♫Music Imagery♫

 

Every time a song is heard, the melodies trigger mental images stored in the scrapbook of the mind. The imagery appears as vivid as though the events happened only yesterday. The song may be one by the original artist or perhaps a cover but the words and melodies are for the most part the same. Often, rhythms change with the times but old memories remain as new memories evolve.

Today in Music History: September 3

 

1955 Band leader Mitch Miller had the US No.1 hit with the traditional folk song, 'The Yellow Rose Of Texas'. The songwriter is unknown but the earliest published version dates back to September 2, 1858. Miller discovered the song on an album of Civil War songs, gave it a new arrangement and recorded the song.

1966 Donovan went to No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Sunshine Superman', a No.2 hit in the UK. The track featured then Yardbird and future Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page. The song was written for Donovan's future wife Linda Lawrence. This was one of the first ever overtly psychedelic Pop records. Donovan played down the drug implications of the song, but they were certainly implied: "Sunshine" was a name for LSD.

1983 UB40 had their first UK No.1 single with 'Red Red Wine'. Taken from their album Labour of Love the song was a cover of the 1968 Neil Diamond hit song. The re-released single was a US No.1 in 1988.

A Bit of Red, Red Wine Trivia...

UB40 recorded this as a cover of the Tony Tribe 1969 Reggae version, which reached #46 in the UK charts. The band did not realize until after it topped the charts that Neil Diamond wrote it and originally recorded it. Lead singer Ali Campbell recalls in the book 1000 UK #1 Hits: "The funny thing about the song is we only knew it as a Reggae song. We had no idea that Neil Diamond wrote it." Terence "Astro" Wilson, confirmed: "Even when we saw the writing credit which said N. Diamond, we thought it was a Jamaican artist called Negus Diamond or something."

2006 Justin Timberlake featuring Timbaland was at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'SexyBack' his first UK No.1 hit. The track won Timberlake and Timbaland the 2007 Grammy Award for Best Dance Recording. It was the longest-running No.1 single of 2006 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, staying seven weeks at the top. 

1999 The largest bootleg music bust in US history was made. It was estimated that this one operation alone was responsible for $100 million in lost revenues. Recording equipment valued at $250,000 was confiscated, as were almost 1 million CDs and tapes.

2005 Blues musician Fats Domino was rescued from New Orleans shortly after Hurricane Katrina hit the city. The 77-year-old singer had been reported missing since the storm in New Orleans which had flooding the city leaving thousands feared dead. In 2008, Domino was presented with Grammy Hall of Fame awards for 'Ain't That a Shame' and 'Blueberry Hill'. The awards were originally received in 2002 and 1987 respectively, but were lost when Domino's house was devastated by Hurricane Katrina.

2009 Madonna's Sticky and Sweet world became the highest grossing tour ever for a solo artist tour making $408m (£250m). The 51 year old singer had performed in 32 countries. 

 

 

And the music goes on beating to the rhythm of the changing times...