This Day in Music
Michael Fitzgibbon
Did the first-ever scheduled radio broadcast emanate from Montréal? We don't know ...and neither did the broadcaster that claimed it. Plus, Elvis embarks on his final spring tour, on this day in music.
Fallen Angels
2016: Legendary American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan releases his 37th studio album, “Fallen Angels.” It's the second consecutive Dylan album made up entirely of cover tunes, following 2015's “Shadows in the Night.” He would release a third such album, the monumental “Triplicate,” in 2017.
Similar to “Shadows in the Night,” all the songs on “Fallen Angels” were written by classic American composers, such as Jimmy Van Heusen, Walter Schulman, and Sammy Cahn, and previously recorded at various times by Frank Sinatra. The one exception is “Skylark,” a Johnny Mercer song.
Receiving mostly positive reviews that were slightly higher than its predecessor, the record performed well commercially, reaching No. 7 on the Billboard 200 and going to No. 1 in Austria. Standout tracks include “Young at Heart,” “That Old Black Magic,” and “Melancholy Mood.”
OU812
1988: American rockers Van Halen release their eighth studio album, and the second to feature Sammy Hagar as lead vocalist, “OU812.”
Though it succeeded commercially, going to No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and No. 1 in Canada and Finland, it's a weaker release by Van Halen.
Play
1997: Newfoundland Celtic-style folk rockers Great Big Sea release their third album, “Play.”
Mixed-in with sea shanties and island traditional folk songs that reflect The Rock's Irish, Scottish, and Cornish heritage, such as “Donkey Riding,” “Jakey's Gin,” “Jolly Roving Tar,” and “The Night Pat Murphy Died,” are several original songs.
“Ordinary Day” went to No. 3 on the Canadian adult contemporary chart, while “When I'm Up (I Can't Get Down)” peaked at No. 13 on the same chart. The band also covers R.E.M.'s “It's the End of the World (As We Know It),” shortened to just “End of the World,” at a much faster tempo that includes all of the song's verses but ends 1:30 sooner than the original. It made it to No. 24 on the Canadian singles chart.
Historic Event
1920: In Montréal, AM Radio station XWA, which stood for Experimental Wireless Apparatus, operated by The Canadian Marconi Company, sent out what it claims to be the first scheduled radio broadcast in North America. The claim cannot be confirmed by broadcast regulators or the original broadcasters, but given that the operation was founded by Guglielmo Marconi himself, it’s most likely true.
The Daily Elvis
1977: In Knoxville, TN, Elvis Presley performs a sold-out show at what was the University of Tennessee’s Stokely Athletic Center. It was the opening night of what would unknowingly be his last-ever spring tour.
