1977 - Bing Crosby's last Christmas special aired. The program was recorded in September, and Crosby died that October. The show is remembered for Crosby's unusual duet with David Bowie, where they sang a modified version of "Little Drummer Boy," with Bowie singing the new "Peace On Earth" lyrics composed by the show's writers.
Keep in mind, this was 1977 and Bowie was in his full avant-garde Berlin period. Crosby’s children, Mary and Nathaniel, remembered the day in vivid detail with Billboard in 2014: “It almost didn’t happen,” Nathaniel recounted. “I think the producers told him to take the lipstick off and take the earring out. It was just incredible to see the contrast.”
And that wasn't the only hurdle. Bowie didn't care for "Little Drummer Boy". According to of the shows writers, Larry Grossman and Buz Kohan, “He said, ‘I won’t sing that song. I hate that song. I’m doing this show because my mother loves Bing Crosby”.
So they came up with the idea of having a counter-melody Bowie could sing simultaneously while Crosby sang Little Drummer Boy. Ian Fraser, Grossman, and Kohan went down to the basement wrote Peace on Earth in 75 minutes.
1979- Pink Floyd releases The Wall. The concept for the record came about following an incident that took place during the 1977 Animals tour, when Waters' frustration at the inattentive audience spilled over and he spat at a heckler - making the band wish they could build a physical wall to separate themselves from the fans.
It documented the rise and fall of a rock star based on Waters' own experiences and the tendencies he'd observed in people around him. The story revolves around the fictional Pink's isolation behind a psychological wall. The wall grows as various parts of his life spin out of control, and he grows incapable of dealing with his neuroses.
This ambitious concept album was an across-the-board smash, topping the Billboard album chart for 15 weeks in 1980.
2003 - A block of East 2nd Street in New York City was officially renamed Joey Ramone Place. It is the block where Joey once lived with band mate Dee Dee Ramone and is near the music club CBGB, where the Ramones played their first gigs. In 2010, it was reported that "Joey Ramone Place," was New York City's most stolen sign. The sign has since been moved to 20 feet above ground level.
1982- Michael Jackson releases Thriller. Nobody could have prepared anybody for the success of Thriller, since the magnitude of its success was simply unimaginable -- an album that sold 40 million copies in its initial chart run, with seven of its nine tracks reaching the Top Ten.
This is where a song as gentle and lovely as "Human Nature" coexists comfortably with the tough, scared "Beat It," (with Eddie Van Halen on guitar) the sweet schmaltz of the Paul McCartney duet "The Girl Is Mine," and the frizzy funk of "P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)." And, although this is an undeniably fun record, the paranoia is already creeping in, manifesting itself in the record's two best songs: "Billie Jean," where a woman claims Michael is the father of her child, and the delirious "Wanna Be Startin' Something". the freshest funk on the album
Birthdays:
Dick Clark was born in 1929. Nicknamed "America's Oldest Living Teenager," Dick Clark's smooth charm and eternally youthful appearance made him one of America's best-known television personalities for decades. As a rock & roll figure and host of American Bandstand , Clark played a major role in pushing the music toward respectability -- for better and worse. The clean-cut production values of the show, supported by Clark's own persona, made rock & roll (not to mention racially integrated dancing) seem less threatening to many adults, and provided significant national exposure for countless artists.
William Michael Albert Broad — better known as Billy Idol — was born on this day in 1955, making him 68 today. First achieving fame in the ‘70s London punk rock scene as the lead singer of the group Generation X, he really made it big when he kicked off his solo career which led to international recognition and becoming a key player in the "Second British Invasion" in the United States. Legend has it that his stage name "Billy Idol" was inspired by a teacher's description of him as "idle".
R.I.P.:
2022 - Christine McVie of Fleetwood Mac dies at 79. She 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. (Photo by David Becker/Getty Images for iHeartMedia)
1996 - Singer and ukulele player Tiny Tim (Herbert Khaury) died from a heart attack on stage while playing his hit ‘Tiptoe Through the Tulips’ at a club in Minneapolis. On 17 December 1969, he married Victoria Mae Budinger on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, a publicity stunt that attracted over 40 million viewers.
On This Day In Music History was sourced from This Day in Music, Song Facts, Far Out magazine, Ultimate Classic Rock, Allmusic, and Wikipedia.
KBCO