About maketodayrock.com: We celebrate musicians' birthdays, remember those we've lost, and highlight key moments in music such a release dates, chart peak dates, or anything else tied to a specific date. Pick any day from the menu in the top right. The front page shows recent obituaries.
June 2, 1887 ~ Lyricist, songwriter Howard Johnson born in Waterbury, Connecticut, USA ~ Remembered for co-penning songs such as Lindbergh The Eagle Of The USA (Vernon Dalhart, Ernest Hare, Harry Crane), What Do We Do On A Dew-Dewey Day (Charles Kaley, Nathaniel Shilkret, Ruth Etting), When The Moon Comes Over The Mountain (the Radiolites, Leo Reisman, Sam Lanin), Ice Cream I Scream You Scream We All Scream For Ice Cream (Harry Reser, Waring's Pennsylvanians, Chris Barber), and What Do You Want To Make Those Eyes At Me For (Sam Ash, Bob Howard, Betty Hutton) ~ Johnson passed away in 1941
June 2, 1863 ~ Pianist, conductor, composer Felix Weingartner, full name Paul Felix Weingartner, born in Zara, Austria ~ One of the last pupils of Franz Liszt. Succeeded Gustav Mahler as director of the Vienna Hofoper, a post Weingartner held from 1907 to 1910. First conductor to make commercial recording of all nine Ludwig van Beethoven symphonies, and after Leopold Stokowski the second to record all four Johannes Brahms symphonies. Premiered Georges Bizet's long-lost Symphony In C in 1935 ~ Weingartner passed away in 1942
June 2, 1852 ~ Vaudevillian, songwriter Charles B Lawlor, also known as Chas B Lawlor, born in Dublin, Ireland ~ Emigrated to America in the late 1860s. Perhaps best remembered for penning The Sidewalks Of New York with James W Blake. The song would become an unofficial anthem of New York, first recorded by Dan Quinn in 1895 and covered by numerous artists including Vernon Dalhart, Kai Winding, Nat King Cole, and Mel Tormé. The song would also be notably used as theme song in the campaign of presidential candidate Alfred E Smith in 1928 ~ Lawlor passed away in 1925