JANUARY 18, 2008

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
1913 - Danny Kaye, motion picture and television actor (played the role of Capitol Records artist Red Nichols in the biopic "The Five Pennies"), comedian, singer, dancer, UNICEF ambassador, and Capitol Records artist, is born David Daniel Kaminski in Brooklyn, New York

ON THIS DAY IN CAPITOL RECORDS HISTORY
1946 - Tex Ritter's Capitol Records single "You Will Have To Pay", with "Christmas Carols By The Old Corral" on the flip side, is #1 on the U.S. Country singles charts
1956 - The Hollywood String Quartet sign with Capitol Records
1960 - Capitol Records releases The Louvin Brothers single "Nellie Moved To Town" with "The Stagger" on the flip side
1962 - Shirley & Lee sign with Capitol Records
1964 - The Beatles appear on Billboard's Pop singles chart for the first time with their Capitol Records single "I Want To Hold Your Hand"
1969 - The Capitol Records soundtrack to United Artists' animated feature film "Yellow Submarine" debuts on Billboard's Pop albums chart
1973 - Pink Floyd begin the last 11 of 38 days of recording tracks at EMI's Abbey Road studios in London, England for their album "Dark Side Of The Moon", after taking a break on October 27, 1972 for touring. Sessions will end on February 1 and the completed album will be distributed by Capitol Records in the United States.
1993 - Capitol Records releases Hoyt Axton's album "American Originals"

ON THIS DAY NOT QUITE IN CAPITOL RECORDS HISTORY
1932 - Irene Kral, singer, and a United Artists Records artist (whose UA album "The Band And I" has been reissued on the Capitol Jazz label by Blue Note Records), is born in Chicago, Illinois
1944 - The Metropolitan Opera House in New York City hosts it's first jazz concert which features performances by future Capitol Records artists Benny Goodman, Jack Teagarden, and Lionel Hampton (who recorded for Capitol as part of Goodman's bands), as well as Louis Armstrong (who would record tracks for Verve Records at The Capitol Tower Studios as well as perform on the soundtrack for the motion picture "High Society" which was released by Capitol), Artie Shaw, and Roy Eldridge
1969 - The Foundations' UNI single "Build Me Up Buttercup", with "New Direction" on the flip side, enters the top 40 of Billboard's Hot 100 Singles chart. Capitol will later release the track as part of its soundtrack to the movie "There's Something About Mary" in 1998
1975 - Epic Records releases future Capitol Records artist Minnie Ripperton's single "Lovin' You" with "Edge Of A Dream" on the flip side. Capitol Records currently distributes Ripperton's catalog.
1996 - Future Capitol Records artist Lisa Marie Presley files for divorce from Michael Jackson
1992 - Right Said Fred's Charisma Records (a division of Virgin Records America, 'whose catalog is now owned by EMI Music Group, Capitol Music Group's parent company) single "I'm Too Sexy", with a 7" version on one side and a Spanish version on the flip side, enters the top 40 of Billboard's Hot 100 Singles chart

ON THIS DAY NOT IN CAPITOL RECORDS HISTORY
1892 - Oliver Hardy, comedian and motion picture actor, best known as part of the team Laurel and Hardy, is born Oliver Norvell Hardy in Harlem, Georgia
1952 - Curly Howard (born Jerome Lester Horwitz), vaudeville and motion picture actor, comedian, brother of Moe and Shemp Howard, and member of The Three Stooges dies at age 48 in San Gabriel, California
1954 - Sydney Greenstreet, stage and motion picture actor, dies at age 74 and is later interred in Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery, in Glendale, California
1987 - Billy Vera & The Beaters's single "At This Moment" peaks at #1 on Billboard's Hot 100 Singles chart. The single, reissued by Rhino Records after being featured on the television series "Family Ties", was originally issued in 1981 by Alfa Records, which was shuttered by its Japanese owners, and Rhino licensed the track from ATCO. The single was originally released by Rhino with Vera's own composition "I Can Take Care Of Myself" on the flip side but later, according to Billy, "Rhino got word that 'Peanut Butter' was popular within the Carolinas Beach Music scene, so they repressed with that song on the flip...". Billy's still busy performing, writing and producing, and is currently launching a redesign of his website.