Last nite’s American Idol was one of the best episodes I can remember.  It was Elton John tribute nite–and I’ll admit I was never a huge Elton fan.  But some of these A.I. contestants breathed fresh interpretations into some Elton John classics…and reminded you WHY they were such big hits in the first place (with a tip of the cap to Bernie T for the lyrics).   Alaina did a beautiful version of Candle in the Wind, James “lit up” Saturday Nite’s Alright, Casey did justice to Your Song, even local Norcal girl Thia showed unexpected maturity with Daniel….but it was Haley who STOLE the nite, with a breezy but powerful take on B-b-bennie & the Jets.   Haley is a mix of Rickie Lee Jones, Joan Osbourne, Jewel & Janis…and she was BREATH taking last nite.   Could SHE be the next American Idol?  BTW…my choices to go home this week…Paul (awww) and Alaina.    –Not ashamed to admit I watch A.I. this season…a bit too much of a love fest with the judges, but still entertaining….

No one repeats as World Series Champions… at least that’s the prevailing wisdom.  But I wouldn’t bet against these guys, as they finally begin to defend their title tonight in La-La Land against the hated Dodgers.  Most of the Misfits return, and a young pup named Brandon Belt surprised everyone by making the opening day roster.  If they struggle early, not to worry.  ‘Cuz they’ve come back.  Seemed like Tim Lincecum was 0 for August last season…. and Panda hit into two double plays before breakfast.  Oh, and Buster Posey, Pat Burrell, Cody Ross, Javier Lopez and Madison Bumgarner weren’t even on the team on Opening Day last year.  Somehow, it all worked out, didn’t it?   If you don’t have Band of Misfits by Giants beat writer Andrew Baggarly, get it.

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Brought to you by ThisDayinMusic.com

Born on this day:

1937, Herb Alpert, bandleader, A&M Records co-founder
1948, Mick Ralphs, guitarist (Mott the Hoople, Bad Company)
1958, Pat McGlynn, guitar (Bay City Rollers)
1959, Angus Young, guitar (AC/DC)

1949, RCA Victor introduced the 45rpm single record that had been in development since 1940. The 7” disc was designed to compete with the Long Playing record introduced by Columbia a year earlier. Both formats offered better fidelity and longer playing time than the 78rpm record that was currently in use. Advertisements for new record players boasted that with 45rpm records, the listener could hear up to ten records with speedy, silent, hardly noticeable changes.

1957, billed as the nation’s only atomic powered singer, Elvis Presley played two shows (2pm and 6pm) at The Olympia, Detroit, Michigan in front of 24,000 people.

1960, Lonnie Donegan was at #1 on the U.K. singles chart with “My Old Man’s a Dustman,” his third chart-topper. The song, recorded live at the Bristol Hippodrome, was a music hall novelty.

1967

On the first night of a 24-date tour featuring a bizarre combination of The Walker Brothers, Cat Stevens and Engelbert Humperdinck, Jimi Hendrix sets fire to his guitar live on stage for the first time. For more on this see This Day in Music Spotlight.

1972, The Beatles Official Fan Club closed. The Beatles Monthly magazine, run in association by Sean O’Mahoney, had ceased publication three years previously.

1974, Television first appeared at CBGBs club in New York City.

1984, Kenny Loggins started a three-week run at #1 in the U.S. with “Footloose,” the theme from the film of the same name. The single reached #6 in the U.K.

1986, O’Kelly Isley, of The Isley Brothers, died aged 48 of a heart attack. The trio were best known for their 1962 hit version of “Twist And Shout” (as covered by The Beatles), zwhich had originally been recorded the previous year by The Top Notes.

1995, Jimmy Page escaped being knifed when a man rushed the stage at a Page & Plant gig at Auburn Hills, Michigan, but was stopped by two security guards, whom he wounded instead. After his arrest, the assailant told police that he wanted to kill Page because of the satanic music he was playing.

