Chapter 01 — Today in music
On a day like today November 3
1954
Adam Ant is born, the pop pirate who plundered the British charts
Stuart Goddard, the future Adam Ant, is born in London. Emerging from the punk scene and briefly advised by Malcolm McLaren, he invented with Adam and the Ants a tribal pop of hussar jackets and double drums that swept through with “Stand and Deliver” and “Prince Charming”. He was the UK's best-selling artist of 1981: post-punk as a parade.
Adam Ant
1801
Vincenzo Bellini is born, whose melodies Chopin studied to write his nocturnes
On November 3, 1801, Vincenzo Bellini was born in Catania, Sicily, grandson and son of musicians. He wrote only ten operas before dying at 33, but one of them, "Norma", contains "Casta diva", the most famous aria in the bel canto repertoire. His speciality was very long melodies that breathe like spoken sentences; Chopin studied them closely and it shows in every nocturne he wrote.
Vincenzo Bellini
Frédéric Chopin
1933
John Barry is born, who recorded the James Bond theme and won five Academy Awards
On November 3, 1933, John Barry was born in York, son of the owner of a cinema chain where he spent his childhood watching films for free. In 1962 he arranged and recorded the James Bond theme with his orchestra, the tremolo guitar that has identified the character ever since. He composed the scores for eleven films in the series and won five Oscars, among them for "Out of Africa" and "Dances with Wolves".
John Barry
James Bond
1943
Bert Jansch is born, the folk guitarist Jimmy Page studied in secret
Bert Jansch is born in Glasgow: founder of Pentangle and central figure of British folk. His acoustic guitar technique was so influential that Jimmy Page adapted his arrangement of “Blackwaterside” and Neil Young compared him to Hendrix. Without him, half the acoustic rock of the seventies, from Zeppelin to Nick Drake, would sound different.
Bert Jansch
1948
Lulu is born, who had an American number one at eighteen
On November 3, 1948, Marie Lawrie was born in Glasgow, daughter of a slaughterhouse worker. At fifteen she recorded "Shout" and at eighteen she starred in a film about a teacher in a tough district; its title song, "To Sir with Love", was the best-selling American single of 1967. She won Eurovision in 1969 in a four-way tie and in the seventies recorded with David Bowie producing her.
Lulu
David Bowie
1899
Rezső Seress is born, author of the song they called the Hungarian suicide anthem
On November 3, 1899, Rezső Seress was born in Budapest, a bar pianist who in 1933 wrote "Szomorú vasárnap", a desolate song about a sad Sunday. The press began attributing a chain of suicides in Hungary to it and the BBC pulled it from its schedules for years. Seress survived a forced labour camp during the war and took his own life in Budapest in 1968.
Rezső Seress
1967
Steven Wilson is born, who invented a fake band and ended up having to form it for real
On November 3, 1967, Steven Wilson was born in England. In the late eighties he recorded tapes alone at home, credited to an invented group called Porcupine Tree, complete with a fake biography. The joke worked too well: the band had to be assembled for real. In parallel he became the man King Crimson, Jethro Tull and Yes trust to remix their back catalogues.
Steven Wilson
Porcupine Tree
King Crimson
1969
Robert Miles is born, who composed a club hit to prevent road accidents
On November 3, 1969, Roberto Concina was born in Switzerland to Italian parents. His father, an ambulance volunteer, showed him photographs of young people killed driving home from clubs at dawn. He then composed "Children", a slow piano piece meant to close the night and bring people's pulses down before they got into a car. In 1996 it was number one across half of Europe.
Robert Miles
1973
Sticky Fingaz is born, of the group that got hip-hop jumping before anyone else
On November 3, 1973, Kirk Jones was born in Brooklyn. In 1993 he recorded "Slam" with Onyx, a song whose chorus consisted essentially of shouting. The group shaved their heads en masse when that still attracted attention and brought a mosh pit energy to rap that until then had been punk's territory. Jones later left music almost entirely and turned to acting in film and television.
Sticky Fingaz
Onyx
1987
Courtney Barnett is born, who sings about asthma, gardening and existential crises
On November 3, 1987, Courtney Barnett was born in Sydney. She set up her own record label because nobody else wanted to release her. Her lyrics are very long, very detailed observations about insignificant things: a house she cannot afford, an asthma attack while swimming, an afternoon of gardening that ends in panic. That way of talking rather than singing made her the most original voice in Australian rock.
Courtney Barnett
One ephemeris a day, one editorial a week. Zero spam, pure archive.