... and more December 23 birthdays –
Don McNeill (1907) – radio DJ, host of The Breakfast Club.
Harold Dorman (1926) – singer/songwriter (“Mountain Of Love”).
Buddy Harman (1928) – Nashville session drummer.
Chet Baker (1929) – trumpeter with Charlie Parker and Gerry Mulligan.
Eugene Record (1940) – The Chi-Lites.
Declan “Dec” Cluskey (1942) – The Bachelors.
Harry Shearer (aka Derek Smalls, 1943) – actor/comedian, bassist for
Spinal Tap.
Robbie Dupree (aka Robert Dupuis, 1946) – singer (“Steal Away”).
Jim Pash (1948) – saxophonist for The Surfaris.
Robert “Adrian” Belew (1949) – guitarist/vocalist for King Crimson.
Alan Williams (1950) – guitarist/vocalist for The Rubettes.
Dave Murray (1956) – guitarist for Iron Maiden.
Victoria Williams (1958) – singer/songwriter (“Crazy Mary”).
Will Sinnot (1960) – bassist for The Shamen.
Eddie Vedder (aka Edward Severson III, 1964) – Pearl Jam.
Bobby Shayer (1966) – drummer for Bad Religion.
____________________
Birthday correction --
Ron Bushy was born September 23, 1945.
Birthday addition --
Luther Grosvenor is also known as Ariel Bender, guitarist for Mott The
Hoople.
____________________
December 23 R.I.P. –
Eddie Hazel (1992) – internal bleeding and liver failure. Age 42.
Parliament-Funkadelic.
Dan Hamilton (1994) – Cushing’s syndrome. Age 48. Hamilton, Joe Frank
& Reynolds.
Ronnie Scott (1996) – overdose. Age 69. British sax player and
nightclub owner.
Jackie Landry (1997) – breast cancer. Age 56. The Chantels.
Victor Borge (2000) – Age 91. Pianist and composer.
Charlie Drake (2006) – stroke. Age 81. British actor/singer ("Mr.
Custer").
Oscar Peterson (2007) – kidney failure. Age 82. Jazz pianist/composer.
Clint Ballard (2008) – Age 77. Songwriter (“You’re No Good”).
December 23 album releases –
Taj Mahal – The Natch’l Blues (1968)
Genesis – Wind & Wuthering (1976) UK
Blindside – Blindside (1997)
December 23 events –
1922 – The BBC begins regular broadcasting, airing the first
orchestral concert, a program of dance music, the first radio talk
show and scheduled news announcements from London.
1947 – John Bardeen, Walter Brattain and William Shockley demonstrate
their new invention, the transistor, at Bell Laboratories in New
Jersey: a device that will revolutionize radio and television, and
earn the three a Nobel Prize in 1956.
1955 – Fats Domino records "My Blue Heaven" at Cosimo Recording Studio
in New Orleans.
1957 – The Four Esquires and Johnny Crawford are the guest performers
on American Bandstand.
1957 – The Champs record "Tequila."
1958 – Frank Sinatra records “Come Dance With Me” at Capitol Studios
in L.A.
1958 – Bobby Darin records "Beyond The Sea" at the Coastal Recording
Co. in New York City.
1959 – Chuck Berry is arrested in St. Louis under the Mann Act, which
makes it illegal to transport a minor across state lines for immoral
purposes, after Janice Norine, a 14-year old Apache girl he'd driven
in from Mexico, is found to be a prostitute. Berry claims she was
hired to be a hat check girl at his club.
1959 – The Drifters record “This Magic Moment.”
1960 – Marty Robbins records “Don’t Worry.”
1962 – Bob Dylan performs at the King And Queen pub in Fitzrovia,
London.
1964 – Pirate radio station Radio London begins broadcasting from the
MV Galaxy, a former American vessel used as a minesweeper in World War
II.
