Today in Music History for Oct. 10:
In 1813, Italian composer Giuseppe Verdi was born in Le Roncole. Among Verdi's major successes were "Rigoletto," produced in 1851, and "Il Trovatore" and "La Traviata," both staged in 1853. Verdi died in 1901.
In 1885, the Victoria, B.C., Opera House opened with a local production of Gilbert and Sullivan's "The Pirates of Penzance."
In 1914, blues singer and pianist Ivory Joe Hunter was born in Kirbyville, Texas. He was at the top of the R&B charts in 1950 with "I Need You So" and "I Almost Lost My Mind." That was also the year he finally made the pop chart on his own, with "Since I Met You Baby." He died of cancer in 1974.
In 1917, pianist Thelonious Monk, one of the most influential figures in modern jazz, was born in New York. He was one of the founders of bebop, but his influence on harmony, rhythm and structure reached far beyond that late 1940s-early '50s style. He died in 1982.
In 1935, the first black opera, "Porgy and Bess," opened in New York. It was George Gerhswin's last musical production on Broadway. For the last year-and-a-half of his life, Gershwin wrote exclusively for movies. "Porgy and Bess," based on the book by Dubose Heyward and with lyrics by Ira Gershwin, was originally a box office failure. But it's since become one of the most widely performed and highly-acclaimed modern operas. A movie adaptation was produced in 1959. The most famous song from "Porgy and Bess" is "Summertime."
In 1950, Elektra Records was formed as a label specializing in jazz and folk music.
In 1955, Montreal-born baritone Louis Quilico made his New York debut with the New York City Opera, singing the role of Germont in "La Traviata."
In 1958, country-pop singer Tanya Tucker was born in Seminole, Texas. Her sultry voice was first heard on the 1972 hit "Delta Dawn," made when she was only 13. Tucker signed a multi-million-dollar recording contract, continuing her hit-making career with such provocative titles as "Would You Lay With Me in a Field of Stone," "The Man That Turned My Mama On," and "Blood Red and Goin' Down." In the early 1980s, Tucker made a brief foray into rock but soon returned to country music.
In 1962, the BBC banned Bobby "Boris" Pickett's "Monster Mash" because it deemed the record offensive. The novelty song about a horror movie star record hop was soon the No. 1 record in the U.S., and was a big hit again when it was rereleased in the early 1970s. Pickett recorded several of these "monster" songs, all done in a voice mimicking Boris Karloff.
In 1965, "The Supremes" made the first of their many appearances on "The Ed Sullivan Show."
In 1975, Dolly Parton's dress popped open as she was being named the Country Music Association's Entertainer of the Year on the televised awards show. She borrowed a fur from a member of the audience to cover up.
In 1978, Steve Tyler and Joe Perry of "Aerosmith" were slightly injured when a member of the audience tossed a cherry bomb on stage in Philadelphia.
In 1978, trumpeter and bandleader Ralph Marterie, whose orchestra was very popular during the early 1950s, died at age 63. His recordings of "Pretend," "Caravan," "Skokiaan" and "Shish-Kebab" all made the top-10.
In 1979, the city of Los Angeles declared Fleetwood Mac Day as the group received its star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
In 1986, about 1,000 people were invited to what they thought was to be a secret concert by Bob Dylan and poet-songwriter and pop star Fiona Flanagan in Toronto. What the audience got, after a two-and-a-half-hour wait, was Dylan picking out a few chords on guitar as Flanagan flailed about on stage to the pre-recorded backing by a five-piece band. The so-called concert was actually a scene for the movie "Hearts of Fire." The film turned out to be so bad it was never released in theatres, and went directly to home video.
In 1986, singer Stevie Wonder was presented with a plaque by the city of Toronto honoring his humanitarian works. MCA Records also presented Wonder with a double-platinum record for sales of his "In Square Circle" album in Canada.
In 1989, "Guns N' Roses" lead singer Axl Rose challenged David Bowie to a fight following a private "Guns N' Roses" gig at a Los Angeles club. Rose felt Bowie was bothering a female member of the band's entourage. Security guards separated the two before any blows were exchanged.
In 1992, HBO's taped broadcast of a Michael Jackson concert from Bucharest, Romania, was at the time the U.S. cable channel's highest-rated special ever. It's estimated that 3.7 million of HBO's 17.5 million subscribers tuned in.
In 1994, a New Orleans concert by "The Rolling Stones" was broadcast live on to all United Airlines flights in the U.S.
In 2009, Roger Daltrey's "Use It or Lose It" tour kicked off in Vancouver at the Commodore Ballroom. It was the first time in 24 years that "The Who" lead singer toured solo.
In 2009, Stephen Gately, a singer with the Irish boy band "Boyzone," died from pulmonary edema, or fluid in the lungs, while on vacation in Spain. He was 33. "Boyzone" was one of the biggest acts to come out of Ireland in the 1990s and sold millions of records and topped the British charts with six No. 1 singles during the 1990s, including "All That I Need" and a cover of the "Bee Gees'" "Words."
In 2010, Solomon Burke, the larger-than-life "King of Rock and Soul," whose songs blended soul, gospel, country and R&B, died of natural causes on a plane at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport. He was 70. His popularity never matched that of those he influenced, contemporaries including James Brown and Marvin Gaye, a reality he accepted with grace and some frustration. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001 and won his only Grammy Award a year later, for Best Contemporary Blues Album for "Don't Give Up On Me."
In 2010, Dame Joan Sutherland, a former small town secretarial school student whose mastery of tone, astonishing range and vocal control vaulted her into the top echelons of opera, died at age 83 after a four-decade career that won her praise as the successor to legend Maria Callas.
In 2012, a Moscow appeals court unexpectedly released one of three members of the punk band "Pussy Riot" who were jailed for their irreverent protest in the city's main cathedral against President Vladimir Putin. They were convicted in August of hooliganism motivated by religious hatred and sentenced to two years in prison. (The other two were released in December 2013 following an amnesty law that both described as a Kremlin public relations stunt ahead of the Winter Olympics.)
In 2016, Canadian rapper Drake earned a record-breaking 13 American Music Awards nominations, beating Michael Jackson's 1984 mark of 11 nominations. (Drake won four awards - Favourite hip-hop artist, hip-hop album, soul R&B song (with Rihanna), rap/hip-hop song.)
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(The Canadian Press)
The Canadian Press
