Today in Music History for Oct. 8:
In 1931, conductor, violinist and music teacher Luigi von Kunits, the founder of the New Symphony Orchestra, died in Toronto at the age of 61. The New Symphony became the Toronto Symphony Orchestra in 1927.
In 1932, country steel guitarist Pete Drake was born in Atlanta. He was one of the busiest session musicians in Nashville in the '60s and '70s. In 1964, he made the top-10 of the Billboard pop chart with "Forever." Drake has appeared on several Bob Dylan albums, including "John Wesley Harding" and "Nashville Skyline." And he produced Ringo Starr's 1970 album "Beaucoups of Blues." Drake died of complications from liver disease on July 29, 1988.
In 1946, singer Gisele MacKenzie began her CBC radio show, "Meet Gisele." The program ran for about four years. MacKenzie was known simply as "Gisele" in Canada, and adopted the name MacKenzie only when she moved to the U.S. in 1950. She was a regular performer on NBC's "Your Hit Parade" from 1953-57.
In 1950, Robert "Kool" Bell, leader of the dance music group, "Kool and the Gang," was born in Youngstown, Ohio. The band did not hit the big time until their fourth album, "Wild and Peaceful," in 1973. Although "Kool and the Gang's" style anticipated disco, the group did not benefit from the disco craze of the late '70s. "Kool and the Gang" expanded their style to include ballads with the addition of lead singer James (J.T.) Taylor in 1978. The group's No. 1 hit single "Celebration" in 1980 became a theme song for the return of the American hostages in Iran.
In 1966, "Cream" drummer Ginger Baker collapsed after performing a 20-minute drum solo in Sussex, England. Doctors diagnosed him as having acute exhaustion and the flu.
In 1968, singer Cass Elliot made her solo debut at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas. However, she was suffering with tonsillitis, and her band had not rehearsed enough. She ended up cancelling the two-week engagement after opening night.
In 1977, guitarist Steve Hackett left "Genesis."
In 1980, reggae singer Bob Marley collapsed on stage during a concert in Pittsburgh, one of the first stops on a U.S. tour. Marley would never perform again. He was flown to Sloan-Kettering Hospital in New York where doctors discovered he had developed brain and lung cancer. Marley died in Miami on May 11, 1981, at the age of 36. Marley is a national hero in his native Jamaica. He and his band, "The Wailers," were largely responsible for making reggae music popular in North America and Europe.
In 1984, Anne Murray became the first woman and the first Canadian to win the Country Music Association Album of the Year award. She was honoured in Nashville for her album and hit single "A Little Good News," which had sold more than 12 million copies.
In 1985, rock 'n' roller Little Richard suffered a broken thigh bone and cuts after his car smashed into a pole in Hollywood. Richard, who spent three weeks in hospital, was later charged with reckless driving.
In 1988, "Pink Floyd's" 1973 album "Dark Side of the Moon" finally dropped off the Billboard 200 chart after a record-setting 741 consecutive weeks. (It has since reappeared on the chart through re-issues and as of September 2017 has totalled 933 weeks.) Its closest rival, Johnny Mathis's "Johnny's Greatest Hits," spent 490 weeks on the chart. When Billboard created the Top Pop Catalog Album chart in March 1991, the album became a mainstay. Cumulatively, the album has been on Billboard charts for over 2,100 weeks.
In 1990, George Strait was named Entertainer of the Year at the Country Music Association Awards.
In 1990, Tennessee Ernie Ford was elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame.
In 1992, the U.S. Postal Service announced a commemorative stamp booklet that included rock legends Bill Haley, Buddy Holly, Elvis Presley and Ritchie Valens, plus R&B stars Clyde McPhatter, Otis Redding and Dinah Washington.
In 1992, rockers "Bon Jovi" played together for the first time in four years, in suburban Phoenix. The unscheduled club date was the first of three for the band to promote its soon-to-be-released album, "Keep the Faith."
In 1994, Bryan Adams, Cher, Michael Bolton, Melissa Etheridge and Carl Perkins were the headliners as dozens of entertainers paid tribute to Elvis Presley at a concert in Memphis. Presley's only child, Lisa Marie, and then new husband Michael Jackson, watched but did not perform.
In 1998, on this day and the following day, the final two lawsuits against the estate of Tupac Shakur were settled in a California court, just over two years after the rapper's death. The family of a woman shot and paralyzed at a Shakur concert in 1993 was awarded $2 million and Shakur's biological father, William Garland, was awarded $900,000 as his share of the estate.
In 1999, Michael Jackson's wife, Debbie Rowe, filed for divorce, citing irreconcilable differences.
In 2008, Kellie Pickler became only the sixth country artist since 1990 to have her first and sophomore albums debut at the top spot on the Billboard Country Albums Chart.
In 2008, "The All-American Rejects" received the 2008 Rising Star Award from the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame.
In 2010, on the eve of his 70th birthday, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum dedicated a time capsule in honour of John Lennon containing several CDs, DVDs and books and two notes written by widow Yoko Ono. The capsule is scheduled to be opened in 2040, on Lennon's 100th birthday. Lennon was killed in 1980 outside the New York City apartment building where he lived.
In 2010, Grammy-winning singer Albertina Walker, who was known as the "Queen of Gospel," died of respiratory failure in at RML Specialty Hospital in Chicago. She was 81.
In 2011, Roger Williams, the virtuoso pianist who topped the Billboard pop chart in the 1950s and played for nine U.S. presidents during a long career, died of pancreatic cancer at his home in Los Angeles. He was 87. His 1955 hit "Autumn Leaves" was the only piano instrumental to reach No. 1 on the Billboard pop charts. It remains the best-selling piano record of all time, with more than two million sold. He also had hits with instrumental versions of "Born Free," "Lara's Theme from 'Dr. Zhivago'" and "The Impossible Dream.'"
In 2011, former "Weezer" bassist Mikey Welsh was found dead in a Chicago hotel room. He was 40. He had played with the band from 1998-2001.
In 2011, singer Elton John played his 3,000th public performance of his career. The landmark show came at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas, where he's opened his new show, "The Million Dollar Piano." His first show was on his 23rd birthday (March 25, 1970) at London's Revolution Club.
In 2013, the Nashville Songwriters Association International named Taylor Swift, 23, as its Songwriter/Artist of the Year for a record sixth time, moving past Vince Gill and Alan Jackson as the most to win the award.
In 2015, an appeals court in New York reversed a lower-court decision and ruled heirs of John Frederick Coots would resume ownership rights of "Santa Claus is Comin' to Town" in December 2016. Coots co-wrote the song in 1934.
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(The Canadian Press)
The Canadian Press
