Good Monday afternoon and welcome to This Day In The History Of Music. Enjoy the read. 1: On this day in 1818 Felix Mendelssohn, aged 9, performs his first public concert in Berlin Germany. Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy, born and widely known as Felix Mendelssohn, was a German composer, pianist, organist, and conductor of the early Romantic period. Mendelssohn's compositions include symphonies, concertos, piano music, organ music, and chamber music. His best-known works include the overture and incidental music for A Midsummer Night's Dream, the Italian Symphony, the Scottish Symphony, the oratorio St. Paul, the oratorio Elijah, the overture The Hebrides, the mature Violin Concerto and the String Octet. The melody for the Christmas carol "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing" is also his. Mendelssohn's Songs Without Words are his most famous solo piano compositions. 2: On this day in 1962 US Soul singer James Brown recorded his legendary 'Live At The Apollo' album. The album was listed at No.24 in Rolling Stone magazine's 2003 list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. 3: On this day in 1963 On the first day of their first foreign tour, The Beatles spent the day in Stockholm, Sweden, recording a performance for a radio program entitled "The Beatles pop group from Liverpool Stockholm" The Beatles, enthused by the chance to play before an audience that wasn't screaming, played seven songs, ‘I Saw Her Standing There, ‘From Me to You ‘Money’, ‘You Really Got a Hold On Me, ‘She Loves You, ‘Roll Over Beethoven’ and ‘Twist and Shout.’ 4: On this day in 1966 Newsweek interviewed The Monkees. They are asked how the music is created. Singer Davy Jones tells them, "This isn't a rock 'n' roll group. This is an act." 5: On this day in 1970 Atom Heart Mother is recorded, a progressive rock album by Pink Floyd, engineered by Alan Parsons and Peter Bown. It was recorded at Abbey Road Studios, London, England, and reached number 1 in the UK, and number 55 in the U.S. charts, and went gold in the U.S. in March 1994. A re-mastered CD was released in 1994 in the UK, and in 1995 in the U.S. 6: On this day in 1973 John Lennon began litigation against the US government, accusing them of tapping his telephone. Specifically naming the F.B.I in the lawsuit. 7: On this day in 1979 Paul McCartney received a medallion cast in rhodium by the Guinness Book Of World Records after being declared the most successful composer of all time. From 1962 to 1978, McCartney had written or co-written 43 songs that sold over a million copies each. 8: On this day in 1980 Starting Over" is a song written and performed by John Lennon from the 1980 album, Double Fantasy. It was released as a single on October 24th,1980 in the United Kingdom, with Yoko Ono's "Kiss Kiss Kiss" as the B-side. It reached number one in both the US and UK after Lennon was murdered on 8 December 1980. It was Lennon's final single released in his lifetime. 9: On this day in 1987 Sting went to No.1 on the UK album chart with his third solo release 'Nothing Like The Sun.' The title comes from Shakespeare's Sonnet No.130 ("My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun"), which Sting used in the song "Sister Moon". The album won Best British Album at the 1988 Brit Awards. 10: On this day in1987 Michael Jackson started a two-week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Bad', a No.3 hit in the UK. A music video for 'Bad', directed by Martin Scorsese and co-starring one of the first appearances of yet-undiscovered Wesley Snipes, was released in late 1987. 11: On this day in 2004 Queen became the first rock act to receive an official seal of approval in Iran. Western music was still strictly censored in the Islamic republic, where homosexuality is considered a crime, but an album of Queen's greatest hits was released this week in Iran. Freddie Mercury was proud of his Iranian ancestry, and illegal bootleg albums and singles had made Queen one of the most popular bands in Iran. 12: On this day in 2006 Forbes.com revealed that Kurt Cobain had overtaken Elvis Presley as the highest-earning dead celebrity. Cobain's work earned $50m (£27m) in the 12 months to October 2006, compared with Presley's $42m (£22m). Former Beatle John Lennon earned $35m (£19m). 13: Taylor Swift released her self-titled debut studio album. Swift was 16 years old at the time of the album's release and the album went to the top of the Country Albums Chart for 24 non-consecutive weeks selling over seven million copies. The album also became the longest-charting album on the Billboard 200 of the 2000s decade, remaining on the chart for 277 weeks in total. 14: On this day in 2013 500 Greatest Albums of All Time NME published their latest '500 Greatest Albums of All Time list. The top 5 read: 1. The Smiths - 'The Queen Is Dead, 2. The Beatles - 'Revolver' 3. David Bowie - 'Hunky Dory', 4. The Strokes - 'Is This It and at 5. The Velvet Underground & Nico - 'The Velvet Underground'. 15: On this day in 2016 American singer Bobby Vee died at age 73. Vee had 38 chart hits, ten of which reached the Top 20. Vee's recording of 'Take Good Care of My Baby' in the summer of 1961 went to No.1 in the US and No.3 in the UK. Vee's career began in the midst of tragedy. On February 3, 1959, "The Day the Music Died," when Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and the Big Bopper, were killed in an airplane. Vee then 15 years old, and a hastily assembled band of Fargo schoolboys calling themselves the Shadows volunteered for and were given the unenviable job of filling in for Holly and his band at their next gig. Their performance was a success, setting in motion a chain of events that led to Vee's career as a popular singer. 