Tommy’s Coffee Break Calendar for January 31st

Pretty pop for a one-time punk band... -- Remembering a great R&B singer/songwriter... -- Jimi Hendrix's favorite guitar player was...?...

1/31/1981 (39 years ago today) - They certainly made some slick-'n'-shiny-poppy singles for a band that started out at CBGB's...: Blondie hit No. 1 for the third time with "The Tide Is High" (originally recorded back in 1966 by the Jamaican group The Paragons) -- "Heart Of Glass" (1978) was their first chart-topper, followed by "Call Me" (1979) and "Rapture" (1981), which was their last Numero Uno and arguably the first No. 1 hit song to feature rap. Go figure...

1/31/2015 (5 years ago) - R&B and rock & roll singer-songwriter Don Covay passed away at age 78. His most successful recordings include 1964's "Mercy, Mercy" (sometimes referred to as "Have Mercy") which was one of Jimi Hendrix's first recordings as a session guitarist, and also famously covered by The Rolling Stones); "See-Saw" (1965), done by Aretha Franklin (who went on to win a Grammy for her version of Covay's "Chain Of Fools" in 1967) -- He also wrote "Pony Time", a No. 1 hit for Chubby Checker (1960), and The J. Geils Band recorded Don's "The Usual Place" for their second LP "The Morning After". All the makings of a great party tape right here kids...

1/31/1946 - Born this day, original Chicago guitarist and founding member Terry Kath -- This famous quote from Jimi Hendrix says it all and showed the highest respect one musician can hold for another: In the middle of one of his concerts, Jimi stepped up to the mic to announce "You gotta check out this guy Terry Kath. His band is Chicago Transit Authority. He's the best guitar player in the universe!". Tragically, Kath was instantly killed when he accidentally shot himself in the head with a gun that he thought wasn't loaded -- Those first five Chicago albums in particular feature some fantastic riffage and soloing; truly a brilliant player and a great loss.

Share your wah-wah's with the Calendar here on our web site and on the WBLM Facebook and Twitter pages with the hashtag #TommysCoffeeBreak.

"...sometimes, baby, I just never know where I stand...", xoxo!