Entertainment

On this day in music, March 12, 1955, saxophonist Charlie Parker, considered the father of modern jazz, died at the age of 34 in New York City. Nicknamed “Bird,” Parker was born in Kansas City and, in the mid-1940s, became the main instigator of a revolutionary and highly influential new jazz style called bebop. In addition to penning a variety of jazz standards (including “Yardbird Suite,” “Confirmation,” and “Scrapple from the Apple”), Bird was revered for his innovative approach to phrasing and rhythm.

In 2013, Bob Dylan was voted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters. He was the first rock star to be admitted as a member of the elite institution, joining the likes of writer Ezra Pound and jazz musician Duke Ellington. Unsure of whether to acknowledge him for his words or music, the academy elected to recognize him as an honorary member, as they did with earlier inductees Martin Scorsese and Meryl Streep.

In 1967, the Velvet Underground & Nico released their self-titled debut. Though now regarded as a landmark album that launched art-rock, it was initially ignored by the critics, shunned by radio stations, and sold poorly.

In 2022, Stereophonics scored their eighth UK No.1 with their 25th-anniversary album, Oochya!. The feat tied them with Oasis, R.E.M., and Taylor Swift for the most chart-topping albums on the chart.

In 1969, The Temptations became the first Motown act to win a Grammy Award with “Cloud Nine.” An early example of “psychedelic soul,” the song (which won for Best Rhythm & Blues Group Performance) peaked at No. 2 on the US charts and marked the debut of lead singer Dennis Edwards, who replaced David Ruffin.

In 1988, Rick Astley’s “Never Gonna Give You Up” began a two-week run at No.1 on the Billboard Hot 100. The British singer’s debut single also topped the UK pop chart.

In 2001, Judy Garland’s “Over The Rainbow” was voted the Song Of The Century in a US-based poll.

BORN ON MARCH 12

1917: Leonard Chess (Co-founder of Chess Records)
1940: Al Jarreau
1946: Liza Minnelli
1948: James Taylor
1949: Bill Payne (Little Feat)
1969: Graham Coxon (Blur)
1979: Pete Doherty (The Libertines/Babyshambles)

---

---

On this day in music, March 11, 1978, Meat Loaf‘s debut album Bat Out Of Hell began its record-breaking 416-week run on the UK chart. Despite spending almost nine years on the best-sellers list, it never reached the top spot, peaking at No. 9. In America, the album (which began Meatloaf’s long association with noted songwriter and producer Jim Steinman) plateaued at No.13 during an 83-week chart reign. To date, it has sold in excess of 43 million copies worldwide and has been certified 14x Platinum by the RIAA.

In 2016, 71-year-old prog-rock pioneer Keith Emerson took his own life. The virtuosic, classically trained keyboardist, songwriter, and producer initially rose to fame leading The Nice and in 1970, co-founded Emerson, Lake & Palmer, a supergroup with Greg Lake and Carl Palmer. Together, they made eight albums between 1970 and 1978 and reached No. 2 in the UK charts with their version of Aaron Copland’s “Fanfare For The Common Man.”

In 2015, a Los Angeles jury ruled in the favor of Marvin Gaye’s family, who claimed that Robin Thicke’s 2013 US chart-topper, “Blurred Lines,” copied elements from the soul icon’s 1977 hit, “Got To Give It Up.” Thicke, along with co-writers Pharrell Williams and T. I., strenuously denied copying the Motown song but jurors decided that “Blurred Lines” infringed Gaye’s copyright and awarded his family $7.3m in damages.

In 1967, Lennon and McCartney’s publisher, Dick James, announced that 446 different versions of The Beatles’ “Yesterday” had been recorded since it was first released in 1965. In 1986, the Guinness Book Of Records estimated that 1,600 cover versions existed.

In 1965, Welsh singer Tom Jones reached No.1 on the UK singles chart with “It’s Not Unusual,” the first of sixteen British chart-toppers. The song, co-written by Jones’ manager Gordon Mills, was originally earmarked for Sandi Shaw but when she heard Jones’ demo version, she recommended he cut it instead.

In 1993, Oasis recorded their first demos at The Real People’s studio in Liverpool, which led them to sign with Creation Records. The demo was officially released in 2014 as a limited edition cassette called Live Demonstration, coinciding with the 20th Anniversary of their debut album, Definitely Maybe.

BORN ON MARCH 11

1947: Mark Stein (Vanilla Fudge)
1950: Bobby McFerrin
1961: Bruce Watson (Big Country)
1964: Vinnie Paul (Pantera)
1968: Lisa Loeb
1979: Joel and Benji Madden (Good Charlotte)
1981: LeToya Nicole Luckett (Destiny’s Child)

---

---

In 1977, The Sex Pistols signed with A&M Records, following their controversial departure from EMI over their bad behavior. While the punk pioneers privately inked the contract one day earlier, the label held a press conference outside Buckingham Palace where they took part in a public signing ceremony. Afterward, the band celebrated with a boozy party at the label’s offices where all kinds of mayhem ensued, including bassist Johnny Rotten verbally abusing staff and Sid Vicious smashing a toilet bowl and cutting his foot open. Two days later, the band got in a fight in a club that saw Rotten threatening the life of a record executive, and on March 16th, A&M terminated their contract with the band, paying them a £75,000 settlement fee.

