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MasterCylinder
06-24-2005, 04:14 AM
THIS WEEK IN MUSIC

BIRTHDAYS
June 17
1944 Chris Spedding
1946 Barry Manilow

June 18
1942 Paul McCartney
1947 Sandy Posey
1961 Alison Moyet

June 19
1939 Al Wilson
1942 Spanky McFarlane (Spanky & Our Gang)
1947 Nick Drake
1951 Ann Wilson (Heart)
1962 Paula Abdul

June 20
1924 Chet Atkins
1942 Brian Wilson
1945 Anne Murray
1949 Lionel Richie
1953 Cyndi Lauper
1955 Michael Anthony (Van Halen)
1960 John Taylor (Duran Duran)

June 21
1932 O.C. Smith
1942 Deodato
1944 Ray Davies
1948 Joey Molland (Badfinger)
1950 Joey Kramer (Aerosmith)

June 22
1932 Kris Kristofferson
1944 Peter Asher (Peter & Gordon)
1948 Todd Rundgren

June 23
1937 Niki Sullivan (The Crickets)
1940 Adam Faith
1945 Paul Goddard (Atlanta Rhythm Section)

CHART ACTION
Chuck Berry debuted on the U.K. singles chart in 1957 with School Day. It was his seventh single in the U.S., after Maybellene, You Can't Catch Me, Roll Over Beethoven and three others that didn't chart. It made U.K. number 24, but climbed all the way to the third position in America.

Pat Boone had his final number 1 hit this week with Moody River. Five others hit the top spot before the 1961 hit, with Love Letters in the Sand being his most successful. A year later, Speedy Gonzales would finish his run of thirty-eight, top 10 hits. A heavy metal “comeback” was attempted in 1997 with his, In a Metal Mood (No More Mr. Nice Guy) album.

Music mastermind, Don Kirshner, assembled the group, Toomorrow, in 1970. He had enormous success with the idea the first time around when The Monkees made it big in the mid-1960s. Toomorrow didn't last long, but member, Olivia Newton-John, continued on by releasing a cover of Bob Dylan's, If Not for You. It went to number 25 in the summer of 1971. A string of hits began in late 1973 when Let Me Be There hit number 6 in the U.S. Newton-John had another fourteen, top 10 hits through the 1970s and early 1980s. In recent years she released an album that contained a re-recording of her first number 1 hit, 1974's I Honestly Love You.

Carole King struck gold in 1971 when her Tapestry album hit number 1 in the U.S. for the first of 15 consecutive weeks. The LP contained such classic tracks as It's Too Late, I Feel the Earth Move, So Far Away, Will You Love Me Tomorrow? and You've Got a Friend. It's one of the best rock 'n' roll albums of all time.

The Captain and Tennille hit number 1 in the U.S. for the first of four weeks in 1975, with Love Will Keep Us Together. The song was written by Neil Sedaka, and would eventually be the biggest hit of the year. A second single, The Way I Want to Touch You, followed it into the top 10 after it was re-released. Before the end of the decade, Daryl Dragon and wife Toni Tennille would revisit the top 10 several times, with songs like Lonely Night, Shop Around, Muskrat Love and others.

Jefferson Starship released their second album after changing their name from Jefferson Airplane. Red Octopus and the Miracles single taken from the LP were both smash hits in 1975. The album would hit number 1 in the U.S. 2½ months later, while Miracles peaked at number 3 in the middle of October that year. Play On Love and Tumblin' were also standout tracks from the best-selling album.

The Electric Light Orchestra earned a gold record in 1976 with their first hits package. OLÉ ELO contained their earlier hits, including Roll Over Beethoven, Showdown, Can't Get It Out of My Head, Evil Woman and Strange Magic, as well as the-hit-that-should-have-been, Ma-Ma-Ma-Belle. Numerous collections have been compiled since then.

Boston earned their third top 40 single in the U.S. when Peace of Mind peaked at number 38 in 1977. The song was taken from their multi-platinum selling debut album. More Than a Feeling and Long Time had also been successful on the singles chart, and are still held as rock classics by fans everywhere. The group was lead by technical wizard, Tom Scholz, who later invented the portable guitar device, The Rockman.

Andy Gibb hit number 1 on the singles chart in the U.S. in 1978, with Shadow Dancing. At the time, he was the only artist to hit the top spot with his first three singles. I Just Want to Be Your Everything and (Love is) Thicker Than Water were both number 1 the previous year. Other top 10 hits would follow, including An Everlasting Love, (Our Love) Don't Throw it All Away (both from the Shadow Dancing LP), and Desire, but none of them would make number 1. Shadow Dancing was written by Andy and his three brothers, otherwise known as The Bee Gees.

Ray Charles jumped onto the top 200 albums chart in the U.S. in 1993, with My World. The album included his interpretation of Still Crazy After All These Years, and gave The Genius a charted album in each of the last six consecutive decades.

Dusty Springfield had Daryl Hall's help in getting her latest single, Wherever Would I Be (also featured in the Sandra Bullock movie, While You Were Sleeping), to number 44 on the U.K. singles chart in 1995. The song was from her, A Very Fine Love album.

