Henry Wadsworth Longfellow famously said “Music is the universal language of mankind.” Scientists at Harvard published a comprehensive study that supports the poet’s pronouncement. Whether it is classical music played outside a convenience store to keep unruly teens at bay or used in a care setting to promote healing or simply to get you moving in the morning. Music is all around us, some you like and some you could do without. Readers still with me are likely asking themselves, where is all this going? Well in the process of digging up content for today’s Spark, I noticed that there are a lot of musical related events and so that is what I am focusing on today. Music has changed a lot over the years and yet it has not. What is old is new as artists sample, cover and are inspired by past musicians and in turn will likely be a spark for future generations of artists. But, focusing on May 12th, here are the highlights from all over the globe and all over the musical spectrum.
1926 - Dmitri Shostakovich’s 1st Symphony premieres in Leningrad
1934 - “Cocktails For Two” by Duke Ellington hits #1
1936 - Ralph Vaughan Williams’ opera “Poisoned Kiss” premieres in London
1938 - Arthur Honegger and Paul Claudel’s oratorio “Jeanne d’Arc au bûcher” (Joan of Arc at the Stake) premieres in Basel, Switzerland
1950 - Darius Milhaud’s opera “Bolivar” premieres in Paris
1958 - “Nee Nee Na Na Na Na Nu Nu” by Dicky Doo & The Don’ts hits #40. I admit I had to look this up. An instrumental number with some great sax playing. You can also check out a cover by a group called Bad Manners.
1959 - “Nervous Set” opens at Henry Miller’s Theater NYC for 23 performances
1960 - Elvis Presley appears on a Frank Sinatra television special; Elvis sings Sinatra’s 1957 Cy Coleman hit “Witchcraft”, and Frank performs Presley’s 1956 classic “Love Me Tender”
1963 - Bob Dylanwalks out of “The Ed Sullivan Show” over a dispute about his song choice.
1965 – The Rolling Stones record their smash hit single “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction”
1967 - 1st quadraphonic concert by Pink Floyd at the Games for May concert in London
1967 - Track Records releases “Are You Experienced” album by the Jimi Hendrix Experience - one of the most influential debut albums ever
1972 - Paul McCartney & Wings release single “Mary Had a Little Lamb” I prefer SRV’s version myself.
1997 - “It’s Your Love” single released by Tim McGraw and Faith Hill
2000 - Ringo Starr’s sixth All-Starr Band debuts in concert; members include: Todd Rundgren, Jack Bruce, Gary Brooker, Simon Kirke, and Timmy Cappello.
2001 - Ringo Starr’s seventh All-Starr Band debuts in concert; members include: Roger Hodgson, Ian Hunter, Howard Jones, Greg Lake, Sheila E., and Mark Rivera. I guess Ringo really likes May 12th.
2017 - Former One Direction singer Harry Styles releases his self-titled debut solo album
A diverse list to say the least and more than enough things for you to look up and listen to.
Artists born on this day:
1754 - Franz Anton Hoffmeister, German composer, born in Rottenburg am Neckar, Holy Roman Empire
1797 - Johann Hermann Kufferath, German composer, born in Mülheim an der Ruhr
1910 - Gordon Jenkins, American arranger and orchestra leader (Nat King Cole, Frank Sinatra), born in Webster Groves, Missouri
1926 - Philip Springer, American composer (“Santa Baby”; “The Next Time”; “The Bells Of Notre Dame”), born in New York City
1936 - David Snell, British jazz harpist and conductor, born in Grantham, Lincolnshire, England
1942 - Billy Swan, American country-rock singer-songwriter (“I Can Help”), born in Cape Giradeau, Louisiana
1948 - Steve Winwood, English singer, songwriter and musician (Spencer Davis Group - “Gimme Some Lovin’”; Traffic - “Low Spark Of High Heeled Boys”; solo - 'Higher Love"; “While You See A Chance”), born in Birmingham, England
1950 - Billy Squier, American rock singer-songwriter, and guitarist (“The Stroke”; “My Kind Of Lover”), born in Wellesley, Massachusetts
Hack of the Day: Always a lot of hacks to chose from in the land of music. But the king in my opinion is a fever dream combination of a Rube Goldberg machine and Pachinko .
May 12th Holidays:
National Limerick Day
International Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Awareness Day
International Nurses Day
National Odometer Day (we will see how far we get with this)
Shades Day (go get yourself some cheap sunglasses)
Quote of the Day:
“That’s the amazing thing about music: there’s a song for every emotion"
Harry Styles
Musical Selection of the day: How about something to wake you up and get you moving. Fulfilling my CanCon requirement.
Cartoon of the Day:
Inspirobot: Never the same twice.
Miss Spark yesterday? Make your move and check out
@jimender2 ’s strategy for Global Spark domination:
Spark! Pro series 11th May 2023