1995, Mexican American singer Selena was murdered aged 23 by the president of her fan club Yolanda Saldívar. Warner Brothers made a film based on her life, starring Jennifer Lopez, in 1997.

2002, Bee Gee Barry Gibb bought his childhood home in Keppel Road, Chorlton, Manchester. Gibb said he would renovate the house before renting it out and planned to affix a plaque on the outside wall.

2007, a new world record for the longest non-stop concert was set by hundreds of musicians in Japan. The performance began on the evening of 23 March in the city of Omi, with musicians aged between six and 96 taking turns with over 2,000 tunes being performed over 182 hours. Organizers praised the musicians, one of whom carried on despite a major earthquake during her piano piece. The previous world record was set in Canada in 2001 with 181 hours.

By Russell Hall

A new Aerosmith compilation, Tough Love: The Best of the Ballads, will be released by Geffen Records on May 10, Blabbermouth.net has reported. The release appears timed to capitalize on intense interest in the band sparked by Steven Tyler’s role as a judge on TV’s American Idol.

In early February, The Hollywood Reporter noted that sales of Aerosmith’s “greatest hits” collections had increased 250 percent in recent weeks. In particular, the band’s 1994 compilation, Big Ones, saw increased sales of 260 percent following the show’s premiere on January 19. Similarly, 2004’sDevil’s Got a New Disguise: The Very Best of Aerosmith got a 146 percent boost after the show’s second week. Two other Aerosmith compilations registered surges of 137 percent and 147 percent, respectively.

For the new collection, Geffen appears to have expanded the definition of the ballad by including such rockers as “Rag Doll” and “Love in an Elevator.”

Aerosmith, Tough Love: The Best of the Ballads tracklist:

1. “Angel”
2. “Amazing”
3. “Love in an Elevator”
4. “Cryin’”
5. “What It Takes”
6. “Rag Doll”
7. “Crazy”
8. “Deuces are Wild”
9. “Livin’ on the Edge”
10. “Blind Man”
11. “Janie’s Got a Gun”
12. “Dream On”

By Michael Leonard

No axeman ever got famous being called John Doe (well, apart from “John Doe” of L.A. punk legends X, but he was really called John Nommensen Duchac). The point is, a memorable nickname has helped the careers of many guitar rockers. But do you know how guitarmen Chester Burnett, Saul Hudson or Kevin Wasserman got the names by which you know them? Or why The Edge came about?

Allow us to educate you, with the Top 10 Guitarist Stage Names:

10. B.B. King
Riley King earned his nickname in the 1950s, when he DJ’d at Memphis radio station WDIA, where he was known as Beale Street Blues Boy. His moniker was shortened to Blues Boy and then simply to B.B. Surely B.B. is the only guitar legend who is universally known by initials that are not even his own.

9. Muddy Waters
Bluesmen always liked stage names, and McKinley Morganfield got his because he loved playing in mud as a baby. Plus he grew up by the Mississippi. So it makes sense. He briefly called himself Muddy Water (no “s”).

8. Slash
England-born Saul Hudson was given the nickname Slash by family friend Seymour Cassel, according to whom the young Saul “was always in a hurry, zipping around from one thing to another.” Unfortunately, “slash” is slang in the U.K. for taking a pee. We imagine the guitar legend is cool with this, because he remains cool.

7. Izzy Stradlin
Guns N’ Roses revelled in stage names. Axl Rose is really William Bruce Bailey. Duff McKagan’s real first name is Michael. But Izzy Stradlin? Izzy is a shortener of Jeffrey Dean Isbel’s surname. “Stradlin” is alleged to be about his favorite sexual position. Ahem. Let’s just call him Izzy. Or Jeff.

6. Buckethead
Yet another ex-GN’R member. We could be going out on a limb here, but Brian Carroll came to be called Buckethead because he wore a KFC bucket on his head? Hugely talented, he is one of guitar’s true eccentrics. Even Ozzy Osbourne couldn’t handle Buckethead. “I asked him to work with me, but only if he got rid of the [expletive] bucket,” said Ozzy.

