12 May

Pick a Day

12 MAY

In Music History

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2017 To commemorate the 30th anniversary of their acclaimed 1987 album, The Joshua Tree, U2 embarks upon The Joshua Tree Tour 2017, with an opener in Vancouver, Canada. The band plays through the entire album, including rare treats "Exit" and "Trip Through Your Wires," which haven't been performed since the '80s, and a live first for "Red Hill Mining Town."

2011 David Gilmour and Nick Mason join their former Pink Floyd bandmate Roger Waters at the London 02 Arena performance of Waters' The Wall tour, joining in on "Comfortably Numb" and "Outside The Wall." It's the first time they've played together since Live 8 in 2005.

2011 The Monkees, minus Mike Nesmith, embark on a 45th Anniversary Tour with a date at the Echo Arena in Liverpool, England. It's the group's fourth and final reunion tour, as Davy Jones dies in 2012.

2011 Jamaican drummer Lloyd Knibb (of The Skatalites) dies of liver cancer at age 80.

2008 4AD Records release Bon Iver's debut album, For Emma, Forever Ago, in the UK.

2007 Brian May of Queen goes under police protection after a schizophrenic leaves a letter at his home blaming him for his mental illness and threatening to kill him. The news is published in the Sunday Mirror the following day, against May's wishes.

2001 File this under strange but true: After 27 years as a fugitive from a New Jersey prison, convicted child-killer Edward Solly is arrested in St. Petersburg, Florida, where he has been masquerading as long-dead Sha Na Na guitarist Vinnie Taylor, complete with a website and nightclub act. More

2001 Perry Como dies in his sleep less than week before his 89th birthday.

1998 Lenny Kravitz releases his fifth studio album, aptly titled 5. The album features his first Grammy Award-winning hit, "Fly Away."

1997 Married country singers Tim McGraw and Faith Hill release their first duet, "It's Your Love."

1994 Garth Brooks guest stars on the "Up All Night" episode of the sitcom Mad About You.

1983 Meat Loaf files for bankruptcy.

1981 Debbie Harry branches off from Blondie, announcing her solo career. She continues working with the band, which proves more successful.

1978 Alex Ebert, lead singer of Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros, is born in Los Angeles. His mother is the actress Lisa Richards, who had a regular role on the soap opera Dark Shadows and appeared on episodes of Fantasy Island and Chips.

1975 Russell Hitchcock and Graham Russell, each performing in the Sydney production of Jesus Christ Superstar, meet on the first day of rehearsals. Later in the year, they form Air Supply.

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Burt Bacharach Born

1929

Burt Bacharach is born in Kansas City, Missouri.


Determined to make it in the music business, Bacharach rents out a cramped office in the famed Brill Building, where some of the biggest hits are born. He has little success, however, until he meets New York City native Hal David in 1957. When Bacharach's swooning melodies and daring rhythms meet David's sincere and clever lyrics, the duo become the premier architects of sophisticated pop. Gene Pitney ("Only Love Can Break A Heart"), Mary Robbins ("The Story Of My Life"), Perry Como ("Magic Moments"), The Carpenters ("(They Long To Be) Close To You"), The 5th Dimension ("One Less Bell To Answer"), and Herb Alpert ("This Guy's In Love With You") all hit the charts with Bacharach-David numbers. But the pair's main muse is Dionne Warwick. The former gospel singer records more than 60 of their compositions, bringing 19 of them to the Top 40, including "Don't Make Me Over," "Walk On By," and "Do You Know the Way to San Jose." With the advent of the singer-songwriter era, many songwriters are left out in the cold as most performers start writing their own tunes. Some, like Carole King, become singers in their own right; others, like Bacharach and David, turn to writing music for TV and film. The title themes for Alfie, What's New, Pussycat?, Casino Royale ("The Look of Love"), and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid all earn Oscar nominations, with the latter's "Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head," sung by B.J. Thomas, taking the prize for Best Original Song. After his tenure with David ends in the mid-'70s, Bacharach teams with lyricist Carole Bayer Sager (his third of four wives), yielding the Oscar-winning theme to the 1981 film Arthur and the hit 1985 single "That's What Friends Are For," among others. Aside from his partnerships, Bacharach started releasing solo albums in the late '60s, occasionally singing but mostly sticking to instrumentals or accompanying a guest vocalist on piano. In 2005, he releases the protest album At This Time, featuring Elvis Costello and Rufus Wainwright. It wins the Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Pop Album. When the Daily Telegraph asks him about the enduring quality of his work in 2013, the then-85-year-old composer replies: "It's part sound, part sophistication – the different time signatures, different harmonies, maybe a little bit in front of its time. Maybe not too sophisticated, but sophisticated enough to have some durability. And not too sophisticated to have you just hear it by some piano player in a bar."

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