Music History ~ May 8th:

In 1954, Britain's BBC bans the song "Such a Night" by Johnnie Ray after listeners complain about its 'suggestiveness'. Ray's animated stage persona included pounding on his piano, writhing on the floor and even crying, which earned him the nicknames "Mr. Emotion", "The Nabob of Sob", and "The Prince of Wails".

In 1959, in Los Angeles, Frank Sinatra recorded "High Hopes."

In 1960, the Browns performed "The Old Lamplighter" on CBS-TV's "The Ed Sullivan Show."

In 1961, Elvis Presley released the single "I Feel So Bad."

In 1962, Beatles manager Brian Epstein had a chance meeting with engineer Ted Huntly at a London record store. After Epstein related his discouragement about the Decca label rejecting the band, Huntly suggested he send a demo recording of the Beatles to EMI and, in particular, to one of their producers, George Martin.

In 1963, Major Lance recorded Curtis Mayfield's "The Monkey Time."

In 1964, the Beatles had held the #1 position on the US singles chart for 14 weeks with three #1s in succession: “I Want to Hold Your Hand” for seven weeks, “She Loves You” for two weeks and “Can't Buy Me Love” for five weeks.

In 1965, during filming of what became the documentary "Don't Look Back," Bob Dylan got the idea for one of the first music videos: a short film of his single "Subterranean Homesick Blues," featuring him standing in an alley next to London's Savoy Hotel flipping giant cue cards with the lyrics of the song on them. The cards that he held up to the camera were written by Donovan, Allen Ginsberg, Bob Neuwirth and Dylan.

In 1967, singer Laverne Andrews of the Andrews Sisters died of cancer at age 55.

In 1967, Gerry And The Pacemakers announced that they were splitting up, recognizing that they could 'no longer keep pace with the rapidly changing UK Rock scene.'

In 1969, John Lennon, George Harrison and Ringo Starr signed a management agreement with Gary Klein of ABKCO.

On May 8, 1970, the Beatles released 'Let It Be,' their last album of original studio material, although it was actually recorded before the previously released 'Abbey Road.'  Despite a mixed review from Rolling Stone magazine at the time of its release, the album was ranked number 86 in the magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time in 2003.  'Let It Be... Naked' was released in 2003, an alternative version of the album stripping much of Phil Spector's production work and using some different versions of songs.

In 1972, Billy Preston became the first rock performer to headline at Radio City Music Hall.

In 1974, UK keyboard player Graham Bond committed suicide after throwing himself under a London tube train at Finsbury Park station. He was 36. It took police two days to identify his body which was crushed beyond all recognition. He was briefly a member of Blues Incorporated, a group led by Alexis Korner, before forming the Graham Bond Quartet, with a lineup of Bond on vocals and organ, Ginger Baker on drums and Jack Bruce on bass.

In 1976, John Sebastian, who had left The Lovin' Spoonful for a solo career in 1968, hit the top of Billboard Magazine's Hot 100 chart with the theme to the TV show, Welcome Back Kotter. John would later say that he wrote the song in 15 minutes. Oddly enough, it even reached #93 on the Billboard Country Chart.

In 1976, the Steve Miller Band's "Take The Money And Run" was released. It will climb to #11 in the US.  The two lines "They headed down to, ooh, old El Paso" and "Billie Mack is a detective down in Texas" are followed by claps in a manner similar to "Deep in the Heart of Texas."  The song also shares the same basic chordal structure with Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Sweet Home Alabama" and Warren Zevon's "Werewolves of London."  The song is about "Billy Joe and Bobby Sue", described in a similar manner to Bonnie and Clyde.


Also in 1976, Willie Nelson visited Bob Dylan's Rolling Thunder Review when it played Houston, Texas, and joined him for a duet on "Will the Circle Be Unbroken". The concert was a benefit for former boxer Rubin 'Hurricane' Carter, who had been wrongfully jailed for murder.

In 1976, BBC Radio 1 DJ Johnny Walker announced he was quitting the station after being told he must pretend to like The Bay City Rollers.

And finally in 1976, ABBA scored their third UK #1 single with “Fernando.” The song went on to become ABBA’s biggest selling single, with sales over 10 million.  Also on day, ABBA started a nine-week run at #1 on the UK album chart with their Greatest Hits album.

In 1977, Olivia Newton-John made her New York debut with a concert at the Metropolitan Opera House.


In 1982, a group of seasoned L.A. studio musicians calling themselves Toto, enter the Billboard Pop chart with "Roseanna". The record will climb from #81 all the way to the top and be named Record of the Year at the 1983 Grammy Awards.

In 1982, Neil Bogart, head of Casablanca Records, died of lymphoma at 39.

In 1990, Tom Waits was awarded $2.5 million by a Los Angles Court in a case against Frito-Lay over the use of a sound-alike singer.

In 1993, Aerosmith entered the US album chart at #1 with Get a Grip, a #2 hit in the UK. The album went on to sell over 20 million copies worldwide, and won the band two Grammy awards.

In 1993, Mark Knopfler was given an honorary Doctorate of Music by the University of Newcastle on Tyne.

In 1998, the three surviving Beatles and John Lennon's widow, Yoko Ono, won a legal battle to block the CD release of a Beatles recording made at the Star Club in Hamburg in 1962.


In 2006, the Rolling Stones were forced to call off their European Tour when Keith Richards has emergency brain surgery due to a fall from a coconut tree in Fiji.

In 2006, Apple Computers won a lengthy legal battle over the right to sell music via the Internet without violating the trademark of the Beatles' record label Apple.

In 2008, singer/songwriter/Country Music Hall of Famer Eddy Arnold died at the age of 89.

In 2009, Bob Dylan led the Billboard Hot 200 album chart for the fifth time when 'Together Through Life' debuted in the number one spot. It gave the Rock 'n' Roll icon back-to-back chart toppers as 2006's 'Modern Times' also started in the penthouse.

In 2010, Norm Ezell, guitarist for the Five Americans on their 1967 hit "Western Union," died of cancer at the age of 68. 



In 2011, jazz and R&B guitarist Cornell Dupree, who played with King Curtis, Bill Withers, Donny Hathaway, Grover Washington, Jr., Miles Davis, and performed the opening guitar riff on Aretha Franklin's "Respect" and Brook Benton's "Rainy Night In Georgia," died of complications from emphysema at age 78.

birthdays today include (among others):  Jim "Motorhead" Sherwood (Mothers of Invention) (71), Toni Tennille (Captain & Tennille) (70), Paul Samwell-Smith (Yardbirds) (70), Bill Legend (T-Rex) (69), Rick Derringer (66), Phil Sawyer (Spencer Davis Group) (66), Eric Brittingham (Cinderella) (63), Philip Bailey (Earth, Wind & Fire) (62), Billy Burnette (Fleetwood Mac) (60) and Alex Van Halen (Van Halen) (58)