Today in Music History...February 14, 2017

Music History: February 14

 

2015 Lady Gaga gets engaged to actor Taylor Kinney. She confirms the news two days later by posting a photo of the heart-shaped diamond ring on Instagram with the caption, "He gave me his heart on Valentine's Day, and I said YES!"

2010 Lil' Dave Thompson

2009 Louie Bellson

2008 Oasis frontman Liam Gallagher marries Nicole Appleton of the girl group All Saints.

2006 Veronicas' debut studio album, The Secret Life of..., is released in the US.

2006 Lynden David

2006 Willie Nelson issues "Cowboys Are Frequently, Secretly Fond of Each Other."

2003 The movie Daredevil is released, featuring two songs by a new band called Evanescence: "Bring Me To Life" and "My Immortal." Both songs later appear on the group's debut album Fallen and become hits.

2002 Mick Tucker (Sweet)

2001 Prince launches a subscription service whereby fans are asked to pay as much as $100 a year for online access to the rock impresario's songs and videos as well as VIP passes to Prince concerts and after-show parties.

1999 Buddy Knox

1999 Doug Weston

1999 Elton John appears on the "I'm with Cupid" episode of The Simpsons, where he does a re-worked version of "Your Song."

1999 The Deftones, on the final stop of their tour opening for Black Sabbath, find that their truck has been stolen from the parking lot of the Holiday Inn in Dearborn, Michigan. Taken are all of the band's backline equipment and instruments, including several of Chi Chings' Precision Fender Bass guitars, and Stephen Carpenter's custom-made guitars and racks.

1998 Madonna performs at New York nightclub the Roxy, making her first club performance in over 10 years.

1998 Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds is named Entertainer of the Year at the 29th NAACP Image Awards.

1998 Marilyn Manson begins a brief book signing tour on Valentine's Day at Tower Records in New York in support of his autobiography It's A Long Hard Road Out of Hell.

1997 Country artist Ty England and wife Shanna welcome their third child into the world, Levi Wyatt.

1994 The Grateful Dead's Jerry Garcia marries Deborah Koons.

1992 Lead singer Vince Neil, who had been pursuing IndyCar racing, is booted from Mötley Crüe. "Race car driving has become a priority in Neil's life," the band's management says in a statement. "His band mates felt he didn't share their determination and passion for music." Neil returns to the fold in 1997.

1990 The Rolling Stones begin their first-ever tour of Japan at Tokyo's Korakuen Dome.

1987 Bon Jovi's "Livin' On A Prayer" hits #1 in the US and stays for four weeks.

1986 Frank Zappa guest stars on the TV series Miami Vice.

1984 Elton John marries studio assistant Renate Blauel in Sydney, Australia. Attendees include Olivia Newton-John and Rod Stewart. The couple would split up in 1987 and divorce a year later.

1983 No. 1 Billboard Pop Hit: Patti Austin and James Ingram's Baby, Come To Me

1981 The Funky 4 + 1 become the first hip-hop act to appear on national TV when they're the musical guest on Saturday Night Live, where they perform "That's The Joint."

1980 Lou Reed marries Sylvia Morales in New York City's Greenwich Village.

1979 George Harrison, George Harrison

1978 Songwriters Kris Kristofferson and Rita Coolidge, then married, appear on The Muppet Show to perform "Song I Like to Sing" from their first album of duets, Full Moon.

1977 The B-52's perform their first live gig, a Valentine's Day party in their hometown, Athens GA.

 At the Forum in Los Angeles, Ringo Starr, Neil Young and Warren Beatty are in attendance for the last stop on Bob Dylan's tour with The Band.

1974 Rolling Stone reports that David Bowie has been asked by a gay liberation group to compose a gay national anthem, an offer he declines.

1974 Daryl Dragon and Toni Tennille (aka Captain & Tennille) are married in Virginia City, Nevada.

1973 David Bowie collapses at the end of a Ziggy Stardust performance at Madison Square Garden, claiming "total exhaustion."

