Animals - House Of the Rising Sun
Significant Events In Music This Week - 12.20 - 12.26
December 20th In Music
1969 - Peter, Paul and Mary went to No. 1 on the US singles chart with 'Leaving On A Jet Plane'.
1971 - The Main Ingredient records "Everybody Plays The Fool."
1974 - Joe Walsh, a former James Gang and Barnstorm guitarist, officially replaced Bernie Leadon in the Eagles after producer Bill Szymczyk had recommended Walsh to The Eagles.
Birthdays:
1944 - Bobby Colomby. Drums, Blood Sweat & Tears, (1969 US No. 12 single 'You've Made Me So Very Happy'). Born in New York.
1946 - Douglass Lubahn. Psychedelic rock and jazz rock bassist. His work is featured on several albums recorded by The Doors including Strange Days (1967), Waiting For The Sun (1968) and The Soft Parade (1969).
1947 - Peter Criss. Drummer from American hard rock band Kiss. They scored the 1974 US No. 5 single 'On And On’, and their 1976 US No. 11 album Rock and Roll Over spent 26 weeks on the chart. Criss established the "Catman" character for his Kiss persona. Born in Brooklyn, New York.
1948 - Alan Parsons. British studio audio engineer at Abbey Road Studios, musician, and record producer. He was involved with the production of The Beatles' Abbey Road and Pink Floyd's The Dark Side Of The Moon for which Pink Floyd credit him as an important contributor. Parsons' own group, The Alan Parsons Project released several albums. Born in London, England.
December 21st In Music
1966 - The Beach Boys' "Good Vibrations" single as well as their Little Deuce Coupe and Shut Down, Vol. 2. albums are all certified gold.
1974 - Harry Chapin's "Cat's In The Cradle" hits No. 1 in the US.
2012 - Gangnam Style' by South Korean musician Psy became the first YouTube video to reach a billion views. By the end of 2012, the song had topped the music charts of more than 30 countries.
Birthdays:
1940 - Frank Zappa. Multi instrumentalist, producer and composer. Recorded with The Mothers Of Invention and solo, 1969 album 'Hot Rats', 1974 album 'Apostrophe', featuring 'Don't Eat The Yellow Snow'. First band was The Blackouts, recorded one of the first concept albums 'Freak Out'. Born in Baltimore, Maryland. Zappa died on 12.4.1993.
1946 - Carl Wilson. American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer who co-founded The Beach Boys with older brothers Dennis and Brian. He performed lead vocals on several of their hits, including 'God Only Knows' (1966) and 'Good Vibrations' (1966). Born in Hawthorne, California. Died on 2.6.1998.
1951 - Nick Gilder. Singer, Sweeney Todd, solo, 1978 US No. 1 single 'Hot Child In The City'.
December 22nd In Music
1973 - Elton John started a eight-week run at No. 1 on the US album chart with 'Goodbye Yellow Brick Road'. The album contains the Marilyn Monroe tribute, 'Candle in the Wind', as well as three successful singles: 'Bennie and the Jets', 'Goodbye Yellow Brick Road', and 'Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting'.
1976 - Bob Seger earns his first Gold record with the live album Live Bullet.
1979 - Rupert Holmes started a two week run at No. 1 on the US singles chart with 'Escape, (The Pina Colada Song). His only US No. 1 solo hit.
2000 - The Coen Brothers movie “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” hits theaters. With the song "Man Of Constant Sorrow" a centerpiece of the film, it ignites interest in bluegrass music. The soundtrack, produced by T-Bone Burnett, sells over 7 million copies in America.
Birthdays:
1939 - James Gurley. Guitarist with Big Brother and the Holding Company who with Janis Joplin had the 1971 US No. 1 single 'Me And Bobby McGee', and the 1971 US No. 1 album Pearl. Born in Detroit, Michigan. Gurley died on 12.20.2009.
