Today In Music, August 16th
From the Rockmine Almanac for today (Saturday 16th August):
Birth
1945. Kevin Ayers born in Herne Bay, Kent.
On Tour
1997. The Prodigy stop their gig at Leeds V97 Festival when they see fans being crushed in front of the stage. Keith Flint and Maxim jump into the pit to help security pull fans to safety. Two fans are hospitalised but Leeds City Council praise the actions of the band in helping to avert a major tragedy.
In Court
1999. Thides Leasing Corporation file a $ 158,000 lawsuit against The Artist Formerly Known As Prince, claiming that the purple one has yet to pay for a tour bus used by him between May and October 1998. The leasing company also claims that the bus was booked for another 7 months but unused. During that time, they were unable to use the bus for any other clients. $ 42,000 is being sought for touring time and a further $ 116,000 for unpaid fees and lost revenue for the 7 months idle time.
In Hospital
1989. Pete Townshend impales his hand on the tremolo arm of his guitar during the final song of The Who‘s gig at the Tacomadome in Tacoma, Washington. He is rushed to hospital but surgeons find he has escaped any damage.
On Television
Sorry, there’s no TV clip today. I’ve been trying to search YouTube on a laptop with mobile broadband and there’s just not enough bandwidth. I’ll have something online tomorrow.
Death
1938. “King Of The Delta Blues”, Robert Johnson dies “outside” Greenwood, Mississippi, aged 27. On August 13th, Johnson played his last recorded gig at the “Three Forks” juke joint. Many believe that after playing the owner gave Johnson a glass of poisoned whiskey for having seduced his wife. Here’s a copy of the death certificate obtained in 1996:
Babble.
I hate pipe bands! Normally I manage to keep clear of them but I think every one of them in the North East of Scotland tried to torment me this afternoon. About 5 p.m., Nairn was invaded by dozens of them, skirling and drumming. What the Hell am I doing here.
I reckon there are only two people up here who could cope with the cacophony. One of the workmen in last week had left his tobacco tin on a ledge in the ballroom. His cigarettes didn’t just contain tobacco but some herbal remedy or other. Anyway, two kids rode their bicycles into the ballroom to ask what was going on and while one was asking all sorts of sensible question, the other nicked the tin. Some teenagers are having fun this week!
Anyway, that’s enough for now. I’m meant to be watching a film. I’ll be back to normal tomorrow. One good thing is that I won’t be driving up here all the time any more. I will, of course, keep the Ballerina Ballroom Blog going.
Go to Rockmine’s main site here.
© Copyright 1995 – 2008 Rockmine Archives. Use of this content is prohibited unless licensed by Rockmine Archives.
Rockmine's Archive Log 