Blackfire Research
Throwback Thursday: Amy Winehouse is born

Throwback Thursday: Amy Winehouse is born

This Day in Music History
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On this day in 1983, award winning British singer and songwriter, Amy Winehouse, was born in Southgate, London. Winehouse was best known for for mixing soul, jazz, and rhythm and blues styles in her music, as well as her unique, raspy vocals and her “delinquent” persona accompanied by a retro, beehive hairdo. She began pursuing music at an early age, thanks to her musically inclined extended family, and attended various performing arts schools in London throughout her adolescence. Winehouse’s debut album, Frank (2003), was a success in the UK and was nominated for the Mercury Prize. Her sophomore album, Back to Black (2006), resulted in five Grammy Awards in 2008, as well as the Brit Award for Best Female Artist. Winehouse tragically died of alcohol poisoning on July 23, 2011, at the age of 27, but her music, image, and influence remain strong to this day.

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Throwback Thursday: Led Zeppelin Make Their Live Debut

Throwback Thursday: Led Zeppelin Make Their Live Debut

This Day in Music History
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On this day in 1968, Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, John Paul Jones and John Bonham made their live debut as Led Zeppelin at a Teen Club in Gladsaxe, Denmark. However, at the time, they were billed as the New Yardbirds because Jimmy Page’s old group, Yardbirds, who were supposed to embark on a Scandinavian tour together, broke up. Wanting to fulfill his commitments, Page assembled a new version of the band to play at the already-booked gigs. Upon completing the tour, the newly-formed band began recording their first album and changed their name to Led Zeppelin (thanks to a cease and desist letter by a former Yardbirds member.) The rest is history!

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Throwback Thursday: Metallica Releases The Black Album

Throwback Thursday: Metallica Releases The Black Album

This Day in Music History
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On this day in 1991, the self-titled, fifth album (commonly known as “The Black Album”) by iconic heavy metal band, Metallica, hit Number 1 on the Billboard 200 Chart. Released on August 12, the album featured five singles that are considered to be among the band’s best-known songs: “Enter Sandman,” “The Unforgiven,” “Nothing Else Matters,” “Wherever I May Roam,” and “Sad but True.” The album received widespread critical acclaim, becoming the band’s best-selling album (and one of the best-selling albums worldwide). The release of “Metallica” marked a transition in the band’s sound from thrash metal to something a bit more subdued. In 2003, the album was ranked number 252 on Rolling Stone’s “500 Greatest Albums of All Time.”

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Throwback Thursday: Christina Aguilera Releases Her Debut Album

Throwback Thursday: Christina Aguilera Releases Her Debut Album

This Day in Music History
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On this day in 1999, “Pop Princess” Christina Aguilera released her self-titled debut album. Prior to the album’s release, Aguilera made a name for herself as a cast member on the television series “The Mickey Mouse Club” alongside other budding artists like Britney Spears, Justin Timberlake, Ryan Gosling and Keri Russell. In 1998, Aguilera was chosen by Disney to be the recording artist for “Reflection,” the theme song for their new animated film, “Mulan.” Shortly after recording “Reflection,” Aguilera signed with RCA Records and began working on her debut album, which peaked at Number 1 on Billboard 200 and sold over 17 million copies worldwide. The album’s lead single, “Genie in a Bottle,” became the top-selling debut single of 1999. At the Grammy Awards in February 2000, Aguilera won “Best New Artist.” http://www.christinaaguilera.com/

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Throwback Thursday: Woodstock, Day 3

Throwback Thursday: Woodstock, Day 3

This Day in Music History
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Brought to you by Blackfire Research….On this day in 1969, the Woodstock Music and Art Fair in upstate New York was scheduled to come to a close. However, due to delays caused by severe weather, the musical acts were forced to halt. (Images of Free Love activists dancing, running, tumbling and sliding in muddy fields due to the heavy rain has become synonymous with the festival.) Jimi Hendrix, who was supposed to close the festival on Sunday night, didn’t begin his set until the following morning at 8:30am. The audience of around 400,000 at the height of the festival dwindled to about only 30,000 by the time Hendrix took the stage Monday. In total, 32 acts performed throughout the weekend, including The Grateful Dead, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Janis Joplin, The Who and Jefferson Airplane. To this day, the legacy of Woodstock lives on, widely viewed as a defining moment for popular music, and the culminating event that defined the counterculture generation.

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