This Day in Music
On this day in music, April 23, 1976, punk rock pioneers the Ramones released their self-titled debut on Sire Records. The album took seven days to make and cost $6,400, while its iconic front cover – depicting the band standing against a brick wall – was taken by renowned punk photographer Roberta Bayley and cost the record company just $125. Featuring one of the band’s best-loved songs, “Blitzkrieg Bop,” Ramones was met with critical acclaim and quickly became one of rock music’s most impactful albums, despite its initial low sales. Certified Gold in 2014, Ramones frequently ranks among the greatest albums of all time, and has been cited by countless artists as an influence.
In 1988, Whitney Houston became the first artist to score seven consecutive No.1 hits on Billboard’s Hot 100 with her 11th single, “Where Do Broken Hearts Go.” The song’s success shattered a record jointly held by The Beatles and The Bee Gees. Taken from the New Jersey singer’s second album, Whitney, the best-selling track also made Houston the first female performer to notch up four chart-topping hits from a single album.
In 1991, 38-year-old guitarist Johnny Thunders, best known for his work with the New York Dolls, died under mysterious circumstances in New Orleans. Born John Anthony Genzale, Jr, Thunders (who took his stage name from a comic book superhero) co-founded the influential proto-punk group in 1972, recording two albums with them before quitting in 1975. He went on to form Heartbreakers with ex-Television bassist Richard Hell, before embarking on a solo career that yielded six albums.
In 1995, the earliest known Beatles recordings were discovered by Liverpool welder Peter Hodgson. He chanced upon a tape in his attic that contained 16 songs, including “Hello Little Girl,” an early Lennon-McCartney tune that the Fab Four never recorded professionally. The songs were recorded in 1959 by Paul McCartney on a reel-to-reel tape machine he had borrowed from Hodgson’s father.
In 1971, The Rolling Stones released Sticky Fingers, their ninth UK studio album. It was their debut LP for their own label, Rolling Stones Records, and featured a provocative front cover created by pop art guru Andy Warhol, who was paid $15,000 to design a functioning zipper showing the crotch area of a man’s jeans. The album also marked the first time that the band’s John Pasche-designed lips and tongue logo was used.
BORN ON APRIL 23
1936: Roy Orbison
1949: John Miles
1955: Captain Sensible (The Damned)
1960: Steve Clark (Def Leppard)
1960: David Gedge (The Wedding Present)
1964: Simon Matthews (Jesus Jones)
1968: Paul Clifford (The Wonder Stuff)
1985: Taio Cruz
