more brave than me
more blond than you
e e cummings
May 1, 1978: Boney M's double-sided hit - "Rivers Of Babylon / Brown Girl In The Ring" - was certified Platinum by the British Phonographic Industry.
"Rivers of Babylon" is a Rastafari song written and recorded by Brent Dowe and Trevor McNaughton of the Jamaican reggae group The Melodians in 1970. The lyrics are adapted from the texts of Psalms 19 and 137 in the Hebrew Bible.
Boney M.
April 30, 2015: R&B legend Ben E. King passed away at 76.
King was born Benjamin Earl Nelson in Henderson, North Carolina, in 1938, and sang with his church choir before the family moved to Harlem in 1947. In junior high, he began performing with a street corner doo wop group called the Four B's, which won second place in an Apollo Theater talent contest.
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| Ben E. King |
April 29, 1933: Willie Nelson is born in Abbott, Texas.
Country singer and songwriter Willie Nelson rose to prominence at the end of the 1960s and contributed to the "outlaw country" subgenre, which challenged the music industry conservatism of Nashville at the time.
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| Willie Nelson |
April 28, 1979: Blondie's "Heart Of Glass" hit Number 1 in America.
'Heart of Glass' became Blondie's first #1 hit on the strength of Debbie Harry's smooth vocals, relatable lyrics, and a dance beat.
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| Debbie Harry |
April 27, 1984: "We're Not Gonna Take It" by Twisted Sister was released as a single.
"We're Not Gonna Take It," by the hair metal act Twisted Sister, was once named among the "Filthy 15" songs singled out for offensive content and brought before Congress by concerned parents in the 1980s.
April 26, 1969: Walter Carlos' album Switched-On Bach reached Number 10 on the Billboard Albums chart.
The 1968 album by composer by Wendy Carlos (released under her birth name Walter Carlos) seemed innocent enough at the time of its release, but it went on to have a seismic effect on music throughout the 1970s and beyond.
Don’t Dream It’s Over is truly one of Neil Finn’s greatest penned songs.
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| Crowded House |
April 24, 1976: "Bohemian Rhapsody" by Queen peaked at Number 9 on the Hot 100 chart in the USA.
Queen have become the first ever UK band to have a song certified ‘diamond’, reaching the milestone for their iconic 1975 hit ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’.
April 23, 1977: Thelma Houston's disco plea "Don't Leave Me This Way" hit Number 1 in America.
“Don’t Leave Me This Way” was more than a year old by the time Thelma Houston got to it.
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| Thelma Houston |
April 22, 1967: "I Think We're Alone Now" by Tommy James & the Shondells peaked at Number 4 US music chart.
I Think We’re Alone Now was presented to me as a slow ballad by my producers, Richie Cordell and Bo Gentry. I was 19, but I heard the hook and thought it sounded like a hit.
April 21, 1973: The Sweet entered the top ten on Billboard's Hot 100 list with "Little Willy."
"Little Willy" is a song written by songwriters Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman and performed by the British glam rock band The Sweet.
The Sweet
April 20, 1968: "Lady Madonna" from the Beatles peaked at the number 4 position on the Hot 100 weekly chart.
Following a string of innovative singles, which were all so different from one another, The Beatles changed direction yet again. For their first single release of 1968, they went back to their roots for “Lady Madonna.”
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| The Beatles rehearsing in Miami Beach in 1964 |
April 19, 1946: Timothy James Curry was born in Grappenhall, Cheshire, England.
Tim Curry is known for working in a diverse range of theatre, film, and television, most often portraying villainous characters. Curry rose to prominence with his portrayal of Dr. Frank-N-Furter in the film The Rocky Horror Picture Show.
April 18, 1975: Alice Cooper's first TV special, Welcome To My Nightmare: The Making Of A Record Album, airs on US television.
In 1975, Alice Cooper went solo and recorded the album of his career. By the time Alice Cooper released Welcome To My Nightmare in February 1975, he was already one of the most famous rock celebrities on the planet.
April 17, 1980: A New Jersey State assemblyman introduced a resolution to make Bruce Springsteen's "Born to Run" the official state song.
Bruce Springsteen has always worn his love of his home state on his sleeve, starting with the title of his debut album, Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J.
