1977 - New York's legendary disco and party central, Studio 54, opened up for business. Over the next three years, celebrity guests included Mick Jagger, Elton John, Michael Jackson and David Bowie. Donald Trump and his wife, Ivana, attended the opening night. The band Chic wrote a song in 1978, 'Le Freak', after being refused entry to the club on New Year's Eve 1977, despite having been invited by Grace Jones.
The scenes of decadence inside the club were legend, rampant drug use, and sexual hedonism...but tax problems and other issues forced the original club to be shut down. Studio 54 is now the home of Roundabout Theatre Company.
1978 - The Last Waltz, director Martin Scorsese's acclaimed documentary of the Band's star-studded last concert, opened in theaters.
The film captures several giants of the music world performing along with the Band. Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Neil Diamond, Joni Mitchell, and many others are there. Stephen Stills and some poets doing spoken-word pieces don't make the cut, and also deleted from the film is a smudge of cocaine under Neil Young's nose.
The film receives lavish critical praise, instantly touted as one of the great concert films ever made, with only a couple prominent detractors issuing negative reviews. One of those detractors, however, is the Band's Levon Helm, who feels the movie is made to look as if Robbie Robertson was the only member who really mattered. He calls it "The biggest f--kin' rip off that ever happened to The Band."
1980 - X release their debut Los Angeles. Considered by many to be one of punk's all-time finest recordings, and with good reason. Most punk bands used their musical inability to create their own style, but X actually consisted of some truly gifted musicians, including rockabilly guitarist Billy Zoom, bassist John Doe, and frontwoman Exene Cervenka, who, with Doe, penned poetic lyrics and perfected sweet yet biting vocal harmonies.
While they were tagged as a punk rock act from the get-go, X are not easily categorized. Although they utilize elements of punk's frenzy and electricity, they also add country, ballads, and rockabilly to the mix.
1988 - k.d. lang releases her debut solo album (without The Reclines, as it were), Shadowland. It's an homage to the polished countrypolitan sounds of the 1950s and '60s. In the hands of many artists, this sort of project might have been an exercise in misplaced, nostalgic fandom, but on Shadowland, lang taps into the sound and style of her most vital musical influences while at the same time putting her stamp on the music. The album included her collaboration with Kitty Wells, Loretta Lynn and Brenda Lee on "Honky Tonk Angels' Medley".
1994 - Johnny Cash released his 81st album, American Recordings. It was produced by Rick Rubin, and was seen as a massive comeback. For American Recordings, Rubin simply set up some recording equipment in Cash's Tennessee cabin and recorded him singing a set of songs accompanied only by his acoustic guitar. The result is an album that captured the glorious details of Johnny Cash's voice and allowed him to demonstrate just how emotionally powerful an instrument he possessed. While Rubin clearly brought some material to Cash for these sessions -- it's hard to imagine he would have recorded tunes by Glenn Danzig or Tom Waits without a bit of prodding -- Cash manages to put his stamp on every tune on this set, and he also brought some excellent new songs to the table. The result is a powerful and intimate album that brought the Man in Black back to the spotlight, where he belonged. (Photo by DANIEL JANIN/AFP via Getty Images)
1994 - Live relased their third album, Throwing Copper, recorded with producer Jerry Harrison of Talking Heads. With his help, they tightened their sound, injected some anger and created a cohesive, memorable record.
The rebirth-themed "Lightning Crashes," the album's biggest hit, was written in memory of Barbara Lewis, a classmate who was killed by a drunk driver in 1993.
1995 - Courtney Love turned down Playboy magazine's $1 million offer to pose nude.
Birthdays:
Blues singer Ma Rainey is born on this day in 1886. Ma Rainey wasn't the first blues singer to make records, but by all rights she should have been. In an era when women were the marquee names in blues, Rainey was once the most celebrated of all; the "Mother of the Blues" had been singing the music for more than 20 years before she made her recording debut in 1923. With the advent of blues records, she became even more influential, immortalizing such songs as "See See Rider," and "Bo-Weavil Blues". Like the other classic blues divas, she had a repertoire of pop and minstrel songs as well as blues, but she maintained a heavier, tougher vocal delivery than the cabaret blues singers who followed.
Duane Eddy is 86. Perhaps the most successful instrumental rocker of his time, he may also have been the man most responsible (along with Chuck Berry) for popularizing the electric rock guitar. His distinctively low, twangy riffs could be heard on no less than 15 Top 40 hits between 1958 and 1963.
The singles -- "Peter Gunn," "Cannonball," "Shazam," and "Forty Miles of Bad Road" were probably the best -- also did their part to help keep the raunchy spirit of rock & roll alive at a time in which it was in danger of being watered down.
Giorgio Moroder, Italian composer, songwriter and record producer known as the “Father of Disco,” is 84. He produced all of Donna Summer's world- wide 1976 hits including 'Love To Love You Baby' He also created a score of songs for performers including David Bowie, Kylie Minogue, Irene Cara and Janet Jackson. Wrote "Call Me", with Debbie Harry. It would be a #1 song song for Blondie. Moroder originally asked Stevie Nicks to help compose and perform the song, but she declined.
Gary Wright, best known for his hits "Dream Weaver" and "My Love Is Alive," was born on this day in 1943. "Dream Weaver" was inspired by Autobiography of a Yogi, which was given to him by George Harrison. Wright also played on Harrison's 1970 All Things Must Pass triple album. Gary was also in Spooky Tooth.
Wright turned to film composing in the '80s and released a series of world music and new age albums over the subsequent decades while occasionally touring with a reformed Spooky Tooth and as a member of Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band.
R.I.P.:
1984 - Count Basie died at the age of 79. Count Basie was among the most important bandleaders of the swing era. Basie's orchestra was characterized by a light, swinging rhythm section that he led from the piano, lively ensemble work, and generous soloing. His band, which was considered the epitome of swing and became broadly influential on jazz.
2013 - George Jones died at age 81. By most accounts, George Jones was one of the finest vocalist in the recorded history of country music. Initially, he was a hardcore honky tonker in the tradition of Hank Williams, but over the course of his career he developed an affecting, nuanced ballad style. Throughout the years, he never left the top of the country charts, even as he suffered innumerable personal (divorce/drugs/alcohol/shotguns) and professional difficulties (failing to show up for gigs, earning the nickname "No-Show Jones.")
Essentials songs: He Stopped Loving Her Today, White Lightning, Burn Your Playhouse Down (including the updated duet with Keith Richards!)
On This Day In Music Music History was sourced, curated, copied, pasted, edited, and occasionally woven together with my own crude prose, from This Day in Music, Grazia Magazine, Song facts, music This Day, Song Facts and Wikipedia.
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