Chapter 01 — Today in music
On a day like today December 28
2015
Lemmy dies, four days after his 70th birthday
Lemmy Kilmister dies in Los Angeles of a fulminant cancer diagnosed two days earlier, just four days after celebrating his 70th birthday. To the very end he lived his way: playing, recording and holding his usual spot at the Rainbow bar. Motörhead died with him, because no one ever disputed that the band and the man were the same thing.
Lemmy Kilmister
Motörhead
1903
Earl Hines is born, who played the piano like a trumpet and changed the instrument
On December 28, 1903, Earl Hines was born near Pittsburgh. Instead of comping with chords he began playing single-note lines with his right hand, the way a trumpeter would. He recorded the historic "Weather Bird" with Louis Armstrong in 1928. Years later he led the orchestra that contained Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie, the first bebop band that almost nobody managed to record.
Earl Hines
Louis Armstrong
Charlie Parker
1914
Pops Staples is born, who turned family gospel into civil rights song
On December 28, 1914, Roebuck Staples was born in Mississippi. He learned guitar on the Delta plantations and carried that sound to Chicago. He formed a group with his children, the Staple Singers, his tremolo guitar shivering underneath. In 1963 he heard Martin Luther King preach and decided that from then on the family would sing about what was happening.
Pops Staples
The Staple Singers
Martin Luther King
1921
Johnny Otis is born, son of Greek immigrants who chose to live as a Black man
On December 28, 1921, John Veliotes was born in California, son of Greek immigrants, who grew up in a Black neighbourhood of Berkeley and decided to belong to that community for good. As Johnny Otis he discovered Etta James, Big Mama Thornton and Little Esther, led orchestras, hosted radio shows and recorded "Willie and the Hand Jive".
Johnny Otis
Etta James
Big Mama Thornton
1950
Alex Chilton is born, the cult star who influenced more than he sold
Alex Chilton is born in Memphis: number one at 16 with the Box Tops and “The Letter”, then leader of Big Star, the band almost nobody bought and every musician loved. R.E.M., the Replacements and all of indie descend from those failed records. The Replacements dedicated a song to him with the perfect line: “I never travel far without a little Big Star”.
Alex Chilton
Big Star
1953
Martha Wash is born, whose lawsuit forced singers to be credited on records
On December 28, 1953, Martha Wash was born in San Francisco, owner of one of the most powerful voices in dance music. In the early nineties several worldwide hits used her recordings while models lip-synced in the videos, and she was credited nowhere at all. She sued, she won, and the law on vocal credits in the United States changed.
Martha Wash
C+C Music Factory
1959
Ana Torroja is born, who sang about two women in love when that was not done
On December 28, 1959, Ana Torroja was born in Madrid, the voice of Mecano, the best-selling Spanish group in history. In 1988 they recorded "Mujer contra mujer", a song about a relationship between two women that reached the top of the charts in Spain and across Latin America. Nobody expected a song like that could play on commercial radio at the time.
Ana Torroja
Mecano
1962
Michel Petrucciani is born, who had to be carried to the piano
On December 28, 1962, Michel Petrucciani was born in the south of France, with a bone disease that kept him under a metre tall and broke his bones easily. Someone had to carry him to the stool. From there he played with Charles Lloyd and Wayne Shorter and filled halls all over the world with an enormous swing. He died at thirty-six.
Michel Petrucciani
1978
John Legend is born, the first Black man to complete the four major awards
On December 28, 1978, John Stephens was born in Ohio. He played piano on Lauryn Hill and Kanye West records long before signing his own. He worked as a management consultant while recording at night. In 2018 he became the first Black man to win all four major American entertainment awards: Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony.
John Legend
Kanye West
Lauryn Hill
1946
Edgar Winter is born, the first to sling a keyboard over his shoulder so he could move
On December 28, 1946, Edgar Winter was born in Texas, an albino like his older brother Johnny, also a guitarist. In 1973 he reached number one in the United States with "Frankenstein", an instrumental assembled from tape fragments spliced together. To play it live he put a strap on a synthesiser and walked around the stage, something nobody had done.
Edgar Winter
Johnny Winter
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