WILL YOU – HAZEL O’CONNOR
#8 MAY 1981
HAZEL O’CONNOR IS AN ENGLISH SINGER-SONGWRITER AND ACTRESS. SHE IS THE DAUGHTER OF A SOLDIER FROM GALWAY WHO SETTLED IN ENGLAND AFTER WORLD WAR II TO WORK IN A CAR PLANT. SHE BECAME FAMOUS IN THE EARLY 1980S WITH HIT SINGLES “EIGHTH DAY”, “D-DAYS” AND “WILL YOU”, AS WELL AS STARRING IN THE FILM BREAKING GLASS.
IN SPITE OF HER APPARENT INEXPERIENCE, SHE WAS ALSO COMMISSIONED TO COMPOSE THE SOUNDTRACK. “WILL YOU?” IS THE ODD ONE OUT, BOTH IN STYLE AND BECAUSE IT WAS NOT ACTUALLY WRITTEN FOR THE FILM.
IN HER 1981 AUTOBIOGRAPHY, O’CONNOR EXPLAINED THAT SHE PENNED IT A LONG TIME BEFORE THE FILM AND THAT IT WAS “NOT THE KIND OF MATERIAL I SANG AT GIGS.
1966, HERB ALPERT AND THE TIJUANA BRASS WENT TO NO.1 ON THE US ALBUM CHART WITH ‘WHAT NOW MY LOVE’, SETTING A NEW AMERICAN RECORD WITH FOUR ALBUMS IN THE US TOP TEN. THE OTHER THREE WERE; ‘SOUTH OF THE BORDER’, ‘GOING PLACES’ AND ‘WHIPPED CREAM AND OTHER DELIGHTS’.
1976, THE ALLMAN BROTHERS BAND TEMPORARILY DISBANDED AFTER GREG ALLMAN TESTIFIED AGAINST SCOOTER HERRING, HIS PERSONAL ROAD MANAGER, WHO WAS CHARGED WITH DRUG TRAFFICKING. HERRING WAS SUBSEQUENTLY SENTENCED TO 75 YEARS IN PRISON. AN ALBUM OF PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED LIVE MATERIAL WAS ISSUED LATER IN THE YEAR UNDER THE TITLE ‘WIPE THE WINDOWS, CHECK THE OIL, DOLLAR GAS’.
1983, ACTRESS AND SINGER IRENE CARA STARTED A SIX WEEK RUN AT NO.1 ON THE US SINGLES CHART WITH ‘FLASHDANCE…WHAT A FEELING’. TAKEN FROM THE FILM ‘FLASHDANCE’, A NO.2 HIT IN THE UK. CARA HAD ALSO APPEARED IN TV’S ‘ROOTS’ AND ‘THE NEXT GENERATION’.
1988, AEROSMITH SINGER STEVEN TYLER MARRIED HIS SECOND WIFE CLOTHING DESIGNER TERESA BARRICK. THE COUPLE ANNOUNCED THEY WERE SEPARATING DUE TO PERSONAL PROBLEMS IN FEBRUARY 2005.
1990, MITCH MITCHELL FORMER DRUMMER WITH JIMI HENDRIX TOOK OUT A HIGH COURT ACTION AGAINST PRIVATE EYE MAGAZINE OVER AN ALLEGEDLY DEFAMATORY ITEM.
2007 – RIGHT SAID FRED SINGER RICHARD FAIRBRASS AND GAY RIGHTS ACTIVIST PETER TATCHELL, WERE BOTH ATTACKED DURING A MARCH IN MOSCOW. TROUBLE BROKE OUT WHEN DEMONSTRATORS TRIED TO APPEAL AGAINST A BAN ON A GAY RIGHTS MARCH THROUGH THE RUSSIAN CAPITAL. THE BANNED MARCH WAS AIMED AT MARKING THE 14TH ANNIVERSARY OF RUSSIA DECRIMINALISING HOMOSEXUALITY.
2009 – DEPECHE MODE SINGER DAVE GAHAN HAD SURGERY TO REMOVE A CANCEROUS TUMOUR IN HIS BLADDER. THE BAND WHO WERE CURRENTLY ON A WORLD TOUR CANCELLED SEVERAL SHOWS BECAUSE OF THE 47-YEAR-OLD’S ONGOING HEALTH PROBLEMS.
BORN ON THIS DAY
1943, TONY MANSFIELD, BILLY J KRAMER AND THE DAKOTAS
1944 – GLADYS KNIGHT, SINGER, THE PIPS
1945 – JOHN FOGERTY, GUITAR, VOCALS, CREEDENCE CLEARWATER REVIVAL
1959 – STEVE HARRINGTON (STEVE STRANGE), VOCALS, VISAGE
1968, BORN ON THIS DAY, KYLIE MINOGUE, AUSTRALIAN SINGER, ACTRESS
1981, BORN ON THIS DAY, MARK FEEHILY, VOCALS, WESTLIFE
1985, BORN ON THIS DAY, COLBIE CAILLAT, AMERICAN SINGER-SONGWRITER
