Chapter 01 — Today in music
On a day like today August 7
1942
Caetano Veloso is born, the tropical revolutionary who electrified Brazil
On August 7, 1942, Caetano Veloso was born in Santo Amaro, Bahia — leader, with Gilberto Gil, of Tropicália, the movement that in 1968 fused bossa nova, psychedelic rock and the avant-garde, scandalizing purist leftists and the dictatorship alike; the regime jailed and exiled him. Half a century later he remains Brazilian music's aesthetic compass and a global reference.
Caetano Veloso
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1957
Teenage Lennon steps into The Cavern for the first time
On August 7, 1957, The Quarrymen, 16-year-old John Lennon's skiffle group, made their debut at Liverpool's Cavern Club. Paul McCartney missed it: he was away at scout camp. The club only tolerated skiffle, but Lennon launched into Elvis's 'Don't Be Cruel' until the owner passed him a note: 'cut out the bloody rock and roll'. In that damp cellar, without anyone knowing it, the road to the Beatles began.
The Quarrymen
John Lennon
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1958
Bruce Dickinson is born, the air-raid siren who pilots Iron Maiden
On August 7, 1958, Bruce Dickinson was born in England — the operatic voice that, from 'The Number of the Beast' onward, made Iron Maiden the most beloved metal band on the planet. Besides singing like an air-raid siren, he is a commercial airline pilot, an international-level fencer and a writer: heavy metal's improbable Renaissance man.
Bruce Dickinson
Iron Maiden
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1971
The Bee Gees reach number one in the United States for the first time
On August 7, 1971, 'How Can You Mend a Broken Heart' gave the Bee Gees their first American number one and held for four weeks. They were still a ballad band of squabbling brothers; the falsetto and the white suit of 'Saturday Night Fever' were six years away. The following year Al Green recorded it for 'Let's Stay Together' and proved what had been suspected: under the Gibbs' pop surface beat a soul song.
Bee Gees
Al Green
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2021
Dennis Thomas dies: the elegant saxophone of Kool & the Gang
On August 7, 2021, Dennis "Dee Tee" Thomas died aged 70 — a founding member of Kool & the Gang, where he played alto sax, flute and percussion from 1964 until his death. He was also the band's master of ceremonies on stage and its wardrobe stylist: in a group that went from Jersey City street jazz to 'Celebration', somebody had to hold the style together. Fifty-seven years in the same band is a career almost nobody can repeat now.
Dennis Thomas
Kool & the Gang
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1961
Carlos Vives is born: the actor who rescued vallenato from oblivion
On August 7, 1961, Carlos Vives was born in Santa Marta. He came to music through acting: he played Rafael Escalona in a soap opera and ended up recording 'Clásicos de la Provincia', the 1993 album that pulled vallenato out of the Colombian provinces and onto radios across the continent, with electric guitars and drums laid over the accordion. Purists cried betrayal. Thirty years on, that betrayal is why the Caribbean accordion is still heard at all.
Carlos Vives
1970
The Moody Blues come down to earth with 'A Question of Balance'
On August 7, 1970, The Moody Blues released 'A Question of Balance', a record designed to be playable live without the orchestral layers that had made them famous. The existential plea of 'Question', written by Justin Hayward at the height of the Vietnam War, opened a rawer, more direct album. The bet paid off: it hit number 1 in the UK and cemented the band as a bridge between psychedelia and progressive rock.
The Moody Blues
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1976
Elton John gets his first number one dressed up as Motown
On August 7, 1976, 'Don't Go Breaking My Heart' reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and stayed four weeks. Elton John and Bernie Taupin had written it as a tribute to the Motown duets and signed it with the pseudonyms Ann Orson and Carte Blanche. It was Kiki Dee's only number one and Elton John's first in the UK, where he wouldn't top the chart solo until 'Sacrifice', fourteen years later.
Elton John
Kiki Dee
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1979
Gangsta Boo is born: the only woman inside Three 6 Mafia
On August 7, 1979, Lola Chantrelle Mitchell was born in the Whitehaven neighbourhood of Memphis. She joined Three 6 Mafia at fourteen, was its only female member and recorded with them from 'Mystic Stylez' in 1995 until she left in 2001. Her album 'Enquiring Minds' reached number fifteen on the R&B and hip-hop chart. She died on the first day of 2023, aged 43, just as a whole generation of women rappers was naming her a founding mother of the South.
Gangsta Boo
Three 6 Mafia
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1983
Sabbath and Gillan: the one-off experiment of 'Born Again'
On August 7, 1983, 'Born Again' hit US stores — the only Black Sabbath record with Deep Purple's Ian Gillan on the mic. Joining two titans of British rock sounded like an impossible play, and partly it was: the muddy mix and the demonic-baby cover were savaged by critics. Over the years, tracks like 'Zero the Hero' turned the record into a cult piece of the post-Ozzy, post-Dio era.
Black Sabbath
Ian Gillan
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