Bruce Springsteen
April 16, 1939: Dusty Springfield is born Mary Isobel Catherine Bernadette O'Brien in West Hampstead, North London, England.
Britain's greatest pop diva, Dusty Springfield was also the finest white soul singer of her era, a performer of remarkable emotional resonance.
Dusty Springfield
Two music videos were produced for "She Drives Me Crazy.", one by Philippe Decouflé and another by Pedro Romhanyi.
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| Fine Young Cannibals |
April 14, 2014: Sam Smith releases "Stay With Me."
Startling in its simplicity, both reverent and anthemic with gospel fever, “Stay With Me,” written by Sam Smith with Will Phillips and Jimmy Napier, was Smith’s first hit.
In a three-year span in the late 1950s, RCA released 14 new Elvis Presley singles. The A-side on eight of them topped Billboard’s Top 100 pop chart.
April 12, 1975: Elton John's "Philadelphia Freedom," named after the professional tennis team his friend Billie Jean King coaches, hit Number 1 on the Hot 100.
The Philadelphia of “Philadelphia Freedom” certainly sounds like an abstraction. Elton John usually took whatever lyrics his songwriting partner Bernie Taupin gave him, and then he fashioned those lyrics into songs.
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| Elton John |
April 11, 1970: The Beatles' "Let It Be" was the top song on the music charts.
The Beatles’ “Let It Be” evokes a majestic quality, from its serene and straight forward melody to its crescendo and eventual crash of instruments.
April 10, 1970: The Progressive Rock band Emerson, Lake & Palmer was formed.
Emerson, Lake & Palmer were progressive rock's first supergroup. Keyboardist Keith Emerson planted the seeds of the group in late 1969 when his band the Nice shared a bill at the Fillmore West with King Crimson, and the two first spoke of the possibility of working together.
Emerson, Lake and Palmer
April 9, 1977: ABBA earned their only number 1 hit in the United States when "Dancing Queen" went to the top.
April 8, 1989: "The Look" by Roxette hit Number 1 on the Hot 100.
"The Look" by the Swedish pop duo Roxette was released in early 1989 as the fourth single from their second studio album, Look Sharp!. It became an international hit, and was one of the most successful singles of 1989. It topped the charts in 25 countries, and was the first of their four number ones on the Billboard Hot 100.
Roxette
April 7, 1915: Billie Holiday was born Eleanora Fagan in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Billie Holiday was one of the most influential jazz singers of all time. She had a thriving career for many years before she lost her battle with addiction.
Billie Holiday
April 6, 1968: Pink Floyd announced that founder Syd Barretthads officially left the group, saying he suffered from psychiatric disorders compounded by drug use.
By the spring of 1967, Pink Floyd was at the forefront of the psychedelic rock movement that was pushing its way into mainstream popular culture.
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| Syd Barrett |
Kurt Cobain's meteoric celebrity certainly did "burn out." In the early 1990s, Cobain was everywhere — from T-shirts to magazine covers to the top of the Billboard charts. The Nirvana frontman was on fire.
Kurt Cobain
April 4, 1915: Chicago blues legend Muddy Waters was born in McKinley Morganfield in Rolling Fork, Mississippi.
Muddy Waters was a second-generation blues man, his father Ollie Morganfield was also a talented musician and guitarist. By 17, Muddy had chops enough to chase the hellhound riffs of Robert Johnson and Eddie James "Son" House,” Jr.
Muddy Waters
April 3, 1922: Actress and singer Doris Day was born Doris Mary Ann Kappelhoff in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Doris Day studied ballet and tap dance growing up. She even won a local dance contest with her partner Jerry Doherty in her early teens.
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| Doris Day with her dog in 1968 |
April 2, 1942: Leon Russell was born Claude Russell Bridges in Lawton, Oklahoma.
Born Claude Russell Bridges, he changed his name to Leon Russell when he moved to Los Angeles from his home in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
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| Leon Russell & Elton John |
April 1, 1970: Woodstock, the documentary on the Woodstock Festival that took place in August 1969 at Bethel in New York, premieres in Hollywood.
An intimate look at the Woodstock Music & Art Festival held in Bethel, NY in 1969.
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| Janis Joplin at Woodstock 1959 |
