This Day in Music: April 16th

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Born on this day:

1939, Dusty Springfield, singer (For more on Dusty Springfield, see today’s This Day in Music Spotlight.)
1947, Gerry Rafferty, singer, songwriter
1963, Jimmy Osmond, singer
1964, Dave Pirner, singer, songwriter, Soul Asylum

1956, Buddy Holly’s first single, “Blue Days, Black Nights” was released.

1967, Cream appeared on the bill at the Daily Express “Record Star Show” at Wembley’s Empire Pool, London.

1969, Elektra Records dropped Detroit’s MC5 after the band took out an advertisement in a local underground paper in protest of a Michigan department store’s refusal to stock their album, Kick Out the Jams.

1972, The Electric Light Orchestra made their debut at The Fox & Greyhound in Croydon, London.

1985, During the North American leg of their Unforgettable Fire tour, U2 played the first of three nights at The Centrum, in Worcester, Massachusetts.

1994, Prince had his first U.K. #1 with “The Most Beautiful Girl in the World” (his 37th single release). It was his first release since changing his stage name to an unpronounceable symbol.

1996, KISS appear in full make-up at the 38th Grammy Awards, where they use the opportunity to announce a reunion tour. It would mark the first time all four original members had appeared together in more than 15 years.

1999, Skip Spence, an original member of Jefferson Airplane and founding member of Moby Grape, died at age 52 of lung cancer in a San Francisco hospital. He had battled schizophrenia and alcoholism for more than 30 years.

2005, OK Computer by Radiohead is voted the best album of all time in a poll by U.K. TV station Channel 4. U2 were in second place with The Joshua Tree and Nirvana third with Nevermind.

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