Today In Music, August 21st

From the Rockmine Almanac for today (Thursday 21st August):

Birth

1957. Budgie (Siouxsie And The Banshees) born Pete Clark in Lancashire.

On Tour

1976. The Mont De Marsan Festival is staged in a bullring south of Bordeaux by Marc Zermati, owner of Skydog Records. It is the first punk rock festival to be held in Europe and features The Count Bishops, The Damned, Nick Lowe, The Pink Fairies, Little Bob Story and The Tyla Gang.

En-route to the festival, Ray Burns of The Damned buys a trendy shirt with epaulettes. Later, when he’s wearing it, he fools around pretending to be an airline pilot saving his plane from certain doom. One of his colleagues shouts out, “It’s fucking Captain Sensible“. The name sticks.

In Court

1998. Jim Kerr‘s brother Paul is jailed for two years at the High Court in Edinburgh follwing an arson attack on the home of Radio Tay DJ John Darroch on July 18th 1997. The former Simple Minds tour manager had originally been charged with the attempted murder of 18 year old Karen Darroch and other occupants of the house in Broughty Ferry but this was later reduced to wilfully setting fire to a settee and attempting to set fire to the house to the danger of the occupants. The attack was the culmination of a two year dispute over a shop bought from Darroch in Blairmore, Argyll. Paul Kerr had bought the property with the intention of settling down after years on the road. Unfortunately, the business didn’t take off for him and he claimed that he had been conned by Darroch.

In Hospital

1994. According to The News Of The World, Sinead O’Connor has been having treatment at the London Priory psychiatric hospital. In an article published today entitled, “Sinead Cracks Up”, the paper alleges that she has being undergoing intensive therapy at the £ 350 a day clinic.

On Television

1998. Rockpalast (WDR, Germany) Portishead; Tindersticks; P.J. Harvey; Fun Lovin’ Criminals; The Bluetones; Chumbawumba; The Jesus And Mary Chain; H-Blockx; Such A Surge; Thumb (Bizarre Festival, Butzweiler Hof, Koln). Here’s P.J. with “Electric Light”. 4m 50s.

Death

1975. Country guitarist Sam McGee dies in Franklin, Tennessee.

 

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

Today In Music, August 18th

From the Rockmine Almanac for today (Monday 18th August):

Birth

1941. Johnny Preston (singer of “Running Bear”) born John Preston Courville in Port Arthur, Texas.

On Tour

1980. Half an hour before The Police are due onstage at the Parc des Sports d’Aguilerra in Biarritz, France, Stewart Copeland is hit with a severe attack of food poisoning. His place at the drum stool is taken by his drum roadie, Jeff Seitz. No-one in the audience seems to notice.

In Custody

1965. Three members of Herman’s Hermits are delayed at Manchester Airport on their return from a U.S. tour. The three were held for two hours by customs men who confiscated the gold watches they’d been given by their American agent. Derek Leckenby, Karl Green and Keith Hopwood said they didn’t realise that they had to declare gifts. The watches were valued at £ 50 each.

In Reality

1967. Mr. Washa Ngwanamashala, an official with the Tanzanian national dance troupe, claims that the music of The Beatles is taken from the rhythms of the Wasukuma tribe in the Lake Victoria region of northern Tanzania. He said Beatles music was so popular in Tanzania because people recognised the “twang beat” as their own.

On Television

1966. Top Of The Pops (BBC-1, U.K.) Introduced by Pete Murray. Chris Andrews, Cliff Bennett and the Rebel Rousers; Ken Dodd (promo film); Manfred Mann; Napoleon XIV; The Alan Price Set; The Beatles (on disc) The Mamas & The Papas (promo film); The Small Faces. Here are The Mamas and the Papas with the promo film for “I Saw Her Again” which was screened tonight.

Death

2007. Recording engineer Roy Wallace dies in London, aged 80. He developed stereophonic sound for the Decca Recording Company in the fifties.

 

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

Today In Music, August 17th

From the Rockmine Almanac for today (Sunday 17th August):

Birth

1939. Ed Sanders (The Fugs) born in Kansas.

In Court

1999. Alan Longmuir (ex Bay City Rollers) appears at Edinburgh Sheriff Court. The former drummer, now aged 48, faced two charges of possessing indecent material of children, one of making indecent photographs or pseudo-photographs and two charges of possessing cannabis at his Edinburgh home. Longmuir denied all charges. The hearing was adjourned.

In Hospital

1995. Dave Gahan (Depeche Mode) slashes his wrists at his home in Los Angeles. He is taken to the Cedars Sinai Hospital in the city where he is treated and his mental condition is evaluated. He is kept in the hospital to assess his mental competence before being discharged on August 22nd.

In Church

1969. King Curtis is buried. The funeral is conducted by the Reverend Jesse Jackson. Among the mourners are Duane Allman, Brook Benton, Aretha Franklin, Cissy Houston and Stevie Wonder.

On Television

1969. Hee-Haw (CBS, U.S.A.) 9. Jerry Lee Lewis; Conway Twitty; Buck Owens and the Buckaroos; Roy Clark; Susan Raye. Here’s “The Killer” with “What Made Milwakee Famous”. 2m 29s.

Death

1973. Paul Williams of The Temptations is found wearing only swimming trunks in his car with a bullet through his head. He’s dead and although there’s no note, it’s probably suicide. He’d suffered from serious depression and drug abuse for many years.

 

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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.