JANUARY 26, 2012

HAPPY BIRTHDAYS!
1880 - Douglas MacArthur, U.S. Army General (5 star General of the Army), Commander of Allied Forces in the Pacific, and Capitol Records artist (an album of a collection of speeches), is born in Little Rock, Arkansas
1913 - Jimmy Van Heusen, songwriter (including the Academy Award winning songs "Swinging on a Star" [1944], "All the Way" [1957], "High Hopes" [1959], and "Call Me Irresponsible" [1963], and, with lyricists Johnny Burke and Sammy Cahn, wrote over 75 songs recorded by Frank Sinatra for Capitol Records and other labels including "My Kind of Town" and "Second Time Around"), is born Edward Chester Babcock in Syracuse, New York
1950 - Paul Pena (aka Earthquake), songwriter ("Jet Airliner"), guitarist, singer (self-taught Tuvan throat singer which later became the basis for the documentary "Genghis Blues"), and Capitol Records artist (1972-1973), is born in Hyannis, Massachussets
1951 - David Briggs, guitarist with the Capitol Records group "Little River Band", is born in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

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" is still #1 on the U.S. Country singles charts
1969 - The Beatles record tracks for the songs "Dig It", "Let It Be", and "The Long And Winding Road" which will end up on their Apple Records album "Let It Be" that will be released in the United States by Capitol Records
1970 - John Lennon writes the song "Instant Karma" in the morning and records it in the afternoon with producer Phil Spector, who mixes it the same day. The single will be released in just 10 days.
1974 - Ringo Starr's Apple Records single "You're Sixteen", with "Devil Woman" on the flip side, is #1 on Billboard's Hot 100 Singles chart
1985 - Tina Turner's Capitol Records single "Private Dancer" enters the top 40 of Billboard's Hot 100 Singles chart
20 Years Ago Today In 1992 - Jose Ferrer (born José Vicente Ferrer de Otero y Cintrón), Broadway, motion picture, and television actor and director, one-time husband of Capitol Records artist Rosemary Clooney, father of motion picture and television actor Miguel Ferrer, and Capitol Records artist (on the soundtrack to "Cyrano de Bergerac") dies, following a brief battle with colon cancer, in Coral Gables, Florida and will later be interred in Santa Maria Magdalena de Pazzis Cemetery in Old San Juan, Puerto Rico.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QEacXeAbHpQ
5 Years Ago Today In 2007 - EMI Group chairman Eric Nicoli announces the merger of Capitol Records and Virgin Records into a new company called Capitol Music Group. Virgin Records president Jason Flom is named head of the combined group. Capitol Records president Andrew Slater is let go six months into a five year contract renewal. I rode by The Tower that morning on the bus at about 7:50 and it looked like the flag was at half mast and wrapped around the pole. Probably just a coincidence. I found out later that the flag was at half staff as part of an ongoing tribute to former United States president Gerald Ford who had recently died.
2011 - Charlie Louvin, singer, songwriter, musician, Capitol Records solo artist and part of the Capitol Records duo The Louvin Brothers, died today at age 83 at his home at Wartrace, Tennessee of complications of pancreatic cancer. Here's a link to the obituary in The New York Times.

ON THIS DAY IN NOT QUITE IN CAPITOL RECORDS HISTORY
1915 - William Hopper, actor ("The Bad Seed" and Paul Drake on "Perry Mason") and son of actress and gossip columinist Hedda Hopper (whose estate had offices in The Capitol Tower), is born William DeWolf Hopper, Jr. in New York City, New York
1963 - "Jazzie B.", singer and founding member of the Virgin Records America group Soul II Soul, is born Beresford Romeo in Finsbury Park, London, England. I adapted the packaging designs for the U.S. market for the band's first two albums and as well as designing packaging for their first few promotional U.S. CD singles
1970 - "The Magic Christian", starring EMI artist Peter Sellers and Apple/Capitol Records artist Ringo Starr, as well as featuring music by Apple/Capitol Records artist Paul McCartney which is performed by Apple/Capitol Records group Badfinger, premieres in Beverly Hills, California
1981 - Blondie's Chrysalis Records album "Auto American" is certified Platinum by the R.I.A.A. Chrysalis' catalog is currently owned by Capitol Records' parent company EMI Music.

ON THIS DAY NOT IN CAPITOL RECORDS HISTORY
1934 - The Apollo Theatre opens in Harlem, New York City