Music History

A missing Austin, Texas, couple led to our Song of the Day, “The Way” by Fastball.

Every country needs a flashy flag. The fledgling United States was no different. On June 14, 1776 the Second Continental Congress took a break from writing the Articles of Confederation and approved the country’s first flag.

Clint Eastwood is more than an actor, director and producer. He has composed the music for several of his movies, had a number one country hit and sang in a musical. Eastwood turns 93 today. He was born May 31, 1930 in San Francisco, California.

Most Americans won’t recognize the name Amy Johnson, but the best way to describe her would be the “the British Girl Lindberg.” Johnson landed in Darwin, Australia on May 24, 1930, becoming the first woman to fly solo from London to Australia.

Sid Vicious, of the Sex Pistols, lived and died as fast as the punk music he helped create. Vicious was born John Simon Ritchie on May 10, 1957 in London, England. Twenty-one years later, he died of a drug overdose in 1978.

In between the rise and fall of music downloads, our Song of the Day became the best-selling digital download ever on May 3, 2010. “I Gotta Feeling” by the Black Eyed Peas had 9.06 million downloads sold.

The Mary Phagan trial was the Trial of the Century before there was a Trial of the Century. But the aftermath is what history remembers. Phagan, only 13, was murdered April 26, 1913 in the National Pencil Factory in Atlanta. The night watchman found her body the next morning in the factory’s basement.

Nobody knows if it was a British soldier or a colonist who fired the first shot to start the American Revolutionary War on April 19, 1775 in Lexington, Massachusetts. Ironically, tune for the Song of the Day, "The Liberty Song," was taken from the British Navy anthem.

Call it eerie. Call it prophetic. Both are appropriate for what happened April 12, 1966, when Jan Berry of pop duo Jan and Dean nearly died from a car accident near Deadman's Curve.

When the Godfather of Soul spoke the audience listened.James Brown’s actions on April 5, 1968 during a concert in Boston de-escalated a situation that could have turned into a riot. Martin Luther King Jr. had been assassinated the night before, and rioters were turning major cities into kindling.Brown's 'Can't Stand Myself' is the Song of the Day for April 5.