5. Howlin’ Wolf
Chester Arthur Burnett was originally named after U.S. president Chester A. Arthur, but he soon had many more nicknames. Big Foot Chester and Bull Cow were based on his size: 6’ 6” tall and nearly 300 pounds. Like Muddy Waters, Wolf got his nickname from family: Burnett’s grandfather repeatedly warned him that if he misbehaved, the wolves would get him.

4. The Edge [and Bono]
David Evans’ nickname was inspired by his face’s sharp features, and also applied to his sharp mind and the way he tended to observe things from the edge. Bono Vox (now simply Bono) was Paul Hewson until he was nicknamed after a Dublin shop (Bonavox) that sold hearing aids – it means “good voice.”

3. T-Bone Walker
The electric-blues pioneer was born Aaron Thibadeaux Walker. (Thibodaux is a town in Louisiana, but Walker was born in Texas, so no relation.) Speculation suggests his middle name simply got abbreviated into a more usable stage name. Say it quick and Thibadeaux = T-Bone. Sounds tasty.

2. Ace Frehley
The KISS guitarist is really called Paul Frehley. When Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley auditioned Paul for KISS, they told him that the band could not have two Pauls. So Frehley told them to call him Ace. The nickname came from his school days, when Frehley displayed a wily ability to get his friends dates with girls. Another fact: Frehley is the designer of the famous KISS logo.

1. Synyster Gates
The Avenged Sevenfold axeman is not, you may have guessed, the son of a Mr. and Mrs. Gates. No, he is really Brian Elwin Haner Jr. On the Avenged Sevenfold DVD All Excess, Gates claimed that his name was created on a drunken drive with Sevenfold drummer The Reverend Tholomew Plague, who is really called James Owen Sullivan. Gates’ father is a professional comedian. Ah, now it all makes sense.

No time to explain Lightnin’ Hopkins, John 5, Black Francis, Flea and numerous others. Add your favorites below.

By Andrew Vaughan

Special thanks to ThisDayinMusic.com.

It was the spring of 1967 and Jimi Hendrix, while the darling of London’s rock and roll jet set, still hadn’t broken through to the mainstream when he embarked on his first U.K. tour on this day in 1967.

Crazy as it may seem in hindsight, Hendrix was due to open for Cat Stevens, Engelbert Humperdinck and The Walker Brothers. Then again, everything had happened so fast that while London’s hipsters and musician set knew all about Hendrix’s prowess, the public barely had been introduced to this new American guitar genius.

It was the fall of 1966 when Chas Chandler, on a tip from Keith Richards, brought Hendrix to England where he played the hippest clubs in London, picking up rave reviews form his peers. Management found him a flat in Montagu Square (it belonged to Ringo Starr) and that was his base for this vital period in developing as a showman, as much as a guitarist.

Enter Keith Altham, later one of Britain’s most acclaimed PR gurus, but back then a hard-working music journalist. Altham had been knocking around with Hendrix in London since meeting him when he first arrived in the country.

On Match 31, on the first night of the U.K tour, Altham was sitting backstage at the Finsbury Park Astoria in North London. Chandler, Hendrix and assorted musicians and crew were talking about the tour. Unhappy with Jimi’s position at the bottom of the bill, Chandler was thinking about ways to make the young guitar prodigy stand out from the crowd.

Altham remembered the fateful day for Rock’s Backpages, writing: “‘The destruction thing is being done to death,’ I said. ‘You can’t do that or you’ll be accused of just copying [Pete] Townshend. Now even the Move have taken to smashing up TVs on stage.’”

Chandler said something about doing something to steal the headlines, something outrageous.

“It’s a pity you can’t set fire to your guitar,” Altham said, “but, of course, a solid body would never burn.”

