On this day in history : 29th November 1963 – The Beatles release ‘I Want To Hold Your Hand’ – which goes on to reach No.1 in the charts….knocking another of their own singles from the top position….
United Press International (UPI Telephoto) – Public domain
By knocking ‘She Loves You’ from the top spot, this gave the Beatles reign of the charts with both the No.1 and No.2 positions…. Very few acts have managed to do this…. The Beatles did it again in December 1967 when ‘Hello, Goodbye’ reached top with ‘Magical Mystery Tour’ at No.2….
The Beatles arriving at John F Kennedy International Airport, 7 February 1964 – United Press International, photographer unknown – Public domain
In 1978, following the huge success of the film ‘Grease’, two songs from the soundtrack album achieved it…. John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John made No.1 with ‘Summer Nights’ with a solo John Travolta taking the No.2 position with ‘Sandy’….
John Lennon’s ‘Imagine’ shot to No.1 after his death in December 1980 and was joined by ‘Happy Xmas (War is Over)’ at No.2…. Three weeks later ‘Imagine’ still held top position and ‘Woman’ rose to No.2….
Others have followed since…. Frankie Goes to Hollywood with ‘Two Tribes’ and ‘Relax’ and Madonna with ‘Into The Groove’ and her re-released debut single ‘Holiday’…. In January 2016 Justin Bieber went one better by holding the top 3 positions….but a year later this was equalled by Ed Sheehan with ‘Shape of You’, ‘Castle on the Hill’ and ‘Galway Girl’….
On this day in history : 24th November 1991 – Freddie Mercury dies at the age of 45, at his West London home – just one day after announcing publicly that he was HIV positive….
Photo credit : Mike Davis via Flickr
The lead singer of Queen died from bronchial-pneumonia brought on by AIDS….it is thought he had been suffering from the disease for at least two years…. Even as his health declined Freddie continued to make music….
As news of his death broke tributes from around the world began to flood in…. Dr. Patrick Dixon, the director of an AIDS education charity told the BBC that by admitting that he was a sufferer of the disease he was giving his fans the greatest of gifts…. “His hope was no doubt that through his openness many people throughout the world would see that AIDS is a real illness”….
Five months later, on Easter Monday 20th of April 1992, a Freddie Mercury tribute concert for AIDS awareness was held at Wembley Stadium – with an audience of 72,000 people…. It was broadcast in 70 countries and raised approximately £20m for AIDS charities….
Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert Poster – Fair use
The concert opened with a tribute message from the three remaining Queen members :- Roger Taylor, Brian May and John Deacon…. The first half of the concert saw performances from bands who had been influenced by Queen’s music – such as Guns N’ Roses, Metallica, Def Leppard and Extreme…. The second half featured a performance from Queen with guest vocalists:- David Bowie, Elton John, Roger Daltry, George Michael, Robert Plant, Annie Lennox, Paul Young, Seal, Lisa Stansfield, Liza Minnelli and so many more took part – all wanting to pay their own tribute to Freddie Mercury, rock legend….
On this day in history : 14th November 1952 – Britain’s first music chart is published in the New Musical Express; the No.1 position is taken by American crooner Al Martino….
Al Martino, 1952 – General Artists Corporation (Management) : Photographer, ‘Bruno of Hollywood’ aka Bruno Bernard – Public domain
“Here in my heart” by Martino stayed at No.1 for nine consecutive weeks….
The United States had been compiling a weekly chart based on record sales since 1940 – but Britain still measured a song’s popularity by sales of sheet music….
One of the founders of the NME, Percy Dickinson, decided to compile a list of the week’s best-selling singles…. He did so by telephoning twenty different record stores around the country each week – to determine the top 12 singles the British public were buying….
On this day in history : 6th November 1975 – The first public performance by The Sex Pistols – at St. Martin’s College of Art, London….
The gig was organised by the band’s bass guitarist, Glen Matlock, who was studying at the college…. They were supporting the headline act, Bazooka Joe – who loaned the Pistols the use of their equipment…. The Sex Pistols were to play just five songs – including covers of ‘I’m Not Your Stepping Stone’ by the Monkees, The Who’s ‘Substitute’ and ‘Whatcha Gonna Do About It’ by the Small Faces…. They also performed their own song ‘Seventeen’…. After less than twenty minutes the plug was pulled on them…. There is some discrepancy as to who called time to the proceedings but it is thought that Bazooka Joe were less than happy at seeing their equipment being smashed up – the evening ended with a fist fight….
The Sex Pistols, 1977 – Photographer : Koen Suyk – Nationaal Archief, Nederlands CC BY-SA 3.0 nl
Three of the band’s members :- Steve Jones, guitarist – Paul Cook, Drummer and Glen Matlock, bassist – had formed a band in 1972 and had called themselves ‘The Strand’…. They took their inspiration from groups such as The Who and The Small Faces…. They were managed by Malcolm McLaren – an artist, fashion designer and boutique owner (SEX) – along with his then girlfriend Vivienne Westwood…. McLaren had a vision – a way of creating a whole new sound and look…. John Lyndon (Johnny Rotten) joined the band as vocalist, the existing three had a new frontman and they became The Sex Pistols…. With their raw, unpolished loud music, the band were about to become one of the most influential groups in the history of popular music…. Although they only produced four singles and one studio album in their two and a half year career- they initiated Punk Rock….
