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LET FREEDOM RING ALL ACROSS OUR LAND AND THE WORLD 

You Are a Grand Old Flag 249 years 

Birthdays Singers and Song Writers 

1946 - Linda Ronstadt

American singer Linda Ronstadt who had the 1975 US No.1 single 'You're No Good', and the 1989 UK No.2 single with Aaron Neville, 'Don't Know Much' plus over 15 other US Top 40 hits. She has earned 11 Grammy Awards, three American Music Awards, two Academy of Country Music awards, an Emmy Award, and an ALMA Award.

 

 

 

 

Summer is Here 

Find out about Country Pop Singer Emmylou Harris 

Laurel Canyon I'TS HISTORY

Top Songs on the 4th of July Three Decades 

 Learn about the song Martian Hop The Ran-Dells 

 

 

Birthdaysingers 

Male Pop Icons

  • Elvis Presley – January 8, 1935

  • Frank Sinatra – December 12, 1915

  • Paul Anka – July 30, 1941

  • Bobby Darin – May 14, 1936

  • Ricky Nelson – May 8, 1940

  • Johnny Mathis – September 30, 1935

  • Neil Sedaka – March 13, 1939

  • Roy Orbison – April 23, 1936

  • Gene Pitney – February 17, 1940

  • Tom Jones – June 7, 1940

  • Bobby Vee – April 30, 1943

  • Bobby Rydell – April 26, 1942

  • Freddy Cannon – December 4, 1936

  • Female Pop Legends

    • Connie Francis – December 12, 1937

    • Brenda Lee – December 11, 1944

    • Patsy Cline – September 8, 1932

    • Doris Day – April 3, 1922

    • Peggy Lee – May 26, 1920

    • Patti Page – November 8, 1927

    • Rosemary Clooney – May 23, 1928

    • Jo Stafford – November 12, 1917

    • Julie London – September 26, 1926

    • Lesley Gore – May 2, 1946

    • Petula Clark – November 15, 1932

    • Dusty Springfield – April 16, 1939

 

 

 
 
 
 

 

History of Laurel Canyon the Music Hub of Artists

Laurel Canyon was a magical place for music in the 1960s and 1970s, where artists like The Byrds, Crosby, Stills & Nash, Joni Mitchell, and The Doors lived and created some of the most influential songs of the era. It was a melting pot of creativity, where musicians collaborated, partied, and shaped the folk-rock and psychedelic sound that defined a generation.

One of the most fascinating aspects of Laurel Canyon was how it fostered spontaneous collaborations—Mama Cass of The Mamas & the Papas famously introduced Graham Nash to David Crosby and Stephen Stills, leading to the formation of Crosby, Stills & Nash. The area also had its share of mystery and intrigue, with stories about Jim Morrison, Frank Zappa, and even Charles Manson lurking in the background.

Country Pop Singer Emmylou Harris 

Emmylou Harris’s musical journey is a tapestry woven from folk roots, cosmic country, and genre-defying collaborations that span over five decades. Here's a deep dive into her remarkable evolution:

🌱 Early Roots & Folk Beginnings

  • Born in Birmingham, Alabama in 1947, Harris grew up in a military family and was exposed to diverse cultural influences.

  • She studied drama at UNC Greensboro but left to pursue music, performing in Greenwich Village’s folk scene during the late ’60s.

  • Her debut album, Gliding Bird (1970), leaned heavily into folk but was released under the name “Emmy Lou Harris” and quickly faded after her label folded.

  • Cosmic Country & Gram Parsons Era

    • A pivotal moment came in 1972 when Gram Parsons invited her to sing harmonies on his solo albums GP and Grievous Angel.

    • Their blend of country and rock—dubbed “cosmic American music”—reshaped her artistic direction and laid the foundation for her signature sound.

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Spinning Those Records

History Behind the Martian Hop 

"Martian Hop" is one of those delightfully quirky gems from the early '60s that perfectly captured the era’s fascination with space, novelty tunes, and dance crazes.

