Ginuwine Was Born On October 15, 1970

R&B singer Ginuwine was born as Elgin Baylor Lumpkin in Washington DC on October 15th of 1970.

He was birth name was inspired by NBA legend Elgin Baylor but he has used the stage name Ginuwine for all of his music.

His most commercially successful albums to date have been his debut in 1996 Ginuwine...The Bachelor and his second album 1999's 100% Ginuwine. Both of which have sold over two million copies in America.

His biggest hit single to date is 2001's "Differences" which hit #4 in the US and #1 on the R&B chart. His first #1 on the R&B chart was "Pony" in 1996 which went to #6 overall. His third top 10 US single so far is 2003's "In Those Jeans" which reached #8.

Promo video for "In Those Jeans"

The Beatles Hit The Top Of The UK Album Charts On October 4, 1969

The Beatles hit the top of the UK album charts with Abbey Road on October 4th of 1969. It stayed at #1 for 11 weeks before the Rolling Stones' Let It Bleed took the top spot for one week. Abbey Road went back to #1 for another 6 weeks after that.

The album was named after the studio where the Beatles recorded all of their albums, Abbey Road Studios. Pink Floyd recorded many of their most famous albums there as well including Dark Side of the Moon, Wish You Were Here, and Piper at the Gates of Dawn.

Abbey Road Studios is named after Abbey Road which is the street in front of the recording studio. This street is featured on the album cover of Abbey Road with a photo of the Beatles crossing the cross walk.

Abbey Road was the final album the Beatles recorded, although Let It Be would be the final album released when it came out in 1970.

Like almost all of the Beatles recordings it was produced by George Martin and engineered by Geoff Emerick.

The album is known for a great contrast between the first side of the LP and the second. The first side has six individual songs "Come Together," "Something," "Maxwell's Silver Hammer," "Oh! Darling," "Octopus's Garden," and "I Want You (She's So Heavy.") While the second side features two songs ("Here Comes the Sun" and "Because") before going into a medley which consisted of some fully realized songs like "You Never Give Me Your Money" (which starts the medley off) and some shorter song fragments like "Mean Mr. Mustard."

The album has been ranked among the best of all time by many. In 2001 VH1 ranked it the 8th greatest album ever. In 2003 it ranked #14 on the Rolling Stone's list of the top 500 albums of all time. It's currently ranked as the second best album of all time on RateYourMusic.com, the Beatles also rank #1 with 1966's Revolver.

The Beatles never performed any of the songs from Abbey Road live.

Here's the second track from the album, "Something," performed by Paul McCartney, Eric Clapton, Ringo Starr, and many others at the Concert For George in 2002:

Jimi Hendrix Played His Final Concert On September 6, 1970

Jimi Hendrix gave his final concert performance on September 6th of 1970 at the Isle of Fehmarn Festival in Germany.

The festival had a riot like atmosphere and there were some boos and jeers coming from the crowd during Hendrix's set. Not long after he left the stage, it was set on fire. This was during the first stage performance of the German band Ton Steine Scherben.

After this final concert, his bassist Billy Cox quit the band and went back home. Cox apparently was dosed with PCP.

Hendrix died less than 2 weeks later. He was found dead in the early morning of September 18, 1970 in London. He was only 27 years old.

Hendrix playing "Purple Haze" at Woodstock in 1969:


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Lou Reed Performed With The Velvet Underground For The Last Time On August 23, 1970

Lou Reed played his last gig with the Velvet Underground on August 23rd of 1970 in New York City.

The Velvet Underground released the following albums with Lou Reed:

The Velvet Underground and Nico in 1967.

White Light/White Heat in 1968.

The Velvet Underground in 1969.

Loaded in 1970.

Check out this video featuring "Sunday Morning" from their first album:



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Bob Dylan went to #1 in the UK album charts with Self Portrait on July 11, 1970

Self Portrait became Bob Dylan's 5th UK #1 album on July 11th of 1970.

The album is seen by many as Dylan's worst. Rock critics Jimmy Guterman and Owen O'Donnell go beyond saying it's Dylan's worst album to saying it's the 3rd worst album of all time.

The album features mostly cover versions of pop and folk songs. It also contain a few instrumentals, original compositions, live recordings of older songs ("Like A Rolling Stone" for example) with The Band.

The intent of the album has been debated with Dylan giving various explanations for why he made the album over the years. At some points he says that it was a basically a thrown together "bootleg" record since he was being heavily bootlegged at the time.

