer And The Corncrackers. According to his book Maybe I Should've Stayed In Bed... the band is introduced as Ivor And The Prawn Crackers.
First Ever Greatest Hits Album Released Courtesy of Johnny Mathis
1958The first "Greatest Hits" compilation is released, and it's by Johnny Mathis. It's a huge hit, and the format catches on quickly. The Mathis album stays in the Billboard 200 album chart for over nine years, a record not broken until Pink Floyd's Dark Side Of The Moon.
Read more17 MARCH
Featured Events
2010 Big Star lead singer Alex Chilton dies of a heart attack at age 59. Three days later, the group's scheduled performance at SXSW is turned into a tribute to Chilton.
2008 Heather Mills is awarded 23.7 million pounds (about $47 million) in her divorce from Paul McCartney, substantially more than the $32 million Paul offered. Throughout the ordeal, Mills is vilified in the British press as being opportunistic.More
2003 On the very first episode of MTV's practical joke show Punk'd, host Ashton Kutcher stages a prank involving the IRS that makes Justin Timberlake cry.More
1992 After reuniting at their ex-manager's funeral, Spinal Tap issue their 17th album, Break Like The Wind.More
1987 Reacting to a Beastie Boys concert three weeks earlier where the group used a giant inflatable penis as a stage prop and encouraged girls in the crowd to bare their breasts, the city of Columbus, Georgia passes an anti-lewdness law prohibiting nudity, simulated sex, and objectionable language at any show attended by minors.More
1968 Mick Jagger joins a demonstration at Grosvenor Square in London to protest the Vietnam War. When the group, estimated at 25,000, marches to the American embassy, they are met with police resistance and rioting ensues. Jagger leaves the protest before it reaches the embassy, but uses the events as inspiration for the Rolling Stones song "Street Fighting Man."
1958 "Tequila" by The Champs hits #1 in America, becoming one of the most popular saxophone instrumentals of all time.More
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