... and more December 24 birthdays – Harry Warren (aka Salvatore Guaragna, 1893) – composer/lyricist (“Chattanooga Choo Choo”). Franz Waxman (1906) – film composer (The Bride Of Frankenstein). Ralph Marterie (1914) – big band leader (“Skokiaan”). Dave Bartholomew (1920) – arranger/songwriter (“Ain’t That A Shame”). Raphael "Ray" Bryant (1931) – Jazz pianist with Sonny Rollins and Coleman Hawkins. Mike Curb (1944) – musician, record company executive. Lemmy (aka Ian Kilmister, 1945) – bassist/vocalist for Hawkwind and Motörhead. Munetaka Higuchi (1958) – drummer for Loudness. Greg Eidem (1959) – bassist for Flipp and Joey Molland’s Badfinger. Mary Ramsey (1963) – vocalist for John & Mary, and 10,000 Maniacs. Doyle Bramhall II (1968) – guitarist for Arc Angels and Smokestack. Ricky Martin (aka Enrique Morales, 1971) – singer, Menudo.
December 24 R.I.P. – Bernard Herrmann (1975) – cardiovascular disease. Age 64. Composer (Psycho). Bobby LaKind (1992) – cancer. Age 47. Percussionist for The Doobie Brothers. Zeke Carey (1999) – heart attack. Age 66. The Flamingos. Nick Massi (2000) – cancer. Age 73. The Four Seasons. Tim Hart (2009) – lung cancer. Age 61. Steeleye Span. Myrna Smith (2010) – Age 69. Singer/songwriter with Carl Wilson, The Sweet Inspirations. December 24 events – 1906 – Reginald Fessenden, broadcasting from Brant Rock, Massachusetts, becomes the first person to air a short music program on radio, first playing a phonograph record of “Ombra Mai Fu” (“Largo”) by George Frideric Handel, followed by Fessenden himself playing the song “O Holy Night” on the violin, and finishing with reading a passage from the Bible: “Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to men of good will.” 1920 – Opera star Enrico Caruso gives his final performance in Halevy's La Juive at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York City. 1944 – The Andrews Sisters debut their radio show, The Andrews Sisters' Eight-To-The-Bar Ranch, on the ABC radio network. 1953 – The Ames Brothers record “The Man With The Banjo.” 1955 – The Lennon Sisters make their debut as regulars on ABC-TV's The Lawrence Welk Show. 1963 – The Beatles hold their first Beatles’ Christmas Show series at the Astoria Cinema in London. The group will perform 30 shows through January 11, 1964 at the venue, with supporting acts Tommy Quickly, The Fourmost, Billy J. Kramer and The Dakotas, Cilla Black, The Barron Knights and Rolf Harris. 1966 – After months of pressure from both sets of parents, Elvis Presley gets on one knee at Graceland and presents Priscilla with the three-carat diamond ring he had made for her, and instead of asking for her hand in marriage, he tells her, “We’re going to be married.” 1966 – Tommy James and The Shondells record “I Think We’re Alone Now.” 1967 – The Bee Gees perform their Christmas special live from Liverpool Cathedral, which is broadcast on UK TV. 1967 – Creedence Clearwater Revival forms in San Francisco. 1967 – The Cowsills, Bobbie Gentry, Arthur Godfrey and Gilbert Price all appear on The Ed Sullivan Show. 1968 – Led Zeppelin begins their first American tour in Denver, Colorado. 1971 – Slade appears at the Marquee Club in London for a Christmas Eve party. 1972 – Local police shut down a concert by Manfred Mann's Earth Band at the University of Miami when neighbors complain about the noise, resulting in a two-hour riot so fierce that band members are forced to retreat to their dressing room. 1972 – Yoko Ono's first husband, film producer Tony Cox, kidnaps their daughter Kyoko and disappears somewhere in New York. 1972 – David Bowie performs a Christmas Eve show at the Rainbow Theatre in London on his Ziggy Stardust Tour. 1973 – Doobie Brother Tom Johnston is arrested in Visalia, California for possession of marijuana. 1974 – James Taylor, Carly Simon, Linda Ronstadt and Joni Mitchell, along with comedian Albert Brooks and session drummer John Guerin, all go caroling door-to-door in the Hollywood Hills. The sextet then heads in to town and continues their caroling at the Troubadour for the patrons attending a Flo & Eddie show at the club. 1975 – AC/DC appears at the Hodern Pavillion in Sydney, Australia. 1977 – The Sex Pistols play their last gig at Ivanhoes in Huddersfield, at a charity performance before an audience of mainly children. 1978 – ABBA’s Björn Ulvaeus and Agnetha Fältskog announce they are getting divorced. 1983 – The Police appear at the Brighton Centre on their Synchronicity Tour. 1988 – Nirvana begins recording their debut album, Bleach, at Reciprocal Recording Studios in Seattle. 2003 – White Stripes front man Jack White turns himself in to Detroit police to face aggravated assault charges stemming from a bar room altercation in which he allegedly attacked Jason Stollsteimer of The Von Bondies. 2005 – Rapper Foxy Brown, in court on charges of assaulting two nail salon workers, is handcuffed and threatened with jail time after she sticks her tongue out at a New York judge who asks her to stop chewing gum. Judge Melissa Jackson told the singer she showed disrespect to the court.
