EVENTS THAT HAPPENED ON THIS DAY OCTOBER 4 IN MUSIC HISTORY
On this day October 4 in 1941 – Freddy Martin and his Orchestra topped the charts in the United States with their version of Tchaikovsky‘s composition ‘Piano Concerto in B Flat’.
1957 – The readers of the British music, culture and film magazine NME, voted Pat Boone as the best singer of the year while Elvis Presley came in second.
1962 – With the instrumental song ‘Telstar’, The Tornados started a five-week run at No.1 on the UK Singles chart on this day October 4 in music history.
1963 – The Beatles made an appearance on the new British rock/pop music TV program ‘Ready Steady Go!’. They performed ‘Twist & Shot’, ‘I’ll Get You’ and ‘She Loves You’ and were interviewed by Dusty Springfield.
1963 – English blues rock band The Yardbirds replaced their original guitarist Anthony Topham with an unknown teenager called Eric Clapton.
1968 – Only three years after the band’s formation, the British rock supergroup Cream started their farewell tour with a concert in Oakland, California on this day October 4.
1969 – Credence Clearwater Revival topped the US Billboard 200 with their third studio album ‘Green River’. The album features the hit singles ‘Bad Moon Rising’, ‘Lodi’, ‘Green River’ and ‘Commotion’. Also a hit in Canada where it peaked at No.2.
1969 – The Beatles started an eleven-week run at No.1 in the UK with ‘Abbey Road’ on this day October 4. It also became chart topper in multiple countries around the globe, including the US, Canada, and Australia among many others.
1970 – Exuberant and influential American singer-songwriter Janis Joplin died on this day October 4 from a drug overdose, aged 27.
1974 – After a one week break from the top spot, David Bowie returned to number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart with ‘Fame’.
1974 – Brian Robertson and Scott Gorham debuted as members of Thin Lizzy on this day October 4 at a show in Wales.
1975 – With their ninth studio album ‘Wish You Were Here’, Pink Floyd topped the US and UK Album charts on this day October 4 in music history. It also reached No.1 on the Finnish, Italian, Spanish, Dutch, Australian, and New Zealand national charts by the end of the year.
15 Pink Floyd Facts You May Have Not Known
1975 – English singer and actor David Essex hit number one on the UK Singles chart with ‘Hold Me Close’ for the first of three consecutive weeks.
1980 – Queen started a three-week run at number one in the US with their second chart-topping single ‘Another One Bites the Dust’ on this day October 4.
1986 – With this seventh solo studio album ‘Graceland’, singer-songwriter Paul Simon hit No.1 in the UK for the first of five consecutive weeks.
1997 – Mariah Carey topped the US Billboard 200 chart with her sixth studio album ‘Butterfly’. The album also reached No.1 in Australia, Canada, the Netherlands, Greece, and Japan.
1997 – Vocal harmony group Boyz II Men topped the US Billboard Hot 100 with ‘4 Seasons of Loneliness’ on this day October 4.
Boyz II Men – 4 Seasons of Loneliness
2003 – Beyonce and Sean Peal started a nine-week run at number one on the US Singles chart with ‘Baby Boy’.
2003 – With their third studio album ‘Absolution’, rock band Muse topped the UK Albums chart. It also became a chart-topper in France, but in the US the album stalled at No.107
2003 – With his fifth studio album ‘Grand Champ’, rapper DMX topped the US Billboard 200 chart on this day October 4 in music history.
2005 – Welsh musician Michael “Mike” Gibbins died on this day at the age of 56. Best remembered as the drummer of the rock band Badfinger.
2008 – Alternative rock band Kings of Leon went to number one in the UK with their fourth studio album ‘Only by the Night’. The album became a chart-topper in Australia, Ireland, and New Zealand as well.
2014 – Jessie J, Ariana Grande, and Nicki Minaj reached the top spot on the UK Singles chart with ‘Bang Bang’.
2014 – Barbra Streisand became the first music act to score a No.1 on the Billboard 200 in six different decades when her thirty-fourth studio album ‘Partners’ topped the chart on this day October 4.
2014 – Scottish indie rock band alt-j scored their first number one album in the UK with their second studio release ‘This is All Yours’.
2014 – Keyboardist and founder of the rock band Paul Revere & the Raiders, Paul Revere died on this day October 4, aged 76.
BORN ON THIS DAY OCTOBER 4 IN MUSIC HISTORY
1929 – American country music singer and guitarist Leroy Van Dyke was born in Mora, Missouri on this day October 4 in music history. Best known for the hit songs ‘Walk on By’ and ‘The Auctioneer’.
1947 – Founding member and bassist of the jazz rock band Blood, Sweat & Tears, Jim Fielder was born in Denton, Texas. Also known for his work with Tim Buckley, Buffalo Springfield, and Frank Zappa & The Mothers of Invention.
1958 – American multi-instrumentalist and singer-songwriter Barbara Kooyman also known as Barbara K. MacDonald was born on this day October 4 in Wausau, Wisconsin. She came to prominence as the co-founder of the rock band Timbuk 3.
1959 – Multi-instrumentalist, singer-songwriter, producer, and one half of the synth-pop duo Pet Shop Boys, Christopher “Chris” Lowe was born in Blackpool, England.
1961 – Cuban-American singer and songwriter Juan Francisco Secada Ramirez better known as Jon Secada was born on this day October 4 in Havana, Cuba.
1977 – Canadian composer, producer, and multi-instrumentalist Richard Reed Parry was born in Ottawa, Ontario. He rose to fame as a member of the indie rock band Arcade Fire.
1984 – Russian singer and one half of the pop music duo t.A.T.u., Elena “Lena” Katina was born in Moscow on this day October 4 in music history.
1985 – Barbadian singer Shontelle Layne was born on this day October 4 in Saint James, Barbados. Best known for her hit singles ‘T-Shirt’ and ‘Impossible’.