BIRTHDAYS
1949: Mark Knopfler (Dire Straits)
1950: Ronald Mael (Sparks)
1954: Pat Metheny
1962: Bragi Olaffson (The Sugarcubes)
1969: Tanita Tikaram
EVENTS
1877: Thomas Edison made the first sound recording (“Mary Had a Little Lamb”).
1964: The first Beatles film ‘A Hard Days Night’ opened in 500 American cinemas, to rave reviews.
1966: The Beatles set out on what would be their last ever concert tour.
1967: Fleetwood Mac made their live debut at the National Jazz & Blues Festival, Windsor.
1968: Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, John Paul Jones & John Bonham played together for the first time in a basement room below a record shop in Gerrard Street on London’s West End (now Chinatown). They kicked off with the Yardbirds number “Train Kept a Rollin'”.
1972: Alice Cooper was at No.1 on the UK singles chart with “School’s Out”.
1977: Guitarist with The Police, Henri Padovani quit after 9 months, leaving the group as a trio.
2009: Death of guitar legend / inventor, Les Paul [aged 94]
Happy 75th Birthday to Mark Knopfler! Such a fine, clean, finger-picking style he has on the guitar. All the Dire Straits LPs sound superb on vinyl, particularly ‘Love Over Gold’ & the self-titled debut album ~ pure analog! Here’s a great live rendition of “Down to the Waterline” ~ first LP, first side, first track…