1964 – The Beach Boys appear on Shindig! performing “Little Saint
Nick,” “Monster Mash,” “Papa Oom Mow Mow” and “Johnny B. Goode.” Also
on the show are The Righteous Brothers, Bobby Sherman, Donna Loren,
Adam Faith and Marvin Gaye. In the evening, on a flight from Los
Angeles to Houston to perform a series of concerts, Beach Boy Brian
Wilson suffers a “nervous breakdown.” Despite his emotional outburst,
he performs with the band, but returns to L.A. the following day.
1966 – The UFO Club opens its doors in London with house bands Pink
Floyd and Soft Machine.
1967 – John Lennon makes contact with his estranged father Alfred for
the first time in three years after hearing that he's taken ill,
sending him a get well note and a car so that the elder Lennon can
visit his famous son.
1968 – John Lennon and Yoko Ono hand out presents to the children of
the Apple staff dressed as Santa and Mrs. Claus at the Apple Christmas
party.
1969 – Elton John and Bernie Taupin begin working with arranger Paul
Buckmaster and producer Gus Dudgeon on Elton’s first solo album,
becoming John’s classic behind-the-scenes team.
1972 – Ex-Grand Funk Railroad manager Terry Knight shows up at the
band’s gig at Madison Square Garden with a court order allowing him to
seize $1 million worth of money and/or assets owed him by the group,
and realizing that the band can't get paid if they don't perform,
Knight and two deputy sheriffs wait for the end of the concert to
impound the band's instruments and equipment.
1972 – The video for John Lennon’s “Imagine” debuts on American
television.
1977 – Cat Stevens announces that he has changed his name to Yusuf
Islam and has converted to the Islamic religion.
1978 – Rod Stewart’s “Do Ya Think I’m Sexy” hits the Billboard Hot 100
at #40.
1984 – Howard Jones plays the first of three sold-out nights at the
Hammersmith Odeon in London with opening act Strawberry Switchblade.
1985 – One person is trampled and three people are shot at an LL Cool
J show at a roller rink in Baltimore.
1985 – Judas Priest fans Raymond Belknap and James Vance buy the
latest Judas Priest album Stained Class, then the two drink beer and
smoke marijuana and listen to the album over and over for hours.
Afterwards, they take a shotgun to a nearby school playground where
Belknap shoots and kills himself. Vance then tries to kill himself,
but blows away his jaw, mouth and nose and lives for more than three
years before dying from the effects of the shooting. The band will
ultimately be sued by the boys’ parents for hiding subliminal messages
in their music that caused the boys to commit suicide.
1987 – Unable to stop Pink Floyd from using the name to tour without
him, ex-member Roger Waters reaches an agreement with the band and
settles for receiving royalties whenever his image is used in any
Floyd promotion.
1996 – Mötley Crüe bassist Nikki Sixx marries his second wife, actress
and Playboy Playmate Donna D'Errico.
1999 – Unemployed Hawaiian musician Cristin Keleher breaks into George
Harrison's Maui home and makes herself at home, ordering pizza,
drinking root beer, doing laundry, and calling her mother before
authorities arrive to arrest her. She is eventually charged with
breaking and entering and theft.
2000 – Simply Red singer Mick Hucknall is given a caution in Court for
possessing cocaine and marijuana after police found the drugs at his
Surrey home after a woman falsely accused him of rape in November.
2002 – Paul McCartney is granted his own coat of arms by the College
of Arms. The crest features a bird that appears to be holding a guitar
in its claw. The motto is "Ecce Cor Meum," Latin for “Behold My
Heart,” which is the title of an oratorio he composed.
2005 – Black Sabbath bassist Geezer Butler offers a £5,000 reward for
any information leading to the safe return of Toga, a three-month-old
penguin stolen from a zoo on the Isle of Wight a few days earlier.
2006 – The British Embassy in Dublin announces that U2’s Bono is to be
made “an honorary Knight Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the
British Empire in recognition of his services to the music industry
and for his humanitarian work.”
2008 – A spokesman for Michael Jackson denies reports the singer is
suffering from a rare respiratory disease and is in need of a lung
transplant, also adding that author Ian Halperin made the claims to
promote his unauthorized biography of the 50-year-old singer.
