Wax Museum #46 The Halloween Chamber Of Horrors 10/26/19

Rock and Roll Birthdays

Today's Rock and Roll Birthdays

February 20th

February 20thBirthday, Cree Indian singer, songwriter, actress and social activist Buffy Sainte-Marie, born in 1941 in Piapot Reserve, Saskatchewan, Canada.

February 20th Birthday, Blood Sweat and Tears trumpet and flugelhorn player Louis Soloff, born in Brooklyn, New York City in 1944. He died on March 8th, 2015, aged 71.

February 20th Birthday, Lindisfarne guitarist, singer, songwriter Alan Hull, born in 1945 in Benwell, Newcastle upon Tyne, England. He died on November 7th, 1995 at the age of 50.

February 20th Birthday, Guitarist J. Geils, born John Warren Geils, Jr. in 1946 in New York City. He died on April 11th, 2017, aged 71.

February 20th Birthday, Spirit guitarist, singer, songwriter Randy California, born Randy Wolfe in 1951 in Los Angeles, California. He drowned on January 2nd, 1997 while rescuing his twelve-year-old son from a rip current near the home of his mother, Bernice Pearl, at Molokai, Hawaii. He managed to push his son Quinn, who survived, toward the shore. He was 45.

February 20th Birthday, Bassist, guitarist, vocalist and one-half of the songwriting team in Steely Dan with Donald Fagan, Walter Becker, born in 1950 in Queens, New York City. He died on September 3rd, 2017, aged 67.

February 20th Birthday, The Cramps guitarist and songwriter Poison Ivy, born Kristy Mariana Wallace in San Bernardino, California.

February 20th Birthday, Nirvana guitarist, singer, songwriter Kurt Cobain, born in 1967 in Aberdeen, Washington. He died on April 5th, 1994, aged 27, in Seattle, Washington. An electrician hired to install a security system at Cobain’s residence found the body lying on the floor of a room above the garage with a shotgun on his chest and a suicide note nearby.

February 20th Birthday, 1963 The Stone Roses singer and multi-instrumentalist Ian Brown, born in Warrington, England.

Today In Rock and Roll History

February 20th

February 20th, 1958 Coral Records release the self-titled debut album, “Buddy Holly.” Backed by The Crickets, the LP collected Holly’s four hit singles on the label. Co-produced by Norman Petty and Bob Thiele from April 1957 through January 1958 in Clovis, New Mexico and New York City.

February 20th, 1964 In an inter-company memo to Capitol Records president Alan Livingston, the label’s Dave Dexter tells his boss that he had turned down The Hollies, Billy J Kramer and The Dakotas, The Swinging Blue Jeans, Manfred Mann, Gerry and The Pacemakers, The Animals, The Yardbirds, Herman’s Hermits and The Dave Clark Five, believing they’d be unsuccessful on the American record charts. Capitol had first rights to sign all of those bands for release in the US as a subsidiary of EMI Records. In 1962 and 1963, Dexter had also passed on the first four singles by The Beatles.

February 20th, 1965 Gary Lewis and the Playboys started a two-week run at No.1 on the singles chart with “This Diamond Ring.”

February 20th, 1965 London Records release The Nashville Teens’ “Find My Way Back Home” on 45. The song was co-written by Dennis Lambert and Louis Pegues. Lambert would have a successful run of hits as a songwriter and record producer for artists on ABC-Dunhill Records and Pegues was an R&B singer professionally known as Lou Courtney. The record entered the charts on March 13th and peaked the following week at No. 98.

February 20th, 1965 Philips Records release Dusty Springfield’s “Losing You” on 45. The song was co-written by Springfield’s brother Tom and Clive Westlake, who penned songs covered by Elvis Presley and Tom Jones, among others. The record entered the charts in March and peaked at No. 91 on March 27th.

February 20th, 1969 Motown Records release “I’ll Try Something New” by Diana Ross and The Supremes and The Temptations on 45. Written by Smokey Robinson and co-produced by Frank Wilson and Deke Richards, the record charted for seven weeks and peaked at No. 25 on April 12th.

February 20th, 1969 Sessions for the Blind Faith album begin at Morgan Studios in London with Eric Clapton, Steve Winwood, Ric Grech and Ginger Baker and producer Jimmy Miller. Recording continued through June 22nd, finishing the album at London’s Olympic Studios. Released in August1969, the album would hit No. 1 in both England and in the US, on September 20th.

