... and more December 25 birthdays –
Cabell “Cab” Calloway III (1907) – Jazz singer, bandleader.
Tony Martin (aka Alvin Morris, 1913) – actor/singer (“To Each His
Own”).
Pete Rugolo (1915) – Jazz composer, television theme songwriter (The
Fugitive).
Chris Kenner (1929) – R&B singer/songwriter ("Land Of A Thousand
Dances").
McKinley Mitchell (1934) – R&B/soul singer (“The Town I Live In”).
Pete Brown (1940) – poet/lyricist (“White Room”).
Kenny Everett (aka Maurice Cole, 1944) – British DJ, television host.
Barbara Mandrell (1948)
Merry Clayton (1948) – Soul singer (“Gimme Shelter”).
Robin Campbell (1954) – guitarist/vocalist for UB40.
Shane MacGowan (1957) – vocalist for The Pogues.
Alannah Myles (1958) – Canadian singer/songwriter.
Noel Hogan (1971) – guitarist for The Cranberries.
Dido (aka Florian Armstrong, 1971) – singer/songwriter.
Josh Freese (1972) – drummer for Nine Inch Nails and Devo.
December 25 R.I.P. –
Johnny Ace (1954) – self-inflicted gunshot wound. Age 25. R&B singer.
Eugene “Bird” Daughtry (1994) – cancer. Age 55. The Intruders.
Clarence "Satch" Satchell (1995) – brain aneurysm. Age 55. The Ohio
Players.
Dean Martin (1995) – acute respiratory failure from emphysema. Age 78.
Damita Jo DeBlanc (1998) – respiratory failure. Age 68. Singer ("If
You Go Away").
Bryan MacLean (1998) – heart attack. Age 52. Singer/guitarist/
songwriter for Love (“Alone Again Or”).
Joe Olivier (2001) – diabetes. Age 74. Guitarist for Bill Haley and
His Comets.
James Brown (2006) – heart failure. Age 73.
Eartha Kitt (2008) – colon cancer. Age 81.
T-Bone Bellamy (2009) – liver failure. Age 63. Guitarist for Redbone.
Vic Chesnutt (2009) – overdose. Age 45. Singer/songwriter.
Dorothy Jones (2010) – Alzheimer’s disease. Age 76. The Cookies.
Jim "Motorhead" Sherwood (2011) – Age 69. Saxophonist for The Mothers
of Invention.
December 25 album releases –
Pestilence – Consuming Impulse (1989)
The Stranglers – Live In London (1999)
December 25 events –
1931 – NBC radio broadcasts the first full opera from the Metropolitan
Opera House in New York, airing Hansel And Gretel.
1936 – Future Country music Hall of Famer Roy Acuff marries future
record executive Mildred Douglas.
1954 – Johnny Ace (aka John Alexander) accidently shoots himself to
death while playing with what he thinks is an unloaded gun backstage
at the City Auditorium in Houston, Texas.
1958 – DJ Alan Freed puts on his first Christmas Rock & Roll
Spectacular at Loews State Theatre in Manhattan, featuring Chuck
Berry, Jackie Wilson, Bo Diddley, Eddie Cochran, The Moonglows, The
Everly Brothers, Frankie Avalon and Johnnie Ray. The show runs for 10
days.
1959 – 18-year old engineer apprentice Richard Starkey receives a drum
set for Christmas.
1960 – 12-year old James Taylor gets his first guitar for Christmas.
1964 – George Harrison’s girlfriend Pattie Boyd is attacked by fans at
The Beatles' Christmas Show in London.
1964 – The Supremes, Marvin Gaye, The Temptations, The Miracles,
Stevie Wonder and The Marvelettes all appear at the Fox Theatre in
Brooklyn, New York.
1964 – Murray the K’s Big Holiday Show begins its 10-day run in
Manhattan, featuring The Zombies, The Nashville Teens, The Shangri-
Las, Chuck Jackson, Ben E. King, The Drifters, Patti Labelle and
Dionne Warwick.
1965 – Johnny Mathis is the only guest on Shindig!
1969 – 16-year old Robbie Bachman receives a drum set for Christmas.
1978 – John Lydon debuts his new group Public Image Ltd. at their
first live gig at the Rainbow Theatre in London.
1981 – The J. Geils Band plays a Christmas concert for the inmates of
Norfolk Correctional Center near Boston.
1982 – Three armed men wearing nylon stockings over their heads invade
Johnny Cash's vacation home in Jamaica, terrorizing Cash and his
family and locking them in the basement, before robbing the place and
fleeing. The three men are later shot and killed by Jamaican
authorities.
1990 – James Brown is given a four-day furlough from prison in order
to perform a free concert for troops at Fort Jackson, South Carolina,
whose Christmas leave is cancelled because of the impending Gulf War.
1991 – Willie Nelson’s 33-year old son Billy commits suicide by
hanging himself in Nashville after splitting up with his wife and
spending 30 days in an alcohol rehab center.
2003 – Michael Jackson gives his first interview since his arrest on
child molestation charges to CBS’ 60 Minutes news program.
