1979- The Cars released their second album Candy-O. Candy-O is the rare follow-up to a classic debut that almost reaches the same rarified air. Throw in one more absolute classic hit single and it would have been there. The album cover features pin-up art from Alberto Vargas.
1983 - Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble released their debut album Texas Flood which was recorded in just three days.
In 1982, the band played the Montreux Festival and their performance caught the attention of David Bowie and Jackson Browne. After Double Trouble's performance, Bowie asked Vaughan to play on his forthcoming album, while Browne offered the group free recording time at his Los Angeles studio, Downtown; both offers were accepted.
It's hard to overestimate the impact Stevie Ray Vaughan's debut, Texas Flood, had upon its release in 1983. At that point, blues was no longer hip, the way it was in the '60s. Texas Flood changed all that, climbing into the Top 40 and spending over half a year on the charts, which was practically unheard of for a blues recording. Sometimes the borrowing was overt, and other times subtle, but it all blended together into a style that recalled the past while seizing the excitement and essence of the present. (Photo by Cindy Ord/Getty Images)
1997 - Rumors saying Pink Floyd's Dark Side Of The Moon could double as the soundtrack for "The Wizard Of Oz" boosted the already phenomenal sales of Dark Side. Urban legend claims that if you play Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon (when the MGM lion roars the 3rd time, hit play) while watching “The Wizard of Oz,” there’s an incredible synchronicity (lyrics matching scenes) that could only come about had the band literally planned the entire album around the movie.
The album's engineer, Alan Parsons, was asked at the time if all this was intentional. He denied it. "There simply wasn't mechanics to do it," he said. "We had no means of playing videotapes in the room at all. I don't think VHS had come along by '72, had it?"
Nick Mason: “It’s absolute nonsense,” replied the drummer. “It has nothing to do with The Wizard of Oz. It was all based on The Sound of Music.”
1995 - Alanis Morissette released her album, Jagged Little Pill. It plays like an emotional purging, prompted by a bitter relationship -- and, according to all the lyrical hints, that's likely a record executive who took advantage of a young Alanis. She never disguises her outright rage and disgust, whether it's the vengeful wrath of "You Oughta Know" or asking him "you scan the credits for your name and wonder why it's not there." This is such insider information that it's hard to believe that millions of listeners not just bought it, but embraced it, turning Alanis Morisette into a mid-'90s phenomenon. All of this adds up to a record that's surprisingly effective, an utterly fascinating exploration of a young woman's psyche.
Birthdays:
Uriel Jones, session drummer for Motown Records' in-house studio band the Funk Brothers, was born today in 1934.
David Gray is 54.
Rivers Cuomo, Weezer frontman, is 52.
On This Day In Music History was sourced from This Day in Music, Far Out Magazine, Allmusic, Song Facts and Wikipedia.