Rock Mobster Archives

1900 – Hawaii becomes a territory of the United States, with Sanford B. Dole as governor.
1900 – Casey Jones dies in a train wreck in Vaughan, Mississippi, while trying to make up time on the Cannonball Express.
1927 – Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford become the first celebrities to leave their footprints in concrete at Grauman's Chinese Theater in Hollywood.
1938 – The animated cartoon short Porky's Hare Hunt debuts in movie theaters, introducing Happy Rabbit (a prototype of Bugs Bunny).
1957 - Elvis Presley records 'Jailhouse Rock'
1973 – Watergate scandal: U.S. President Richard Nixon announces that top White House aides H. R. Haldeman, John Ehrlichman and others have resigned.
1982 - Author, musician, and Rolling Stone, Creem and The Village Voice critic and journalist Lester Bangs died of a heart attack, aged 33.
1983 - Died: American Blues legend Muddy Waters (McKinley Morganfield).

APRIL 29

1953 – The first U.S. experimental 3D television broadcast showed an episode of Space Patrol on Los Angeles ABC affiliate KECA-TV.
1967 – After refusing induction into the United States Army the day before (citing religious reasons), Muhammad Ali is stripped of his boxing title.
1967 - The 14 hour Technicolour Dream benefit party for The International Times, with Yoko Ono, The Flies, Pink Floyd, Arthur Brown, The Move and Suzie Creamcheese. and attended by john Lennon, was held at Alexandra Palace in London.
1968 - Opened on Broadway: The musical 'Hair' at the Biltmore Theatre in New York City.
1974 – Watergate Scandal: President Richard Nixon announces the release of edited transcripts of White House tape recordings relating to the scandal.
1976 - After a gig in Memphis, Bruce Springsteen took a cab to Elvis Presley's Graceland home and proceeded to climb over the wall in an unsuccessful attempt to meet the “King.”
1992 – Los Angeles riots: Riots in Los Angeles, California, following the acquittal of police officers charged with excessive force in the beating of Rodney King. Over the next three days 53 people are killed and hundreds of buildings are destroyed.
1993 - Bowie, Ian Hunter, and Rolling Thunder Revue guitarist and producer Mick Ronson died of liver cancer aged 46.
2004 – Dick Cheney and George W. Bush testify before the 9/11 Commission in a closed, unrecorded hearing in the Oval Office.
2004 – Oldsmobile builds its final car ending 107 years of production.

APRIL 28

1948 – Igor Stravinsky conducted the premier of his American ballet, Orpheus, in New York City at New York City Center.

APRIL 27

1810 – Beethoven composes Für Elise.
1974 – Ten thousand march in Washington, D.C., calling for the impeachment of U.S. President Richard Nixon.
1981 - Married: Ringo Starr and Barbara Bach.

APRIL 26

1965 – A Rolling Stones concert in London, Ontario is shut down by police after 15 minutes due to rioting.
1978 - A TV special, Ringo, a musical version of The Prince and the Pauper with Ringo Starr playing Rrats Ognir, aired on American television.

APRIL 25

1988 – In Israel, John Demjanuk is sentenced to death for war crimes committed in World War II.

APRIL 24

1800 – The United States Library of Congress is established when President John Adams signs legislation to appropriate $5,000 USD to purchase "such books as may be necessary for the use of Congress".
1907 – Hersheypark, founded by Milton S. Hershey for the exclusive use of his employees, is opened.
1913 – The Woolworth Building skyscraper in New York City is opened.
1975 - Badfinger's Peter Ham committed suicide by hanging himself in his Surrey home, aged 27.

APRIL 23

1976 - Debut LP by the, The Ramones released on Sire Records.
1978 - For the Sex Pistols' film 'The Great Rock n Roll Swindle,’Sid Vicious filmed his version of 'My Way'
1985 – Coca-Cola changes its formula and releases New Coke. The response is overwhelmingly negative, and the original formula is back on the market in less than three months.
1991 - Johnny Thunders (John Anthony Genzale, Jr) of the New York Dolls died of a drug overdose.

APRIL 22

1876 – The first ever National League baseball game is played in Philadelphia.
1957 - Elvis Presley had his custom built 'Music Gates' installed at Graceland.
1964 – The 1964-1965 New York World's Fair opens for its first season.
1969 - John Lennon changed his middle name from Winston to Ono, in a ceremony on the roof of the Apple building in London, .
1970 – The first Earth Day is celebrated.
1977 - The Jam released their debut single, 'In The City.’
2013 - Died: Richie Havens, aged 72

APRIL 21

1965 – The 1964–1965 New York World's Fair opens for its second and final season.
1978 - UK folk singer Sandy Denny died aged 31.
1993 - Former Rolling Stones bassist Bill Wyman married for the third time, this time to 33-year-old fashion designer Suzanne Accosta.

