2 May

Pick a Day

2 MAY

In Music History

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2014 '60s R&B/pop singer Jessica Cleaves (Friends Of Distinction) dies at age 65 of complications from a stroke.

2012 Greg Ham's funeral takes place at the Fitzroy Town Hall in Melbourne, Australia, with more than 300 mourners attending. The Men at Work flute player died two weeks earlier on April 19, at his home in the Melbourne suburb of Carlton North. Among the many mourners attending, are his partner, Linda Wostry, from whom he had recently separated, and Men At Work bass player John Rees. At the end of the service, to the strains of jazz music, Greg's 20-year-old son Max stands on the steps of the town hall, holding a framed photo of his father, while his sister, Greg's 17-year-old daughter Camille, releases a single white dove into the sky. The mourners then give the troubled musician a final round of applause as his coffin drives away down the streets of Melbourne.

2010 A flood in Nashville damages the Grand Ole Opry House and Country Music Hall of Fame. John Fogerty, Brad Paisley, Vince Gill and Keith Urban are among those who lose guitars and other equipment that is held in a storage facility. Also destroyed are the bass used on the Hank Williams song "Your Cheatin' Heart," and a Stratocaster owned by Jimi Hendrix.

2009 The TV series Jonas, starring the Jonas Brothers, debuts on the Disney Channel. It runs two seasons.

2006 Following up on their massively successful Lateralus album, Tool release 10,000 Days. In its first week 564,000 copies copies are sold, and by the end of 2007 the number is at 2.5 million.

2006 Neil Young releases Living With War, a very political album taking aim at the policies of US President George W. Bush.More

2003 Composer George Wyle, who wrote the theme song for the '60s TV series Gilligan's Island, dies at age 87.

1998 Heavy metal guitarist Hideto "Hide" Matsumoto (of X-Japan) commits suicide at age 33 by hanging himself.

1995 Pink Floyd's album The Wall goes Diamond, with sales of over 10 million in the US. It later eclipses (oh wait, wrong album) that total with sales of well over 20 million.

1994 Varg Vikernes, leader of the Norwegian black metal band Burzum, begins his trial for the murder of rival black metal musician (and former bandmate) Oystein Aarseth, co-founder of the band Mayhem. The two men had had a confrontation in August of 1993 which ended with the fatal stabbing of Aarseth. Vikernes was convicted at the trial and was sentenced to 21 years in prison; however he was released early in May of 2009 on probation and currently continues to do business as Burzum, with several albums released since then. He still has fans.

1992 Dance Floor, a horse owned by MC Hammer, comes in third in the Kentucky Derby.

1989 The Cure issue a gloomy record that's predicted to be commercial suicide, but ends up being their best seller: Disintegration. It boasts their biggest pop hits, "Lovesong" and "Lullaby."More

1988 Living Colour's debut album, Vivid, is released. It takes almost a year to catch on, as the band slowly builds a following through tours, radio play and MTV.

1987 Cutting Crew's "(I Just) Died in Your Arms" hits #1 on the Hot 100.

1986 Judas Priest kick off their Fuel For Life tour with a show in Albuquerque, New Mexico. It's the first time lead singer Rob Halford, who went to rehab in January, has ever performed sober with the band.

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Dick Clark Testifies At Payola Hearing

1960

Dick Clark testifies before Congress on the matter of payola.


As host of American Bandstand, Clark has tremendous influence over what songs become hit records and which ones end up in the bargain bin. He's also associated with a number of artists and record labels, a conflict that gets him caught up in the payola scandal, which deals with DJs getting paid to play records. Before the hearings, Clark divested many of his interests in the songs he plays on Bandstand, which is enough to satisfy Congress, who clears him of any charges. He goes on to become one of the most powerful and influential people in music through his Dick Clark Productions company, but is always careful to avoid conflicts of interest.

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