Sex Pistols in Paradiso – Johnny Rotten – Photographer : Koen Suyk – Nationaal Archief, Nederlands CC BY-SA 3.0 nl
On the 8th of October 1976 The Sex Pistols signed with EMI; their debut single ‘Anarchy in the UK’ was released the following month…. On the 1st of December 1976 their foul mouths and attitude on a TV appearance earned them the label ‘Rotten Punks’…. On the 6th of January 1977 EMI dropped them…. Glen Matlock departed the band in February ’77 and Sid Vicious took his place…. In May of the same year the band released their single ‘God Save the Queen’ – surrounded by controversy it was promptly banned by the BBC…. On the 7th of June, during the Queen’s Jubilee celebrations the Pistols attempted to perform on a boat on the Thames – but were stopped by the police….
Whenever The Sex Pistols performed it invariably ended in mayhem…. It was often difficult for them to get gigs in the first place – as organisers were reluctant to deal with them…. The Sex Pistols performed their final concert on the 14th of January in San Francisco….
Sex Pistols, Norway 1977 – Photographer : Billedbladet NA / Arnes Nielsen via Riksarkivet (National Archives) on Flickr
So, on that rainy November night back in 1975 – when in front of an audience of apparently approximately just twenty….history was made…. As for Bazooka Joe – they never got far…. Although their bass guitarist, a guy named Stuart Goddard, went on to have some degree of success – when he changed his name to Adam Ant….
On this day in history : 2nd November 2014 – The death of English clarinetist and vocalist Acker Bilk – who has in the past been described as ‘the Great Master of the Clarinet’….
Image credit : Bradford Timeline via Flickr
Bilk’s most famous track, instrumental Stranger on the Shore, reached No.2 and stayed 55 weeks in the charts…. It was kept off the No.1 position by Cliff Richard’s The Young Ones but was to become the biggest selling single of 1962…. However, it did reach No.1 in the USA; Bilk always claimed that it would be his pension fund….
Image credit : Bradford Timeline via Flickr
Born Bernard Stanley Bilk in Pensford, Somerset on the 28th of January 1929, he acquired the nickname ‘Acker’ as it is Somerset slang for ‘mate’ or ‘friend’….
He learned to play the clarinet whilst doing his National Service with the Royal Engineers in the Suez Canal…. His first clarinet was one a friend had bought on a bazaar – it had no reed so they made one from a piece of wood…. He later ‘borrowed’ a clarinet from the army’s orchestra – and managed to keep hold of it after being demobbed…. After completing his National Service Bilk joined his uncle’s blacksmith business and became qualified in the trade himself…. He married his childhood sweetheart, Jean Hawkins, whom he had been at school with – and they went on to have two children, a boy and a girl….
Bilk began to play on the Bristol jazz circuit with a group of friends…. He then moved to London and joined the band of trumpet and cornet player Ken Colyer…. However, he didn’t care much for London and so returned to Pensford and formed his own band The Chew Valley Jazzmen…
But to achieve success meant having to return to London….which the band did in 1951, renaming themselves The Bristol Paramount Jazz Band…. They landed themselves a six week job in a Düsseldorf beer keller – and it was during this time that the band developed their own unique style and image, complete with bowler hats and striped waistcoats…. Along with his goaty beard this look stayed with Bilk throughout his career…. The band returned to the UK and the London jazz circuit and became part of the traditional jazz scene that was so popular in the late 1950s…. In 1960 their first hit single Summer Set was released and reached No.5; a string of hit singles were to follow….
Mr Acker Bilk & His Paramount Jazz Band – Image credit : Hans-Michael Tappan via Flickr
In 1962 Bilk composed Jenny; a melody he named for his daughter – he reputedly thought it up whilst travelling in the back of a taxi…. He was then asked to change the title so it could be used for a BBC children’s television series about a French au pair living in Brighton – the series was entitled Stranger on the Shore…. He then recorded it as the title track for his new album – it made him an international star, selling over a million copies and earning a gold disc…. The track was so successful that it had no need for lyrics…. Soon he had become such a big star that his PR operation became known as the Bilk Marketing Board – a humorous play on the work ‘Milk’….
Fair use
Bilk’s last chart appearance was in 1978 with the album Evergreen…. He continued to tour with his band and was awarded an MBE in 2001…. He said, in 2012, that after 50 years he was fed up with playing Stranger on the Shore…. However, I don’t think we, the public, will ever tire of hearing it….
Bilk died in Bath in 2014 at the age of 85… He had been treated for throat cancer in 1997 but had then developed bladder cancer and suffered a minor stroke….
Image credit : Bradford Timeline via FlickrAcker Bilk performing in the Duke of Clarence Assembly Rooms during the 1960s – Image credit : Marquisofqueensbury at English Wikipedia CC BY-SA 3.0
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