APRIL 20

1939 – Billie Holiday records the first civil rights song "Strange Fruit".
1986 – Pianist Vladimir Horowitz performs in his native Russia for the first time in 61 years.
2014 - Rubin "Hurricane" carter died of prostate cancer. He was 76.

APRIL 19

1956 – Actress Grace Kelly marries Prince Rainier of Monaco.
1980 - Brian Johnson joined AC/DC
1987 – The Simpsons premieres as a short cartoon on The Tracey Ullman Show.
1988 - Sonny Bono was inaugurated as the Mayor of Palm Springs.

APRIL 18

1775 – American Revolution: The British advancement by sea begins; Paul Revere and other riders warn the countryside of the troop movements.
1981 – The longest professional baseball game is begun in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. The game is suspended at 4:00 the next morning and finally completed on June 23.
2013 - Died: Album cover artist Storm Thorgerson, died aged 69.

APRIL 17

1960 - Killed: 21-year-old US singer Eddie Cochran while touring the UK. The taxi in which he was traveling in crashed into a lamppost.
1964 – Ford Mustang is introduced to the North American market.
1969 – Sirhan Sirhan is convicted of assassinating Robert F. Kennedy.
1970, -While performing at the White House at the invitation of President Richard Nixon, Johnny Cash sang his No.1 hit, 'A Boy Named Sue.’ He was asked to perform "Okie From Muskogee,” but Cash declined because it was not his song.
1973 – George Lucas begins writing the treatment for The Star Wars.
1983 - Producer and member of the band Mountain, Felix Pappalardi, was shot dead by his wife Gail Collins during a jealous rage.
1991 - Live debut of “Smells Like Tenn Spirit” when Nirvana appeared at the OK Hotel in Seattle.
1998 - Died: Linda (Eastman) McCartney, after a long battle against cancer.
2008 - Died: Danny Federici of the E Street Band, of cancer at the age of 58.

APRIL 16

1941 – Bob Feller of the Cleveland Indians throws the only Opening Day no-hitter in the history of Major League Baseball, beating the Chicago White Sox 1–0.
1956 - The first single by Buddy Holly, ‘Blue Days, Black Nights,’ was released.
1963 – Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. pens his Letter from Birmingham Jail while incarcerated in Birmingham, Alabama for protesting against segregation.
1964 - The Rolling Stones debut album was released in the UK.
1969 - Detroit’s MC5 were dropped from Elektra Records after the band took out an advertisement in a local paper that included the company logo and said; "F*ck Hudsons." The band were protesting at the Michigan department store's refusal to stock their albums.

APRIL 15

1920 – Two security guards are murdered during a robbery in South Braintree, Massachusetts. Anarchists Sacco and Vanzetti would be convicted of and executed for the crime, amid much controversy.
1924 – Rand McNally publishes its first road atlas.
1945 – The Bergen-Belsen concentration camp is liberated.
1947 – Jackie Robinson debuts for the Brooklyn Dodgers, breaking baseball's color line.

APRIL 14

1828 – Noah Webster copyrights the first edition of his dictionary.
1865 – U.S. President Abraham Lincoln is shot in Ford's Theatre by John Wilkes Booth (died April 15th).
1939 – The Grapes of Wrath, by American author John Steinbeck is first published by the Viking Press.

APRIL 13

1796 – The first elephant ever seen in the United States arrives from India.
1965 - The Beatles recorded the song 'Help!'

APRIL 12

1954 - Bill Haley & The Comets recorded 'Rock Around The Clock' at Pythian Temple studios in New York City.
1963 - Bob Dylan performed his first major solo concert at the Town Hall in New York City.

APRIL 11

1909 – The city of Tel Aviv is founded.
1961 - Bob Dylan played his first live gig in New York City at Gerde's Folk City, opening for John Lee Hooker.
1964 - New chart record: The Beatles with 14 songs on the Billboard Hot 100.
1966 - Live debut for the Buffalo Springfield at The Troubadour in Hollywood, California.
1968 – President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Civil Rights Act of 1968, prohibiting discrimination in the sale, rental, and financing of housing.
1981 - Eddie Van Halen married actress Valerie Bertinelli

APRIL 10

1912 – The Titanic leaves port in Southampton, England for her only voyage.
1962 - Former bass player for the Beatles, Stuart Sutcliff, died.
1953 – Warner Bros. premieres the first 3-D film from a major American studio, entitled House of Wax.
1958 - Singer Chuck Willis (“Hang Up My Rock and Roll Shoes”)was killed in a car accident aged 30.
1967 - Marvin Gaye recorded his version of 'I Heard It Through The Grapevine.’
1970 – Paul McCartney announces that he is leaving The Beatles for personal and professional reasons: “I have no future plans to record or appear with The Beatles again, or to write any music with John.”