U2 members, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen, saw their version of the Theme from Mission: Impossible reach number 7 on the U.S. singles chart in 1996. It spent a couple of weeks there. Other songs on the soundtrack album include several by Danny Elfman, formerly of Oingo Boingo.

The original soundtrack to Blade Runner was finally released in 1994. Vangelis had created an amazing collection of music for the movie, starring Harrison Ford, that was originally shown in 1982. But a dispute between the musician and the record company held back the album, so instead, an orchestrated version of the soundtrack was recorded and issued. The excellent Vangelis set reached number 20 in the U.K. upon its release.

LIVE
In 1968, The Jeff Beck Group made their first U.S. appearance. They played The Fillmore East in New York and featured Rod Stewart on lead vocals. Early in Stewart's career, he would sing with his back to the stage. The Fillmore East closed exactly three years later. The group's first album, Truth, was released shortly after their U.S. tour began.

Neil Diamond celebrated his new recording contract with a 1973 appearance on the 20th anniversary show of American Bandstand. Diamond had just signed a ten album deal with Columbia Records, after leaving Uni/MCA for greener pastures. His current single was a live version of Cherry Cherry, from the recent Hot August Night album, so that's what he performed for Dick Clark and the audience. Columbia would soon be rewarded with the top 10 hit, Longfellow Serenade.

A Wembley Stadium concert was put on by Elton John, The Eagles and The Beach Boys in 1975. A string of hits heard that year included Philadelphia Freedom, Someone Saved My Life Tonight, Island Girl, One of These Nights, Lyin' Eyes and Take It to the Limit, as well as the recent number 1 songs, Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds and Best of My Love. The Beach Boys would hit the top 5 a year later with Rock and Roll Music.

The Prince's Trust Concert was held at Wembley Stadium in 1986. It starred Paul McCartney, Elton John, Tina Turner, Dire Straits, Rod Stewart, Level 42 and Phil Collins. A digital recording of the Wembley, Prince's Trust 10th Anniversary Party was released in 1987. Highlights include Money for Nothing, In the Air Tonight, I'm Still Standing, Better Be Good to Me, Something About You and Get Back.

Elton John, Rod Stewart and Joe Cocker performed at the Rock Over Germany festival in 1995. Rod the Mod was in the middle of a European tour to promote his album, A Spanner in the Works, which included the Tom Petty song, Leave Virginia Alone. Elton had just released Made in England, and the U.S. number 13 single, Believe. Cocker had been making appearances to support his Have a Little Faith album, his first for Sony.

36 YEARS AGO!?!?!? YIKES, I AM OLD!
David Bowie was offered a record deal by Mercury Records in 1969. Bowie signed with the label and went into the studio the same day to rework the sure-fire hit, Space Oddity, with Gus Dudgeon. Dudgeon would later produce numerous albums by Elton John.

NOT THAT CHUBBY!?!?
Chubby Checker and his entourage were arrested in Niagara Falls, New York, in 1970. Authorities found assorted drugs in his car. A year earlier, Checker had re-entered the charts with his version of Back in the U.S.S.R. It wouldn't be until 1982 and then again in 1988 that Running and The Twist (Yo, Twist!) also charted.

YOU'RE FIRED! OR JUST REPLACED!
Ritchie Blackmore was replaced by Tommy Bolin when Blackmore left Deep Purple to form Rainbow in 1975. Ian Gillan had left two years previously, so the Deep Purple line-up that remained wasn't one of the best. Blackmore's last contribution until rejoining in 1984 was on the Stormbringer album, from the fall of 1974.

SPLITSVILLE
Steely Dan split up this week in 1981, several months after releasing their Gaucho album. They didn't reform until 1994, when a series of U.S. concert dates were recorded and then released as a live album the following year. Unfortunately for Steely Dan fans, several attempts at remastering their albums has resulted in nothing but frustration. One of the problems involved the omission of the beginning of Rikki Don't Lose That Number from the Pretzel Logic album, originally released in 1974.

The Beach Boys released their last studio album of new material in 1992. Brian Wilson was no longer around, which left Mike Love running the show. The songs were once again about surfin' and the summer, with a few cover versions like Hot Fun in the Summertime, Remember (Walking in the Sand) and Under the Boardwalk thrown in for good measure. Summer in Paradise was not well received, partially because it was overshadowed by a Beach Boys box set released the following week.

HELP WANTED… NO! HELP WANTED!!!
Spinal Tap appeared on VH1 with a new drummer in 2000. An ad had been placed in the New York Times, which read, “Drummer died, need new one.” Out of about 500 applicants, a tall, older gentleman, wearing a silver fireproof outfit, was chosen. Nigel Tufnell, David St. Hubbins and Derek Smalls were supported on the skins by none other than Mick Fleetwood. The group was promoting the re-release of This is Spinal Tap on video.

THIS GUY AIN'T WORTH THE KEYBOARD I AM TYPING ON BUT…
In 1981, Mark Chapman pleaded guilty to murdering John Lennon the previous December. Lennon-related items were auctioned off at Sotheby's in 1984 this week.

PASSINGS
June 19
1997 Bobby Helms

June 20
1980 Bert Kaempfert

June 21
2001 John Lee Hooker