Tony Garland, who was working for Chandler, was given the mission to find lighter fuel. He recalled to The Guardian: ”I went out into Seven Sisters Road [in North London] to buy lighter fluid. At first, it didn’t make sense to me – there were too many things going on to worry about lighter fluid – but it all became clear in the end.”

Altham got hold of a lighter from Gary, the third Walker brother, and midway through “Wild Thing,” Hendrix set light to his guitar.

Later that year, Paul McCartney persuaded the organizers of the Monterey Pop Festival to book Hendrix for the event in California. The Who played before Hendrix, and Townshend extravagantly smashed his guitar. When it was Hendrix’s turn on stage, he chose to replicate that incendiary March night in North London. At the end of his 45-minute set, he doused his guitar in lighter fuel and lit up the axe during “Wild Thing.” Acclaimed by all who saw him, Hendrix went on to become a star in America and forged his path to guitar greatness.

Hitting stores this week? A brand new deodorant which promises to not only make your underarms smell fresh, but actually make your shaved pits look prettier. Huh? Yes, Dove’s “Ultimate Go Sleeveless” claims to have a unique moisturizing formula that supposedly makes a woman’s underarms both softer and smoother within 5 days. Apparently, this matters. A lot.  93% of women surveyed believe their arm pits “look ugly”.   Who the hell knew?? On the flip side, 1 in 3 of the women in the survey said they feel more confident when their pits are in good condition.

Wow – never underestimate the power of a pretty pit!

Jennifer Hudson, post diet

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Singer Jennifer Hudson was on the Tonight Show recently and I almost didn’t recognize her as she has lost 80 pounds. 80! That’s like losing Pee Wee Herman! And while she looks great, I must admit, I was disappointed. You see, there are men, and I am one of them, who like a round woman, the full-figured gal, the sweetie with some meat on her bones. And pre-diet, Jennifer Hudson is perfect. P E R F E C T. I’m a Baltimore boy. And Baltimore is a city just full of full figured gals like Jennifer was. Sassy girls who get up in your face. Powerful, take charge women who tell you what they need right up front. Physically strong ladies who can… move you around, man! Jennifer still has that powerhouse voice, so she isn’t going anywhere. You wait, a couple of kids from now, she’ll come back to me. Oh, baby. Daddy is waitin‘…. -Jobe

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Jennifer, before perfection was… messed with

These days, we seem to be a society mesmerized with humiliation.  Millions of viewers flock to see who gets run off of American Idol.  Of course the Donald Trump Celebrity Dork-Fest speaks for itself… “You’re Fired!”  That little campfire on Survivor would determine who no longer deserves to live among civilized people.  Biggest Loser, Food Network… same deal.  Thanks for allowing us to get to know you… now get the hell out.  On Dancing With The Stars, the big news is not who moves on… it’s who gets to take the walk of shame.  Thanks for your weeks of sweat and putting your heart and soul on the line.  Now get the hell out.  At least in the brutal world of Radio, when someone gets let go, the memo says.. “We wish him well in his future endeavors.”  At least most of the time.

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By Bryan Wawzenek

The Van Halen rumor mill is running rampant once again. Fan site Van Halen News Desk (VHND.com) is reporting that a “trusted source” says the band have been hard at work on a new album. The process is “going great and the band is starting to mix the new tracks.”

According to the site, Van Halen will likely release the album in the fall, and then will tour in support of the record. Of course, no one from the Van Halen camp has confirmed these plans.

Former Van Halen bassist Michael Anthony is interested to hear the band’s new album, according to Blabbermouth.net. “I’m looking forward to seeing what they’ll do,” he told ABC News Radio, and said had no ill will toward his former bandmates for replacing him with Eddie Van Halen’s son, Wolfgang.

The current version of Van Halen (Eddie, Alex and Wolfgang Van Halen and David Lee Roth) have been working on  new material with producer John Shanks since the beginning of the year. A new Van Halen album would be the group’s first full-length studio release since 1998’s Van Halen III.