HITSVILLE UK – THE CLASH
“HITSVILLE UK” IS A SONG AND THE 13TH SINGLE RELEASED BY THE CLASH, AND THE SECOND OFF THEIR FOURTH ALBUM SANDINISTA!. IT IS A DUET BETWEEN LEAD GUITARIST MICK JONES AND HIS ONE-TIME GIRLFRIEND ELLEN FOLEY.
ITS LYRICS REFER TO THE EMERGING INDIE SCENE IN BRITISH MUSIC IN THE LATE ’70S AND EARLY ’80S, WHICH IS HELD IN CONTRAST TO THE “MUTANTS, CREEPS AND MUSCLEMEN” OF THE MAJOR LABELS WITH THEIR “EXPENSE ACCOUNTS” AND “LUNCH DISCOUNTS”.
THE SONG’S TITLE IS A NOD TO MOTOWN RECORDS, WHICH USED THE MONIKER “HITSVILLE U.S.A.” IN ITS ADVERTISING AND TO REFER TO THE LABEL’S FIRST HEADQUARTERS IN DETROIT.
1956, ELVIS PRESLEY STARTED A THREE-DAY RUN PLAYING 10 SHOWS AT THE PARAMOUNT THEATER IN ATLANTA, GEORGIA. THE STAGE MANAGER WAS TOLD; “PULL ALL WHITE LIGHTS. PRESLEY WORKS ALL IN COLOR, PRESLEY ACT HAS NO ENCORE. WHEN HE LEAVES THE STAGE, IMMEDIATELY CLOSE CURTAINS.
1969, AMERICAN SINGER, ACTRESS, JUDY GARLAND, DIED OF A BARBITURATE OVERDOSE AGED 47, SHE WAS FOUND ON THE FLOOR OF HER RENTED CHELSEA HOME, IN LONDON, UK. MADE MORE THAN TWO DOZEN FILMS, PLAYED DOROTHY IN THE 1939 FILM ‘WIZARD OF OZ’, SANG ‘OVER THE RAINBOW’ IN THE FILM, (VOTED THE ‘SONG OF THE CENTURY’ IN A 2001 POLL PUBLISHED IN AMERICA).
1980, DON MCLEAN HAD HIS SECOND UK NO.1 SINGLE WITH THE ROY ORBISON SONG ‘CRYING’. THE SONG HAD BEEN A NO.2 US HIT FOR ORBISON IN JULY 1961. IN 1987, ORBISON RE-RECORDED THE SONG AS A DUET WITH K.D. LANG AS PART OF THE SOUNDTRACK FOR THE MOTION PICTURE, HIDING OUT. THEIR COLLABORATION WON THE GRAMMY AWARD.
1981, MARK CHAPMAN PLEADED GUILTY TO THE CHARGE OF MURDERING JOHN LENNON IN 1980. HE WAS LATER SENTENCED TO 20 YEARS TO LIFE.
1996, THE BROTHER OF SINGER DIANA ROSS, ARTHUR ROSS AND HIS WIFE WERE MURDERED BY SUFFOCATION IN THE BASEMENT OF THEIR RENTED DETROIT HOME. THE BADLY DECOMPOSED BODIES WERE DISCOVERED AFTER NEIGHBORS COMPLAINED OF A FOUL ODOR COMING FROM THE HOUSE. TWO MEN WERE LATER CHARGED WITH MURDER AND ROBBERY. ARTHUR ROSS HAD WRITTEN SONGS FOR MARVIN GAYE, THE MIRACLES AND MADONNA
2002, U2 GUITARIST ‘THE EDGE’ MARRIED HIS GIRLFRIEND OF TEN YEARS MORLEIGH STEINBERG IN EZE IN THE SOUTH OF FRANCE. THE COUPLE FIRST MET WHEN SHE WAS A BELLY DANCER ON THE BANDS ZOO TV TOUR. GUEST’S INCLUDED BONO, EURYTHMICS DAVE STEWART AND LENNY KRAVITZ.
BORN ON THIS DAY
1936 – KRIS KRISTOFFERSON, US SINGER, SONGWRITER, ACTOR
1947 – HOWARD KAYLAN, THE TURTLES, (1967 US NO.1 SINGLE ‘HAPPY TOGETHER’
1948 – TODD RUNDGREN, US GUITARIST, SINGER, PRODUCER
1956 – DEREK FORBES, BASS, SIMPLE MINDS
1949 – ALAN OSMOND, THE OSMONDS
1953 – CYNDI LAUPER, US SINGER
1956 – DEREK FORBES, BASS, SIMPLE MINDS
