12 APRIL
In Music History
1954 At his first session for Decca Records, Bill Haley records "Rock Around The Clock" and "Thirteen Women" (a post-nuclear song that was originally the A-side of the single).
1950 David Cassidy is born in New York City to actor Jack Cassidy and actress Evelyn Ward. He becomes a teen idol and pop star thanks to his role as Keith Partridge on the musical sitcom The Partridge Family.
1947 Alexander Briley (The sailor from The Village People) is born in Harlem, New York City.
1944 Rocker John Kay (frontman of Steppenwolf) is born Joachim Fritz Krauledat in former Tilsit, East Prussia, Germany.
1940 Jazz musician Herbie Hancock is born in Chicago, Illinois. After playing in Miles Davis' band, he makes very eclectic and experimental jazz music. In 1983 he has a hit with "Rockit," which incorporates synthesizers and turntable scratching.
1939 Woody Herman records "Woodchopper's Ball."
1932 Singer Tiny Tim is born Herbert B. Khaury is born in Manhattan, New York City.
1925 Country singer Ned Miller, known for the 1962 crossover hit "From A Jack To A King," is born in Rains, Utah.
1925 R&B singer Prentiss Barnes (of The Moonglows) is born in Magnolia, Mississippi.
1921 Chicago blues musician Shakey Jake Harris is born James D. Harris in Earle, Arkansas, but would be raised in Chicago, Illinois. A professional gambler, he borrows his nickname from the dice players' expression "shake 'em."
1919 Orchestra leader and singer Billy Vaughn is born in Glasgow, Kentucky.
1917 Helen Forrest (girl singer of the Swing Era for Artie Shaw, Benny Goodman and Harry James), is born Helen Fogel in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
1916 Composer and arranger Russ Garcia (The Benny Goodman Story (1956), The Complete Porgy and Bess (1956)) is born in Oakland, California.
1826 German composer Carl Maria von Weber travels to London to conduct the opening of his opera, Oberon.
Stevie Wonder Plays "Superstition" On Sesame Street
1973In one of the show's most memorable moments, Stevie Wonder plays a funky, 7-minute live version of "Superstition" on Sesame Street.
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Featured Events
1989 Garth Brooks releases his debut album, Garth Brooks, featuring the #1 Country hits "If Tomorrow Never Comes" and "The Dance."
1988 Sonny Bono (of Sonny & Cher) is elected mayor in his hometown of Palm Springs, California. He holds the position until 1992; in 1994 he is elected to Congress.
1983 R.E.M. release their debut album, Murmur.
1976 Bob Seger, beloved in Michigan but an obscurity elsewhere, releases Live Bullet, which captures the intensity of his live performances and makes him a national act.More
1975 Elton John's "Philadelphia Freedom," named after the professional tennis team his friend Billie Jean King coaches, hits #1 on the Hot 100.
1966 In an eerie recreation of the duo's single from the year before, Jan Berry of Jan & Dean crashes his Corvette into a parked truck on Beverly Hills' Whittier Drive, near a stretch of road in Los Angeles known as Dead Man's Curve. Berry suffers paralysis and extensive brain damage, and will require four years of rehabilitation to be able to talk and a full decade in order to perform live again.
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