The Current Music Blog: October 8, 2009 Archive

Today In Music History: Long Live Johnny Ramone

Posted at 6:30 AM on October 8, 2009 by Steve Seel
Filed under: Music History

Birthdays:

Singer Robert "Kool" Bell of Kool and the Gang is 59.

Today in:

1966 - Cream drummer Ginger Baker collapsed after performing a 20-minute drum solo in Sussex, England. Doctors diagnosed him as having acute exhaustion and the flu.
1968 - Cass Elliot made her solo debut at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas. However, she was suffering with tonsillitis, and her band had not rehearsed enough. She ended up canceling the two-week engagement after opening night.
1980 - Bob Marley collapsed during a concert in Pittsburgh. He was flown to a hospital in New York. Marley never performed again; he died in 1981.
1987 - The three members from ZZ Top made advance bookings for seats on the first passenger flight to the Moon. The boys are still waiting for confirmation of the trip.

History highlight:

Johnny Ramone, guitarist for The Ramones, was born on this day in 1948 (born John William Cummings in Forest Hills, Queens, New York). He died in 2004 after a five year battle with prostate cancer. Johnny was known for his fast, high-energy style that influenced both the first- and second-wave of punk, and his technique even inspired the so called "new wave" Of British heavy metal bands like Iron Maiden and Def Leppard. This morning we played a Ramones classic, "Judy Is A Punk."