On this day in music, March 21, 1987, Irish rockers U2 climbed to the top of the UK charts with their fifth album, The Joshua Tree. Containing such enduring hits as “With Or Without You,” “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For,” and “Where The Streets Have No Name,” The Joshua Tree became the UK’s fastest-selling album ever at the time and was the first CD to move more than one million units. The album, which remained on the British chart for an astonishing 156 weeks, eventually became one of the world’s best-selling records, with over 25 million copies sold. Elsewhere, The Joshua Tree hit No.1 in the US, Canada, and several European countries.
In 1991, Leo Fender, the inventor of the iconic Telecaster (the first mass-produced solid-body electric guitar) and Stratocaster guitars died at 81. In addition to setting the standard for electric guitars, he also crafted the widely-used Fender Precision Bass and Fender Bassman amplifier.
In 1999, Blur proved Britpop’s dominance when their sixth LP, 13, topped the UK chart. Produced by William Orbit, it was the London band’s fourth consecutive No.1 album and made them, along with Simply Red and R.E.M., only the third act to score four chart-topping LPs in the 90s.
In 1998, Jason Nevins’ radical house remix of Run-D.M.C’s 1983 debut single, “It’s Like That,” began a six-week run at the top of the UK pop chart.
In 1961, The Beatles (featuring Pete Best on drums) played their first evening show at Liverpool’s The Cavern Club as a support act to The Swinging Bluegenes, later to become The Swinging Blue Jeans. The Fab Four went on to appear there 275 times.
In 1994, Bruce Springsteen won an Academy Award for the song “Streets of Philadelphia,” written for the film Philadelphia, a legal drama starring Tom Hanks, which centered around the AIDS virus. The song became a Top 10 US and UK hit and also earned “The Boss” four Grammy Awards.
In 1973, the UK’s Top of the Pops banned all teenybopper acts after young fans went wild during David Cassidy’s appearance.
BORN ON MARCH 21
1940: Solomon Burke
1945: Rosemary “Rose” Stone (Sly and The Family Stone)
1949: Eddie Money
1950: Roger Hodgson (Supertramp)
1951: Russell Thompkins Jr (The Stylistics)
1956: Guy Chadwick (House Of Love)
1967: Jonas Berggren (Ace Of Base)
1980: Deryck “Bizzy D” Whibley (Sum 41)
The Litchfield Area Community Foundation has given out approximately $110,000 in grants to 78 non-profit organizations over the years. Non-profit groups are encouraged to apply for grants for upcoming projects.
LACF board member Missy Brock says non-profit groups need to be 501c3 organizations, local units of government or have a fiscal sponsor, but not a religious or political organization. She says the grant amounts are usually between $500 and $2,000 and they are now accepting grant applications throughout the year.
Brock says applications can be found on LACF website, or by emailing lacfinfo@litch.com or by writing to Post Office Box 42 in Litchfield. Board member Tom Smith says they have a fundraising campaign each fall to gather money that they can award to organizations who apply for grants. He says they also use earnings from their endowment fund, and they are going to raise additional funds with a popcorn stand that will be in Central Park in Litchfield this summer.
Smith says the popcorn stand was a gift from the Granite Falls Kiwanis Club as they outgrew it and built a new one for their community. He says local non-profit groups will be able to work at the popcorn stand and raise additional funds for their organizations.
On this day in music, March 20, 2020, 81-year-old country music icon, Kenny Rogers, passed away. Born in Houston, TX, Rogers first tasted fame as part of the country-rock quintet, First Edition, which scored several US chart hits between 1967 and 1973. Launching his solo career in 1975, Rogers went on to score over 120 hit singles and sell more than 100 million records. His most famous songs were the US chart-toppers “Lady” and “Islands In The Stream,” the latter a duet with Dolly Parton. He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2013.
In 1991, Michael Jackson signed the biggest deal in recording history when Sony Corp
awarded him with a $1 billion contract. The unprecedented agreement guaranteed the “Thriller” singer an advance payment of $5 million per album and also gave him a 25% royalty rate based on retail sales.
In 1993, Jamaican artist Shaggy (real name Orville Richard Burrell) saw his debut single “Oh Carolina” top the UK pop chart. The song was a cover of a 1960 Prince Buster-produced Ska hit by the Folkes Brothers. It was the first of four UK No.1s for the Kingston-born performer.
In 2017, Ed Sheeran reached the summit of the UK singles chart with “Shape of You.” In December 2018, it became the first song to hit two billion streams on Spotify and to date is the most streamed song on the music platform.
In 1977, glam rock pioneers T.Rex played their final concert at The Locarno in Portsmouth, UK. The show closed out their Dandy In The Underworld tour, which featured support act The Damned. In September of that year, the band’s leader, Marc Bolan, was killed in a car crash.
In 1960, Elvis Presley began his first recording session 18 days after his discharge from the US Army. The session took place in RCA Studios Nashville, where the Memphis singer cut the soon-to-be No.1 comeback single, “Stuck On You.”
In 1982, Joan Jett And The Blackhearts topped the Billboard Hot 100 with “I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll,” a cover of a 1975 single by the UK band The Arrows. It spent seven weeks at No. 1 and reached No. 4 in the UK.
BORN ON MARCH 20
1917: Vera Lynn
1936: Lee “Scratch” Perry
1951: Carl Palmer (Emerson, Lake & Palmer)
1959: Richard Drummie (Go West)
1968: Fredrik Schnfeldt (The Wannadies)
1972: Alex Kapranos (Franz Ferdinand)
1976: Chester Bennington (Linkin Park)
Each day a business will be featured as “Business of the Day” and every time their commercial is aired be the 7th caller and win a chance to receive KLFD Bucks to be spent at our “Business of the Day” locations.
Monday thru Friday, at 4 pm we will draw out a winner to be put into our final drawing to be held sometime later in April. Once your name has been drawn out daily and put into the final drawing, you are no longer qualified to call in. Otherwise, you can keep calling in once a day to qualify.
Our sponsors include: Litchfield Liquors, Central Counties Coop, Litchfield Chrysler, DC Diesel, Farm-Rite Equipment, Davis Motors, Air Pro Heating & A/C, Miller Automotive, El Chilero, Atwater Ford, Stockman’s Greenhouse
