This Day in Music
On this day in music, April 13, 2009, record producer Phil Spector was convicted of murdering actress Lana Clarkson in his home four years earlier. The verdict came in the wake of a five-month retrial that followed the original 2007 court case against him, which had resulted in a mistrial decision after the jury failed to reach a unanimous ruling. Spector, who was 68 at the time, was sentenced to 19 years to life. The producer, who created the innovative “wall of sound” in the 60s and worked with the likes of The Beatles, the Righteous Brothers, and the Ronnettes, died in prison in 2021.
In 1973, Bob Marley and the Wailers released one of reggae’s most significant albums with the influential Catch A Fire. Marley’s fifth studio album and debut for Island Records, Catch A Fire not only marked the watershed moment when reggae infiltrated mainstream music, but also launched the artist’s career internationally.
In 1967, Frank and Nancy Sinatra became the first father-daughter duo to score a No.1 single on the UK charts with their duet, “Somethin’ Stupid.” Ozzy and Kelly Osbourne repeated the feat in 2003 with a rendition of Black Sabbath’s “Changes.”
In 1974, Paul McCartney and Wings topped the US album charts with Band On The Run. The album, which would go on to sell six million copies worldwide, hit the summit of the Billboard 200 on three separate occasions during the year. It remains McCartney’s most commercially successful album.
In 1985, USA For Africa – a US equivalent to the UK’s Band Aid – topped the US and UK pop charts with the Quincy Jones-helmed charity single, “We Are The World.” Among the star-studded participants were Ray Charles, Bruce Springsteen, Stevie Wonder, Bob Dylan, Michael Jackson, and Paul Simon.
In 2003, Madonna attempted to combat music piracy and illegal downloads just prior to the release of her ninth studio album, American Life. She swamped file-sharing networks with false album-length MP3s that contained just a short message from the singer, which said “What the f*** do you think you’re doing?” The hackers immediately hit back, putting download links to all of her album’s songs on her website, which she was eventually forced to shut down.
BORN ON APRIL 13
1944: Jack Casady (Jefferson Airplane/Hot Tuna)
1945: Lowell George (Little Feat)
1946: Al Green
1951: Max Weinberg
1951: Peabo Bryson
1954: Jimmy Destri (Blondie)
1962: Hillel Slovak (Red Hot Chili Peppers)
1966: Marc Ford (The Black Crowes)
1972: Aaron Lewis (Staind)
1975: Lou Bega