16: On this day in 2017 American pianist and singer-songwriter Fats Domino died aged 89 at his home in Harvey, Louisiana after a long-term illness. Domino attracted national attention with his first recording, ‘The Fat Man, made in late 1949 for Imperial Records, an early rock-and-roll record. ‘The Fat Man’ sold one million copies by 1953 and it is widely considered the first rock-and-roll record to achieve this feat. Domino had 35 records in the US Billboard Top 40. Domino’s 1956 version of ‘Blueberry Hill’ was selected for the Library of Congress’s National Recording Registry of historic sound recordings worthy of preservation. 17: On this day in 2018 American guitarist and session musician Wah Wah Watson, (Melvin Ragin) died aged 67. He was famed for his skills with a wah-wah pedal and became a member of the Motown Records studio band, The Funk Brothers, where he recorded with The Temptations (his guitar work on 'Papa Was A Rollin' Stone'), The Jackson 5, The Four Tops, Gladys Knight & The Pips, Marvin Gaye and The Supremes. He also appeared in Michael Jackson's Off The Wall album. 18: On this day in 2019 During an interview with Zane Lowe for his Apple Music Beats 1 show Kanye West declared that he was ‘Unquestionably, undoubtedly the greatest human artist of all time.’ The 42-year-old Rapper also predicted that he will one day be president of the US as he defended his support of Donald Trump. Born On This Day In The Music World. 1. Born on this day in 1739 Anna Amalia of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, a German princess and composer (patron of the Classical Weimar court), was born in Wolfenbüttel (d. 1807). 2. Born on this day in1935 Sanford Clark, an American country-rockabilly singer, and guitarist ("The Fool"; "Son Of A Gun"), was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma (d. 2021). 3. Born on this day in 1936 Bill Wyman, bass, The Rolling Stones (1969 UK & US No.1 single 'Honky Tonk Women, and over 30 Top 40 UK & US singles and albums. Quit The Stones in 1993, 1981 UK solo No.14 'Je Suis Un Rock Star'). Now tours with his backing band, The Rhythm Kings, which has featured Albert Lee and Georgie Fame. 4. Born on this day in 1944 Ted Templeman, Harper's Bizarre, (1967 US No. 13 & UK No.34 single 'The 59th Street Bridge Song, Feelin' Groovy'). As a record producer, he worked with The Doobie Brothers, Montrose, Carly Simon, Van Morrison, Captain Beefheart, Little Feat, Michael McDonald, Aerosmith, and Eric Clapton. 5. Born on this day in 1946 Jerry Edmonton, from Steppenwolf had the 1969 US No.2 hit single 'Born To Be Wild'. Steppenwolf sold over 25 million records worldwide, released eight gold albums, and scored 12 Billboard Hot 100 singles. He was killed in a car crash on 28th November 1993. 6. Born on this day in 1946 John Bettis, an American lyricist. He was originally part of the band Spectrum, which also featured Richard and Karen Carpenter. He wrote the lyrics for 'Top of the World, a hit for both Lynn Anderson and The Carpenters. He wrote several more hits for The Carpenters, including 'Only Yesterday', 'Goodbye to Love and 'Yesterday Once More. He later wrote hits for other artists including Madonna's ('Crazy for You) and Michael Jackson's ('Human Nature). 7. Born on this day in 1949 Mike D. Stone, an American recording engineer (Frank Zappa, Joe Walsh, Bee Gees, America), was born (d. 2017). 8. Born on this day in 1950 American musician Steven Greenberg is best known as a member of the band Lipps Inc. which had the 1980 worldwide smash hit 'Funkytown'. 9. Born on this day in 1978 Sabrina Washington, from British girl group Mis-Teeq had the 2001 UK No.2 single 'All I Want and seven consecutive top-ten singles. 10. Born on this day in 1979 Ben Gillies, from Australian rock band Silverchair had the 1997 Australian No.1 single 'Freak' and the 1995 Australian No.1 album Frogstomp plus three other Australian No.1 albums. During their career, Silverchair won more ARIA Music Awards than any other artist in history with 21 wins. 11. Born on this day in 1980 Monica, (1998 US No.1 & UK No.2 single with Brandy 'The Boy Is Mine'). The Boy Is Mine produced several singles. Its release was preceded by the lead single of the same name, a duet with fellow R&B singer Brandy, which was released on May 19, 1998. The collaboration received favorable reviews from contemporary music critics and became the first number-one pop record for both artists, both stateside and internationally. By the end of December 1998 over 800,000 copies had been sold. 12. Born on this day in 1986 Canadian rapper, songwriter, and actor Aubrey Drake Graham records under the mononym, Drake. Scored US No.1 albums with ' Thank Me Later, (2010), 'Take Care, (2011), and 'Nothing Was the Same, (2013). 13. Born on this day in 1996 Tamino [Fouad], Belgian-Egyptian rock and world music singer-songwriter, and guitarist (Amir; Sahal), was born in Mortsel, Belgium. Have a great day, take care and stay safe.
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