Chapter 01 — Today in music
On a day like today July 6
1957
Lennon meets McCartney at a church fete: the century's great partnership is born
On July 6, 1957, at the Woolton church fete, a 16-year-old John Lennon was playing with his skiffle band when he was introduced to one Paul McCartney, 15. Paul impressed him by tuning a guitar and knowing all of 'Twenty Flight Rock'. From that suburban handshake came the most important songwriting partnership of the 20th century. That is how fragile history is.
John Lennon
Paul McCartney
1925
Bill Haley is born, rock and roll's improbable first face
On July 6, 1925, Bill Haley was born in Michigan — the western swing singer whose 'Rock Around the Clock' took rock and roll to worldwide number one in 1955. Thirty-ish, with a spit curl and the look of a friendly uncle, he was an improbable pioneer who opened the door Elvis and everyone else walked through. History moved past him unfairly fast.
Bill Haley
1949
Phyllis Hyman is born: the enormous voice the industry never knew where to file
On July 6, 1949, Phyllis Hyman was born in Philadelphia — a near six-foot contralto who sang soul, jazz and ballads with equal authority. That range was her commercial curse: the label wanted radio hits and she wanted jazz, so both sides spent years pulling in opposite directions. She shone on Broadway in a show built on Duke Ellington's music, earning a Tony nomination. She took her own life in 1995, hours before a concert at the Apollo.
Phyllis Hyman
1964
Piccadilly shut down and a princess in the stalls: 'A Hard Day's Night' premieres
On July 6, 1964, the London Pavilion hosted the world premiere of 'A Hard Day's Night', the Beatles' first film, with Princess Margaret among the guests and 12,000 fans overwhelming Piccadilly Circus, which had to be closed to traffic. Richard Lester's picture, shot at the dizzying peak of Beatlemania, turned the band's real-life chaos into comedy and a brand-new visual language. Critics cheered, and its aesthetic would go on to inspire everything from pop cinema to the modern music video. Fittingly, it fell on the anniversary of the day Lennon and McCartney met in 1957.
The Beatles
1975
50 Cent is born: the rapper who turned nine bullets into a sales pitch
On July 6, 1975, Curtis Jackson was born in Queens. He survived nine gunshots in 2000 and was left with a hole in his jaw that changed his diction for good. No label would touch him until Eminem and Dr. Dre signed him; in 2003 "Get Rich or Die Tryin'" sold more than eight million copies in the United States alone. He then converted the fame into business: drinks, film and television made him considerably more money than the records did.
50 Cent
1924
Louie Bellson is born: the drummer who invented the double bass drum
On July 6, 1924, Louie Bellson was born in Rock Falls, Illinois. At fifteen he sketched a drum kit with two bass drums in his school notebook, because he did not have enough feet for what he wanted to play. He had it built, he used it, and over the years that design ended up under the feet of every metal drummer alive. He played with Duke Ellington, Count Basie and Benny Goodman, wrote hundreds of compositions and was married to singer Pearl Bailey for forty years.
Louie Bellson
Duke Ellington
1931
Della Reese is born: the gospel girl who was led into television
On July 6, 1931, Delloreese Early was born in Detroit. By thirteen she was touring as a singer with Mahalia Jackson. She changed her name to Della Reese, moved from gospel into jazz and in 1959 took "Don't You Know" to the top of the charts, using a melody lifted from a Puccini opera. She was the first Black woman to host a variety show on American television, and ended her career as an actress a whole country was fond of.
Della Reese
Mahalia Jackson
1970
Inspectah Deck is born: the man who opens "Triumph" and steals the song
On July 6, 1970, Jason Hunter — Inspectah Deck — was born in the Bronx, the most low-key member of Wu-Tang and, for half the fanbase, the group's finest writer. His signature is the opening verse: he goes first, fires off thirty seconds of compressed imagery and leaves the bar where nobody can reach it. That is what happened on "Triumph" and on "C.R.E.A.M.". A flood in RZA's basement destroyed the beats for his first solo album and set him back years.
Inspectah Deck
Wu-Tang Clan
1972
Four minutes that invented a generation: Bowie sings 'Starman' on the BBC
On July 6, 1972, the BBC broadcast David Bowie singing 'Starman' on 'Top of the Pops' in a multicolored jumpsuit, flame-red hair and an arm draped over Mick Ronson's shoulder, staring into the camera as if picking out each viewer. Watching at home, as teenagers, were Bono, Robert Smith, Morrissey, Johnny Marr, Siouxsie Sioux and half the future of British pop, who would later cite that night as their awakening. In the middle of grey Britain, that radiant ambiguity was permission to be different. It is remembered as one of the most influential TV performances in rock history.
David Bowie
Mick Ronson
1973
Queen releases its first single and radio shrugs: 'Keep Yourself Alive'
On July 6, 1973, EMI released 'Keep Yourself Alive' in the UK — Queen's debut single, written by Brian May, a week ahead of their first album. Radio turned it down and it charted neither in Britain nor in the United States: it remains the only Queen single never to enter the UK chart. Time delivered the rematch: Rolling Stone placed it among the hundred greatest guitar songs of all time. It was the false start of the band that would fill stadiums across the planet.
Queen
Brian May
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