Today In Music, September 16th

From the Rockmine Almanac for today (Tuesday 16th September):

Birth

1944. Betty Kelly (Martha And The Vandellas) born in Detroit, Michigan.

On Tour

1979. Passing through London’s Heathrow Airport enroute for the United States, Elton John reveals what he’s been keeping under his hat until now – a new head of hair! Speaking of the hair transplant, Elton said, “I had the operation done in Paris and I have another two operations to go before it’s completely finished”. He refused to reveal how much the treatment cost but did say, “Looking at it now, I think it was absolutely worthwhile”.

In Court

1970. Robbie Krieger and John Densmore are called to give evidence at Jim Morrison‘s obscenity trial in The Circuit Court for Dade County, Miami, Florida. Judge Murray Goodman, presiding.

In Hospital

1970. Sandie Shaw announces that she’s preganant. The news came after the singer had collapsed in her car on the way to Heathrow Airport where she was due to leave for the Venice Festival. Doctors today revealed the reason for her exhaustion. Sandie’s been married to the fashion designer Jeff Banks for the last two years. The baby, which is due early next year, will be the couple’s first. Sandie’s performance in Venice has been cancelled and she’ll be resting for the next few days.

On Television

1965. Shindig! (ABC, U.S.A.) Opening medley (song excerpts): The McCoys, The Byrds, Jerry Naylor, The Everly Brothers and Chad & Jill; The Everly Brothers; The Byrds; Billy Preston; Jerry Naylor; Ketty Lester; The Byrds; The McCoys; Chad and Jill (Chad Stuart of Chad and Jeremy, and his wife Jill); Chad Stuart; The Rolling Stones; Finale: Everly Brothers. Here’s the first segment of the show which will link to the other two parts to give you the complete programme. 8m 57s.

Death

1977. Marc Bolan dies when the Mini in which he is travelling skids and hits a tree on Barnes Common in London. The car is being driven by Marc’s girlfriend, Gloria Jones, who survives.

And on this day in 1997, the Performing Rights Society erects a marker at the site of Marc’s fatal crash. On hand to assist in the proceedings is his son, Rolan.

 

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© Copyright 1995 – 2008 Rockmine Archives. Use of this content is prohibited unless licensed by Rockmine Archives.

Today In Music, September 6th

From the Rockmine Almanac for today (Saturday 6th September):

Birth

1946. Eric Hine (Simon Dupree And The Big Sound) born in Portsmouth, England.

On Tour

1979. Just hours before Siouxsie And The Banshees are due on stage in Aberdeen, drummer Kenny Morris and guitarist John McKay quit the band without warning. Their departure is as a result of arguements during the afternoon at a record signing in a local shop. Polydor underestimated local interest in the band and only sent 50 copies of the album to the store. Those were eagerly grabbed by some of the hundreds of fans that turned out. Luckily, the band’s manager had a stock in the back of his car which he agreed to sell to the shop’s owner. Before the deal was complete, Morris and Mckay were handing the albums out for free to the fans.

Both the manager and the shop owner complained and that sparked a refusal from the pair to continue the signing. Then, the row intensified and the two stormed off. By the time the rest of the band returned to their hotel, they had caught atrain to London and left their tour passes pinned to their pillows. That night, the support band (The Cure) extended their set and sat in with Siouxsie and Steve Severin for several Banshees numbers. The rest of the tour is cancelled.

In Court

1972. Paul Pawlowski and William Dwyer, joint promoters of the pop and sex festival staged at Windsor Great Park, two weeks ago, appear at South West London Magistrates Court charged with cultivating cannabis at their south London home. Pawlowski, head of the free-love Church of Aphrodite, based in Tooting, refused to plead and stood in the dock with his back to the judge. The court entered a plea of not guilty on his behalf. In his evidence, a police officer said that Pawlowski admitted the plants were cannabis but said they were sacred and could not be interfered with as they had religious uses. He was found guilty and remanded in custody until September 19th for reports. Dwyer was found not guilty and released.

