1952 - Pianist Johnnie Johnson hired 26-year-old Chuck Berry as a guitarist in his band. While playing evening gigs in the St. Louis area, Berry kept his day job as a hairdresser for the next three years. Always good to have a back up plan.
1963 - The Beatles returned to London from Sweden and were greeted by hundreds of screaming fans and a mob of photographers and journalists. Ed Sullivan was at Heathrow as The Beatles arrived, and was struck by the sight of Beatlemania in full swing. He decided to look into getting this group to appear on his television program.
1974 - Led Zeppelin held the U.K. launch for their new record label Swan Song in Kent, England. Drinks were served by nuns in suspenders, a naked woman lay in a coffin covered in jelly and naked male wrestlers cavorted in recesses of the caves. Label mates Bad Company, The Pretty Things and Maggie Bell also attended.
1975 - Queen released "Bohemian Rhapsody". It was written by Freddie Mercury for the band's 1975 album A Night at the Opera and it was reportedly the most expensive single ever made at the time of its release.
Freddie Mercury wrote the lyrics, and there has been a lot of speculation as to their meaning. Many of the words appear in the Qu'ran. "Bismillah" is one of these - it literally means "In the name of Allah." The word "Scaramouch" means "A stock character that appears as a boastful coward." "Beelzebub" is one of the many names given to The Devil.
The backing track came together quickly, but Queen spent days overdubbing the vocals in the studio using a 24-track tape machine. The analog recording technology was taxed by the song's multitracked scaramouches and fandangos: by the time they were done, about 180 tracks were layered together and "bounced" down into sub-mixes. Brian May recalled in various interviews being able to see through the tape as it was worn so thin with overdubs.
Mercury was was always very vague about the song's meaning, admitting only that it was "about relationships."
1989 - The very first MTV unplugged show was recorded in New York, featuring Glenn Tilbrook and Chris Difford from Squeeze.
But they were unprepared. "Chris and Glenn showed up for rehearsal with electric guitars," said MTV's Alex Coletti, who would end up producing the show through 2001, recalled. "I said: 'Very funny, guys. Where are the acoustics? It’s Unplugged.' They looked at each other and went, 'Riiight… Make a phone call, quick!'" The program was aired on 26th Nov 1989.
2000 - Lifehouse release their debut album, No Name Face. The first single, "Hanging By a Moment," takes off, becoming the most-played song on American radio in 2001. KBCO played the unplugged version.
Birthdays:
U2 drummer Larry Mullen is 61. His love for music started with the piano but eventually he switched to drums. The boys met in Mullen's kitchen and formed U2; they had perfect chemistry, but Mullen was the only one who could actually play an instrument in the beginning. Mullen later described it as "'The Larry Mullen Band' for about ten minutes, then Bono walked in and blew any chance I had of being in charge.
Johnny Marr, of The Smiths and his solo career, is 60. As the guitarist and co-songwriter for the Smiths, Johnny Marr helped create the musical vocabulary for indie rock in the 1980s and beyond. The Smiths were fueled by Marr's intricate, ringing guitar parts that assiduously avoided cliches while being rooted in classic British guitar pop. Marr's strengths as an instrumentalist made him a popular gun for hire after the Smiths split. Immediately following the band's separation, Marr played with the Pretenders, The The, Talking Heads, and Modest Mouse while striking up a lasting collaboration with New Order's Bernard Sumner with Electronic. (Photo credit should read PATRICIA DE MELO MOREIRA/AFP via Getty Images)
On This Day In Music History was sourced from This Day in Music, Mental Floss, Allmusic, Song Facts and Wikipedia.
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