In other interviews he seems to be saying he made the album to purposely alienate some of his fans: "There'd be crowds outside my house. And I said, 'Well, fuck it. I wish these people would just forget about me. I wanna do something they can't possibly like, they can't relate to. They'll see it, and they'll listen, and they'll say, 'Well, let's get on to the next person. He ain't sayin' it no more. He ain't given' us what we want,' you know?"

In the same interview when asked why it's a double album Dylan replies: "Well, it wouldn't have held up as a single album — then it really would've been bad, you know. I mean, if you're gonna put a lot of crap on it, you might as well load it up!"

Beck was born on July 8, 1970

Beck turns 37 years old today. He was born as Bek David Campbell on July 8th of 1970 in Los Angeles.

Beck first became popular with his 1994 hit single "Loser" which got to #10 on the US charts and #15 in the UK charts. It also made Rolling Stone's list of the 500 greatest songs of all time at #200.

Loser was included on his debut album Mellow Gold which was released on March 1st of 1994.

Beck has now released 9 studio albums:

Mellow Gold - 1994
Stereopathic Soulmanure - 1994
One Foot in the Grave - 1994
Odelay - 1996
Mutataions - 1998
Midnite Vultures - 1999
Sea Change - 2002
Guero - 2005
The Information - 2006

Video for "Loser" from Mellow Gold


Video of a 1997 live performance of "One Foot In The Grave" from Stereopathic Soulmanure


Video of a 2000 live performance of "Hollow Log" from One Foot In The Grave.


Video for "The New Pollution" from Odelay


Video of a 2000 live performance of "Nobody's Fault But My Own" from Mutations


Video for "Sexx Laws" from Midnite Vultures


Video for "Round The Bend" from Sea Change


Video for "Girl" from Geuro


Video for "The Information" from The Information


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Paul McCartney's solo debut album McCartney goes to #1 on the US charts on May 23, 1970

Paul McCartney's solo debut self titled album McCartney went to #1 on the US charts on May 23, 1970 and stayed there for 3 weeks. In the UK it made it to #2 and was held off the top of the charts by Simon & Garfunkel's smash hit album Bridge Over Troubled Waters.

Among the songs on McCartney was "Maybe I'm Amazed" one of Paul McCartney's most famed solo songs.

"Maybe I'm Amazed"

New Kid On The Block Jordan Knight was born on May 17, 1970

Jordan Knight, member of the late 80s/early 90s boy band the New Kids on the Block, turns 37 years old today.

His brother Jonathan Knight was also a member of New Kids on the Block along with Joey McIntyre, Donnie Wahlberg, and Danny Wood.

The New Kids on the Block were a worldwide pop sensation selling over 70 million albums before disbanding in 1994.

In 1999 Knight had a comeback album (self titled and reached #29 on the billboard charts) and single ("Give It To You") which peaked at #10 on the US singles charts and #5 on the UK singles charts.

New Kids on the Block documentary:

Part 1


Part 2


Part 3


Part 4


Part 5


Part 6


Part 7


Part 8

Four Students At Kent University Were Killed On May 4, 1970

Four students at Kent University in Ohio were killed by national guardsmen on May 4th of 1970. The students were protesting the war in Vietnam.

What does this tragic event have to do with music? This senseless killing of innocent war protesters was the inspiration for the Neil Young written song "Ohio" which was quickly recorded and released by Crosby, Stills, Nash, & Young. Neil Young sang lead vocals on the track. The lyrics were very direct in their condemnation of the events of May 4th, 1970.

Neil Young performing "Ohio" in 1971:

"Spirit in the Sky" by Norman Greenbaum goes to #1 in the UK on May 2, 1970

"Spirit in the Sky" by Norman Greenbaum is one of the more memorable one hit wonder songs in the history of rock music. It's been used in many films and is one of those songs that almost everyone has heard at least once. The song went to #1 in the UK on May 2nd of 1970 and it also went to #3 on the US charts.

Among the many movies "Spirit in the Sky" has been featured in are: Jesus Camp, Wayne's World 2, Apollo 13, Ocean's Eleven, Contact, Michael, Remembering The Titans, and The Longest Yard.

Also amazing is that the song has hit #1 in the UK two more times with cover versions. In 1986 (Doctor and the Medics) and in 2003 (Gareth Gates.)

