On This Day, November 15 in Music History
EVENTS ON NOVEMBER 15 IN MUSIC HISTORY
On this day November in 15 in 1971 – Rock group Grand Funk Railroad released their fifth studio album ‘E Pluribus Funk’ through Capitol Records. It peaked at No.5 in America and No.10 in Canada.
1975 – Welsh comedian and singer Max Boyce topped the UK Albums chart with his live album ‘We All Had Doctor’s Papers’.
1980 – Kenny Rogers started a six-week run at number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 with ‘Lady’.
1980 – With their rendition of ‘The Tide is High’, new wave band Blondie reached the top spot on the UK Singles chart and stayed there for two consecutive weeks.
1991 – Disco and funk music record producer and songwriter Jacques Morali died of AIDS, aged 44. Best remembered for creating the vocal groups The Ritchie Family and Village People.
1997 – American composer and musical director Saul Kaplan also known professionally as Saul Chaplin died at the age of 85. Best remembered for his work on the Oscar-winning film scores for ‘An American in Paris’, ‘West Side Story’, and ‘Seven Brides for Seven Brothers’.
1997 – With his debut studio album ‘Harlem World’, rapper Mase went to number one on the US Billboard 200 chart.
1997 – The second studio album ‘Spiceworld’ by the girl group Spice Girls climbed to number one on the UK Albums chart and stayed there for two weeks straight.
2003 – The number one single in the UK on this day was ‘Slow’ by Kylie Minogue. The song was also a chart-topper in five other countries, including her home country of Australia.
2003 – Hip hop duo OutKast returned to number one on the US Albums chart with their fifth studio LP ‘Speakerboxxx/The Love Below’.
2003 – British boy band Blue scored their third consecutive domestic number one album with ‘Guilty’.
2008 – Rapper T.I. and Rihanna returned to number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 with ‘Live Your Life’ for a four-week run at the top spot.
2008 – With their fifth and final studio album ‘Out of Control’, girl group Girls Aloud topped the UK Albums chart.
2011 – American keyboardist and songwriter, Mark “Moogy” Klingman died at the age of 61. Best remembered as a founding member of the rock band Utopia.
2014 – After an eight week domination by Meghan Trainor on the US Singles chart with ‘All About That Bass’, Taylor Swift returned to number one with ‘Shake It Off’. Swift also started a three-weeks run at No.1 on the Billboard 200 with her fifth studio album ‘1989’.
2014 – With ‘I Don’t Care’, Chery Cole scored her fifth chart-topping single as a solo artist in the UK.
2014 – Ed Sheeran returned to number one in the United Kingdom with his second studio album ‘x’ which is pronounced ‘multiply’.
2015 – American singer and songwriter Philip “Flip” Sloan also known as P.F. Sloan died at the age of 70.
2016 – American jazz and blues music multi-instrumentalist, singer, and songwriter Mose Allison died at the age of 89.
2018 – The number one album in the UK on this day was ‘No Tourists’ by the electronic music band The Prodigy.
2018 – With her fifth studio album ‘Thank U, Next’, American singer Ariana Grande hit No.1 in the UK for the first of six consecutive weeks.
2018 – American country music singer and multi-instrumentalist and TV variety show host Roy Clark died at age 85.
BORN ON NOVEMBER 15 IN MUSIC HISTORY
1905 – Italian composer and conductor Annunzio Paolo Mantovani was born in Venice, Italy. Best known as the first artist to sell over one million stereo albums in Britain.
1929 – American soul music singer Joseph “Joe” Hinton was born in Evansville, Indiana. Best known for his hit songs ‘You Know It Ain’t Right’ and ‘Funny’.
1932 – American R&B singer Clyde McPhatter was born in Durham, North Carolina.
1932 – British singer, composer and actress Petula Clark was born in Ewell, England. Best known for her hit recordings ‘This Is My Song’, ‘My Love’, ‘Downton’, ‘Sailor’, etc.
1937 – R&B singer William Edward “Little Willie” John was born in Detroit, Michigan. He was inducted into both the Blues and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
1941 – Bassist, guitarist, songwriter, and producer Frederick “Rick” Kemp was born in Little Hanford, England. Best known as a member of the folk rock band Steeleye Span.
1945 – Singer and founding member of the pop group ABBA, Anni-Frid Lyngstad also known professionally as Frida was born in Bjorkasen, Norway.
1953 – R&B singer and songwriter Alexander O’Neal was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Best known for songs such as ‘All True Man’, ‘Criticize’, ‘Fake’, ‘The Lovers’, ‘If You Were Here Tonight’, and others.
1954 – American drummer and session musician Anthony “Tony” Thompson was born in New York City. Best known for his work with bands such as Chic and The Power Station.
1955 – Multi-instrumentalist and songwriter Joseph “Joe” Leeway was born in London, England. He came to prominence as a member of the pop band Thompson Twins.
1956 – American guitarist Michael Hampton was born in Cleveland, Ohio. Best known as a member of the music collective Parliament-Funkadelic.
1963 – Multi-instrumentalist, singer-songwriter, producer, and engineer Jay Bennett was born in Rolling Meadows, Illinois. Best known as a member of the alternative rock band Wilco.
1968 – Rapper and founding member of the hip hop group Wu-Tang Clan, Russell Tyrone Jones also known by his stage name Ol’ Dirty Bastard was born in New York City.
1974 – Co-founder and frontman of the rock band Nickelback, Chad Kroeger was born in Hanna, Canada.
1988 – American rapper and producer Bobby Ray Simmons better known by his stage name B.o.B was born in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.