February 20th, 1969 “Goodbye Cream,” a documentary chronicling Cream’s November 26th, 1968 farewell concert at London’s Royal Albert Hall, premiered in Baltimore, Maryland.

February 20th, 1970 Parlophone Records in Britain release “In The Land Of The Few” backed with “People People” by Love Sculpture on 45. The A-side was co-written by Dave Edmunds, Mike Finesilver and Pete Ker. The trio co-produced the single. Finesilver and Ker co-wrote “People People.” In the US, Parrot Records issued the single in March

February 20th, 1971 Richie Havens’ cover version of the George Harrison song “Here Comes The Sun” is released on Stormy Forest Records. The song was recorded live at The Cellar Door in Georgetown, Maryland. The record spent fourteen weeks on the charts and peaked at No. 16 on May 22nd.

February 20th, 1971 The Osmonds’ “One Bad Apple” is the No. 1 record in the US.

February 20th, 1971 The original cast double album set “Jesus Christ Superstar” hits No. 1 in the US. Recorded in 1970 in Olympic Studios, London, many of the primary musicians, guitarists Neil Hubbard and Henry McCullough, bassist Alan Spenner and drummer Bruce Rowland, came from Joe Cocker’s backing group, The Grease Band.

February 20th, 1971 Dunhill Records release “Snow Blind Friend” by Steppenwolf on 45. The anti-drug song was written by Hoyt Axton about a friend who had succumbed to a cocaine addiction. Axton first released the song himself in 1969. The Steppenwolf version entered the US charts in March and peaked at No. 60 on April 10th.

February 20th, 1971 “Ain’t Got Time” by The Impressions enters the singles charts. It was the last Impressions single with Curtis Mayfield as the band’s lead singer. Mayfield wrote and produced a remake of the song as a solo record in 1974. The record charted for six weeks and peaked at No. 53 on March 27th.

February 20th, 1974 Virgin Records in Britain release “Phaedra,” the fifth album by electronic keyboard band Tangerine Dream. Recorded at The Manor Studios in Shipton-on-Cherwell, England with Edgar Froese producing. The album reached No. 15 in Britain, No. 196 in America, on July 13th.

February 20th, 1974 ABC Records release “Pretzel Logic,” the third studio album by Steely Dan. The LP was recorded at The Village Recorders in West Los Angeles, California with producer Gary Katz. It was the last Steely Dan album recorded while the band was still a touring group and began the trend of bringing in studio musicians to augment the band in the studio. Drummers Jim Gordon and Jeff Porcaro play on the LP. Timothy B. Schmit sang backing vocals, with David Paich playing piano and other keyboards. “Pretzel Logic” featured the hit “Rikki Don’t Lose That Number” and reached No. 8 on August 17th.

February 20th, 1979 Dark Horse Records release the eponymous “George Harrison” LP. The album was recorded from April through October 1978 at Harrison’s home studio, FPSHOT in Oxfordshire and at AIR Studios in London. Harrison and Russ Titelman co-produced the LP. The record was issued three days later in Britain. Charting for eighteen weeks in America, the album peaked at No. 14 on April 28th.

February 20th, 1979 Elektra Records release “Good Times Roll,” by The Cars on 45. The song was written and sung by The Cars’ Ric Ocasek. Recorded at AIR Studios in London, England during sessions for the band’s debut LP, the track was produced by Roy Thomas Baker. The record entered the charts in March and peaked at No. 41 on May 12th.

February 20th, 1984 Rough Trade Records in Britain release the self-titled debut album by The Smiths. Initial sessions with Teardrop Explodes guitarist Troy Tate producing were rejected by the record company. Rerecorded with producer John Porter, sessions went from September through November 1983 at four different studios in England. The record reached No. 2 in Britain, No. 150 in America, on June 9th.

February 20th, 1985 A&M Records release “Don’t You (Forget About Me)” by Simple Minds on 45. Co-written by the record’s producer, Keith Forsey, with Steve Schiff for the movie The Breakfast Club. Forsey asked Cy Curnin from The Fixx, Bryan Ferry and Billy Idol to record the song but they all turned it down. Simple Minds agreed to cut the song which was pushed up the charts by the box office success of the movie and reached No. 1 on May 18th.

