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Music News

My schedule this week is a little crazy, so please share what's new in music news this week! Thank you!

Photo by Gered Mankowitz courtesy of NME

Music History
[Courtesy of calendar.songfacts.com ]

May 16
1966: The Beach Boys release their landmark album Pet Sounds, produced with great ingenuity by their bass player, Brian Wilson. Standout tracks include "Wouldn't It Be Nice" and "God Only Knows."

May 17
2017: After performing with Soundgarden in Detroit, Chris Cornell is found dead from an apparent suicide at the age of 52.

May 18
1985: After repeated attempts to break through in America, Simple Minds go to #1 with "Don't You (Forget About Me)," which is used in the movie The Breakfast Club.

May 19
1962: Less than three months before her death, Marilyn Monroe makes one of her last public appearances at President John F. Kennedy's 45th birthday celebration, where she famously sings "Happy Birthday, Mr. President" in his honor.

May 20
1967: Because of the line, "I'd love to turn you on," the BBC bans The Beatles song "A Day In The Life," claiming it may promote drug use. Likely, the lyric was a reference to a phrase Timothy Leary started using in 1966, "Turn on, tune in, drop out".

 

May 21
1992: Bette Midler is Johnny Carson's last guest on The Tonight Show (his final show, the following night, has no guests). She serenades him with "One for My Baby (and One More for the Road)."

May 22
1971: The Rolling Stones' Sticky Fingers album, with a working zipper on the cover, hits #1 in the US. The blessed model is rumored to be Corey Grant Tippin. The Stones had Andy Warhol and Craig Braun (they also did The Velvet Underground & Nico's famous banana cover) design the cover for their 9th album. For those unfamiliar, the zipper actually works and when unzipped, reveals another crotch in a set of white underwear. My dad had a copy and told me that the zipper ended up not being very good for the albums stored on either side of it, ripping and denting the neighboring sleeves. If stored lying flat (oh, the atrocity!), it caused the stack to warp. There were hundreds of copies that were shipped and ended up being scratched by the zipper and had to be scrapped. For more on the infamous album cover check here.

 What have you been listening to this week?