Under The Hammer

1988. The three day auction at Sotheby’s of Elton John‘s personal collection of memorabilia and antiques starts in London. Estimated to make at best £ 3 million, the auction actually makes £ 4,838,022. Even the banners hung outside the auction rooms are sold for £ 550 each. The lavish catalogues, available for £ 60 soon become collector’s items themselves. All this for a sale that was prompted when Elton started to clear rooms out for redecorating!

On Television

1974. The Midnight Special (NBC, U.S.A.) 82. Host and only guest: Marvin Gaye. Here he is with, “Let’s Get It On” 4m 39s.

Death

1990. Tom Fogerty (Creedence Clearwater Revival) dies in Scottsdale, Arizona from tuberculosis, aged 48.

 

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© Copyright 1995 – 2008 Rockmine Archives. Use of this content is prohibited unless licensed by Rockmine Archives.

Today In Music, August 15th

From the Rockmine Almanac for today (Friday 15th August):

Birth

1951. Hard rocker (Captain Beyond, Armaggedon) turned one-hit balladeer (“What You Can’t Do For Love”) turned million selling songwriter (“The Next Time I Fall”) turned musical actor (“The Rat Pack”) Bobby Caldwell born in Manhattan, New York.

On The Road

1970. Derek McEwen, 32 year-old co-promoter of the Yorkshire Pop, Blues & Jazz Festival goes missing only hours after the event is abandoned because of bad weather. His car is spotted later in the morning on a Yorkshire/Lancashire motorway. Along with the other promoter, Brian Highley, it’s thought that McEwen shares a loss of £ 12,000 on the event. A police search is later mounted of the moors near Scammonden Bridge close to his last sighting.

In Chains

1967. 19 year old telephonist, Deirdre Meehan, arrives outside Buckingham Palace at 3.30 p.m. and proceeds to chain herself to the railings. She then tells onlookers that she doesn’t have a key for the set of handcuffs that she’s used. After 20 minutes standing in the rain, a police van pulls up and she’s quickly released before being ordered home. Deirdre and her 20 year old flat mate, Pat Cameron, have just returned from delivering a letter of protest to Prime Minister Harold Wilson while he was holidaying on the Isles Of Scilly. The girls are protesting at the order to deport two Australian members of The Bee Gees from the U.K.

In Custody

1997. Anthrax guitarist Scott Ian Rosenfield is arrested after breaking into the New York Yankees’ training camp at Legend’s Field in Tampa, Florida. He and his girlfriend, 23 year old Angela Roberts, are charged with burglary and grand theft after being caught on video trying to carry a large foam mat bearing the team’s logo to their car. The couple are released on bail of $ 7,500 each after spending 6 hours in jail. Rosenfield later explains that he’s been a life-long Yankees fan and while he’s sorry he did have a great time running around the bases. He blamed the prank on too much wine.

On Television

1997. Rockpalast (WDR, Germany) Beck; Foo Fighters; Ash; Pavement; Veruca Salt (11Th Bizarre-Festival Köln, Butzweiler Hof). Here’s Beck with “Derelict”. 4m 50s.

Death

1984. Norman Petty, Buddy Holly‘s manager and record producer dies in Lubbock Texas, aged 57. He ceased to be Holly’s manager in 1958 after disagreements over songwriting royalties (Petty claimed a percentage of all Holly’s royalties) and Buddy’s marriage. That didn’t stop him continuing to re-release material and milk the legend of his client up to his death.

Babble

It’s finally over! I gave up! After another fruitless day in Nairn trying to find last minute premises for my rock memorabilia exhibition, I realised it was turning into a waste of time.

By the time I’d got back to the office in the evening, I’d decided to get a new blog up. One for the Ballerina Ballroom and all the bands that played there. So far I’ve got a full listing for 1966 and half of 1967 along with period clips of some of the biggest names that played there. I say some because the real gem I discovered was a clip of The Poets from Shindig! A must-see if you’re even vaguely interested in the British Beat Boom of the mid sixties.

