1936, country singer Hank Snow records for the first time … the songs are “Lonesome Blue Yodel” and “Prisoned Cowboy”…
1958, Tommy Edwards’ “It’s All in the Game” is the Billboard No. 1 hit … the melody was written in 1912 by Charles Gates Dawes who later became a U.S. vice president…
1964, “Oh Pretty Woman” by Roy Orbinson turns gold … it is his ninth and last Top Ten single … The Supremes release “Come See About Me” … The Dave Clark Five appear on The Ed Sullivan Show during which the tic-ridden host refers to them as “nice, neat boys” in contrast to the Rolling Stones, with whom Sullivan had had run-ins…
1966, Staff Sergeant Barry Sadler scores a #1 hit with “The Ballad of the Green Berets” … Sadler had been a medic in the Special Forces celebrated in the song … he later worked as an actor, ran a Nashville bar, wrote a guide to the music biz, then wrote dozens of military adventure novels … Sadler also was a soldier of fortune hiring himself out as a mercenary and was arrested in 1978 and 1981 in two separate incidents involving shootings … in 1984 he settled in Guatemala City where he often gave locals medical care and established a trust fund for Vietnamese orphans … he died of brain injuries in 1988 after being shot in the head while riding in a Guatemalan cab … there are three versions of how he came to be shot: He was the target of robbery; he was assassinated; he accidentally shot himself while showing off his .380 Beretta … Sadler finally dies in the V.A. hospital in Murfeesboro, Tennessee…
1967, hippiedom makes its way to the formal stage when Hair premieres off Broadway at The Public Theater in the East Village … the musical production features a scene in which the entire company appears nude … Hair will soon make the big time with 1,742 performances on Broadway … the original cast makes an album of the score that produces three hit singles all penned by Jerome Ragni and James Rado: “Aquarius,” “Let the Sun Shine In,” and “Good Morning Starshine”…
1970, Jim Morrison is sentenced to eight months of hard labor for exposing his privates in Miami … Morrison will never actually serve the time … he is freed on bail pending appeal, skips to Paris, and dies in his bathtub of asthma-induced heart failure the following July … Michelle Phillips of the Mamas and the Papas (the hot one) marries actor Dennis Hopper … they divorce eight days later, proving wrong those who said the marriage wouldn’t last a week … “Cracklin Rosie” by schlock hook-meister Neil Diamond gets the gold…
1971, 24-year-old Duane Allman dies in a motorcycle accident near Macon, Georgia…
1972, Philly soul singer Billy Paul gets on the soul charts with “Me and Mrs. Jones” … the song will hold the top position for three weeks and will become a soul classic…
1973, the Who’s Quadrophenia–a grand-scale rock opera about a young British Mod with multiple personality disorder–goes gold…
1975, wearing a sequined Dodgers uniform, rock pomp giant Elton John takes the stage for a second SRO night at Dodger Stadium … Bruce Springsteen appears simultaneously on the covers of both Time and Newsweek, causing great embarrassment to both publications … Joan Baez signs on as a member of Dylan’s The Rolling Thunder Revue…
1978, Boston’s Rat Club hosts the first U.S. concert by the Police…
1980, Paul Kantner’s brain starts bleeding during a recording session … fortunately, a few weeks in the hospital is all it takes to bring him back to 100%…
1983, Pink Floyd’s Dark Side Of The Moon becomes the longest-listed album ever on the Billboard chart–491 continuous weeks…
1984, Linda Ronstadt debuts her operatic singing voice with La Boheme in New York…
1986, The Beastie Boys release their album License To Ill which will become the first rap album to reach number one on the album chart….
1994, Madonna feels the papal wrath when Catholic churches in San Juan, Puerto Rico, urge residents to tie black ribbons on trees as a protest against Madonna’s first concert there … the churches keep their doors open all night as an alternative place to hang…
1995, Yolanda Saldivar, the former president of Selena’s fan club, is convicted of murdering the Tejano star that previous March … the jury hands out a life sentence … the same week, Gloria Estefan shows she ain’t no Madonna when she performs for Pope John Paul II … she is the only pop act asked to play the pope’s gala celebration observing his 50 years in the priesthood…
1998, having trouble completing the lyrics to his tune, “What’s Really Happening,” David Bowie turns to his fans for help, hosting a contest to finish the piece … the winner is 20-year-old Alex Grant, who will be allowed to sit in on the recording session…
2004, shockjock Howard Stern calls in to a talk show on San Francisco radio station KGO … the station is interviewing FCC Chairman Michael Powell whose agency had previously issued big fines against Stern and the stations carrying his broadcast for indecent on-air remarks … Stern accuses Powell–among other things–of getting his government gig by virtue of his father Colin Powell’s heft as U.S. Secretary of State…
And that was the week that was.
