Chapter 01 — Today in music
On a day like today October 25
1964
The Rolling Stones debut on Ed Sullivan and scandalize America
The Rolling Stones appear for the first time on The Ed Sullivan Show. The young audience went wild and adults were so horrified that Sullivan swore they would never return; they returned five more times. If the Beatles had been the presentable boyfriends of the British Invasion, that night America met the other ones: the dangerous ones.
The Rolling Stones
1825
Johann Strauss II is born, who studied music behind his musician father's back
On October 25, 1825, Johann Strauss II was born in Vienna. His father — the city's most famous waltz composer — flatly forbade him from going into music and wanted him to be a banker. His mother paid for secret lessons. At nineteen he formed his own orchestra and competed with his father's in the ballrooms of Vienna. He wrote "The Blue Danube", the best-known waltz in history.
Johann Strauss II
1838
Georges Bizet is born, who died believing "Carmen" had been a failure
On October 25, 1838, Georges Bizet was born in Paris, a prodigy admitted to the conservatoire at nine. In March 1875 he premiered "Carmen" and the critics tore it apart: they found it immoral that the protagonist was a factory worker who smokes, chooses her lovers and is stabbed to death on stage. Three months later Bizet died, aged 36. It is now the most performed opera in the world.
Georges Bizet
1941
Helen Reddy is born, whose "I Am Woman" became an anthem despite radio's reluctance
On October 25, 1941, Helen Reddy was born in Melbourne into a family of variety performers. In 1972 she wrote "I Am Woman" because she could not find a song that said what she wanted to say. Stations resisted playing it; it was women listeners who called relentlessly until it reached number one. Collecting her Grammy she thanked God "because She makes everything possible".
Helen Reddy
1944
Jon Anderson is born, the celestial voice of progressive rock
Jon Anderson is born in Accrington, England: co-founder and voice of Yes. His high register and mystical lyrics defined the sound of prog summits like “Close to the Edge” and “Fragile”. A milkman before he was a star, he built sonic cathedrals with Yes that still divide opinion: you either love them or you don't get them.
Jon Anderson
Yes
1882
Tony Jackson is born, called the greatest pianist there ever was by Jelly Roll Morton
On October 25, 1882, Tony Jackson was born in New Orleans, a pianist from the Storyville district who knew an enormous repertoire by heart and could play anything requested. Jelly Roll Morton, who was humble about nobody, said he was the best he had ever heard. He was openly homosexual in the South of 1900 and left for Chicago in search of air. He wrote "Pretty Baby" and died at 38.
Tony Jackson
Jelly Roll Morton
1902
Eddie Lang is born: jazz's first great guitarist, dead at thirty
On October 25, 1902, Salvatore Massaro was born in Philadelphia, son of an instrument maker. As Eddie Lang he turned the guitar into a solo instrument in jazz, when until then it had been accompaniment only. He recorded a series of duets with the Black bluesman Lonnie Johnson under a pseudonym, to disguise the racial mixing. He died in 1933, aged thirty, from complications of a tonsillectomy.
Eddie Lang
Lonnie Johnson
1926
Jimmy Heath is born, who taught music in prison and came out writing for big band
On October 25, 1926, Jimmy Heath was born in Philadelphia, a saxophonist nicknamed Little Bird for how close his style was to Charlie Parker's. He shared a band with a young John Coltrane. A drug conviction sent him to prison for four years, where he led the penitentiary orchestra. On release he devoted himself to composing and arranging: he left more than a hundred pieces and trained generations of musicians as a university teacher.
Jimmy Heath
John Coltrane
1947
Glenn Tipton is born, half of heavy metal's first twin-guitar pair
On October 25, 1947, Glenn Tipton was born near Birmingham. He was working in a steel factory when he joined Judas Priest in 1974. With K. K. Downing he created the model of two lead guitars playing harmonies in parallel, a formula almost every metal band copied afterwards. In 2018 he revealed he had had Parkinson's for ten years and stopped touring, though he kept recording and appearing on stage.
Glenn Tipton
Judas Priest
1968
Speech is born, whose group beat gangsta rap to a Grammy at its peak
On October 25, 1968, Todd Thomas was born in Milwaukee; he formed Arrested Development while studying in Atlanta. His music was the exact counterpoint to the dominant rap of the era: songs about the rural South, community life and spirituality, with no violence and no display. In 1993 they won two Grammy awards, including best new artist, the first ever for a hip-hop group.
Speech
Arrested Development
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