Monday, 5-18-26
Rick Wakeman turned 76. He wasn’t the original keyboardist from Yes, but he was the one most closely associated with their iconic, progressive sound. Dude was known to rock a wall of keyboards, was an early adopter of the MOOG synthesizer, and even utilized a traditional European organ for his studio work. We played his music from the Yes albums Fragile and Close to the Edge.
Tuesday, 5-19-26
It was the 16th anniversary of Ronny James Dio’s death. His heavy metal singing career included several bands. He founded and fronted the band Elf in 1967, sang with ex-Deep Purple guitarist Ritchie Blackmore’s band Rainbow, joined Black Sabbath in the late 70s and early 80s following Ozzy’s departure, explored a solo career, and even formed a heavy metal supergroup with ex-Black Sabbath musicians Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler, and Vinny Appice. One of my favorite appearances of Dio’s was his cameo in the comedy rock musical Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny. To honor his passing, we played music from his days with Rainbow, Sabbath, and his solo career.
Wednesday, 5-20-26
It was Don Henley’s 31st wedding anniversary. Dude married Sharon Summerall, a model and socialite. I don’t know what a socialite is, but at least that wasn’t her only job. I think the woman that the Margarita cocktail was named after was a socialite. Anyway, Henley and Summerall married in 1995. We rocked some Eagles and solo work from Henley.
Thursday, 5-21-26
David Bowie’s final #1 single in the USA, “Let’s Dance”, reached the top spot on this day in history, all the way back in 1983. After some history digging, I was surprised to find out that Bowie’s solo work only ever had 3 top 10 singles in the states, though a couple of duets with Freddie Mercury and Mick Jagger snagged the spot as well. We played both of his solo #1 hits, that being “Let’s Dance” and “Fame”, as well as his #8 hit, “Blue Jean.”
Friday, 5-22-26
Bernie Taupin turned 76! He teamed up with Elton John back in 1967 and has written lyrics for him ever since. One of my favorite bits of trivia about Bernie is that the dude loved to get into fights at local pubs when he was young. Some of that experience made its way into lyrics for Elton’s hit song “Saturday Night’s Alright for Fighting.” Since there is no Elton John without Bernie, we had to rock some songs from the piano man.