In 2009, tickets for a Las Vegas concert by Sir Paul McCartney sold out in seven seconds. The ex-Beatle was playing a one-off show, marking the April 19 launch of the 4,000-capacity New Joint at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino. Tickets were priced at $750 and sold at a rate of almost 600 a second.

In 1958, Simon & Garfunkel, who were both fifteen years old and still in high school, released “Our Song,” the second of two singles via Big Records under the name Tom and Jerry. Alluding to his interest in math, Garfunkel called himself Tom Graph while Simon adopted the surname of a former girlfriend, calling himself Jerry Landis.

In 1979, disco queen Gloria Gaynor topped the Billboard Hot 100 with “I Will Survive.” A female empowerment anthem welded to a disco beat, the tune began life as the B-side to a single called “Substitute” before a DJ flipped the record over and exposed it to a wider audience. It also went to No.1 in the UK and won a Grammy in 1980 for Best Disco Recording.

In 1960, the trade paper Record Retailer published the UK’s first-ever EP and LP charts. Topping the EP charts was Cliff Richard & The Shadows’ “Expresso Bongo” while The Explosive Freddy Cannon was the top-selling LP.

In 2017, Sister Sledge’s Joni Sledge, the second eldest of the Philadelphia group, died at the age of 60. The sisters began recording in 1971 but didn’t make a breakthrough until 1979 when they hooked up with Chic’s Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards who masterminded their blockbuster album, We Are Family.

BORN ON MARCH 10

1940: Dean Torrence (Jan and Dean)
1947: Tom Scholz (Boston)
1955: Bunny DeBarge (DeBarge)
1963: Rick Rubin (Producer)
1964: Neneh Cherry
1966: Edie Brickell
1971: Timbaland
1983: Carrie Underwood
1987: Emeli Sandé

---

---

On this day in music, March 7, 1987, Beastie Boys made the pop history books by becoming the first hip-hop act to have a No.1 album with their Columbia/Def Jam debut, Licensed To Ill. Featuring the Top 10 hit “(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (To Party!), plus enduring favorites like “Brass Monkey” and “No Sleep ‘Till Brooklyn,” the album proved to be one of Columbia’s fastest-selling debuts and made the young New York City trio global stars. By 2015, Licensed To Ill received a rare Diamond certification by the RIAA, marking 10 million copies sold.

In 1983, New Order released “Blue Monday,” which became the biggest-selling 12-inch single of all time. The Manchester band – who changed their name from Joy Division after the death of singer Ian Curtis in 1980 – took the single into the UK charts twice in 1983; after peaking at No. 12, later that year it climbed into the Top 10. A 1988 reissue saw it reach No.1 on the US Hot Club Dance Play chart.

In 1970, Simon and Garfunkel’s Bridge Over Troubled Water began a ten-week run at the top of the US album chart. It was the American folk-rock duo’s fifth and final LP together and, by the time it was released, the two were pursuing solo careers. The album’s memorable title track topped both the US and UK singles charts.

In 1962, three months before they signed with EMI Records, The Beatles made their first radio appearance for the BBC on a program called Teenager’s Turn – Here We Go . Recorded in front of a teenage audience at Manchester’s Playhouse Theatre, their performance on the show marked the first time they wore their trademark Beatle suits.

In 1966, the Beach Boys’ Brian Wilson released his first solo single, “Caroline No,” a ballad co-written with Tony Asher that rose to No.32 on Billboard’s Hot 100. Two months later, the song – which originally was called “Carol I Know” – appeared as the final track on the Beach Boys’ acclaimed album Pet Sounds. Wilson put his solo career on hold until 1987.

In 1973, “Dueling Banjos,” performed by Eric Weissberg and Steve Mandell, became one of the first instrumental tracks to be certified Gold in America after it appeared on the soundtrack to the Burt Reynolds-led movie, Deliverance. Though credited as a traditional song, the tune sounded remarkably like Arthur “Guitar Boogie” Smith’s 1955 record “Feudin’ Banjos” and resulted in a successful lawsuit by its original writer for copyright infringement.

