Today in Music History...March 20, 2017 (Now with links)

Music History: March 20

 

2016 Trisha Yearwood stars as Mary in the Palm Sunday broadcast of the Fox live musical The Passion, the story of Jesus Christ's last hours on Earth.

2015 Twisted Sister drummer A.J. Pero dies of an apparent heart attack in New York at age 55.

2009 Mel Brown

2008 The Eagles launch their world tour in support of their album, Long Road Out of Eden.

2006 The song "Thank You For Being A Friend" is played at Leeds Crown Court when John Humble pleads guilty to perpetrating the Wearside Jack hoax (he pretended to be the Yorkshire Ripper serial killer).

2004 Quincy Jones receives an honorary doctorate in Music from The University of Washington.

2000 Gene “Eugene” Andrusco (Adam Again, Lost Dogs, The Swirling Eddies)

2000 Vivian Fine

1994 Madonna snags her third Razzie for Worst Actress at the 14th Golden Raspberry Awards. Her first came in 1987 for Shanghai Surprise, and the second followed in 1988 for Who's That Girl. This time around, it's her role as Rebecca Carlson in Body Of Evidence that underwhelms the judges.

1993 Dr. Dre's debut solo single, "Nuthin' But a 'G' Thang," peaks at #2 on the Hot 100, where it stays for one week.

1991 Michael Jackson signs the largest contract renewal in history to the time, inking a $65 million deal with Sony.

1990 Eric Clapton plays three songs on Saturday Night Live: "Pretending," "No Alibis" and "Wonderful Tonight."

1989 After 37 years on the air, Dick Clark announces he will discontinue hosting his creation, ABC-TV's highly influential American Bandstand. The show continues with another host, but folds for good soon after.

1988 Gil Evans

1984 Slim Jim Phantom of The Stray Cats marries actress Britt Ekland.

1982 The duo Buckner & Garcia appear on American Bandstand to perform their hit single "Pac-Man Fever," the first successful song about a video game.

1982 Nick Wheeler (The All-American Rejects)

1980 At Asylum Records in New York, 28-year-old Joseph Riviera holds employees at gunpoint, demanding to talk to either Jackson Browne or one of the Eagles. When informed that they lived in California, Riviera pockets his pistol and leaves the building, later surrendering to police.

1977 Chester Bennington (Linkin Park)

1976 Alice Cooper gets married for the first (and only) time. His bride is Sheryl Goddard, a 19-year-old dance instructor who had performed on his Welcome To My Nightmare tour.

1972 Ringo Starr, Back Off Boogaloo

1971 Elvis Presley: "I'm Leavin'," "We Can Make The Morning," I Shall Be Released, "It's Only Love," "I Will Be True"

1971 Nearly six months after her death, Janis Joplin's "Me And Bobby McGee" hits #1 in the US for the first of two weeks. It is her only Top 10 hit.

1970 Elton John's "Border Song" is released, but fails to chart. Nearly a year later, "Your Song," becomes his first hit.

1968 In Los Angeles, Eric Clapton and three members of Buffalo Springfield -- Neil Young, Jim Messina, and Richie Furay -- are arrested for suspicion of marijuana use. The band members are eventually found guilty and fined, while Clapton beats the charges.

1967 The Beatles, She's Leaving Home

1965 The first Motown package tour begins in the UK with a show in north London. On the bill are The Supremes, The Temptations, Stevie Wonder, Smokey Robinson & The Miracles, and Martha and the Vandellas.

1964 The Beatles appear for the first time on the British TV show Ready Steady Go!, where they lip-synch Can't Buy Me Love, It Won't Be Long and You Can't Do That. The show gets its highest-ever ratings for this episode.

1961 Bob Dylan releases his self-titled debut album.

1961 Slim Jim Phantom (The Stray Cats)

1961 Elvis Presley begins filming his ninth movie, Blue Hawaii, on location.

1961 Elvis Presley's "Surrender" hits #1

1960 Elvis Presley, "Make Me Know It," Soldier Boy, "Stuck On You"

1959 Bobby Rydell makes his first TV appearance when he shows up on American Bandstand. He soon becomes a teen idol.

1957 Bobby Helms' "Fraulein" enters the country and western charts

1951 Jimmy Vaughan (Fabulous Thunderbirds)

1950 Drummer Carl Palmer is born in Birmingham, England. At age 20, he gets the gig with Greg Lake and Keith Emerson, who choose him over Mitch Mitchell for their band Emerson, Lake & Palmer.

1944 Jance Garfat (bassist for Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show) is born Robert Jance Garfat in California.

1942 Robin Luke

1940 Vito Picone (The Elegants)

1940 "If I Had A Girl" singer Rod Lauren is born in Fresno, California.

1937 Jerry Reed

1937 Joe Rivers (Johnnie & Joe)

1922 Larry Elgart

1918 Marian McPartland

1906 Ozzie Nelson

 

Gloria Estefan Injured in Bus Accident

 

1990Near Scranton and heading for a show in Syracuse, Miami Sound Machine's tour bus is hit by a tractor trailer on a snowy highway. Gloria Estefan suffers a serious spinal injury requiring four hours of surgery.

Featured Events

 

2015 The series finale of Glee, titled "Dreams Come True," airs on FOX. During its six-year run, the influential musical drama made old music new again with a stream of hit covers... and broke records from Elvis Presley and The Beatles along the way.

2010 Three days after their lead singer Alex Chilton died of a heart attack, Big Star plays the SXSW festival in Austin Texas, with a number of guests joining to pay tribute to Chilton.

2009 
The quirky garden store Fountains Of Wayne, which provided the moniker for the band of that name, closes shop after more than 40 years in business. The Wayne, New Jersey, landmark was a Christmas hotspot, as giant santas and holiday displays appeared every season. It was also the backdrop for some scenes from the HBO series The Sopranos.

2008 Rolling Stone magazine endorses Barack Obama by putting him on the first of three 2008 covers.

2003 On the day the Iraq war begins, Bruce Springsteen opens his Melbourne, Australia show with a quiet, acoustic version of his hit "Born In The U.S.A." and follows it, pointedly, with a cover of Edwin Starr's "War."

1997 Yanni becomes the first Western artist to play a concert at the Taj Mahal when he performs the first of three shows at the monument. Before a financial settlement is reached, farmers displaced by the spectacle threaten to immolate themselves in protest.

1991 Eric Clapton's 4-year-old son Conor dies after falling out of a window at his mother's apartment. Clapton later writes "Tears In Heaven" about Conor.

1969 John Lennon marries Yoko Ono at the Rock of Gibraltar in Spain, which is still owned by Britain. The Beatles song The Ballad of John and Yoko describes their ordeal finding a location for the nuptials.