Arrivals
October 26: Gospel singer Mahalia Jackson (1911), the world’s funkiest human Bootsy Collins (1951), David Was of Was (Not Was) (1952), Keith Strickland of The B-52s (1953), Natalie Merchant (1963), Keith Urban (1967)
October 27: Floyd Cramer (1933), Lee Greenwood (1942), Kermit Chandler (1945), Garry Tallent of The E Street Band (1949), Kenneth K.K. Downing of Judas Priest (1951), Simon LeBon of Duran Duran (1958), Scott Weiland of Stone Temple Pilots (1967), Kelly Osbourne (1984)
October 28: Charlie Daniels (1936), Ted Hawkins (1936), Graham Bond (1937), Hank Marvin of The Shadows (1941), Wayne Fontana (1945), Rickie Reynolds of Black Oak Arkansas (1948), Thelma Hopkins of Tony Orlando & Dawn (1948), Stephen Morris of New Order (1957), William Reid of The Jesus & Mary Chain (1958), Ben Harper (1969), Justin Guarini (1978)
October 29: composer Vivian Ellis (1904), jazz arranger/composer Neal Hefti (1922), The Big Bopper J.P. Richardson (1930), Mickey Gallagher of Frampton’s Camel (1940), Denny Laine of the Moody Blues and Wings (1944), Peter Green founder of Fleetwood Mac (1946), Roger O’Donnell of the Cure (1955), Kevin DuBrow of Quiet Riot (1955), Randy Jackson of the Jackson 5 (1961), Einar Orn Benediktsson of The Sugarcubes (1962), Peter Timmins of the Cowboy Junkies (1965), Douglas “SA” Vincent Martinez of 311 (1970), Toby Smith of Jamiroquai (1970)
October 30: Clifford Brown (1930), Ray Smith (1934), Grace Slick born Grace Wing (1939), Timothy Schmidt of The Eagles (1947), Jim Messina (1947), David Green of Air Supply (1949), Otis Williams of the Temptations (1949), Joey BellaDonna of Anthrax (1960), Gavin Rossdale of Bush (1967)
October 31: Dale Evans (1912), Bernard Edwards of Chic (1952), Johnny Clegg (1953), U2 drummer Larry Mullen Jr. (1961), Adam Horovitz a.k.a. King Ad Rock of the Beastie Boys (1966), Vanilla Ice born Robert Van Winkle (1967), Linn Berggren of Ace Of Base (1970)
November 1: Sippie Wallace (1898), Don Robey (1903), Rick Grech, bass player for Blind Faith and Traffic (1946, some sources say ’45), Dan Peek of America (1950), Ronald Bell of Kool and the Gang (1951), Lyle Lovett (1956), Anthony Kiedis of the Red Hot Chili Peppers (1962), Def Leppard drummer Rick Allen (1963), Willie D of The Geto Boys (1966), LaTavia Roberson of Destiny’s Child (1981)
Departures
October 26: Hoyt Axton (1999), Wilbert Harrison of “Kansas City” fame (1994), rock promotor Bill Graham (1991)
October 27: composer/arranger/conductor Frank Devol (1999), Donnie Owens (1994), Latin bandleader Xavier Cugat (1990), Steve Peregrine-Took (1980)
October 28: producer Tom Dowd (2002), R&B keyboard man Jon Thomas who sang “It’s Hurtin’ Me (1995), R&B singer Billy Wright (1991), jazz arranger Oliver Nelson (1975), R&B reedman Earl Bostic (1965)
October 29: saxophonist Henry Berthold “Spike” Robinson (2001), Woody Herman (1987), Duane Allman (1971)
October 30: Jam Master Jay of Run-DMC (2002), early blues diva Jo-Ann Kelly (1990), hard swingin’ sax man Chu Berry (1941)
October 31: Lester Sill (1994), A Chorus Line producer Joseph Papp (1991), Procol Harum drummer B.J. Wilson (1990), Barry Sadler (1989), guitarist Malcolm Hale of Spanky and Our Gang (1968)
November 1: classic blues singer and pianist Sippie Wallace (1986), Pioneer Delta blues singer Tommy Johnson (1956)