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Today In Music History

June 22 in Music History: "Transmissions from the Satellite Heart” is released

NEW YORK, NY - SEPTEMBER 09:  Wayne Coyne of The Flaming Lips performs onstage at Pitchfork And October Present OctFest 2018 at Governors Island on September 9, 2018 in New York City.
NEW YORK, NY - SEPTEMBER 09: Wayne Coyne of The Flaming Lips performs onstage at Pitchfork And October Present OctFest 2018 at Governors Island on September 9, 2018 in New York City. Mike Pont/Getty Images for Pitchfork

June 22, 2022

History Highlight:

In 1993, The Flaming Lips released their sixth studio album, "Transmissions from the Satellite Heart”. One of the standout tracks, "She Don't Use Jelly," became a breakthrough hit for the band and was played in heavy rotation on MTV. The album helped solidify The Flaming Lips' reputation as pioneers in the alternative music scene of the '90s and received critical acclaim for its unique blend of psychedelic influences, catchy melodies and unconventional song structures. 

Also, Today In: 

1956 - Elvis Presley started a three-day run playing 10 shows at the Paramount Theater in Atlanta. 

 

1963 - Stevie Wonder first entered the U.S. singles chart as Little Stevie Wonder with "Fingertips Parts One and Two"; Wonder was only 13 years old, making him the youngest artist ever to top the chart. The track, which featured a young Marvin Gaye on drums, was recorded in June 1962 at the Regal Theater in Chicago and was the first live, non-studio recording to reach No. 1 on the Billboard Pop Singles chart since 1952. On the recording, Wonder appeared to bring the song to its conclusion and the band went into the exit music — but Wonder unexpectedly changed his mind and returned to sing the "goodbye" encore. The other musicians were caught out, and the bass players had changed over to prepare for the next act on the bill; as a result, the new bass player, Larry Moses, can be heard on the recording, yelling out, "What key? What key?" 

 

1964 - One day after graduating from high school, Dolly Parton moves to Nashville. 

  

1968 - Herb Alpert started a four-week run at No. 1 on the U.S. singles chart with "This Guy's In Love With You," his first No. 1. 

  

1969 - Minnesota-born singer and actress Judy Garland died of a drug overdose at age 47. 

  

1970 - Led Zeppelin played a concert in Reykjavik on the group's one and only visit to Iceland. 

 

1972 - 1971 Joni Mitchell released her fourth studio album Blue, which included incredible songs like "All I Want", "Carey", "California", "River", "A Case of You" and the title track "Blue". At only 27 years old, she had already had some intense life experiences including putting her daughter up for adoption which she sings about on "Little Green". This would be her second-to-last folk album before deciding to take her sound in a jazz direction. In a documentary that came out in 2003, Mitchell said, "I was demanding of myself a deeper and greater honesty." Today, Blue is often regarded by music critics as one of the greatest albums of all time. 

 

1974 - Madonna, 15, goes to her first concert: David Bowie at Cobo Arena in Detroit. "I recognized myself in him somehow and he gave me license to dream a different future for myself," she says. 

  

1985 - Bryan Adams started a two-week run at No. 1 on the U.S. singles chart with "Heaven," his first No. 1 single. 

  

1990 - Billy Joel became the first rock artist to perform at Yankee Stadium. 

  

2000 - After giving himself various new identities during the 1990s, The Artist Formally Known As Prince announced he wanted to be known as Prince again. 

 

2008 - Coldplay went to No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Viva La Vida', their first UK No.1. History was made by this single, as it had no physical CD-single release in the UK, being available by internet download only. The song won a Grammy Award for Song of the Year in 2009.  

  

2013 - "Blurred Lines" by Robin Thicke started a 13-week run at No. 1 on the U.S. singles chart. 

  

2016 - Robert Plant told a court hearing in the "Stairway To Heaven" copyright dispute that he had a dim memory of the time the song was written. Plant also said he could not remember meeting the band Spirit, who claimed the band stole their guitar riff for Stairway to Heaven in the 1970s. "I don't have a recollection of almost anyone I've hung out with," Plant said, causing roars of laughter in the court. The case was brought on behalf of Spirit's late guitarist, Randy Wolfe. His estate claimed the opening riff of the 1968 song Taurus is fundamentally the same as the iconic opening bars of Stairway to Heaven. 

 

2019 - Sir Elton John was awarded France's highest civilian award, the Legion d'Honneur. The British musician was presented with the award by President Emmanuel Macron during a ceremony at the Elysee Palace. President Macron's office praised Sir Elton as a "melodic genius" and as one of the first artists to give a voice to the LGBT community. 

 

2019 - Drummer and record producer Jerry Carrigan died age 75. He first achieved widespread recognition by being part of the first wave of the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section and later as a first-call session musician in Nashville for over three decades. He recorded with Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Charlie Rich, Kenny Rogers, Jerry Lee Lewis, Ray Stevens and Dolly Parton. 

 

2020 - Twenty One Pilots release a never-ending video for their song "Level of Concern" that continuously updates using footage uploaded by fans. It does end, but not until December 16 - 178 days later. 

 

2020 - The day after Spain lifted a 3-month coronavirus lockdown, the Liceu opera in Barcelona opens its season with an unusual performance: Each of the 2,292 seats is occupied by a houseplant. 

 

2022 - The world-famous Glastonbury Festival took place in Pilton, Somerset, England. The event was cancelled in 2020 and 2021 due to the pandemic but returned this year. This year's festival featured its youngest-ever solo headline in Billie Eilish and Sir Paul McCartney as the oldest. 

  

Birthdays: 

Singer-songwriter Kris Kristofferson is 87. His hits include "Me And Bobby McGee" and "Help Me Make It Through The Night". 

Alan Osmond, from the American family group The Osmonds, is 74 

Todd Rundgren is 75. 

Howard Kaylan, from The Turtles, is 76. 

Larry Junstrom, a founding member of Lynyrd Skynyrd and longstanding bassist with the band, was born in 1949.  

INXS bassist Gary Beers is 66. 

Bobby Gillespie of Primal Scream is 61. 

Steven Page of Barenaked Ladies is 53. 

Editors' Chris Urbanowicz is 42. 

Nick Harper of Squeeze is 58. 

Carson Daly of TRL and the Voice is 50. 

Cyndi Lauper is 70. (The Morning Show team got to chat with Lauper in the basement of the Electric Fetus in 2016.) 

Highlights for Today in Music History are gathered from This Day in Music, Paul Shaffer's Day in Rock, Song Facts and Wikipedia.