This Day in Music: I hope I don't die on the toilet

August 16th, 1977

Elvis Presley was found dead lying on the floor in his bathroom by his girlfriend Ginger Alden, he had been seated on the toilet reading 'The Scientific Search For Jesus'. He died of heart failure at the age of 42.

Ah the infamous or famous Elvis Presley death.  Myself, I was never a fan of him. I know his place in music and understand the influence he had. But just never got into the music.  I did enjoy the Million Dollar Quartet play/musical that I saw a bit ago.  Indianapolis takes credit as being his last live appearance too so that's cool.  There's even some plaque for him on the corner of Market Street, where Market Square Arena used to sit.  I was working downtown at the time they unveiled it, and people left peanut butter sandwiches there as that was his sandwich to eat.

This Day in Music: Woodstock, Baby!

August 15th, 1969

Woodstock Festival was held on Max Yasgur's 600 acre farm in Bethel outside New York. Attended by over 400,000 people, the event featured, Jimi Hendrix, Joe Cocker, Crosby Stills Nash & Young, Santana, The Who, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Grateful Dead, Janis Joplin, The Band, Canned Heat, Joan Baez, Melanie, Ten Years After, Sly and the Family Stone, Johnny Winter, Jefferson Airplane, Ravi Shanker, Country Joe and the Fish, Blood Sweat and Tears, Arlo Guthrie, and Joe Cocker. During the three days there were three deaths, two births and four miscarriages. Joni Mitchell was booked to appear but had to pull out due to being booked for a TV show, wrote the song 'Woodstock.'

This is a big event to talk about as it pertains to music.  All this great music came together for a weekend just for the love of music.  We all saw what happened years later when Woodstock got ugly.  But this first incarnation of the event really meant something, and it paved the way for music festivals.

This Day in Music: Why oh Why?

August 14th, 1985
Michael Jackson won a bid over Yoko Ono and Paul McCartney to secure the ATV Music Publishing catalogue. At $47.5m he gained the rights to more than 250 songs written by Lennon and McCartney. McCartney had been negotiating with Yoko Ono, who had decided to withdraw her side of the deal because of 'astrological' reasons.

I never understood why this happened, and it sucks that it did happen.  I am sure there have been times when music rights have been won by people other than the ones doing the writing.  But this is the Beatles. How can anyone but them own the rights to their music?  I do believe that McCartney would eventually get this part of the catalogue back and it's good to know it's back in the right hands.

This Day in Music: Almost Forgot About It

August 12th, 1968

Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, John Paul Jones and John Bonham played together for the first time when they rehearsed at a studio in Gerrard Street in London's West End. The first song they played was a version of 'The Train Kept A-Rollin.' They also played 'Smokestack Lightning' and a version of 'I'm Confused' (soon to become 'Dazed And Confused'). The first live dates they played were as The Yardbirds, and it was not until the following month when they started to use the name Led Zeppelin.

Those four guys should be remembered well as they would form the godfathers of hard rock in Led Zeppelin.  I don't need to rehash all the greatness they achieved or what they did for music.  Here's a little Dazed and Confused for you to enjoy.

This Day in Music: Back in Black

August 9th, 1980

AC/DC scored their first UK No.1 album with 'Back In Black'. It was the first AC/DC album recorded without former lead singer Bon Scott, (who died on 19 February 1980 at the age of 33), and was dedicated to him. The album has sold an estimated 49 million copies worldwide to date, making it the second highest selling album of all time, and the best selling hard rock or heavy metal album, as well as the best selling album ever released by a band.

This is one of those songs you know just by the beginning guitar riff.  Possibly the best song by AC/DC and my personal favorite.  I saw AC/DC back some years ago, and even in the balcony that was one of the loudest shows I've been to.  And if you know me, I've been to a few concerts in my days, and especially ones where I've been towards the front where the music hits your face.  This one was far away, and my ears were still ringing for a bit after the show.  AC/DC is one of those bands that knew what they did well, and never tried for anything different.  Why mess with the formula when it's working?  They could have called it a day after losing such a big influential singer, but carried on, and become one of the most popular bands around.  That's quite a feat for this type of band.

This Day in Music: Did U2 find what they were looking for?

August 8th, 1987

U2 scored their second US No.1 single from their 'Joshua Tree' album with 'I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For'. The song received two nominations for the 30th Grammy Awards in 1988, for Record of the Year and Song of the Year.

This song has come on at different points in my life recently, and it couldn't be more relevant to my life.  I just think sometimes there's something more out there for me, and I have to find it. But it's that whole journey trying to get to the destination that's hard.  

This Day in Music: But Yesterday

August 7th, 1982

Dexy's Midnight Runners were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Come On Eileen' their second and last No.1. It was the Best-selling single of 1982 and the song won Best British Single at the 1983 Brit Awards. The "Eileen" as featured in the video is Máire Fahey, sister of Siobhan Fahey, former singer with Bananarama and Shakespear's Sister. The American singer Johnnie Ray, mentioned in the opening lyrics, was also featured in the video using old film footage.

