Music Almanac - February 17

Birthdays

• 1902 - Orville "Hoppy" Jones (Ink Spots) (d. 1944)
• 1922 - Tommy Edwards (d. 1969)
• 1925 - Bobby Lewis
• 1935 - Johnny Bush
• 1937 - Mickey McGill (Dells)
• 1938 - Buck Trent (inventor electric banjo)
• 1939 - John Leyton
• 1941 - Gene Pitney (d. 2006)
• 1949 - Fred Frith (Henry Cow)
• 1950 - Rick Medlocke (Blackfoot, Lynyrd Skynyrd)
• 1952 - Bruce Ruffin
• 1954 - Lou Ann Barton
• 1957 - Loreena McKennitt
• 1965 - Samuel Bayer (video director (Smells Like Teen Spirit, No Rain, American Idiot)
• 1966 - Melissa Brooke Bellard (Voice of the Beehive)
• 1966 - Michael LePond (Symphony X)
• 1967 - Chanté Moore
• 1970 - Tim Mahoney (311)
• 1972 - Billie Joe Armstrong (Green Day)
• 1972 - Taylor Hawkins (Foo Fighters)
• 1974 - Bryan White
• 1981 - John Hassall (Libertines)
• 1983 - Kevin Rudolf
• 1988 - Arin Ilejay (Avenged Sevenfold)
• 1991 - Ed Sheeran

Deaths

• 1982 - Jazz great Thelonious Monk - Stroke (64)
• 1998 - Songwriter Bob Merrill (How Much is That Doggie in the Window, People) committed suicide.
• 2006 - Ray Barretto - Heart failure (76)
• 2012 - Michael Davis (MC5) - Liver Failure (68)
• 2013 - Mindy McCready - Suicide (37)
• 2014 - Bob Casale (Devo) - Heart failure (61)

On This Day

• 1955 - Little Richard submitted an audition tape to Specialty Records.
• 1960 - Elvis Presley received his first gold album for Elvis.
• 1960 - The Everly Brothers signed with Warner Brothers Records for $1 million
• 1964 - Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass put on their first concert in Los Angeles.
• 1965 - The Tennessee Waltz was named the Tennessee state song.
• 1970 - Joni Mitchell announced that she was retiring from live performing. She was back to it by the end of the year.
• 1970 - Maurice Gibb of the Bee Gees opened in London's West End in Sing a Rude Song.
• 1972 - Radio stations KDAY in Los Angeles played two stolen Rolling Stone songs over-and-over for a day.
• 1976 - Bette Midler is named Woman of the Year by the Harvard Hasty Pudding Theatrical Society.
• 1979 - The Clash opened the U.S. leg of their Pearl Harbor '79 Tour in New York.
• 2001 - Brad Paisley joined the Grand Ole Opry.
• 2003 - Lou Pearlman, the man behind the Backstreet Boys and, later, *NSYNC, was accused in Florida of getting actors and singers to pay up front for appearing on his company's website while promising to help them find work.
• 2005 - Franz Ferdinand became the first artist to win the British Mercury Music Prize, Brit Awards and NME Awards in the same year.

Marriages

• 1989 - David Coverdale of Whitesnake and Twany Kitaen
• 2006 - Lisa Marie Presley and Michael Lockwood

Divorces

• 2007 - Hank Williams, Jr. and Mary Jane (filed)

Recorded

• 1966 - Good Vibrations - Beach Boys (Brian Wilson started working on the recording)
• 1969 - Girl From the North Country - Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash

Released

• 1975 - High Voltage - AC/DC (debut album, Australia only)
• 1976 - Greatest Hits (1971-1975) - Eagles
• 1998 - Destiny's Child - Destiny's Child (debut album)

Awards

• 2004 - Brit Awards
• British Male - Daniel Bedingfield
• British Female - Dido
• British Group, British Rock Act - Darkness
• British Breakthrough Act - Busted
• British Pop Act - Busted
• British Urban Act - Lemar
• British Dance Act - Basement Jaxx
• British Single - White Flag - Dido
• British Album - Permission to Land - Darkness
• International Male - Justin Timberlake
• International Female - Beyonce
• International Group - White Stripes
• International Breakthrough Act - 50 Cent
• International Album - Justified - Justin Timberlake
• Outstanding Contribution - Duran Duran

Broadcasts

• 1971 - Johnny Cash Show - James Taylor (TV debut)
• 1979 - Garrison Keillor's Prairie Home Companion had its first Broadcasts as part of NPR's Folk Festival America.
• 1990 - Saturday Night Live - Aerosmith (Wayne's World sketch)
• 1993 - The Tonight Show (NBC) - Lyle Lovett & Tammy Wynette
• 1998 - The George Jones Show (CMT) (Debut of series of interview specials)
• 2002 - CMT Crossroads (CMT) - Hank Williams, Jr., Kid Rock

Number Ones - U.S. Singles

• 1962 - Duke of Earl - Gene Chandler (3 weeks)
• 2001 - Ms. Jackson - OutKast (1 week)

Number Ones - U.S. Albums

• 1973 - The World is a Ghetto - War (2 weeks)
• 2001 - Hot Shot - Shaggy (4 weeks)
• 2007 - Not Too Late - Norah Jones (1 week)
• 2018 - Man of the Woods - Justin Timberlake (1 week)

Number Ones - U.S. R&B Singles

• 1945 - I Wonder - Pvt. Cecil Gant (2 weeks)
• 1962 - Duke of Earl - Gene Chandler (5 weeks)
• 1968 - I Wish It Would Rain - Temptations (3 weeks)
• 1973 - Love Train - O'Jays (4 weeks)
• 1979 - Bustin' Loose (Part 1) - Chuck Brown & the Soul Searchers (4 weeks)
• 1990 - It's Gonna Be Alright - Ruby Turner (1 week)
• 2007 - You - Lloyd Featuring Lil Wayne (1 week)

Number Ones - U.S. Country Singles

• 1958 - Ballad of a Teen Age Queen - Johnny Cash (8 weeks)
• 1973 - I Wonder If They Ever Think of Me - Merle Haggard (1 week)
• 1990 - On Second Thought - Eddie Rabbitt (2 weeks)
• 1996 - Bigger Than the Beatles - Joe Diffie (2 weeks)
• 2001 - There Is No Arizona - Jamie O'Neal (1 week)

Number Ones - U.S. Adult Contemporary Singles

• 1968 - Love is Blue - Paul Maruiat (11 weeks)
• 1973 - Dueling Banjo - Eric Weissberg and Steve Mandell (2 weeks)
• 2007 - Unwritten - Natasha Bedingfield (1 week)

Number Ones - U.K. Singles

• 1956 - Memories Are Made of This - Dean Martin (4 weeks)
• 1966 - These Boots Are Made For Walkin' - Nancy Sinatra (4 weeks)

Number Ones - U.K. Albums

• 1968 - Diana Ross & the Supremes Greatest Hits - Diana Ross & the Supremes (3 weeks)
• 1979 - Parallel Lines - Blondie (4 weeks)
• 2007 - Life in Cartoon Motion - Mika (2 weeks)