Tommy’s Coffee Break Calendar for May 23rd

Classic chart-toppers from dueling bro's and an ex-Beatle, plus a game changing electronics wizard b'day...

5/23/1960 (56 years ago today) - This one was their biggest hit single, selling eight million copies worldwide: "Cathy's Clown" by The Everly Brothers starts five weeks at No. 1 here in the U.S.; seven weeks at the top in the U.K. It was Phil and Don's third American No. 1 -- it would also (sadly) turn out to be their last.

5/23/1970 (46 years ago today) - Apart from a few vocal contributions from wife Linda, Paul performed and recorded the entire album all by himself: McCartney's self-titled debut solo release (the one with the spilled bowl of cherries on the cover) goes to No. 1 on the Billboard LP chart and stays there for three weeks in a row. It's almost redundant to say, but the record is classic McCartney magic: "Maybe I'm Amazed", "Every Night", "That Would Be Something", "Teddy Boy", "The Lovely Linda", it's a beautifully understated work, no adornments, no attempts to compete with the past, just Paul being Paul. It really is one of the best of all The Fab Four's solo stuff, so simply performed and recorded it's largely been taken for granted. Time to go back and hear it with fresh ears...

5/23/1934 - Born on this date, Robert Moog, inventor of the synthesizer [insert applause and/or boo's here]. He built his first electronic instrument, a theremin, (OK, that's cool) at age 14 and "the first compact, easy-to-use synthesizer", the MiniMoog, in 1970. All genres of music are changed forevermore, no doubt about it. Robert passed away at his home in North Carolina just four months after being diagnosed with brain cancer; he was 71.

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"Every morning brings a new day...", xoxo!