Keefer

Keefer

Listen to Keefer weekday afternoons from 3pm-8pmFull Bio

 

ON THIS DAY IN MUSIC HISTORY: 12.29.21

1966 - Working at Abbey Road studios, London, Paul McCartney began work on his new song 'Penny Lane', recording six takes of keyboard tracks and various percussion effects. The song's title is derived from the name of a street near John Lennon's house, in the band's hometown, Liverpool. McCartney and Lennon would meet at Penny Lane junction in the Mossley Hill area to catch a bus into the center of the city. (Photo by MJ Kim/MPL Communications via Getty Images)

1975 - Time magazine introduces the phrase "Sex Rock" in an article taking aim at Donna Summer's "Love To Love You Baby."

Time claims that 15 percent of air time on AM radio is taken up by sex rock songs like "Do It Any Way You Wanna" by People's Choice, "That's The Way (I Like It)" by KC & The Sunshine Band, "I Want'a Do Something Freaky To You" by Leon Haywood and "Let's Do It Again" by the Staple Singers. The most egregious offender though is "Love To Love You Baby," a song they say contains 22 orgasms.

Jesse Jackson enters the fray in 1976 with his group Operation PUSH (People United to Save Humanity), threatening boycotts if record companies don't tone it down. His argument is that songs like "(Shake, Shake, Shake) Shake Your Booty" and "The More You Do It" are corrupting America's youth and leading to an increased number of unmarried mothers.

1980 - Singer/songwriter Tim Hardin died of a heroin overdose. Hardin wrote the songs "If I Were A Carpenter" (covered by Bobby Darin, Johnny Cash and June Carter, The Four Tops, Leon Russell, Small Faces, Robert Plant and Bob Seger,) and "Reason To Believe" (covered by Rod Stewart).

1982 - Sets of commemorative stamps in memory of Bob Marley were issued in Jamaica. He is considered one of the most influential musicians of all time and credited with popularizing reggae music around the world, as well as serving as a symbol of Jamaican culture and identity.

1982 - Unexpectedly (and some say inexplicably) delving into electronic music, Neil Young releases his 12th studio album, Trans.

When it was released, Trans was Neil Young's most baffling album. He had employed a vocoder to synthesize his voice on five of the album's nine tracks, resulting in disembodied singing, the lyrics nearly impossible to decipher without the lyric sheet. And even when you read the words, "Computer Age," "We R in Control," "Transformer Man," "Computer Cowboy," and "Sample and Hold" seemed like a vague mishmash of high-tech jargon. Later, Young would reveal that some of the songs expressed a theme of attempted communication with his disabled son, and in that context, lines like "I stand by you" and "So many things still left to do/But we haven't made it yet" seemed clearer.

This album, along with the one that follows it (Everybody's Rockin'), causes Geffen Records to sue Young for intentionally creating music that won't sell.

Birthdays:

Ray Thomas of The Moody Blues was born on this day in 1941.

Rick Danko, one of the three singing members of the Band, as well as their bassist, He was born today in 1943.

Black Sabbath/Rainbow/Whitesnake, and countless others, drummer Cozy Powell was born today in 1947.

Marianne Faithful is 75. Had a hit with The Rolling Stones song "As Tears Go By." Co-wrote the Rolling Stones' "Sister Morphine" while in a relationship with frontman Mick Jagger.

Yvonne Elliman is 71. Sang the part of Mary in Jesus Christ Superstar, was a singer with Eric Clapton in the 70s, and had the hit, "If I Can't Have You."

Bryan Holland of The Offspring is 56.

On This Day In Music History is sourced from Allmusic, This Day in Music, Song Facts and Wikipedia.


Sponsored Content

Sponsored Content