I’m hoping to add a selection of adverts and pics of the Scottish bands that gigged there. All I’ve got to do is get them scanned and up. What I really want though is feedback from the folk that went to the ballroom. That’s where the real social history in this lies. The blog’s late up today as I’ve been working on that and also flyers to get in the Ballerina during the film festival which starts this afternoon.

I’d like to think of the blog as a virtual fringe event. You can check it out for yourselves here.

Strangely, the highlight yesterday was probably sitting in a wine bar in Nairn with a guy who was giving the gossip on what REALLY goes on in this sleepy wee town in the North of Scotland. Trouble is, I’m not sure I believe any of it. Think I’ll stick to what I know – sex and dogs and rock ‘n’ roll.

 

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© Copyright 1995 – 2008 Rockmine Archives. Use of this content is prohibited unless licensed by Rockmine Archives.

Today In Music, August 4th

From the Rockmine Almanac for today (Monday 4th August):

Birth

1927. Ralph Peer, a producer working for The Victor Talking Machine Company cuts the first “Country” records when he records Jimmie Rodgers and The Carter Family in a hotel room in Bristol, Tennessee. Rodgers is paid $ 50 a song for the session.

On Tour

1979. Fairport Convention play their last gig as a working band at Cropredy, Oxfordshire. The village will become the site of an annual reunion concert.

In Custody

1970. Jim Morrison is arrested after falling asleep on an old lady’s porch after drinking too much. He is charged with public drunkenness.

In Court

1965. South African singing star Eve Boswell is granted a divorce from her estranged husband Trevor Garfield McIntosh at a Johannesburg divorce court. The 41 year old singer was awarded a restitution order against Mr. McIntosh in June after telling the court that he had left and would not return after 23 years of marriage.

On Television

1965. Shindig! (U.S.A.) 47. Opening medley (song excerpts): Jerry Naylor/Billy Preston/Jackie & Gayle, Bobby Sherman/Righteous Brothers; Nooney Rickett Four; Billy Preston; Marianne Faithfull; Jerry Naylor; Bobby Sherman; The Righteous Brothers; Linda Clark; Jackie and Gayle; The Great Scots; Bobby Sherman; Bobby Hatfield; Dixie Cups; Nooney Rickett Four; Linda Clark with Jackie and Gayle; Billy Preston; Terry Allen; The Great Scots; Dixie Cups; Jerry Naylor; -Marianne Faithfull; The Righteous Brothers; Linda Clark; Finale: Nooney Rickett Four (with the Righteous Brothers, Jackie and Gayle, and other guests). The clip above will link to another 7 which build to give you the whole show. A great slice of mid sixties pop TV.

Death

1992. Ralph Cooper Snr. (Master of Ceremonies at Harlem’s Apollo Theatre) dies in Manhattan, New York, aged 80.

Babble

Another week and another blog. The last couple of weeks have seen the blog getting forgotten till late in the day and sometimes missed out altogether. Friends and family assure me it’s a midlife crisis but who knows. I know you all expect me to regale you with tales of my rock and roll lifestyle and excesses but I’ll probably disappoint when I say the highlight of my weekend was a visit on Saturday by the archive Puli’s brother. The archive Puli – Loki, was put to shame when brother Hu turned up sporting the world’s most incredible coat carefully draped around the frame of a small tank. Even his owners thought he was three times the weight of the archive dog.

Anyway, I know I’m sad but I thought I’d share a couple of pics of the visit with you. I’ll also drop in a vaguely rock and roll anecdote: About 7 years ago, I had a very well known rock journalist and his employers visiting as they were considering buying the archive. One of the directors of the company pointed at a single dreadlock hanging on my notice board and asked what it was. He’d been in the house for at least an hour and had met all three of the Pulis that were in the house. Needless to say, I looked him in the eye and honestly told him it was one of Bob Marley’s locks. There were gasps of awe from the assembled throng and I never had the heart to own up to the fact that it was a memento from my first Puli, Emma whose adventures have been on Rockmine since its earliest days. You’ll find them at The Archive Dogs Pages. Here’s a shot of Hu, in all his glory.

 

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© Copyright 1995 – 2008 Rockmine Archives. Use of this content is prohibited unless licensed by Rockmine Archives.