Today in Music History...April 19, 2017 (Now with links)

Music History: April 19

 

2012  Greg Ham, multi-instrumentalist with the band Men At Work, best known for playing the saxophone on "Overkill" and "Who Can It Be Now," and the flute on "Down Under," dies of a heart attack at his home in Melbourne, Australia at age 58.

2009 The Flaming Lips celebrate Earth Day with a performance on the National Mall in Washington, DC.

2004 A stage musical version of the Elvis Presley film Jailhouse Rock opens in London.

2003 Motown choreographer Cholly Atkins dies of pancreatic cancer at age 89 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

2003 Good Charlotte's "The Anthem" peaks at #43 on the Billboard Hot 100.

1999 James Darren begins a five-episode stint on the primetime soap opera Melrose Place as an unscrupulous millionaire named Tony Marlin.

1997 Eldon "El Duce" Hoke (drummer, lead singer of The Mentors) dies at age 39 after being struck by a train in Riverside, California. The coroner's report calls the cause of death a "misadventure."

1993 Los Angeles session musician Steve Douglas (Brian Wilson, The Beach Boys, Elvis Presley, Bob Dylan) dies at age 54 of heart failure.

1990 The TV movie Summer Dreams: The Story Of The Beach Boys airs on ABC.

1982 Simon & Garfunkel reunite for a world tour, but split up again in the midst of it.

1980 Blondie's "Call Me," a song about a prostitute written for the film American Gigolo, hits #1 in America.

1975 The Raspberries split up.

1968 George Harrison and John Lennon bail out of their meditation lessons with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi two weeks early; later, all four Beatles publicly distance themselves from the Maharishi.

1962 Jackie Wilson debuts at the Copacabana in New York.

1953 Rock drummer Rod Morgenstein (Winger) is born in New York.

1947 Mark Volman (The Turtles, Flo and Eddie, Mothers of Invention) is born in Los Angeles, California.

1943 Pop singer Eve Graham (The New Seekers) is born Evelyn May Beatson in Auchterarder, Perth and Kinross, Scotland.

1942 Alan Price (original keyboardist for The Animals) is born in Fatfield, England.

1942 Rock guitarist Larry Ramos (The Association) is born Hilario Ramos in Waimea, Hawaii.

1940 Singer-songwriter Bobby Russell ("The Night The Lights Went Out In Georgia") is born in Nashville, Tennessee.

1937 Life magazine publishes a three-page article headlined: "Lead Belly - Bad Nigger Makes Good Minstrel."

1934 Comedic songwriter Dickie Goodman is born in Brooklyn, New York. Known for spoofs like 1962's "Batman & His Grandmother" and a string of hits ribbing the popular TV series The Untouchables: "The Touchables," "The Touchables In Brooklyn," and "Santa And The Touchables."

1892 French composer Germaine Tailleferre, the sole female member of the composers group Les Six, is born in Saint-Maur-des-Fossés, Val-de-Marne, France.

Nas Releases Illmatic

 

1994Nas releases his landmark debut album Illmatic at the age of 20, helping revive the flagging New York City rap scene and birth the era of lyricism. It goes on to be widely accepted as one of the greatest rap albums of all time.
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Featured Events

2012 Levon Helm (drummer, lead vocalist of The Band) dies of cancer at age 71. Also an actor, he was known for his role as Loretta Lynn's father in Coal Miner's Daughter.

2008 Donna Summer scores a #1 dance hit with "I'm A Fire," making her the first artist to top that chart in every decade since its 1974 debut.

2002 Alice In Chains lead singer Layne Staley is discovered dead in his Seattle apartment after police break down his door to investigate reports that he is missing. Staley, whose addictions led him to cut off contact with friends and family, had died on April 5 of a drug overdose. He was 34.



2001 In a battle of the bark, Baha Men beat out Lil' Bow Wow at the Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards, taking Fave Song with "Who Let The Dogs Out."More

1988 Sonny Bono (Sonny & Cher) is inaugurated as mayor of Palm Springs, California.

1986 You don't have to watch Dynasty to have an attitude: Prince hits #1 in the US with "Kiss." The #2 song is "Manic Monday" by the Bangles, which he wrote.