🚀 Origins and Creators

  • The song was written by John Spirt, Robert Rappaport, and Steve Rappaport, who formed the group The Ran-Dells in Wildwood, New Jersey.

  • It was recorded in 1963 at Bell Sound Studios in New York City and released on the Chairman label, a subsidiary of London Records.

  • The inspiration came from the trio joking around in Spirt’s living room, imagining Martians throwing a dance party for humans.

🎶 Musical Style and Innovation

  • "Martian Hop" is a novelty doo-wop track with sci-fi flair, blending dance references like the Loco-Motion and Hully Gully with outer space sound effects.

    • It opens with a sine wave tone—an early use of electronic music in pop—which was actually sampled from “Moon Maid” by Tom Dissevelt and Kid Baltan, pioneers of experimental electronic music2.

    📈 Chart Success and Legacy

    • The song reached #16 on the Billboard Hot 100, #27 on the black singles chart, and #2 in Canada, making it a bona fide hit.

    • It’s considered a one-hit wonder, but its influence lingered, with covers by artists like Rocky Sharpe and the Replays, Joanie Bartels, and even French versions by Henri Salvador.

    🌌 Cultural Impact

    • Released during the height of America’s space obsession, it coincided with the premiere of My Favorite Martian and other sci-fi pop culture moments.

The Week Of

July 11, 1897 — Blind Lemon Jefferson, an innovative singer/guitarist and founder of the Texas blues style, is born in Wortham, Texas. One of the earliest rural blues singers to record, his Paramount Records catalog amounts to nearly 90 singles between 1926-29, a vast number for the time. Among his best-known songs is "Matchbox Blues," from which Carl Perkins borrows some lyrics in his 1957 recording, "Matchbox," later covered by the Beatles.

                  1951 — Disc jockey Alan Freed broadcasts his first "Moondog House Rock and Roll Party" over WJW Radio in Cleveland, marking the first radio show with the phrase "rock and roll" and giving Freed a claim as the first to apply the term to rhythm and blues. Freed is among the first disc jockeys to introduce the sound to a new, mostly white audience.
 

July 12, 1962 — The Rolling Stones make their live debut at the Marquee Club in London substituting for Long John Baldry's Blues Incorporated. The band members are Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Brian Jones, Dick Taylor, Ian Stewart and a future Kink, Mick Avory.

July 13, 1897 — A U.S. patent is granted to Italian inventor Guglielmo Marconi for transmitting electrical signals, leading to the invention of radio.
 
July 15, 1952 — Eight-year-old Gladys Knight wins $2,000 and a gold cup for her rendition of "Too Young" on Ted Mack's Amateur Hour on NBC-TV. Later that year, she forms the Pips with her siblings and cousins.



July 16, 1955 — Elvis Presley makes his first appearance on the U.S. national music charts as "Baby, Let's Play House" enters the Cash Box country listing at #15.
                  1972 — Smokey Robinson performs his final show with the Miracles at a Washington, D.C. concert, leaving to pursue a solo career after 18 years. At the end of the performance, Robinson introduces his replacement, 20-year-old Billy Griffin.

July 17, 1954 — Danny Cedrone, the guitarist on Bill Haley & His Comets' "Rock Around The Clock," dies at age 33 after falling down stairs in a Philadelphia restaurant and breaking his neck. The accident occurs three months after the group made the record and ten days after they waxed "Shake, Rattle, And Roll," neither of whose successes he lives to see.

                                                              1967 — In one of the most bizarre pairings in music performance history, psychedelic rock god Jimi Hendrix opens a show headlined by teenybopper sensations The Monkees in Queens, New York. The coupling was arranged by Hendrix's manager for the publicity, but the guitarist, who was never happy with the deal, quits that night after only eight shows with the quartet, having received poor receptions by the group's young fans who drowned out his guitar performances with shouts of "We want Davy [Jones]!"
 

 

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