Today in Music History for March 28:
In 1915, songwriter Jay Livingston was born in McDonald, Penn. He collaborated with Ray Evans on three Oscar-winning songs -- ``Mona Lisa,'' ``Que Sera, Sera'' and ``Buttons and Bows.'' They also received four other song nominations, including for ``Tammy'' and ``Dear Heart.'' Livingston also wrote the lyrics for the Christmas standard ``Silver Bells.'' He and Evans also wrote the theme music for such television series as ``Bonanza'' and ``Mr. Ed.'' (Livingston's was the voice who sang, ``A horse is a horse, of course, of course.'') Jay Livingston was 86 when he died in Los Angeles on Oct. 17, 2001.
In 1943, Russian composer-conductor Sergei Rachmaninoff died in Beverly Hills, Calif., at age 69. His best-known compositions include his second of four piano concertos and ``Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini.''
In 1950, Nova Scotia-born country singer Hank Snow recorded his hit single ``I'm Movin' On.'' The song was No. 1 on the country chart for 29 consecutive weeks, and stayed on the chart for 14 months.
In 1958, W.C. Handy, the composer known as ``The Father of the Blues,'' died in New York at age 84. His most famous song was ``St. Louis Blues,'' published in 1914.
In 1958, Eddie Cochran recorded ``Summertime Blues.''
In 1964, ``Can't Buy Me Love'' by ``The Beatles'' debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 at No. 28 before topping the chart the very next week.
In 1964, Madame Tussaud's in London announced ``The Beatles'' would be the first pop stars to be cast in wax.
In 1974, bluesman Arthur ``Big Boy'' Crudup died of a heart attack in Nassawadox, Va., at age 69. His 1940s and '50s recordings for RCA Victor influenced the young Elvis Presley, whose first hit came in 1954 with Crudup's ``That's All Right Mama.''
In 1976, ``Genesis'' opened its first North American tour with Phil Collins as lead vocalist, in Buffalo.
In 1980, Dick Haymes, one of the most popular male vocalists of the 1940s, died at age 63. His 40-plus hits, including ``It Can't Be Wrong'' and ``You'll Never Know,'' made him a rival to Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra.
In 1980, country storyteller Tom T. Hall joined the Grand Ole Opry.
In 1985, Michael Jackson's wax effigy was unveiled at Madame Tussaud's museum in London.
In 1985, hundreds of radio stations in the U.S. and Canada simultaneously played ``We Are the World,'' the fundraising song for African famine relief recorded by 45 superstar performers.
In 1985, singer Billy Ocean played his native Trinidad for the first time since the success of his ``Suddenly'' album.
In 1987, Maria von Trapp, whose 1938 escape from Nazi-occupied Austria with her husband and children inspired ``The Sound of Music,'' died in Stowe, Vermont at age 82.
In 1987, Frank Sinatra sang at a benefit to raise funds for a Palm Springs high school. It was Sinatra's first performance since abdominal surgery several months earlier.
In 1990, drummer Steven Adler, a founding member of ``Guns N' Roses,'' was booted out of the group. Adler later sued his former mates and others. He claimed he was fraudulently dumped and that the other band members introduced him to heroin and encouraged him to keep using it.
In 1992, Ozzy Osbourne and several fans suffered cuts and bruises after about 600 people rushed the stage during a concert in Irvine, Calif. A jury later awarded a 43-year-old man $60,000 for the shoulder injury he suffered when he was trampled by the mob.
In 1992, Tammy Wynette collapsed for the second time during an Australian tour, forcing the cancellation of her remaining shows.
In 1993, Sinead O'Connor joined 15,000 protesters who rallied in downtown Dublin over the deaths of two children in an IRA bombing in England. O'Connor reduced many in the crowd to tears by singing the hymn ``Make Me a Channel of Your Peace.''
In 1994, more than 2,000 people without tickets tried to force their way into an outdoor Miami concert by ``Pearl Jam.'' Four people were arrested, and five were hurt.
In 1994, author Albert Goldman, whose negative biographies of Elvis Presley and John Lennon angered their fans, died of a heart attack on a Miami-to-London flight. He was 66.
In 1996, Phil Collins announced he was leaving ``Genesis'' after 25 years. Collins joined the band as drummer after the 1970 departure of John Mayhew. He took over the lead vocals after Peter Gabriel left in 1975.
In 1998, Paul Simon's Broadway musical ``The Capeman'' starring Marc Anthony closed after just 68 performances. It lost its entire $11 million investment.
In 1999, Freaky Tah, a member of the hip-hop group ``The Lost Boyz,'' was shot dead while leaving a party in New York. ``The Lost Boyz'' had a best-selling 1996 album, ``Legal Drug Money.''
In 2001, Canadian jazz legend Moe Koffman died after a long battle with cancer. He was 72. The saxophonist and flute player is best remembered for his 1958 hit, ``Swingin' Shepherd Blues.'' He also led his own band for decades, touring the country and the world, and was the lead alto saxophone soloist in ``Rob McConnell's Boss Brass.''
In 2009, Oscar-winning composer Maurice Jarre, who captured the majesty of the desert in his music for ``Lawrence of Arabia'' and wrote the haunting ``Lara's Theme'' in his score for ``Doctor Zhivago,'' died in Los Angeles at age 84. He won his third Oscar in 1984 for ``A Passage to India.'' Jarre's musical style was noted for its use of ethnic instruments, and later synthetic sounds.
In 2010, the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame inducted ``Rush'' and Quebec singer Robert Charlebois. ``Rush'' became the first group ushered into the Hall. Their induction was linked with five specific songs: ``Limelight,'' ``Tom Sawyer,'' ``The Spirit of Radio,'' ``Subdivisions'' and ``Closer to the Heart.'' Among the other songs inducted was Dolores Claman's iconic ``The Hockey Theme,'' often referred to as Canada's second national anthem.
In 2010, a $40-million lawsuit launched in 2005 by Winnipeg folk group ``The Wyrd Sisters'' against Warner Bros. was settled out of court. They tried to block the Canadian release of ``Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire'' over trademark infringement over the use of their band name. An Ontario judge rejected the request and ordered the group to pay the company's $140,000 legal costs. The decision set off years of appeals.
In 2010, Herb Ellis, a critically acclaimed jazz guitarist who played with such luminaries as Ella Fitzgerald and was a member once of the celebrated Oscar Peterson Trio, died in Los Angeles of complications from Alzheimer's disease. He was 88.
In 2012, bluegrass legend and banjo pioneer Earl Scruggs, who helped profoundly change country music with Bill Monroe in the 1940s and later with guitarist Lester Flatt, died at a Nashville hospital. He was 88.
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The Canadian Press