APRIL 9

1965 – Astrodome opens. First indoor baseball game is played.
1976 - Phil Ochs commits suicide. He hung himself at his sister's home in Queens, New York.

APRIL 8

1820 – The Venus de Milo is discovered on the Aegean island of Melos.
1967 - John Lennon took his Rolls Royce to coachbuilders J.P. Fallon, Ltd., in Surrey, to inquire if they could paint his car in psychedelic colors.

APRIL 7

1967 – Film critic Roger Ebert published his very first film review in the Chicago Sun-Times.

APRIL 6

1956 - Elvis Presley signed a seven-year contract with Paramount Pictures.
1968 - Pink Floyd announced its founder, Roger “Syd” Barrett, had officially left the group.
1971, The Rolling Stones launched their own 'Rolling Stones Records' record label.
1974 – The Swedish pop band ABBA wins the Eurovision Song Contest 1974 with the song "Waterloo", launching their international career.

APRIL 5

1955 - Ray Charles married Della Beatrice Howard Robinson, his second wife.
1980 - R.E.M.’s played their first ever gig
1994 – American musician Kurt Cobain commits suicide.

APRIL 4

1960 - RCA Victor Records was the first record company to announce it would be release all Pop singles in mono and stereo simultaneously.
1964 – The Beatles occupy the top five positions on the Billboard Hot 100 pop chart.

APRIL 3

1948 – President Harry S. Truman signs the Marshall Plan, authorizing $5 billion in aid for 16 countries.
1956 - Elvis Presley appeared on ABC-TV's 'The Milton Berle Show'.
1968 – Martin Luther King, Jr. delivers his "I've Been to the Mountaintop" speech.
1969 - The Doors' Jim Morrison turned himself in to the FBI in Los Angeles.

APRIL 2

1792 – The Coinage Act is passed establishing the United States Mint.
1800 – Ludwig van Beethoven leads the premiere of his First Symphony in Vienna.
1965 - Premiere of the music show 'Ready Steady Goes Live!' was shown on UK TV, featuring presenters Cathy McGowan and Keith Fordyce.
1972 – Actor Charlie Chaplin returns to the United States for the first time since being labeled a communist during the Red Scare in the early 1950s.

APRIL 1

1955 - Promoted: George Martin became the head of A&R for EMI's Parlophone label.
1970 – President Richard Nixon signs the Public Health Cigarette Smoking Act into law, requiring the Surgeon General's warnings on tobacco products and banning cigarette advertisements on television and radio in the United States, starting on January 1, 1971.
1976 – Apple Inc. is formed by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ronald Wayne.
1984 - Marvin Gaye was shot dead by his father
2001 – Same-sex marriage becomes legal in the Netherlands, the first country to allow it.

APRIL BIRTHDAYS

APRIL 30

1896 – Reverend Gary Davis
1908 – Eve Arden
1923 – Al Lewis
1925 – Johnny Horton
1926 – Cloris Leachman
1933 – Willie Nelson
1943 – Bobby Vee
1944 – Jill Clayburgh
1945 – Mimi Fariña
1964 – Barrington Levy

APRIL 29

1899 – Duke Ellington
1917 – Celeste Holm
1922 – Toots Thielemans
1928 – Carl Gardner (The Coasters)
1929 – Ray Barretto
1931 – Lonnie Donegan
1933 – Rod McKuen
1935 – Otis Rush
1936 – Zubin Mehta
1938 – Klaus Voormann
1945 – Tammi Terrell
1947 – Tommy James
1954 – Jerry Seinfeld
1958 – Eve Plumb

APRIL 28

1878 – Lionel Barrymore
1886 – Art Shaw
1924 – Blossom Dearie
1926 – Harper Lee
1930 – Carolyn Jones
1941 – Ann-Margret
1949 – Bruno Kirby
1952 – Chuck Leavell
1952 – Mary McDonnell
1953 – Kim Gordon
1956 – Jimmy Barnes
1964 – L'Wren Scott
1966 – Too Short