Norman Greenbaum - "Spirit in the Sky" - #1 in 1970


Doctor and the Medics - "Spirit in the Sky" (this video is a bit out of sync unfortunately.) - #1 in 1986


Gareth Gates - "Spirit in the Sky" - #1 in 2003


hmmm... It's probably not a good thing that each version has got considerably progressively worse. Can you imagine how bad the #1 hit version in 2020 is going to be?

The Beatles break up is official on April 10, 1970

Paul McCartney was the first to publicly announce The Beatles breakup when he did so on April 10th, 1970. This was a week prior to the release of his first solo album the self titled McCartney. The fact that Paul chose to announce the breakup in this way did not please the other Beatles.

John Lennon had told the rest of the band that he was leaving The Beatles on September 20th of '69 but the rest of the band convinced him not to announce it publicly. He resented that McCartney was the first to announce the break up publicly.

The Beatles Let It Be album was released in May of 1970 after the Beatles break up was already official.

The last time The Beatles ever recorded together with all four members present was August 20th of 1969 for the completion of the Abbey Road track "I Want You (She's So Heavy)"

The final Beatles recording (save the 1990s Anthology recordings for Free As A Bird and Real Love) was January 3rd of 1970 when one of George Harrison's contributions to the Let It Be album "I Me Mine" was completed.

The Beatles - "Let It Be"

John Lennon & Yoko Ono April Fools Joke On April 1, 1970

37 years ago today John Lennon & Yoko Ono released a statement that they were going to be undergoing side by side sex change operations so that Lennon would become a woman and Ono a man. This of course turned out to be an April Fools Joke.

Watch this interview with John & Yoko from around this same time period. In this interview they are defending their activities for peace.

Mariah Carey was born on March 27, 1970

Pop star Mariah Carey turns 37 years old today.

Carey has been one of the most commercially successful recording artists in the history of pop music. She has had 17 #1 singles in the United States which is second only to The Beatles with 20. Elvis Presley also had 17 #1 US singles. FYI, Michael Jackson is next on the list with 13.

She was born in Long Island, New York. Her mother was an opera singer and she was her vocal coach from a very young age.

Unlike most modern pop stars Carey actually has input on the writing of her songs. She has co written most of her hit songs.

Her first album was self titled "Mariah Carey" and it came out in 1990. She was an overnight sensation with 4 #1 singles. She earned the Grammy for best new artist.

Mariah Carey performing "Hero"


(want to learn to sing like Mariah Carey? Online Singing Lessons)

Simon & Garfunkel's "Bridge Over Troubled Water" Reached #1 In The US On February 28th, 1970

On this day, February 28th, 37 years ago Simon & Garfunkel's Bridge Over Troubled Water reached the top of the singles charts in the United States and it stayed at the top of the charts for six weeks. The song also went to #1 in the UK.

It went on to win the Grammy for both song of the year (songwriters award for Paul Simon) and record of the year.

Simon & Garfunkel split up in 1970 and ironically this song which was their biggest commercial success is often pinpointed as the breaking point. With Simon upset that he had Garfunkel sing the song's lead part because he felt Garfunkle was getting too much credit for his song.

Bridge Over Troubled Water has been covered by numerous artists including Aretha Franklin, Elvis Presley, LeAnn Rimes, Whitney Houston, Annie Lennox, Charlotte Church, and Willie Nelson.

Download Simon & Garfunkel's Bridge Over Troubled Water

The video below is from the famous Simon & Garfunkel reunion concert at Central Park in New York City in 1981.



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The Who - Live At Leeds - February 14, 1970

37 years ago today, February 14th (Valentine's Day), The Who played live at Leeds University in England. This performance was recorded and was the source of The Who's live album "Live At Leeds" often noted as one of the top live rock albums ever.

Here's a clip from a BBC documentary about this concert from 2005.



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John Lennon performs "Instant Karma" on Top of the Pops on February 12, 1970

John Lennon became the first Beatle to perform on the UK music program Top of the Pops since 1966 when he played his solo single "Instant Karma" 37 years ago today, February 12th.

See below for the live performance of "Instant Karma" by John Lennon:



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John Lennon & Yoko Ono Donate Their Hair To The Black Power Movement - Feb. 4th, 1970

On this day 37 years ago John Lennon and Yoko Ono donated their hair to the Black Power movement.

This doesn't really have anything to do with this - but it's kind of interesting: John Lennon, Yoko Ono, and Chuck Berry (well he's black) on the Mike Douglas show making macrobiotic food:



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