27 October

Pick a Day

27 OCTOBER

In Music History

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2013 Fleetwood Mac cancels the remaining dates of their world tour after co-founder John McVie is diagnosed with cancer.

2012 Barbra Streisand's album Release Me hits #7 in the US, making her the first artist to have multiple albums in the Top 10 during every decade from the 1960s to the 2010s (her 2011 album What Matters Most made #4). Streisand is the female artist with the most Top 10 charting albums in history.

2011 MTV reboots Beavis and Butt-Head, which went off the air in 1997, for another season.

2007 Led by the "Werewolves Of London"/"Sweet Home Alabama" mashup "All Summer Long," Kid Rock's Rock N Roll Jesus hits #1 in America, giving him his first chart-topping album.

2006 Kim Gordon of Sonic Youth premieres her film Perfect Partner at Montclair State University in New Jersey.

2005 New York rappers Jay-Z and Nas end their longtime feud and promote peace on stage during New York radio station Power 105.1's Power House concert at New Jersey's Continental Airlines Arena.

2005 The family band Cherryholmes gets the entertainer of the year award at the 16th Annual International Bluegrass Music Association Awards, becoming the first act nominated for emerging artist and entertainer in the same year.

2002 Tom Dowd, who as an engineer and producer worked on classic albums for Eric Clapton, The Allman Brothers Band, Aretha Franklin, Lynyrd Skynyrd and Ray Charles, dies of emphysema at age 77.

1999 Frank De Vol - known for his '40s arrangements, namely "Nature Boy," and compositions of TV themes for The Brady Bunch and My Three Sons - dies of congestive heart failure in Lafayette, California, at age 88.

1999 Master P's hoop dream comes to an end. The high-profile rapper, whose real name is Percy Miller, is waived by the NBA's Toronto Raptors, failing to make the pro league for the second straight season. The year before, the Charlotte Hornets waived Miller just before the regular season began.

1999 KoRn debut their new song "Falling Away From Me" on the season premiere of South Park, "Korn's Groovy Pirate Ghost Mystery." The animated version of the band appears in the episode.

1998 Lauryn Hill releases her first single as a solo artist, "Doo Wop (That Thing)."

1998 The first Now That's What I Call Music! compilation CD is released in America, with 17 hits from the likes of Hanson ("MMMBop"), Spice Girls ("Say You'll Be There") and Cherry Poppin' Daddies ("Zoot Suit Riot"). Many more follow, typically three per year. The first 29 all go Platinum.

1995 Copycat debuts in US movie theaters. Harry Connick, Jr. plays a murderer who terrorizes Sigourney Weaver and mentors a budding serial killer in the psychological thriller. It's quite a departure for the smooth singer of love songs.

1992 Bo Diddley sues the estate of his former manager, the now-deceased Martin Otelsberg, for $75,000 in misappropriated funds.

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Springsteen Makes Covers Of Time And Newsweek

1975

Bruce Springsteen appears on the covers of both Time and Newsweek amid acclaim for his third album, Born To Run.


Springsteen's first two albums, both released in 1973, earned him some ink in publications like Creem, Melody Maker and Rolling Stone, but his first big cover story isn't a music magazine, it's Time and Newsweek, the two biggest news magazines in America. Orchestrated by his producer-manager Mike Appel, it's quite a publicity blast for Springsteen, who has spent the last several years pounding away in clubs, mostly in and around his native New Jersey. Both articles tell his compelling underdog story, describing him as a workmanlike rocker with the pen of a poet. But he's running out of time: With his first two albums underperforming, Born To Run, released two months earlier, may be his last chance. Springsteen comes off grounded and unflappable, a sharp contrast to the many acts record companies have been foisting on the public that haven't lived up to the hype (Barnaby Bye, Judi Pulver). It helps that Springsteen is championed by John Hammond, the Columbia Records executive who also signed Bob Dylan and Aretha Franklin. The articles tell the stories that will form the bedrock of Springsteen's legend: how he bought his first guitar for $18 and would hitchhike into Greenwich Village, where he encountered the peculiar swath of humanity that became the characters in his songs. And unlike the stereotypical rocker, he stays away from drugs, drinks in moderation, and is especially courteous around women. All good talking points. All this press gives Springsteen a huge boost, but he's not exactly "Rock's New Sensation," as Time declares in their headline. Born To Run gets him on solid ground, but his biggest hit, the title track, tops out at #23. His momentum stalls in 1976 when he gets in a legal battle with Appel that keeps him from performing for over a year, a time he devotes to songwriting and performing. The music magazines, at first leary of his mainstream success, cheer him on when he returns in 1978 with Darkness on the Edge of Town, which Dave Marsh hails as a record that "changes fundamentally the way we hear rock & roll." His glowing review appears in Rolling Stone, which gives him the cover for the first time. Over the next few years, Springsteen builds a fervent, almost devotional following and becomes known for his songwriting - his song "Fire" is a #2 hit for the Pointer Sisters in 1979. But it's not until 1984 with his album Born in the U.S.A. that he becomes an arena act and Platinum seller (Born To Run isn't certified Platinum until 1986). This wave of acclaim is far more overarching and trenchant than the Time/Newsweek blast. Finding an audience is no longer a problem, but getting his point across is. The song "Born In The U.S.A." is about Vietnam veteran who is neglected when he returns home, but this song is heard by many as a flag-waving, patriotic anthem. Ronald Reagan even mentions Springsteen in a campaign speech - not what he had in mind.

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