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September 2, 1934 Russ Columbo dies when his friend's antique gun accidentally fires and strikes him in the eye. The 26-year-old singer's friends and family hide the news from his ailing mother, fearing the shock will kill her. Through an elaborate scheme of writing fake letters and using old recordings to simulate live broadcasts, it appears that Columbo is alive and well, but busy. The subterfuge lasts until her death a decade later.
July 24, 1934 Jazz drummer Rudy Collins, who performed with the likes of Dizzy Gillespie and Cab Calloway, is born in New York City.
July 12, 1934 Pianist Van Cliburn is born in Shreveport, Louisiana. He rises to prominence when he wins the inaugural quadrennial International Tchaikovsky Piano Competition in Moscow.
July 2, 1934 Folk singer Tom Springfield (of The Springfields) is born Dionysius P. A. O'Brien in Hampstead, London, England. He'll welcome sister Dusty Springfield a few years later.
June 30, 1934 Adolf Hitler begins Operation Hummingbird, the Röhm Putsch, or the Night of the Long Knives which culminates in the murder of Ernst Röhm on July 2. Al Stewart later writes a song about it called "The Last Day Of June 1934."
June 11, 1934 R&B singer James "Pookie" Hudson (of The Spaniels) is born in Des Moines, Iowa.
June 1, 1934 Pat Boone (birth name: Charles Eugene Boone) is born in Jacksonville, Florida.More
May 23, 1934 Dr. Robert Moog, engineer and inventor of the Moog synthesizer, is born in New York City.
May 3, 1934 '60s pop singer Frankie Valli (of The Four Seasons) is born Francesco Stephen Castelluccio in Newark, New Jersey.
April 17, 1934 Record producer and songwriter Don Kirshner (The Monkees, The Archies, Kansas) is born in The Bronx, New York City.
April 1, 1934 Country singer-songwriter Jim Ed Brown (The Browns) is born in Sparkman, Arkansas. Aside from forming The Browns with his two sisters, he'll find fame as a solo artist and frequent duet partner of Helen Cornelius ("I Don't Want To Have To Marry You").
March 31, 1934 Actress/singer Shirley Jones is born in Charleroi, Pennsylvania. After staring in various musicals, she plays Shirley, the matriarch of The Partridge Family on their TV show from 1970-1974. She and David Cassidy, who plays Keith Partridge, are the only cast members to actually sing on their songs.
March 31, 1934 John D. Loudermilk is born in Durham, North Carolina. He records as "Johnny Dee," but has his biggest success as a songwriter, composing "Tobacco Road" and "Indian Reservation (The Lament of the Cherokee Reservation Indian)," a #1 hit for the Raiders in 1971.
March 31, 1934 An article in Melody Maker declares: "Expel All Jewish Musicians: A Little Hitler Invades Archer Street. Fascists Launch Fierce New Campaign." This refers to an Imperial Fascist League member Jackson Phillips as the "Little Hitler" of Archer Street. The article contains the memorable quote: "...he saw the light of Fascism, and this apparently so dazzled him that he has been unable to see anything else very clearly since."
March 26, 1934 Actor/singer Alan Arkin (of The Tarriers) is born in Brooklyn, New York.
March 18, 1934 Charley Pride is born on a cotton farm in the tiny town of Sledge, Mississippi. After his baseball career stalls, he becomes a country music star, one of the first African Americans to break through in the format.
March 4, 1934 Singer/actress Barbara McNair is born in Chicago, Illinois. She releases her debut single, "Till There Was You," in 1958 and goes on to tour with Nat King Cole.
February 16, 1934 Herbie and Harold Kalin (of the pop duo Kalin Twins) are born in Port Jervis, New York.
February 7, 1934 Saxophonist King Curtis is born Curtis Montgomery in Fort Worth, Texas. He plays the distinctive solo on The Coasters' hit "Yakety Yak."
February 7, 1934 Earl King is born Earl Silas Johnson IV in New Orleans, Louisiana. Composer of the blues standard "Come On" (aka "Let The Good Times Roll"), among others.
February 1, 1934 Bob Shane (of The Kingston Trio) is born Robert Castle Schoen in Hilo, Hawaii.
January 26, 1934 Formerly home to burlesque shows, The Apollo Theater in Harlem becomes a music venue, christening their new format with a jazz variety show featuring mostly black performers, including the Benny Carter Orchestra and Mabel Scott.
January 6, 1934 Country musician Bobby Lord is born in Sanford, Florida, but is raised in Tampa. His biggest hit on the country chart is "Without Your Love" (1956) at #10.
November 21, 1933 Country singer Jean Shepard is born Ollie Imogene Shepard in Pauls Valley, Oklahoma. Her biggest hit was 1953's "A Dear John Letter," a duet with Ferlin Husky, which topped the country chart and peaked at #4 on the pop chart.
November 16, 1933 Garnet Mimms (lead singer of Garnet Mimms & The Enchanters) is born in Ashland, West Virginia. Known for the 1963 hit "Cry Baby," later covered by Janis Joplin.
November 3, 1933 John Barry is born in York, Yorkshire, England. A conductor and composer, he will compose the scores for all the James Bond movies between 1963 and 1987.
October 27, 1933 Pianist Floyd Cramer, a pioneer of the "Nashville Sound," is born in Shreveport, Louisiana, but would grow up in Huttig, Arkansas.
October 17, 1933 Jeanne Deckers, "The Singing Nun," is born in Brussels, Belgium. In 1963, she has a #1 hit in America with "Dominique."
September 30, 1933 Gospel/soul singer Cissy Houston is born Emily Drinkard in Newark, New Jersey. She gives birth to future superstar Whitney Houston in 1963.
September 30, 1933 WLS radio in Chicago's popular program The National Barn Dance, one of the first country music radio programs, goes national with a move to NBC radio.
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