Unbelievable Beatles run... -- Stones go hungry... -- Great U.K. blues-growler b'day...

The Animals
The Animals, April 1964; Eric Burdon, far left. (Photo: Davies/Express/Getty Images)
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5/11/1963 (54 years ago today) - At this point, they were only capable of topping themselves...: The Beatles start a 30 week run {that's 7-and-a-1/2 months!!!} at No. 1 on the U.K. album chart with their debut "Please Please Me", officially making it the longest running No. 1 LP by any group EVER! -- What could possibly knock it out of the top spot? The boys' follow-up, "With The Beatles" of course, which will go on to stay at No. 1 for 21 weeks! Insane, really...

5/11/1964 (53 years ago today) - It was during a tour of Britain that the hotel The Rolling Stones were staying at, the swanky Grand Hotel in Bristol, refused to serve the band lunch because Mick & Co. were not wearing suits and ties. The next day's Daily Mirror newspaper ran with the headline "The Rolling Stones gather no lunch". Ya gotta think it was just as well...

5/11/1941 - Happy Birthday to one of our long-time favorite curmudgeons, the legendary Eric Burdon, 76 years old today, best known as one of The British Invasion's most distinctive vocalists, a very deep, searing, snarling blues-rock voice you can always identify -- His years spent fronting The Animals at this time is the stuff of legend; classic recordings like "It's My Life", "We Gotta Get Out Of This Place", "The House Of The Rising Sun", "When I Was Young", "Sky Pilot" and "San Franciscan Nights" were hugely influential on Bruce Springsteen in particular who often covers Animals songs in concert even today -- Eric was listed at No. 57 on Rolling Stone's 100 Greatest Singers Of All Time, but over the years he's proven himself to be rather difficult to get along with, resulting in some notoriously aggressive concert performances: jaw-dropping to watch, just don't try to become friends...

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"I ain't no saint/No complaints...", xoxo!

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