1944 - Barry Jenkins. Drummer in The Animals who had the 1964 US No. 1 single 'House Of The Rising Sun'. He was also a member of The Nashville Teens who scored the 1964 US Top 20 hit single 'Tobacco Road'. Born in Leicester, England.
December 23rd In Music
1959 - The Drifters record "This Magic Moment."
1969 - B.J. Thomas' "Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head" is certified gold.
1989 - Phil Collins started a four week run at No. 1 on the US singles chart with 'Another Day In Paradise', his 7th US solo No. 1. Taken from his No. 1 album ... ‘But Seriously.’
Birthdays:
1940 - Jorma Kaukonen. American blues, folk, and rock guitarist, best known for his work with Jefferson Airplane and Hot Tuna. Born in Washington, DC.
1941 - Ron Bushy. Drummer, Iron Butterfly, 1968 US No. 14 single 'In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida'. Born in Washington, DC.
1946 - Ray Tabano. Founding member of Aerosmith. Tabano was a childhood friend of Aerosmith lead singer Steven Tyler and was in Steven's first band, The Strangeurs. Tabano was replaced by Brad Whitford in Aerosmith in 1971.
1946 - Robbie Dupree. Singer-songwriter, known for the 1980 hit "Steal Away," is born in Brooklyn, New York.
December 24th in Music
1818 - A church choir in Austria introduces a new Christmas song for their Midnight Mass: "Stille Nacht!" better known as "Silent Night."
1976 - The Eagles sixth album, Hotel California spent the first of eight non-consecutive weeks at the top of the Billboard chart. The band's first LP with Joe Walsh and last with bassist Randy Meisner which has now sold over 34 million copies worldwide.
1988 - Hair metal reaches its apogee as Poison's power ballad "Every Rose Has Its Thorn" hits No. 1 in the US. It stays for three weeks.
Birthdays:
1951 - Tom "T-Bone" Wolk, who played bass for nearly 30 years with Hall and Oates. He had also recorded with Carly Simon, Elvis Costello, and Billy Joel over the course of his career.
1957 - Chris Hayes. Lead guitarist for Huey Lewis and the News. Born in Great Lakes, Illinois.
1962 - Darren Wharton. British keyboardist, singer and songwriter. Worked with Thin Lizzy and fronted his own band, Dare.
1971 - Ricky Martin, singer, 1999, US No. 1 single 'Livin' La Vida Loca'.
December 25th In Music
1971 - Melanie's "Brand New Key" hits No. 1 in America for the first of three weeks.
Birthdays:
1945 - Noel Redding. Bassist with The Jimi Hendrix Experience who had the 1967 UK No. 3 single 'Purple Haze', and the 1970 UK No. 1 single 'Voodoo Chile'. Redding was the first person to join the Jimi Hendrix Experience, and the first to leave, his final concert with them was in June 1969. Redding died on 5.11.2003 aged 57.
1946 - Jimmy Buffett. American singer, songwriter, 1977 US No. 8 single 'Margaritaville', 2004 US No. 1 album 'License to Chill'. Born in Pascagoula, Mississippi.
December 26th In Music
1968 - Led Zeppelin's first US tour begins in Denver. They're the opening act for Vanilla Fudge and Spirit.
1979 - Pink Floyd’s The Wall was at No. 1 on the US album chart. (The album spent a total of 15 weeks at No. 1 during a 35-week stay on the chart). The Wall also spent a total of 5 weeks at No. 1 on the UK chart.
1981 - AC/DC started a three-week run at No. 1 on the US album chart with 'For Those About To Rock We Salute You' the follow-up to their highly successful album 'Back In Black'. The name of the album was inspired by a book Angus Young read, entitled 'For Those About to Die, We Salute You', about Roman gladiators. It's their first No. 1 album in that country, and the first hard rock album to top that chart.
Birthdays:
1943 - Fleming Williams. American pop and soul trio The Hues Corporation, who scored the 1974, US No. 1 single 'Rock The Boat' which sold over 2 million copies.
