I wouldn’t want to live in the past. But I still like to visit every now and then. Here are the musical birthdays we’ll be celebrating and the anniversaries we’ll be marking over the next week:
Monday March 18
1941: Soul powerhouse Wilson Pickett was born. His hits include In the Midnight Hour, Land of 1,000 Dances, Mustang Sally and Funky Broadway.
1965: The Rolling Stones were each fined £5 for urinating against a gas station in Essex, England. The owner reportedly refused to let them use the bathroom.
1977: The Clash released their debut single White Riot.
2001: John Phillips of The Mamas and The Papas died of heart failure at 65.
2002: The Ramones were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame by Eddie Vedder.
2017: Pioneering rock ’n’ roll guitarist Chuck Berry died at age 90. He wrote Maybellene, Roll Over Beethoven, Rock and Roll Music, Johnny B. Goode and pretty much every other great song.
Tuesday March 19
1962: Bob Dylan released his self-titled debut album, produced by John Hammond. Poor sales soon led to the record being known around Columbia Records as “Hammond’s Folly.”
1974: Jefferson Airplane re-named the group Jefferson Starship. The line-up included Paul Kantner, Grace Slick, Johnny Barbata, David Freiberg, Peter Kaukonen, Craig Chaquico and Papa John Creach.
1982: Ozzy Osbourne guitarist and former Quiet Riot member Randy Rhoads was killed when the plane he was riding in crashed while buzzing Ozzy’s tour bus.
Wednesday March 20
1936: Dub reggae producer Lee “Scratch” Perry was born in Jamaica — and presumably began smoking weed immediately.
1969: John Lennon married Yoko Ono in Gibraltar. They spent their honeymoon in Amsterdam on a “Bed-In” for peace.
1976: Linkin Park singer Chester Bennington was born. He committed suicide at his home in California on July 20, 2017.
1977: Marc Bolan and T. Rex played their final gig in Portsmouth, England.
1991: Eric Clapton’s four-year-old son Conor fell to his death from the 53rd story of a New York City apartment after a housekeeper left a window open. The tragedy inspired Clapton’s song Tears in Heaven.
Thursday March 21
1940: Soul singer Solomon Burke was born. The King of Rock & Soul died on Oct. 10, 2010 at Amsterdam airport, on a plane that had just arrived from Washington.
1984: Strawberry Fields in New York City’s Central Park opened. The area was bought by Yoko Ono in memory of John Lennon.
1994: Bruce Springsteen won an Oscar for the song Streets of Philadelphia.
2001: Michael Jackson’s interior decorator told a newspaper that the singer kept 17 life-size dolls, adult and child sizes, all fully dressed in his bedroom for company. Right, dolls.
2004: A poll named Ozzy Osbourne as Britain’s favourite ambassador to welcome aliens to planet Earth. Makes perfect sense.
Friday March 22
1948: Musical theatre composer Andrew Lloyd Webber was born. He was knighted in 1992.
1956: While driving to New York to be on The Perry Como Show and The Ed Sullivan Show, the car that Carl Perkins was traveling in was involved in an accident. The singer received four broken ribs and a broken shoulder and was hospitalized for months.
1965: Bob Dylan released his fifth studio album Bringing It All Back Home. It was his first album to break into the top 10, while the single Subterranean Homesick Blues became his first single to chart in the U.S., peaking at No. 39.
1978: The Police signed to A&M Records.
Saturday March 23
1949: Cars singer-guitarist and producer Ric Ocasek was born.
1956: Elvis Presley released his self-titled debut album in mono on RCA Victor. The album spent 10 weeks at No.1.
1968: Damon Albarn was born. He is the frontman of Blur, Gorillaz and The Good, The Bad & The Queen.
1985: Billy Joel married model Christie Brinkley on a boat moored next to the Statue of Liberty. They divorced in 1993.
2014: Gwar vocalist Dave Brockie — who went by the name Oderus Urungus — died of a heroin overdose at his home. His body was found sitting upright in a chair.
Sunday March 24
1935: Bassist Carol Kaye was born. She played on an estimated 10,000 recordings over 50 years, including hits for Phil Spector, Brian Wilson, Simon & Garfunkel, Quincy Jones and Lalo Schifrin.
1949: English singer-songwriter, producer and erstwhile Rockpile member Nick Lowe was born.
1958: At 6.35 a.m., Elvis Presley reported to the Memphis draft board and assigned army serial number 53310761.
1973: During a Lou Reed show in Buffalo, N.Y., a fan jumped on stage and bit Lou on the butt. The man was thrown out and Reed finished the show.
1976: Transvestite singer Wayne County appeared in court on assault charges after attacking Dictators singer Handsome Dick Manitoba with a mike stand at CBGB’s and fracturing his collarbone.
