Welcome to my Music Diary – today for the 29th March!
On the 29th March 1986, Austrian singer Falco topped the US chart with his hit „Rock me Amadeus„. The song stayed at No. 1 for three weeks and it went also No. 1 in the UK. Falco, who’s real name was Johann (Hans) Hölzel, was the first German speaking artist, who achieved a number one single hit in the USA.
Welcome to my Music Diary – today for the 28th March!
John Evans (Jethro Tull)
Happy birthday to Mr. John Spencer Evans aka John Evan, who was born on the 28th March 1948 in Blackpool (UK)!
Before John became the keyboarder for Jethro Tull, he played for The Blades. Then the band name was changed into The John Evan Band. Bassist Jeffrey Hammond-Hammond (who became a member of Tull in 1971) thought, that this would sound better instead of ‚John Evans Band‘. During that time in the sixties and especially in Blackpool, Evan crossed already paths with people like Jeffrey, Barriemore Barlow and Ian Anderson, who founded Jethro Tull in 1967.
After playing as a session musician for the album „Benefit„, John Evan joined Jethro Tull in April 1970. One year later, he composed the legendary piano intro for Tull’s biggest hit „Locomotive Breath„, which was recorded for the historic rock album „Aqualung„.
With David Palmer, John Evan started the band project Tallis, which didn’t succeed and so he decided to stop his career as a musician and founded his own construction company.
Welcome to my Music Diary – today for the 20th March!
On the 20th March 1969, John Lennon married Yoko Ono in Gibraltar. The ceremony took place at the British Consulate Office and the just hitched couple spent their honeymoon in The Netherlands at the Amsterdam Hilton, where John and Yoko campaigned for an international „Bed-In“ for peace.
Welcome to my Music Diary – today for the 19th March!
On the 19th March 1982, guitarist and former Quiet Riot member Randy Rhoads died. The musician was killed in a plane crash.
Randy played that time in Ozzy Osbourne’s band and the whole entourage was touring through the USA. On the way to the next show in Orlando (Florida), they stopped on a property where on an airstrip some small helicopters and planes were parked. Andrew Aycock, the bus driver, took a test flight with keyboarder Don Airey and tour manager Jake Duncan. After a safe landing, Andrew took another flight – this time with guitarist Randy Rhoads and makeup artist Rachel Youngblood. During that flight the tragic happened: The plane buzzed over the tourbus, where Ozzy and the other band members were sleeping. After a second close pass the third didn’t succeed and one of the wings clipped the bus, broke and the plane was out of control and crashed into a near garage and bursted into flames. All three people were killed instantly and the bodies were burned beyond recognition. Randy Rhoads died at the age of only 26 years.
Welcome to my Music Diary – today for the 18th March!
On the 18th March 1965, Bill Wyman and Brian Jones had an urgent necessity: The two Rolling Stones musicians tried to take a pee at a petrol station in Rumford, Essex (UK). As they were refused to access the toilet, Brian and BIll urinated against the wall of a garage. Shortly after that, a cop showed up and finally the two were fined £5 ($8.50) for urinating in a public place.
Keith Richards remembers:
„One night coming back from a gig in North London, Bill Wyman, who has this prodigious bladder, decided he wanted to have a pee. So we told the driver to stop. The car is full up with people and a few other people say: ‚Yeah, I could get into that. Let’s take a pee.‘ So we leap out and we had chosen a gas station that looked closed but it wasn’t. There we are, up against the wall, spraying away. And suddenly this guy steps out. And a cop flashes his torch on Bill’s cock and says: ‚All right. What you up to then?‘ And that was it. The next day it was all in the papers. Bill was accused and Brian was accused of insulting language. Because what they did them for was not peeing but for trespassing. The thing with Bill is – and this is one of the best kept secrets in the Rolling Stones – that he has probably got one of the biggest bladders in human existence. When that guy gets out of a car to take a pee you know you aren’t going to move for 15 minutes. I mean it’s not the first time it happened to him. To my knowledge, Bill has never done one in under 5 minutes.“ („Keith Richards on Keith Richards: Interviews and Encounters“ by Sean Egan)
Welcome to my Music Diary – today for the 13th March!
