Chapter 01 — Today in music
On a day like today August 4
1901
Louis Armstrong is born, the sun the 20th century's music revolved around
On August 4, 1901, Louis Armstrong was born in New Orleans — though he himself believed all his life he was born on a July 4th: the baptismal record surfaced decades after his death. With his trumpet and gravel voice he invented the modern solo and the very idea of the star performer. Every singer and soloist after him, from jazz to rock, owes him their freedom.
Louis Armstrong
Listen
Via YouTube
1958
The Billboard Hot 100 debuts: the yardstick of pop is born
On August 4, 1958, Billboard published its first Hot 100, unifying sales and airplay into a single chart, with Ricky Nelson's 'Poor Little Fool' as the inaugural number one. Ever since, the chart has been pop ambition's official scoreboard: Beatles records, Mariah's weeks at the top, streaming feats. The entire commercial history of modern music is told in that ranking.
Billboard
1967
'The Piper at the Gates of Dawn': Pink Floyd's lysergic debut
On August 4, 1967, EMI Columbia released 'The Piper at the Gates of Dawn', Pink Floyd's first album and the only one recorded under the leadership of Syd Barrett, who wrote nearly all of its songs. Recorded at Abbey Road while the Beatles made 'Sgt. Pepper' next door, it blended children's tales, outer space and sonic experimentation like nothing before. It was the founding stone of British psychedelia and of one of the most influential bands in history. Barrett shone there with a light that would soon go out.
Pink Floyd
Syd Barrett
Listen
Via YouTube
1984
'Purple Rain' hits number one and doesn't move for 24 weeks
On August 4, 1984, 'Purple Rain' reached number one on the Billboard 200 and stayed there for 24 consecutive weeks, until January 18, 1985. Prince simultaneously had the country's best-selling album, its most-played single and its most-watched film. The soundtrack went on to sell 25 million copies and won two Grammys and an Oscar. Nobody has occupied the exact centre of American popular culture like that for half a year since.
Prince
The Revolution
Listen
Via YouTube
1990
'Vision of Love' hits number one and rewrites how pop sings
On August 4, 1990, Mariah Carey's debut reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and stayed four weeks. 'Vision of Love' was later christened "the Magna Carta of melisma": those cascades of notes decorating every syllable became compulsory for every R&B singer who followed and every television contestant. Beyoncé, Christina Aguilera and Kelly Clarkson all cite it as the source. A single song rewrote the manual of the pop voice.
Mariah Carey
Listen
Via YouTube
1964
The Kinks release 'You Really Got Me' and the riff becomes a weapon
On August 4, 1964, Pye Records released 'You Really Got Me'. To get that broken sound, Dave Davies had slashed the speaker cone of his Elpico amplifier — he called it "little green" — with a razor blade and poked it with a pin before running it into a Vox AC30. The single went to number one in Britain. That homemade snarl turned out to be the blueprint for hard rock: two chords, plenty of distortion and no apology.
The Kinks
Dave Davies
Listen
Via YouTube
1975
The Rhodes crash: the day luck abandoned Led Zeppelin
On August 4, 1975, Robert Plant lost control of the car he was vacationing in with his family on the Greek island of Rhodes. The singer fractured an ankle and an elbow, and his wife Maureen suffered even more serious injuries; the American tour behind 'Physical Graffiti' had to be cancelled. Plant spent months in a wheelchair and recorded 'Presence' unable to stand. For many, that day began the dark streak that would haunt Led Zeppelin to the end.
Robert Plant
Led Zeppelin
Listen
Via YouTube
2007
Lee Hazlewood dies, the baritone who made those boots walk
On August 4, 2007, Lee Hazlewood died in Henderson, Nevada, of renal cancer at 78. A songwriter and producer with a cavernous voice, he invented Duane Eddy's twang sound in the fifties and wrote 'These Boots Are Made for Walkin'' for Nancy Sinatra, with whom he recorded duets of a strange, dusty romanticism. His 'psychedelic cowboy' style influenced generations of indie musicians who rediscovered him in the nineties. He left as he lived: cult, elegant and on his own terms.
Lee Hazlewood
Nancy Sinatra
Listen
Via YouTube
2017
'Despacito' becomes the most-watched video in YouTube history
On August 4, 2017, Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee's 'Despacito' passed three billion plays and became the most-watched video on YouTube, a title it held until November 2020. It had already spent sixteen weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100, something no Spanish-language song had managed since 'Macarena' in 1996. Reggaeton stopped being a Caribbean concern and became the lingua franca of global pop.
Luis Fonsi
Daddy Yankee
2022
Sam Gooden dies: the last foundation stone of The Impressions
On August 4, 2022, Sam Gooden died in Chattanooga aged 87 — an original member of The Impressions from the days when the group was called The Roosters. Alongside Curtis Mayfield he turned gospel into civil rights anthems: 'People Get Ready' and 'Keep On Pushing' were sung on the marches before they were played on the radio. They entered the Hall of Fame in 1991. Their three-part harmony crossed the Caribbean and shaped the sound of the Wailers.
Sam Gooden
The Impressions
Curtis Mayfield
Listen
Via YouTube
One ephemeris a day, one editorial a week. Zero spam, pure archive.