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Today in Music History: Remembering Brad Delp of Boston

Brad Delp of Boston
Brad Delp of BostonCarl Lender from Hollywood, FL, USA, Wikipedia CC BY-SA 2.0

June 12, 2018

History Highlight:

Brad Delp was born today in 1951. Best-known as the lead vocalist of Boston, the band sold more than 75 million records worldwide, and their best-known works include the songs "More Than a Feeling", "Peace of Mind", "Foreplay/Long Time", "Rock and Roll Band", "Smokin'", "Don't Look Back", "A Man I'll Never Be", and "Amanda". Fun fact: the band's first name was "Mother's Milk" between the years of 1973 and 1974. Sadly, Delp took his own life in 2007.

Also, Today In:

1957 - Jerry Lee Lewis' "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On" was slowly climbing the charts.

1965 - The Supremes scored their fifth consecutive U.S. No. 1 single when "Back In My Arms Again" went to the top of the charts, making them the first American group to accomplish this feat. The song was written and produced by Motown's main production team Holland-Dozier-Holland, and features lead vocals by Diana Ross, background vocals by Florence Ballard and Mary Wilson and all instruments by the Funk Brothers.

1965 - The Rolling Stones released one of the all-time most popular rock tunes, "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction." The song was first played only on pirate radio stations as its lyrics were considered too sexually suggestive but it was later embraced by radio stations and the world as one of the greatest songs of all time. "Satisfaction" was added to the National Recording Registry of the Library of Congress in 2006.

1967 - Bob Dylan's first compilation album, Greatest Hits, peaked at No. 10 in the U.S. chart.

1972 - John Lennon and Yoko Ono released the politically oriented double-album Some Time In New York City.

1982 - Bruce Springsteen, James Taylor, Jackson Browne, Linda Ronstadt and Gary "U.S." Bonds all performed for more than 450,000 fans at a rally for nuclear disarmament in New York's Central Park.

1994 - The soundtrack album to the Quentin Tarantino film Pulp Fiction crept into the Billboard Top 50, where it eventually peaked at No. 21. No traditional film score was commissioned for Pulp Fiction; instead, the film contains a mix of rock 'n' roll, surf music, pop and soul. The soundtrack album features songs performed by Urge Overkill, Al Green, Maria McKee, Kool and the Gang, Rick Nelson and Chuck Berry, among others.

2006 - Prince received a Webby Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of his "visionary" use of the Internet; Prince was the first major artist to release an entire album, 1997's Crystal Ball, exclusively online.

2013 - Mumford & Sons bassist Ted Dwane was rushed into hospital to have an operation to remove a blood clot on his brain.

Birthdays:

Reg Presley, lead singer of The Troggs, was born today in 1941.

Chick Corea is 77.

Junior Brown, known as the Hillbilly Hendrix, is 66.

Bun E. Carlos, drummer for Cheap Trick, is 68.

John Linnell of They Might Be Giants is 59.

Highlights for Today in Music History are gathered from This Day in Music, Paul Shaffer's Day in Rock, Song Facts and Wikipedia.