On This Day..
1966 David Bowie released ‘Rubber Band’, his first single on the Deram label. It was part of a three-track audition tape Bowie’s new manager Kenneth Pitt used to persuade the label to sign him. Despite some good reviews in the music press, the single was a flop, once more failing to break into the UK charts.
1976 The first day of the photo shoot for the forthcoming Pink Floyd Animals album cover took place at Battersea Power Station in London, England with a giant inflatable pig lashed between two of the structure’s tall towers. A trained marksman was hired ready to fire if the inflatable escaped, but was not needed on this, the first day. Unfortunately the following day the marksman hadn’t been rebooked, so when the inflatable broke free from its moorings, it was able to float away, eventually landing in Kent where it was recovered by a local farmer, reportedly furious that it had ‘scared his cows.’
1983 MTV aired the full 14-minute version of Michael Jackson’s Thriller video for the first time. Now regarded as the most influential pop music video of all time, in 2009, the video was inducted into the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress, the first music video to ever receive this honor, for being “culturally, historically or aesthetically” significant.
2006 25 year old singer and actress Beyonce was set to earn more money than any other black actress for her performance in her latest film ‘Dreamgirls’. The musical based on the history of Diana Ross and The Supremes would earn the singer almost $65-million.
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Brand New Music
By Craig Clemens and Jonathan Knox
Childish Gambino | Awaken, My Love!
If Dam-Funk and Unknown Mortal Orchestra had a bastard son it would sounds something close to this. After seeing a ton of success with the creation of the brilliant TV dra-medy Atlanta, which is completely embedded in the world of southern hip hop, one might expect to hear an album that closely resembles that. But Glover did what he does best, a threw a brilliantly timed and creative curve ball. Although Glover has been accused of being inauthentic at times, he has never shied away from addressing the struggle of being the “Hollywood-type putting the rap world on for a try” and dispelling these accusations by releasing truly great and creative music.
John Legend | Darkness and Light
His sixth full length studio album Legend has never been one of R&Bs edgier artists where many of his previous hits could be considered closer to the world of Urban Adult Contemporary. Employing the help of producer Black Mills (Alabama Shakes, Sound and Color) the album, and especially the title track, borrow the same sort of spaced-out southern soul. Continuing to use his music as a force of striking political statements, Legend tries to walk the line between political and personal, sometimes with better effect than others. In beginning the record there’s an idea of where you’d think the ending will be – and for all it’s occasional missteps – it never really lands exactly where you’d expect it to.
The Rolling Stones | Blue & Lonesome
It’s hard to think of any band sticking around for six decades, but The Rolling Stones have done that, and are still going. Although outlasting their heyday peers, respectfully, the band’s output in the last 20 years likely had original fans really listening to nostalgia instead of those newer songs. Now back with their first studio release in 11 years, Blue & Lonesome, (also their 25th album on this side of the Atlantic!) Mick and the guys take a cue from their early years: injecting their (amazingly, still) electric chemistry into 12 old Blues standards. Match that with a runtime under 45 minutes, and this is an album that’s easy to get into. The material is rich, direct, nothing drags, and the Stones know how to handle it all, allowing space for each of them to have their fun. They get some friendly assistance from fellow Blues lover and player, Eric Clapton on a couple tracks as well. Overall it feels great to say that those original Stones fans (or just fans of Rock and/or Blues in general), have been given what they wanted for a long time – the Rolling Stones to get back to what made them so damn great in the first place.
