Chapter 01 — Today in music
On a day like today August 10
1947
Ian Anderson is born, the one-legged flutist who bewildered rock
On August 10, 1947, Ian Anderson was born in Scotland — leader of Jethro Tull, the man who turned the flute into a rock instrument while standing on one leg. From 'Aqualung' to 'Thick as a Brick', he mixed British folk, blues and progressive satire with unique theatricality. He even beat Metallica to a metal Grammy in 1989, to general scandal and the glory of the absurd.
Ian Anderson
Jethro Tull
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1943
Ronnie Spector is born, the voice that broke through the wall of sound
On August 10, 1943, Veronica Bennett — Ronnie Spector, leader of The Ronettes — was born in New York. Her unmistakable vibrato on 'Be My Baby' defined sixties pop and obsessed Brian Wilson for life. She survived the confinement and control of her producer and husband Phil Spector, and returned to the stage as a symbol of resistance. The voice defeated the wall.
Ronnie Spector
The Ronettes
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1974
Roberta Flack strings together her third number one in three years
On August 10, 1974, 'Feel Like Makin' Love' reached number one in the United States. It was Roberta Flack's third in three years, after 'The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face' and 'Killing Me Softly with His Song'. A classical music teacher before she was a star, she sang slowly and quietly in an age of shouting, and that restraint turned out to be the most modern thing going. Nobody did more with less volume.
Roberta Flack
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1979
'Off the Wall': Michael Jackson stops being a child and founds modern pop
On August 10, 1979, 'Off the Wall' was released — the album with which Michael Jackson, at twenty, split from his brothers and found in Quincy Jones the producer of his life. It sold over twenty million copies and spent sixteen weeks atop the R&B chart. At the Grammys he won just one, and Jackson took it as a personal affront: he swore it would never happen again. Four years later came 'Thriller'.
Michael Jackson
Quincy Jones
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1996
Oasis at Knebworth: Britpop's biggest night
On August 10, 1996, Oasis opened at Knebworth Park the weekend that crowned Britpop: two nights before 125,000 people each, with over four percent of the British population trying to get tickets. The Gallagher brothers, at the peak of 'What's the Story (Morning Glory)?', turned 'Wonderwall' and 'Champagne Supernova' into the chants of a generation. It was the high-water mark of the last great fever of mass British rock.
Oasis
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1909
Leo Fender is born, the man who electrified rock without knowing how to play
On August 10, 1909, Clarence Leonidas 'Leo' Fender, the radio repairman who changed music history, was born in Anaheim, California. From his workshop came the Telecaster, the Stratocaster, the Precision bass and the amplifiers that defined the electric sound of the 20th century. Most astonishing of all: Leo never learned to play guitar. He designed by listening to musicians, which is why his instruments remain the standard seventy years later.
Leo Fender
1940
Bobby Hatfield is born: the white half who sang black
On August 10, 1940, Bobby Hatfield was born in Wisconsin — the high voice of The Righteous Brothers. The duo recorded 'You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'' with Phil Spector, which would become one of the most-played songs in American radio history, and Hatfield sang 'Unchained Melody' alone. They called it blue-eyed soul, an awkward name for the obvious: two white men who had learned in the wrong churches.
Bobby Hatfield
The Righteous Brothers
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1968
Michael Bivins is born: the child star who became a talent scout
On August 10, 1968, Michael Bivins was born in Boston. He was a child in New Edition, the group that taught the eighties how a boy band is assembled, and an adult in Bell Biv DeVoe, where they crossed R&B with hip-hop into a formula half a decade copied. Then he turned to finding people: Boyz II Men and Another Bad Creation came from his eye. Few artists have changed trades so well inside their own genre.
Michael Bivins
New Edition
Bell Biv DeVoe
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1984
The Red Hot Chili Peppers debut on record, clumsy and on fire
On August 10, 1984, the Red Hot Chili Peppers' self-titled debut album was released, produced by Gang of Four's Andy Gill. The recording was a train wreck: guitarist Hillel Slovak and drummer Jack Irons couldn't even take part due to commitments with another band. The result failed to capture the funk fury of their shows, but it planted the seed of the funk-rock fusion that would make them giants a decade later.
Red Hot Chili Peppers
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1985
'Shout' rules America and therapy becomes a chorus
On August 10, 1985, Tears for Fears' 'Shout' sat at number one in the United States, in the middle of a three-week run. Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith had built the duo around primal scream therapy — the idea that howling out childhood pain heals you — and the band's name came from it. Turning a psychological treatment into a stadium anthem was the strangest and most effective trick of the eighties.
Tears for Fears
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