1972 Rob Thomas (Matchbox Twenty)

1972 John Lennon and Yoko Ono begin their week-long stint as guest hosts on the syndicated Mike Douglas Show.

1972 Blaming burnout, Steppenwolf breaks up for the first time.

1972 On the same day the band breaks up for the first time, Los Angeles mayor Sam Yorty declares today "Steppenwolf Day."

1972 The '50s tribute musical Grease opens off-Broadway at New York City's Eden Theatre, featuring Barry Bostwick and Adrienne Barbeau. The play is an instant hit, moving to Broadway's Broadhurst Theatre for a record 3,388 performances, and, not incidentally, spawning one of the most popular movies of all time.

1972 Steppenwolf announces their split, saying, "We were locked into an image and style of music and there was nothing for us to look forward to."

1970 The Who play a legendary concert at Leeds University in England which will become the Live at Leeds LP.

1970 Billboard Magazine reports that the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is "Mounting Total War Against Tape Pirating of Prerecorded Music."

1970 The Who, Live At Leeds

1970 Sly and the Family Stone's "Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin) " hits #1

1968 Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention announce that work has begun on the band's quasi-documentary Uncle Meat.

 Aretha Franklin, Respect

1967 The Beatles, Only A Northern Song

1966 Simon and Garfunkel's Sounds Of Silence is certified gold

1964 The Dave Clark Five's Bits And Pieces

1961 The Platters sue Mercury Records for breach of contract in Chicago, citing the record label's refusal to pay royalties for songs on which leader Tony Williams does not, in fact, sing lead.

1961 The earliest video footage of The Beatles as a band is taken during their performance at the Casanova Club in Liverpool.

1958 CBS' Walter Cronkite reports that the government of Iran has banned rock and roll for being unhealthy and anti-Islamic. The "unhealthy" claim is backed by Iranian doctors who warn of hip damage due to "extreme gyrations."

1957 Jazz great Lionel Hampton debuts "King David," his only symphony, at New York's Town Hall.

1953 Teresa Brewer's "Till I Waltz Again with You" hits #1

1951 Kenny Hyslop (Simple Minds)

1950 Roger Fisher (Heart)

1947 Tim Buckley is born in Washington, D.C., but will spend much of his childhood in Amsterdam, New York, and Bell Gardens, California.

1945 Vic Briggs (The Animals)

1943 Eric Andersen

1943 Maceo Parker

 Lillie Bryant (Billy and Lillie)

1939 Razzy Bailey

1937 Magic Sam

1934 Merl Saunders

1931 Phyllis McGuire (The McGuire Sisters)

1931 Ted Lewis' Just A Gigolo hits #1

1847 A saxophone school is created in Paris, France. It is set up at "Gymnase Musical," a military band school.

Valentine's Day For The Lovelorn

 1976

After singing about "The valentines I never knew" in her song "At Seventeen," Janis Ian gets hundreds of Valentine's Day cards from fans.

When you're not one of the girls with clear-skinned smiles, Valentine's Day can be a downer. Janis Ian gave voice to dowdy teenagers everywhere in "At Seventeen," where she sings about "inventing lovers on the phone" who ask her to the dance.

In the tradition of Nina Simone and Billie Holiday, it's a confessional with a light samba beat. Despite its delicate nature, the song became a hit in 1975, reaching #3 in September. (Ian and her team sent copies of the song to the wives of radio station program directors - a tactic that helped it penetrate the airwaves). In October, she played it on the very first episode of Saturday Night Live, where she was a musical guest. Many listeners, determined to spare her the pain of valentines that never came, make sure her mailbox is full come Valentine's Day.

To Ian, it's a hopeful song. "The ugly duckling always turns into a swan," she said in her Songfacts interview. "It offers hope that there is a world out there of people who understand."