Chapter 01 — Today in music
On a day like today December 20
1957
Elvis receives his draft notice at Graceland
In the middle of the Christmas season, Elvis Presley receives his military draft notice at Graceland. The world's biggest artist would trade the gold suit for a uniform, in a move his manager, Colonel Parker, used to reformat his image. For many critics, original rock and roll never fully recovered from that pause.
Elvis Presley
1945
Peter Criss is born, whose biggest hit with Kiss was a ballad with no sonic make-up
On December 20, 1945, George Criscuola was born in Brooklyn, founding drummer of Kiss and the man behind the cat character. The band built its fame on pyrotechnics, fake blood and guitars at full volume, but its biggest American hit was "Beth", a ballad with orchestra sung by Criss on which no other member of the group plays.
Peter Criss
Kiss
1947
Gigliola Cinquetti is born, who won Eurovision at sixteen and was censored at twenty-six
On December 20, 1947, Gigliola Cinquetti was born in Verona. At sixteen she won the 1964 Eurovision contest singing "Non ho l'età", a song about being too young to love. Ten years later she competed again with a song titled "Sì", and Italian public television kept it off the air for fear it might sway the referendum on divorce.
Gigliola Cinquetti
1948
Alan Parsons is born, engineer of "Abbey Road" and "The Dark Side of the Moon"
On December 20, 1948, Alan Parsons was born in London. At nineteen he was working as an assistant at Abbey Road studios and took part in recording the Beatles' last album. Four years later he was the engineer on "The Dark Side of the Moon", whose sound defined what a studio could do. He then formed his own project and made a dozen albums.
Alan Parsons
Pink Floyd
The Beatles
1957
Mike Watt is born, the bassist who turned punk into one-minute songs
On December 20, 1957, Mike Watt was born in Virginia. He grew up in a Californian port town and formed Minutemen with his schoolfriend D. Boon. They recorded songs under two minutes long that mixed punk, funk and working-class politics, and financed everything themselves. When Boon died in a crash in 1985, Watt nearly gave up music for good.
Mike Watt
Minutemen
1957
Billy Bragg is born, electric troubadour of the British working class
Billy Bragg is born in Barking, England, the same day Elvis received his draft papers across the Atlantic. With just an electric guitar and an Essex accent, he joined punk with the protest song in anthems like “A New England”. With Wilco he later rescued Woody Guthrie's unpublished lyrics: political coherence turned into a discography.
Billy Bragg
1990
JoJo is born, who had a hit at thirteen and then spent a decade unable to release anything
On December 20, 1990, Joanna Levesque was born in Vermont. At thirteen she reached number one on American pop radio with "Leave (Get Out)". Her label collapsed shortly afterwards and she was trapped in a contract that stopped her recording for anyone else. She litigated for years and in 2018 re-recorded her first two albums from scratch, after they had vanished.
JoJo
1907
Paul Francis Webster is born, a lyricist with sixteen Oscar nominations and three statuettes
On December 20, 1907, Paul Francis Webster was born in New York. He was a sailor and a dance teacher before turning to writing lyrics for the cinema. He won three Academy Awards, for "Secret Love", "Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing" and "The Shadow of Your Smile", and was nominated thirteen more times. His songs were recorded by everyone from Doris Day to Tony Bennett.
Paul Francis Webster
1948
Mitsuko Uchida is born, the Japanese girl who stayed in Vienna at twelve to play Mozart
On December 20, 1948, Mitsuko Uchida was born near Tokyo, daughter of a diplomat posted to Austria. When the family returned to Japan she was fourteen and decided to stay behind alone in Vienna to keep studying piano. She became one of the most respected Mozart and Schubert interpreters in the world and directs her own concertos from the keyboard.
Mitsuko Uchida
1966
Chris Robinson is born, who at twenty-three sold five million with a record against the grain
On December 20, 1966, Chris Robinson was born in Marietta, Georgia, singer of the Black Crowes. In 1990, with the industry looking towards metal and about to discover grunge, the band released a southern rock album with Hammond organ and gospel backing vocals that sounded like 1972. It sold five million copies and bought them twenty more years of career.
Chris Robinson
The Black Crowes
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