This Day in Music
On this day in music, July 18, 1988, 49-year-old singer, songwriter, model, and actress Nico died in Ibiza. Born Christa Päffgen in Cologne, Germany, she started out as a teenage fashion model before moving into movies and music. Her association with pop-art guru Andy Warhol, who managed The Velvet Underground, led her to appear on the band’s debut album, The Velvet Underground & Nico, in 1967. The same year, she released her solo debut, Chelsea Girl, the first of seven studio albums.
In 1974, the US Board of Immigration Appeals informed John Lennon that he had 60 days to leave the country or face deportation. This was the second time that the ex-Beatle – who was deemed undesirable because of a 1968 marijuana possession charge – had faced a deportation order, the first coming the previous year. To Lennon’s relief, the US Court of Appeals overturned the deportation threat in 1975, and the following year, he was granted permanent resident status.
In 1982, Willie Nelson topped Billboard’s Country chart with his rendition of “Always on My Mind.” Written by Wayne Carson, Mark James, and Johnny Christopher a decade earlier, the frequently-covered ballad had previously been recorded by Brenda Lee and Elvis Presley, among others. Nelson’s heartfelt version, however, was one of the most successful, spending a total of 21 weeks on the chart and landing in the Billboard Hot 100’s Top 5. In 1983, the recording earned three Grammy Awards.
In 1978, Def Leppard made their live debut in their hometown at Westfield School, Sheffield. The gig took place in the school’s dining hall before an audience of 150 students. The group would record an independently released EP a year later, launching a career that would take off in the 1980s and yield several platinum LPs.
In 2019, Ed Sheeran shattered Spotify’s streaming record with the release of No. 6 Collaborations Project, a collection of musical alliances with Justin Bieber, Camila Cabello, Cardi B, Eminem, and others. The album accrued 69 million streams in the first month of its release, the highest amount achieved by a recording artist at that time.
In 1960, Brenda Lee scored her first No.1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 with “I’m Sorry,” a haunting ballad that had originally been the B-side to her tenth single, the rockabilly style “That’s All You Gotta Do.” The 4’11” teenage pop sensation, who was born Brenda Mae Tarpley in Atlanta, was nicknamed “Little Miss Dynamite.”
In 1964, The Rolling Stones made their US chart debut with “Not Fade Away,” their lively R&B-tinged remake of a Buddy Holly and The Crickets song. It peaked at No.48 during a 13-week run. It would take them three further singles to crack the Top 10.
BORN ON JULY 18
1929: Screamin’ Jay Hawkins
1939: Dion
1939: Brian Auger (Organist)
1941: Martha Reeves
1950: Richard Branson (Virgin Records Founder)
1954: Ricky Scaggs
1957: Keith Levene (Public Image Ltd)
1958: Nigel Twist (The Alarm)
1975: Daron Malakian (System Of A Down)
