17 SEPTEMBER
In Music History
1996 Bluesman Jessie Hill, known for "Ooh Poo Pah Doo" (1960), dies of heart and renal failure in New Orleans, Louisiana, at age 63.
1994 Scott Weiland of Stone Temple Pilots marries his first wife, Janina Castaneda. The STP song "Sour Girl" is about her.
1991 MC5 lead singer Rob Tyner has a heart attack in the driveway of his home in Berkley, Michigan and dies at age 46.
1989 Singer Natalie Cole marries music producer and arranger Andre Fischer. Cole files for divorce less than three years later citing "irreconcilable differences."
1984 "Missing You" by John Waite hits #1 in America. "There were quite a few women in my life at the time, and it all came sort of floating to the top," he tells Songfacts of the inspiration.
1983 Howard Jones' debut single, "New Song," is released in the UK, where it will go on to chart at #3.
1983 Vanessa Williams, who later becomes a popular actress and lands a #1 hit with "Save The Best For Last," becomes the first Black woman crowned Miss America. She gives up the title the next year after naked photos of her appear in Penthouse.
1980 Bette Midler's Divine Madness movie, based on one of her concerts the previous year, premieres in Los Angeles.
1979 Chuck Comeau (drummer for Simple Plan) is born Charles-André Comeau in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
1978 Queen stage a bicycle race with 65 naked models at Wimbledon stadium in England to provide the video and cover art for their "Bicycle Race" single.
1976 Pop singer Maile Misajon (of Eden's Crush) is born in Long Beach, California.
1975 Mayor Stephen Juba of Winnipeg, Canada, declares today "Guess Who Day" in honor of its native sons.
1974 Bob Dylan records "Shelter From the Storm" and "You're Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go."
1970 Vin Rock (of Naughty by Nature) is born Vincent Brown in East Orange, New Jersey.
1969 Tiny Tim announces his forthcoming marriage to "Miss Vicki" Budinger, which would break records for TV viewership when the ceremony is broadcast on Johnny Carson's Tonight Show. The two are separated three years later and divorce in 1977.
Pink Floyd's Movie The Wall Opens In Theaters
1982Pink Floyd's seminal double album The Wall makes it to the big screen as a feature-length musical. Few expected the sprawling concept album to be turned into a feature film, but the band's celluloid collaboration with director Alan Parker and animator Gerald Scarfe becomes a surprise box office hit and a cult classic.
Read more17 SEPTEMBER
Featured Events
1991 Instead of releasing a double album, which they decide would be too expensive for fans, Guns N' Roses issue both Use Your Illusion I and Use Your Illusion II on the same day.
1983 Star Search debuts on CBS. Hosted by Ed McMahon, the TV talent competition introduces scores of future superstars, many from the music realm, including Justin Timberlake, Britney Spears, Alanis Morissette, Jessica Simpson, Christina Aguilera, Tiffany, LeAnn Rimes, Usher, Aaliyah, and Destiny's Child.
1967 Appearing on The Ed Sullivan Show, The Doors are asked to change the line "Girl, we couldn't get much higher" in their hit "Light My Fire" to "Girl, we couldn't get much better." Lead singer Jim Morrison agrees, then sings the offending line anyway, angering the host and earning a lifetime ban from the show.
1967 Keith Moon of The Who rigs his bass drum to explode at the end of "My Generation" during the group's appearance on the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, but he doesn't realize that the stage crew has already set the charge. The resulting explosion cuts Moon's leg, singes Pete Townshend's hair, and startles fellow guests Bette Davis and Mickey Rooney.
1955 Pat Boone banks his first #1 on the US Pop charts when "Ain't That A Shame" hits the top spot. Some folks think it's a shame that his sterilized version is far more popular than Fats Domino's original, but Boone's cover draws lots of attention to Domino and earns the New Orleans singer substantial royalties.
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