1965 - The Beach Boys release "California Girls." Musically, it's one of group leader Brian Wilson's favorite compositions, with an introduction that combines country and classical influences.
Brian Wilson said of this song when he spoke to Goldmine in 2011: "I came up the introduction first. I'm still really proud of that introduction. It has a classical feel. I wrote the song 'California Girls' in the same key as the introduction. It took me some time. I wanted to write a song that had a traditional country and western left hand piano riff, like an old country song from the early '50s. I wanted to get something that had kind of a jumpy feeling to it in the verses."
1970 - The local band Fritz opens for Janis Joplin at the Santa Clara County Fairgrounds in California. The lead singer in Fritz is Stevie Nicks, who is awestruck watching Joplin perform. Nicks credits Joplin for showing her how to connect with an audience from the stage.
1988 - Playgirl magazine publishes their list of the 10 sexiest rockers. They are:
George Michael
LL Cool J
Bryan Ferry
Michael Hutchence of INXS
Richard Marx
John Cougar Mellencamp
Bret Michaels of Poison
Larry Mullen Jr. of U2
Robert Plant
Terence Trent D'Arby
1997 - The French magazine Le Figaro publishes an interview with George Harrison where he blasts modern music, taking aim at U2 and the Spice Girls.
On U2: "Bono and his band are so egocentric. The more you jump around, the bigger your hat is, the more people listen to your music. The only important thing is to sell and make money. It's nothing to do with talent."
Spice Girls: "The good thing about them is that you can look at them with the sound turned down."
Bono returns fire, telling the crowd at their concert in Leeds, "Good people of Yorkshire, you are making a terrible mistake. George Harrison says you shouldn't be here. He said its all about big hats, lemons, and egos."
He raises a middle finger and says, "This one's for you George!"
Birthdays:
Christine McVie, of Fleetwood Mac was born today in 1943. Christine McVie stood at the center of Fleetwood Mac through the majority of the band's tumultuous changes of the 1960s and '70s, helping guide their evolution from the blues to pop through her sweet, strong voice and gorgeous, generous melodies. These gifts were evident on the records Fleetwood Mac made during their transitionary period where she shared the spotlight with guitarist Bob Welch but they were pulled into sharp focus when Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks joined the group in 1975, leading to the seemingly overnight transformation of Fleetwood Mac into a pop/rock powerhouse. In some shape, form, or fashion, she appears on every Fleetwood Mac album except two. (Photo by Steven Ferdman/Getty Images)
R.I.P.
1979 - Minnie Riperton died of cancer aged 31. Her daughter, Maya Rudolph, is 6 years old. The Stevie Wonder produced 'Loving You' gave Minnie a US No.1 single in 1975. She worked at Chess records singing backup for various artists such as Etta James, Fontella Bass, Bo Diddley, Chuck Berry and Muddy Waters.
On This Day In Music History was sourced from This Day in Music, Song Facts, Allmusic, and Wikipedia.
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