February 20th, 1988 Arista Records release “Starfish” by Australian band The Church. Co-produced by Greg Ladanyi, Waddy Wachtel and The Church during sessions in Los Angeles, California, the record peaked at No. 41 on June 25th.

February 20th, 1988 Columbia Records release “The Seventh One,” the seventh album by Toto. Co-produced by George Massenburg, Bill Payne and Toto, the LP was recorded in 1987 through early 1988 at The Complex in Los Angeles, The Manor in Oxfordshire, England and A&M Studios in Hollywood. Keyboardist Steve Porcaro announced he was quitting the band during the recording of the LP but remained through the European tour supporting the record. Jon Anderson, Jim Keltner, Linda Ronstadt, David Lindley, Jim Horn, Tom Scott and James Pankow are among the other musicians that played sessions for the album. “The Seventh One” peaked at No. 64 on April 30th.

February 20th, 2001 The Monkees’ four CD box set, “Music Box,” is released. Collecting songs from every period of The Monkees recording career through 1996.

Miscellaneous February

February 1957 Gale Records release “Chickee Wah Wah” by Bobby Marchan on 45. The song was co-written by Huey “Piano” Smith and John Vincent. Smith played piano on the track. Marchan was the lead singer in Smith’s band Huey “Piano” Smith and The Clowns, a popular live attraction in New Orleans in the 1950’s and 1960’s.

February 1964 Polydor Records in Britain release “I Just Wanna Make Love To You” backed with “Let The Good Times Roll,” the first single by Scottish singer Alex Harvey and His Soul Band. Harvey wrote the A-side lyrics, reworking the Willie Dixon song. The flip side was penned by Leonard Lee, a cover version of the Shirley and Lee song from 1961.

February 1968 Lee Hazelwood’s LHI Records release “Safe As Home” by The International Submarine Band. Led by twenty-one-year-old Gram Parsons, the LP was recorded at Western Sound (Studio B) in Hollywood with producer Suzi Jane Hokom. Parsons had accepted the offer to join The Byrds before the album was released.

February 1973 Harvest Records release “Lifemask,” the sixth album by Roy Harper. Produced by Peter Jenner at Abbey Road Studios in London, Jimmy Page and Nice drummer Brian Davidson were among the studio musicians on the record.

February 1973 John Martyn’s “Solid Air” album is released. Recording began in July 1972 at Sound Techniques in Chelsea with producer John Wood. Further sessions took place in September and recording was completed by December 9th, 1972.

February 1974 A&M Records release “When The Morning Comes” by Hoyt Axton on 45. Written by Axton who co-produced the track with Allan McDougall, the song features Linda Ronstadt on backing vocals.

February 1975 Warner Brothers Records release “Rock The Nation,” the debut single from Montrose. Co-produced by the band and Ted Templeman, the band included lead vocalist Sammy Hagar, guitarist Ronnie Montrose, Bill Church on bass and Denny Carmassi on drums.

February 1976 RCA/Equinox Records release “Jamaica Farewell” by California Music on 45. The traditional song was co-credited to Terry Melcher, Curt Boettcher and Gary Usher. Usher and Melcher were in the group along with Beach Boy Bruce Johnston.

February 1977 DEVO release their first single on their own record label, Booji Boy Records. “Mongoloid” backed with “Jocko Homo” was co-credited and produced by the band. Both songs would be rerecorded for the group’s first LP “Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are DEVO!” in 1978.

February 1978 Columbia Records release “Godzilla” by Blue Öyster Cult on 45. The song was written by Cult guitarist Donald Roeser from Blue Öyster Cult’s fifth album “Spectres.” The record was co-produced by the band, Murray Krugman, Sandy Pearlman and David Lucas.

February 1980 CBS Records in Ireland release “Another Day” backed with “Twilight” by U2 on 45. The group co-wrote the LP collectively and co-produced the disc with Chas De Walley.

February 1980 Virgin Records in the US release the first stateside single by XTC. “Ten Feet Tall” was written by bassist Colin Moulding and produced by Phil Wainman, While the label copy states the song is from the band’s “Drums And Wires” LP, the version issued on the 45 in not the same as the one on the album.

February 1987 Legacy Records in Britain release “Staring Up” by Roy Wood. The LP was written produced and arranged by Roy Wood, playing and singing all the instruments and vocals himself.