Happy birthday to Mr. Adam Charles Clayton, who was born on 13th March 1960 in Chinnor, Oxfordshire (UK)!
In 1965, Adam’s family moved to Ireland where they became friends with the Evans family and their sons Dik and Dave („The Edge“), who were also very interested in music. Little Adam took piano lessons and at the age of ten he started listening to rock operas, classical and popular music. Three years later he bought his first acoustic guitar and when Adam was fifteen years old, his parents gave him a bass as a present. Clayton changed to Mount Temple Comprehensive School in Dublin, where he crossed paths with singer Paul „Bono“ Hewson, drummer Larry Mullen, Jr. and also with his boyhood friend Dave „The Edge“ Evans, who became a guitarist. In 1976 the quartet founded with Edge’s brother Dik, Ivan McCormick and Peter Martin the band „Feedback“. Shortly after that, Martin and McCormick left the group and in 1977 the name was changed into „The Hype“. In March 1978, Dik Evans quit and the new band U2 was born.
After winning a talent show, the group recorded their first demo tape. One year later, in September 1979, the Ireland-only EP „Three“ was released and in February 1980 the single „Another Day“ hit the Irish market. U2 were signed by Island Records one month later and in May the international single „11 O’Clock Tick Tock“ was released.The debut album „Boy“ followed in October and the outtake „I Will Follow“ became a hit in the USA. In 1981 the second LP „October“ and in February 1983 the third album „War„, featuring the hits „New Year’s Day“ and „Sunday Bloody Sunday„, hit the stores. The LP went No. 1 in the UK and the fanbase became bigger and bigger. In 1984, „The Unforgettable Fire“ charted in the UK and USA and songs like „Bad“ and „Pride (In the Name of Love)“ became further hits. With the legandary album „The Joshua Tree“ (1987), U2 became superstars. The first two singles „With or Without You“ and „I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For“ charted worldwide.
Until now, U2 have realeased 13 studio albums, selling more than 150 million records worldwide. And they won 22 Grammy Awards, more than any other band.
Welcome to my Music Diary – today for the 12th March!
On the 12th March 1955, Jazz saxophonist Charles „Charlie“ Parker died of a heart attack at the age of 34 years. Charlie, also nicknamed „Bird“ or „Yardbird“, was a leading force in the development of Bebop and became also an icon of the „Beat Generation“.
Born on the 29th August 1920 in Kansas City, little Charlie began playing saxophone at the age of 11. In the following years he developed his own style by practing up to 15 hours a day. Parker played with local Jazz bands in Kansas and in 1938 he joined pianist Jay McShann’s territory band. One year later he moved to New York City and in 1942 he started to play with Earl Hines, whose band also featured Dizzy Gillespie. Charlie Parker also jammed with young groups at the Clark Monroe’s Uptown House and Minton’s Playhouse. During that period he also crossed paths with pianist Thelonious Monk, guitarist Charlie Christian and drummer Kenny Clarke.
Charlie Parker became very soon an additc to heroin and he used the drug throughout his life. This caused always troubles for „Bird“ and he missed gigs and lost work regularly. On the 12th March 1955, Parker died in New York City in a suite at the Stanhope Hotel in New York City. The official causes were lobar pneumonia, a bleeding ulcer and a heart attack. He also had an advanced case of cirrhosis. The coroner estimated Parker’s 34 years old body to be between 50 and 60 years of age.
Welcome ot my Music Diary – today for the 9th March!
On the 9th March 1991, the British Punk band The Clash had their only No.1 single in the UK with the reissue of „Should I Stay Or Should I Go„. Due to the Levi’s television ad, the song became a huge hit.
The song was written in 1981 and originally released in 1982 on the LP „Combat Rock„. The lead vocals were sung by Mick Jones, while the Spanish backing vocals were sung by Joe Strummer and Joe Ely.