October 23rd

On October 23...

1956, Dwight Yoakam, famous country singer, was born.

1962, Stevie Wonder, then 12-years-old, recorded his first single entitled, "Thank You For Loving Me All The Way."

1963, The Beatles headed to Stockholm, Sweden to begin their first foreign tour.

1966, The Jimi Hendrix Experience recorded their first single "Hey Joe" at De Lane Lea Studios in London.

1976, Led Zeppelin made their debut on American television on Don Kirshner's Rock Concert.

1989, Nirvana performed at Newcastle's Riverside Club in England, their first show in Europe.

1993, Meat Loaf's "I'd Do Anything For Love (But I Won't Do That)" was his first song to reach No. 1 on the UK charts and stayed at the spot for seven weeks.

1993, English band Take That's second album Everything Changes was their first to reach No. 1 on the UK charts.

1995, Def Leppard scored a place in the Guinness Book of World Records for playing three gigs in three continents in only 24 hours; Tangier, London, and Vancouver.

It's a "Grateful" birthday

Even eighteen years after his death, Grateful Dead guitarist Jerry Garcia is still honored on his birthday.  Born August 1, 1942, the musician/singer-songwriter was born Jerome John "Jerry" Garcia in great old San Fran.

As one of the founders of the band, Garcia remained with the band their whole career from 1965-1995.  Garcia wrote Grateful Dead songs such as "Dark Star" and "Scarlet Begonias."

The legend died eight days after his 53rd birthday on August 9, 1995 from a heart attack.  I hope that he is always remembered since he is such an inspiration for aspiring musicians.  It seems to be difficult for people to remember classic musicians, so we should not let our memories fade away.

It's My Party

1963 by Lesley Gore.  This song will go on to be one of the most famous songs in the American culture.  The song's chorus, "It's my party and I'll cry if I want to, cry if I want to, cry if I want to / You would cry too if it happened to you," represents her humiliation at her own birthday party.  The poor teenager notices her boyfriend Johnny disappears and later sees him with Judy and she's "wearing his ring."  The girl realizes she has been replaced and cries, and cries, and cries because, well, it is her party.

Every birthday party we've ever had at my house always has this song in the playlist.  Yes, it is a little sad, but it's perfect!

Happy Birthday

As you may know, I got a record player for my birthday. To go along with the record player, I got three records: Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison, John Waite's No Brakes, and Summer Fun Vol. 2. Cher Lloyd's perfume also was a gift to me. It was in fact a very musical day.

To make my birthday even better, I made the school talent show and will be singing the song "Operator" by Jim Croce. When the talent show occurs, I will be posting a video of my performance on YouTube and on my blog for those who are interested in seeing how it goes.

Happy 70th Birthday, Jimi Hendrix

Jimi Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix) the guitar legend was born on this day in 1942. He is considered by a number of people as the greatest electric guitarist ever. But even 42 years after his death his legacy lives on with more than 80 million records sold.

Hendrix was a left-handed man with a right-handed guitar. He had flipped his guitar over, so instead of having the thin string on the bottom, it was on the top so he was able to play with his left hand.

Even though we love listening to his music, it's not only the music we love, but it's the inspiration he left behind. All can agree that Jimi Hendrix is the one we have on our iPods, the one we pretend to play guitar like, and the one we will never forget. Happy birthday, Jimi. You're a legend we will always remember.