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 9, 1921 ~ Producer, label executive Dick Rowe, full name Richard Paul Brutton Rowe, born in London, UK ~ Served at Decca Records from the late 1940s until his retirement in the mid 1970s. Remembered as the executive who passed on the Beatles, yet did sign the Rolling Stones at the recommendation of George Harrison. Would become one of the most successful British executives and producers of the 1960s, signing and producing acts such as Them, the Moody Blues, the Zombies, John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers, Tom Jones, the Small Faces, the Animals, Procol Harum, and Gilbert O'Sullivan. Rowe's son, solicitor Richard Rowe, would follow in his father's footsteps with executive positions at CBS Records and Sony Music ~ Rowe passed away in 1986June 9, 1912 ~ Bernard Feinstein, commonly known as swing lyricist Buddy Feyne, born in New York, New York, USA ~ Wrote the lyrics to Glenn Miller's 1940 hit Tuxedo Junction. Others who have recorded songs co-written by Feyne include Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan, Louis Armstrong, Gene Autry, Frankie Avalon, the Andrews Sisters, George Benson, Nat King Cole, the Manhattan Transfer, Joe Jackson, and Boz Scaggs ~ Feinstein passed away in 1998
June 9, 1905 ~ Singer Martha Boswell born in Kansas City, Missouri, USA ~ One third of close harmony trio the Boswell Sisters, alongside siblings Connee Boswell and Helvetia Boswell, known for 1930s hits such as I Found A Million Dollar Baby In A Five An Ten Cent Store, Rock & Roll, The Object Of My Affection, Dinah, and Alexander's Ragtime Band ~ Boswell passed away in 1958
June 9, 1902 ~ Nehemiah Curtis James, commonly known as Delta blues singer, guitarist, pianist, songwriter Skip James, born in Bentonia, Mississippi, USA ~ First recorded in the early 1930s to initially little succes to be rediscovered in the 1960s blues revival. Known for songs such as Cherry Ball Blues, Illinois Blues, I'm So Glad and Jesus Is A Mighty Good Leader ~ James passed away in 1969
June 9, 1891 ~ Composer, songwriter Cole Porter, full name Cole Albert Porter, born in Peru, Indiana, USA ~ One of the most popular songwriters of the 1920s through the 1940s. One of the few of his day who usually wrote both music and lyrics. Known for standards such as Night And Day (Fred Astaire, Bing Crosby, Joe Henderson, Everything But The Girl), Begin The Beguine (June Knight, Artie Shaw, Benny Goodman), I Get A Kick Out Of You (Ethel Merman, Ella Fitzgerald), I've Got You Under My Skin (Virginia Bruce, Frank Sinatra, the Four Seasons, Neneh Cherry), Easy To Love (Frances Langford, Hal Kemp, Billie Holiday) and You're The Top (Paul Whiteman, the Dorsey Brothers) ~ Porter passed away in 1964June 9, 1877 ~ Vaudeville, ragtime singer Gene Greene, full name Eugene Delbert Greene, born in Aurora, Illinois, USA ~ One of the first to use scat singing techniques. Known for songs such as The Chinese Blues, Alexander's Got A Jazz Band Now, and his best known King Of The Bungaloos ~ Greene passed away in 1930