Who doesn't love this catchy tune?  Come on Eileen, indeed.

This Day in Music: Let's Twist Again

August 6th, 1960

 Chubby Checker appeared on US TV show American Bandstand and performed 'The Twist.' The song went to No.1 on the US chart and again 18 months later in 1962. It is the only song to go to the top of the charts on two separate occasions.

What can I add here other than how many of you have tried to do your own version of the twist?  But of course nothing beats the original.

This Day in Music: The Boss is the BRUCEE!!!

August 5th, 1984

Bruce Springsteen played the first of ten nights at the Meadowlands in New Jersey to mark the homecoming of the Born in the USA Tour.

I like to think I share a special connection with Mr. Bruce Springsteen as there is a cassette tape out there with me singing along to Born in the USA.  That's right, if only I could upload that for the world to hear. It's the beginning of my musical career, and I didn't even know it.

This Day in Music: The Monkees Gain a Fan

August 4th, 1967

A female Monkees fan stowed away on the bands plane between shows in Minneapolis and St Louis. The girl's father threatened to bring charges for transporting a minor across state lines.

Not much to add to this history lesson. Can you imagine how often this happened?  Or what do you think is the craziest thing someone has done to see their favorite band?

Fun fact about this song, it's one of the few songs that I've never been able to complete on Rock Band.

This Day in Music: The Doors Score Two Hits

Here's today This Day in Music. It's an odd fact that featured the Doors.  They had two songs in the top five of the US Singles chart, which doesn't sound odd considering how popular the Doors were in 1968.  But here's the kicker, one was their own song, "Hello I Love You" and the other was a cover version of "Light My Fire" by Jose Feliciano.  You know that guy that also gave us "Feliz Navidad."  So here comes the cover version of "Light My Fire" for you to enjoy.

August 3rd, 1968

The Doors started a two week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Hello I Love You', the group's second US No.1. 'Hello I Love You', was also in the Top 5 at the same time as Jose Feliciano's version of 'Light My Fire', giving The Doors two songs, written by the group, simultaneously in the Top 5.

This Day in Music: August 2nd, 2012

Today's This Day in Music involves a movie and a sappy love song.

August 2nd, 1986

 Peter Cetera started a two-week run at No.1 on the US charts with the theme from the film 'Karate Kid II', 'The Glory Of Love', it made No. 3 in the UK.

I always remember this scene in Karate Kid, even though this song wasn't as good as the ending credits song in the first Karate Kid.  Remember you're the best around, Nothing’s gonna ever keep you down.  

So you'll get two lovely Karate Kid songs for the price of one blog.

How do you say good bye?

Did you say that yesterday or just right now?

You'll never know the feeling of my bleeding heart

Too bad this blog could not have come under better circumstances, but I want to just pour out what's going on.  I couldn't believe I saw the ticker show up with this "Tony Sly Dead at 41."  I had to read it a couple of times because it was that unreal. Tony Sly was the lead singer and guitarist of No Use For a Name.  Punk rock band that had been around for a bit.  They're very melodic and really write some great songs.  Probably more of the unknown variety, but still known enough in the punk rock scene as I can tell by the outpouring of posts at punknews.org.

For me, it just hit home as I remember NUFAN being this band that I could listen to and really enjoy.  I got the cd "More Betterness" and probably listened the heck out of it.  I remember getting their live cd, and knowing that so well I could even recite the banter between songs and the little nuances that went on.  It's just unreal to think that someone like this is gone.

Now of course it's a bit odd as I didn't know Tony Sly or wasn't close to him or anything like that.  But I can relate to what the band was and what the music did for me.  I know that the first band I played in, Faze Factor, covered three or so songs of No Use.  We played Invincible, Straight from the Jacket, and Room 19.  We went and saw No Use in Cincy, and just had a good time there.  The band's live energy was great.  They knew what they could do, and they did it well.

Just looking through twitter and seeing the feelings of some of the fellow musicians that did know him hits you.  It's a weird feeling to think that something like this happens out of nowhere.  That's the hardest thing about it.  This came out of left field.  And who knows now if that band will carry on as Tony was the founding member of No Use.  I would love for some of the older members to get together and pull some show in memory of him, and I'd imagine that will happen.

This Day in Music: The Beatles Score Another #1

How about to give my music blog some love, each day of August I'll post something that happened on that day in music? If you have something that happened on that day, feel free to share it as well.

 Today's August 1st Day in Music involves the Beatles: 

August 1,1964

 The Beatles scored their fifth US No.1 single in seven months when 'A Hard Day's Night' went to the top of the charts. The group had now spent seventeen weeks at the No.1 position in this year.

One of my favorite songs by the Fab Four, and the movie was quite excellent as well.  Nothing beats that opening chord and the music moves along nicely.