APRIL 27

1759 – Mary Wollstonecraft
1791 – Samuel Morse
1922 – Jack Klugman
1927 – Connie Kay (Modern Jazz Quartet)
1927 – Coretta Scott King
1932 – Casey Kasem
1937 – Sandy Dennis
1939 – Judy Carne
1942 – Jim Keltner
1944 – Cuba Gooding, Sr.
1945 – August Wilson
1947 – Pete Ham
1947 – Ann Peebles
1948 – Kate Pierson
1951 – Ace Frehley
1959 – Sheena Easton
1976 – Isobel Campbell (Belle & Sebastian)

APRIL 26

1886 – Ma Rainey
1917 – I. M. Pei
1926 – J. B. Hutto
1933 – Carol Burnett
1938 – Duane Eddy
1940 – Giorgio Moroder
1942 – Bobby Rydell
1943 – Gary Wright
1960 – Roger Taylor (Duran Duran)
1961 – Chris Mars

APRIL 25

1908 – Edward R. Murrow
1917 – Ella Fitzgerald
1923 – Albert King
1928 – Vassar Clements
1930 – Paul Mazursky
1932 – Meadowlark Lemon
1933 – Jerry Leiber
1940 – Al Pacino
1945 – Stu Cook
1950 – Steve Ferrone
1964 – Hank Azaria
1964 – Andy Bell

APRIL 24

1904 – Willem de Kooning
1934 – Shirley MacLaine
1942 – Barbra Streisand
1945 – Doug Clifford
1954 – Captain Sensible
1957 – David J
1959 – Paula Yates

APRIL 23

1891 – Sergei Prokofiev
1928 – Shirley Temple
1936 – Roy Orbison
1939 – Ray Peterson
1942 – Sandra Dee
1943 – Hervé Villechaize
1947 – Glenn Cornick
1949 – David Cross
1954 – Michael Moore

APRIL 22

1922 – Charles Mingus
1923 – Bettie Page
1923 – Aaron Spelling
1935 – Paul Chambers
1936 – Glen Campbell
1937 – Jack Nicholson
1937 – Jack Nitzsche
1939 – Mel Carter
1944 – Joshua Rifkin
1946 – John Waters
1950 – Peter Frampton
1951 – Paul Carrack

APRIL 21

1915 – Anthony Quinn
1924 – Ira Louvin
1932 – Elaine May
1947 – Iggy Pop
1947 – John Weider
1949 – Patti LuPone
1951 – Tony Danza
1959 – Robert Smith
1970 – Glen Hansard

APRIL 20

1893 – Harold Lloyd
1893 – Joan Miró
1908 – Lionel Hampton
1923 – Tito Puente
1937 – George Takei
1943 – Edie Sedgwick
1947 – Ken Scott
1948 – Craig Frost
1949 – Jessica Lange
1951 – Luther Vandross
1959 – Clint Howard
1962 – Hank the Angry Drunken Dwarf
1964 – Andy Serkis

APRIL 19

1928 – Alexis Korner
1933 – Jayne Mansfield
1934 – Dickie Goodman
1935 – Dudley Moore
1942 – Alan Price
1944 – Bernie Worrell
1946 – Tim Curry
1947 – Mark Volman
1967 – Dar Williams

APRIL 18

1857 – Clarence Darrow
1946 – Hayley Mills
1946 – Skip Spence

APRIL 17

1897 – Thornton Wilder
1934 – Don Kirshner
1940 – Billy Fury
1948 – Jan Hammer
1955 – Pete Shelley
1967 – Liz Phair

APRIL 16

1889 – Charlie Chaplin
1924 – Henry Mancini
1930 – Herbie Mann
1934 – Robert Stigwood
1935 – Bobby Vinton
1939 – Dusty Springfield
1947 – Gerry Rafferty
1952 – Bill Belichick
1952 – Billy West
1953 – Peter Garrett
1954 – Ellen Barkin
1962 – Ian MacKaye
1964 – Dave Pirner

APRIL 15

1452 – Leonardo da Vinci
1843 – Henry James
1894 – Bessie Smith
1933 – Roy Clark
1933 – Elizabeth Montgomery
1944 – Dave Edmunds
1965 – Linda Perry
1968 – Ed O'Brien

APRIL 14

1932 – Loretta Lynn
1941 – Pete Rose
1945 – Ritchie Blackmore

APRIL 13

1743 – Thomas Jefferson
1906 – Samuel Beckett
1923 – Don Adams
1935 – Lyle Waggoner
1939 – Seamus Heaney
1940 – Lester Chambers
1944 – Jack Casady
1945 – Tony Dow
1945 – Lowell George
1946 – Al Green
1951 – Max Weinberg
1954 – Jimmy Destri

