Today in Music History...February 22, 2017

Music History: February 22

 

2012 Five months after debuting the song in her native Canada, Carly Rae Jepsen releases the single "Call Me Maybe" in America. With help from a video of Justin Bieber, Selena Gomez and other tween celebs lip-synching to the song, it rises up the charts and becomes a worldwide hit. In the US, it is the song of the summer, topping the Hot 100 on June 23 and staying until August 25.

2011 Adele releases her second album, 21, in the US. The record becomes the best-selling album of 2011, shifting a total of 5.82 million copies.

2009 A.R. Rahman wins Academy Awards for Best Original Score and Best Song for "Jai Ho" from Slumdog Millionaire, earning the Bollywood music veteran his first two Oscars. The Pussycat Dolls release an English-language version, "Jai Ho! (You Are My Destiny)," the same year.

2008 After much controversy and debate over whether or not to honor recently deceased musician and Mississippi native Ike Turner, the state legislature compromises and passes a resolution that honors his musical achievements only.

2008 The U2 concert film U2 3D is released worldwide.

2002 Little Richard gets the NAACP Image Award. The flamboyant singer put his efforts into preaching in his later years.

2001 American folk guitarist John Fahey dies at age 61 following a coronary bypass operation.

2001 British newspaper Sunday Mirror reports that The Beatles, who have been broken up for 31 years, are nevertheless the top grossing recording group of the year 2000.

2000 The recently departed soul legend Curtis Mayfield is honored at a First African Methodist Episcopal Church service in Los Angeles, featuring performances from Stevie Wonder, Eric Clapton, and, spontaneously, Lauryn Hill.

1994 Blues violinist Papa John Creach (of Jefferson Airplane/Starship) dies of congestive heart failure at age 76.

1990 Stevie Wonder wins a lawsuit brought by an associate, Lloyd Chiate, who alleged that the singer stole part of his 1976 song "I Just Called To Say" for Stevie's 1984 smash, "I Just Called To Say I Love You."

1987 Pop artist Andy Warhol, former manager of The Velvet Underground and designer for The Rolling Stones' Sticky Fingers album cover, dies of a cardiac arrhythmia following gallbladder surgery.

1985 Carl Perkins plays a nightclub bouncer in the John Landis-directed film Into The Night. It is Perkins' only film role as an actor.

1976 Shortly after emerging from poverty and alcoholism to make a musical comeback, Florence Ballard (of The Supremes) dies at age 32 of a cardiac arrest caused by a blood clot.

1975 Average White Band's "Pick Up the Pieces" hits #1.

1975 The Average White Band LP AWB hits #1.

1974 Ten Years After play their final live gig, in London.

1974 James Blunt is born in Tidworth, England.

1969 David Bowie begins a UK tour with T. Rex where he doesn't sing, but does a mime act.

1969 The Beatles start recording "I Want You (She's So Heavy)."

1969 Elvis Presley records "In The Ghetto" and "Who Am I?"

1964 "Dawn (Go Away)" by The Four Seasons hits #3 on the Hot 100, where it will remain for 3 weeks trailing two Beatles songs. The song is gradually bumped by more Beatles songs, until April 4, when the Fab 4 hold all of the Top 5.

1963 Along with manager Brian Epstein and British music publisher Dick James, The Beatles form their Northern Music publishing company (later owned by Michael Jackson).

1963 Fulfilling the prophecy of producer George Martin, "Please Please Me" by The Beatles becomes the group's first #1 hit in the UK.

1960 Percy Faith's "Theme From A Summer Place" hits #1 in America for the first of nine weeks, knocking Elvis Presley's "Are You Lonesome Tonight" from the top spot.

1957 Gladys and Vernon Presley, Elvis' parents, are filmed in the audience as their son performs "Got A Lot O' Livin' To Do" for Loving You. After his mother's death, Elvis will never watch the scene again.

1956 Elvis Presley's "Heartbreak Hotel" enters the charts.

1953 John B. Sparks (bass guitarist for Dr. Feelgood) is born in England.

1945 Sixties pop singer Oliver is born William Oliver Swofford is born in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina.

1944 Rock and roll guitarist Mick Green (of Johnny Kidd & the Pirates) is born in Matlock, Derbyshire, England.

1938 R&B singer Bobby Hendricks (of The Drifters) is born in Columbus, Ohio.

1933 Ernie K-Doe, known for his 1961 hit "Mother-In-Law," is born Ernest Kador Jr. in New Orleans.

1927 Guy Mitchell is born Al Cernick in Detroit. He has a string of hit songs in the lead-up to the Rock Era: "My Heart Cries for You," "My Truly, Truly Fair" and "She Wears Red Feathers" among them.

1923 Hurricane Smith, an engineer and producer for The Beatles and Pink Floyd, is born in Edmonton, London, England.

1819 Composer Joseph Philbrick Webster, who wrote the song "Lorena," is born in Manchester, New Hampshire.

Featured Events

John Frusciante Sabotages The Song On SNL

 

1992

When the Red Hot Chili Peppers perform "Under The Bridge" on Saturday Night Live, their guitarist John Frusciante sabotages the song, playing unevenly and screaming into the microphone during his background part. His frustrations lead him to quit the band in May.

When Anthony Kiedis sings, "Sometimes I feel like I don't have a partner," it takes on new meaning as Frusciante is clearly muffing the guitar part on purpose (either that or he's highly intoxicated). The band slogs through it, and at the end, Kiedis and Flea give him a serious stink-eye.

Thanks to "Under The Bridge," the band is getting their first taste of widespread success, but Frusciante can't handle it. In May, he abruptly quits the group in the middle of the Japanese leg of their tour, forcing them to cancel the remaining dates in that country and postpone their tour of Australia. Frusciante goes into a self-imposed exile where he gets deep into drugs. Dave Navarro replaces him in the group, but a newly sober Frusciante comes back to the fold in 1998 after Navarro departs.

 
1989 The very unheavy Jethro Tull wins the first Grammy for Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance, beating out Metallica.

 MTV, which has bought the rights to 45 episodes of The Monkees TV series, airs them all in the "Pleasant Valley Sunday" marathon in honor of the group's 20th anniversary. The shows launch a Monkees revival, and the group reforms to tour later in the year.