BORN ON MARCH 7

1944: Townes Van Zandt
1945: Arthur Lee (Love)
1946: Peter Wolf (The J Geils Band)
1946: Matthew Fisher (Procol Harum)
1952: Ernie Isley (The Isley Brothers)
1962: Taylor Dayne

---

---

In 2022, British indie rockers Glass Animals topped the Billboard Hot 100 with “Heat Waves.” After its initial chart entry in 2021, the Mercury Prize-nominated quartet’s slow-burning sleeper hit took a long road to the top, hitting the summit of the US charts in its 59th week, eclipsing the previously held record by Mariah Carey, whose “All I Want For Christmas Is You” took 35 weeks to ascend to the No.1 spot in 1994. By September 2022, “Heat Waves,” which peaked at No.5 in the UK, had accrued over two billion streams on Spotify. The record’s longevity has been attributed to the influence of social media, in particular TikTok.

In 1965, The Temptations scored their first US No.1 single with “My Girl,” released on Berry Gordy’s Motown label. The enduring hit was the Detroit vocal quintet’s first single featuring singer David Ruffin and was co-written and produced by labelmate and leader of The Miracles, Smokey Robinson.

In 1966, The Rolling Stones began recording their single “Paint It, Black” in Los Angeles’ RCA Studios. A psychedelic-tinged number featuring Brian Jones on sitar, the song came at a key juncture in the group’s development, when Mick Jagger and Keith Richards were beginning to write all the band’s material. The track rose to No.1 in both the US and UK pop charts.

In 1990, Phil Collins’ …But Seriously began a fifteen-week run at the summit of the UK albums chart. The Genesis drummer-turned-singer’s fourth solo LP also enjoyed a month at No.1 on The Billboard 200. Collins released six singles from the album, the most successful of which was “Another Day In Paradise,” a US No.1 hit.

In 1951, the noted Welsh composer, singer, and actor Ivor Novello died, aged 58. Born in Cardiff, he rose to fame by writing “Keep The Home Fires Burning,” a popular song during World War I. The Ivor Novello Awards, honoring songwriters and composers, began in 1955 and has been an annual fixture of the music calendar ever since.

In 2021, 94-year-old Lou Ottens, the inventor of the tape cassette, died. Born Lodewijk Frederik Ottens in Holland, he worked at Philips, the Dutch electronics company, for many years and was also involved in the development of the compact disc. “We didn’t feel like we were doing anything big,” he said of the cassette. “We were little boys who had fun playing.”

BORN ON MARCH 6

1893: Walter ‘Furry’ Lewis
1923: Wes Montgomery
1944: Mary Wilson (The Supremes)
1946: David Gilmour (Pink Floyd)
1947: Kiki Dee
1974: Guy Garvey (Elbow)
1984: Chris Tomson (Vampire Weekend)

---

---

In 1963, tragedy struck when 30-year-old country star Patsy Cline was killed in a plane crash, alongside Cowboy Copas and Hawkshaw Hawkins. The Tennessee native, born Virginia Patterson Hensley, was traveling home from Kansas City, following a benefit concert for the widow of DJ “Cactus” Jack Call. At the time of her death, Cline was just beginning to enjoy crossover success on the US pop charts, with hits like “I Fall To Pieces” and “Crazy.” In the years and decades that followed, Cline’s influence only grew. In addition to breaking multiple glass ceilings as a woman in country music, Cline was also revered for her emotive vocals and bold persona. In 1973, she became the first woman to be inducted into the Country Hall of Fame.

In 2017, Ed Sheeran topped the UK albums chart with his third album ÷ (aka “Divide”). Shooting to No.1 within three days of its release, ÷ became the fastest-selling album by a male artist in UK pop history. Nine of its 16 songs entered the UK Top 10, breaking a record previously held by Calvin Harris. Controversially, the other seven tracks made the Top 20, which led to an overhaul of how the charts were compiled. Beginning on July 7, 2017, the number of tracks an artist could have in the chart at any one time was limited to three.

In 1956, Frank Sinatra released his tenth studio LP Songs For Swingin’ Lovers!, which was his first to top the UK albums chart. In 2000, it was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.

In 1983, Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean” began a seven-week run at the top of the Billboard Hot 100. The second single plucked from his record-breaking sixth studio album, Thriller, “Billie Jean” topped the charts in ten countries around the world and to date has sold an estimated 14 million copies.

In 1963, The Beatles recorded their third single “From Me To You,” originally written by Lennon and McCartney as a B-side. It topped the UK charts but sold poorly when it was first released in America, selling less than 4,000 copies. Later, US interest in the band eventually helped to push the song to No. 41 on Billboard’s Hot 100.

In 2002, The Osbournes made its debut on MTV. A fly-on-the-wall look at the life of ex-Black Sabbath singer Ozzy Osbourne and his family, the show was an instant hit and became the channel’s most-viewed program. It ran for four seasons until 2005.

BORN ON MARCH 5

1970: John Frusciante (Red Hot Chili Peppers)
1962: Craig and Charlie Reid (The Proclaimers)
1958: Andy Gibb
1957: Mark E. Smith (The Fall)
1956: Teena Marie
1948: Eddy Grant

---

---