APRIL 12

1898 – Lily Pons
1912 – Hound Dog Taylor
1919 – Billy Vaughn
1932 – Tiny Tim
1940 – Herbie Hancock
1944 – John Kay
1947 – David Letterman
1950 – David Cassidy
1957 – Vince Gill
1964 – Amy Ray

APRIL 11

1715 – John Alcock
1939 – Luther Johnson
1939 – Louise Lasser
1951 – Paul Fox (The Ruts)
1969 – Cerys Matthews
1987 – Joss Stone

APRIL 10

1911 – Martin Denny
1947 – Bunny Wailer
1950 – Eddie Hazel
1959 – Babyface
1959 – Brian Setzer
1979 – Shemekia Copeland

APRIL 9

1895 – Mance Lipscomb
1928 – Tom Lehrer
1932 – Carl Perkins
1935 – Avery Schreiber
1938 – Rockin' Sidney
1943 – Terry Knight
1945 – Steve Gadd
1953 – Hal Ketchum

APRIL 8

1892 – Mary Pickford
1926 – Shecky Greene
1929 – Jacques Brel
1941 – Vivienne Westwood
1942 – Roger Chapman
1947 – Steve Howe
1951 – Mel Schacher
1962 – Izzy Stradlin
1963 – Julian Lennon

APRIL 7

1920 – Ravi Shankar
1922 – Mongo Santamaría
1938 – Spencer Dryden
1938 – Freddie Hubbard
1939 – Francis Ford Coppola
1939 – David Frost
1943 – Mick Abrahams
1947 – Florian Schneider
1949 – John Oates
1951 - Janis Ian

APRIL 6

1918 – Big Walter Horton
1926 – Sergio Franchi
1929 – André Previn
1931 – Ram Dass
1934 – Guy Peellaert
1937 – Merle Haggard
1944 – Anita Pallenberg
1960 – Warren Haynes
1960 – John Pizzarelli
1965 – Black Francis

APRIL 5

1856 – Booker T. Washington
1900 – Spencer Tracy
1906 – Lord Buckley
1908 – Bette Davis
1916 – Gregory Peck
1929 – Joe Meek
1931 – Jack Clement
1933 – Frank Gorshin
1941 – Dave Swarbrick
1942 – Allan Clarke
1946 – Jane Asher
1954 – Stan Ridgway
1954 – Peter Case
1966 – Mike McCready

APRIL 4 
1913 – Muddy Waters
1924 – Gil Hodges
1928 – Maya Angelou
1932 – Clive Davis
1932 – Anthony Perkins
1935 – Kenneth Mars
1939 – Major Lance
1939 – Hugh Masekela
1947 – Luke Halpin
1948 – Berry Oakley
1948 – Pick Withers
1949 – Junior Braithwaite
1952 – Gary Moore
1964 – David Cross
1965 – Robert Downey, Jr.

APRIL 3

1898 – George Jessel
1898 – Henry Luce
1907 – Iron Eyes Cody
1920 – Stan Freeman
1922 – Doris Day
1924 – Marlon Brando
1928 – Don Gibson
1934 – Jane Goodall
1936 – Scott LaFaro
1936 – Jimmy McGriff
1938 – Jeff Barry
1941 – Jan Berry
1942 – Marsha Mason
1942 – Wayne Newton
1942 – Billy Joe Royal
1943 – Richard Manuel
1944 – Tony Orlando
1946 – Dee Murray
1949 - Richard Thompson
1953 – Sandra Boynton
1959 – David Hyde Pierce
1961 – Eddie Murphy
1962 – Mike Ness

APRIL 2

1805 – Hans Christian Andersen
1891 – Max Ernst
1908 – Buddy Ebsen
1914 – Alec Guinness
1920 – Jack Webb
1928 – Serge Gainsbourg
1938 – Al Weis
1939 – Marvin Gaye
1941 – Dr. Demento
1942 – Leon Russell
1943 – Larry Coryell
1945 – Anne Waldman
1949 – Paul Gambaccini
1949 – Ron Palillo
1949 – David Robinson

APRIL 1

1883 – Lon Chaney, Sr.
1895 – Alberta Hunter
1932 – Debbie Reynolds
1939 – Rudolph Isley
1942 – Annie Nightingale
1944 – Rusty Staub
1945 – John Barbata
1946 – Ronnie Lane
1948 – Jimmy Cliff
1949 – Gil Scott-Heron
1958 – D. Boon
1973 – Rachel Maddow
1974 – Richard Christy
1980 – Bijou Phillips