Today In Music, August 7th
From the Rockmine Almanac for today (Thursday 7th August):
Birth
1949. Tim Renwick (Quiver, Mike & The Mechanics) born in Cambridge, England.
On Tour
1984. Death threats have been received by The Knoxville News Sentinel against Michael Jackson who is performing the first of two shows in the city tonight. The threats are taken seriously enough that the F.B.I. are called in. The F.B.I. think the threats are unfounded but organisers step up security all the same. Both tonight’s concert and another on the 9th pass off without incident.
In Court
1998. Bernard Ortiz, a homeless man who has been stalking Linda Ronstadt for three years, is sentenced to ten months in jail. It was his second time in court over the singer. He had previously been given three years probation and ordered not to contact Ronstadt or her family. He violated the probation after only three months, sending his “victim” a watch, candles and a letter on her birthday.
In Hospital
1997. Richard Marsh (Bentley Rhythm Ace) breaks his back during a parachute jump at Langar Airfield, Nottinghamshire. The jump was being filmed for the video of the band’s next single, “Bentley’s Gonna Sort You Out” but Marsh was caught by a gust of wind during landing and thrown heavily onto his back. He was taken to Nottingham General Hospital where doctors said he would make a full recovery but need three months rest.
On Television
1957. American Bandstand (ABC, U.S.A.) 3. Paul Anka; The Tassels. This was Paul Anka’s first network TV appearance in the U.S.A. Aged only 16, he performed his soon to be massive international number 1 hit, “Diana”. While I can’t guarantee this is the correct clip, it is the correct period and I’m a bit short of time today. 2m 13s.
Death
1978. Les Perrin, publicist for The Rolling Stones and others, dies.
Babble
There’s not a huge amount to report since yesterday. I spent another three hours in the Heritage Centre in Elgin digging through microfiche copies of the Northern Scot newspaper. So far I’ve compiled a list from 1966 to 1970 of the bands that played the Ballerina Ballroom in Nairn.
Here’s a sample from July – December 1967:
July 07 – Cream plus Newton’s Theory with its Go-Go Girls. The gig was cancelled when the van carrying the band’s equipment failed to turn up.
July 10 – Cream return to play their concert.
July 21 – Pink Floyd
July 28 – Gino Washington and The Ram Jam Band plus The Copy Cats
August 18 – The Small Faces – concert cancelled.
August 31 – Zoot Money and his new group Dantalion’s Chariot plus The T-Set
September 08 – The Freddie Mack Show
September 15 – The Throb plus The Life N’ Soul
September 22 – Tony Merrick plus The T-Set
October 06 – The Who plus Gideon’s Few
October 13 – The Beatstalkers plus The Rebel Sound
October 20 – The Four Shades Of Blue plus The T-Set
October 27 – The Tamala Express plus The Beatroute
November 03 – The Rhubarb plus The Barons
November 10 – Clock-work Orange plus Last Chapter
November 17 – Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich
December 01 – The Delroy Williams Show plus Keith Taylor
December 08 – The Troggs plus The Throb
December 15 – Symon Dupree
December 22 – Cash Boutique Queen For 1967. Grand Final
December 25 – Aberdeen Students’ Charities’ Campaign present Their Xmas Beatnik Ball with The Circle plus The T-Set
December 29 – The 1967 Last Fling with The Middle Earth plus The T-Set
I have to say it’s been a bit disappointing. While I wasn’t expecting a weekly or monthly catalogue of household names, they’ve so far been few and far between apart from the period above. That said, it paints an incredible picture of the constant touring of small to medium sized bands. The names that have stood out are the likes of Writing On The Wall, My Dear Watson, Spiggy Topes and Archemedes Principle. Now what i’m trying to do is find photos and adverts for some of them.
I went back to the Ballerina and found that John Byrne had more or less completed the area that will serve as exhibition space and festival cafe. I’ll get up some images either later today or tomorrow.
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