LATE NIGHT TV ON THE TUBE

RUFUS WAINWRIGHT – LETTERMAN

ARETHA – LENO

HEAD AND THE HEART – KIMMEL

BIRTHDAYS

ALISON KRAUSS (Singer/songwriter and virtuosic fiddler who helped bring bluegrass to a larger audience in the ’90s, with and without her band Union Station; no other woman owns more Grammys than Alison; has appeared on hit film soundtracks O Brother, Where Art Thou? and Cold Mountain; has recorded sessions with everyone from Phish to Kenny Rogers; “Baby, Now That I’ve Found You,” “So Long So Wrong,” “Forget About It”) Born in 1971 in Champaign, Illinois.

DAVID ESSEX (’70s Brit pop/rock star and one-hit wonder in America with “Rock On” in 1974; later went into theatre and film) Born in 1947 in London.

THIS DAY IN MUSIC 7/23:

In 1969, Mayor Sam Yorty of Los Angeles was scheduled to present James Brown with an official proclamation declaring it James Brown Day, but his honor failed to show up at the designated time.

In 1970, The powers that be concluded that the Powder Ridge Rock Festival in New Hartford, Connecticut, would prove to be too much of a public nuisance and cancelled the entire affair, despite the fact that 18,000 tickets had been sold. Headliners Led Zeppelin, Janis Joplin and Chuck Berry were notified and did not show, but the fans did.

In 1980, Grateful Dead keyboard player Keith Godchaux died of injuries sustained in a car crash two days earlier.

In 1983, Synchronicity by The Police was #1 on the U.S. album charts.

In 1992, The first Bruce Springsteen U.S. tour in four years kicked off at The Meadowlands in New Jersey. Bruce and his band performed 10 sold-out concerts at the 21,000-seat arena, with some of the musical marathons running into the wee hours.

In 1999, John Hiatt was named host of the PBS TV show Sessions At West 54th, replacing David Byrne.

In 2001, Bono and Bob Geldof hob-knobbed with world leaders at the G8 world economic Summit in Genoa, Italy, urging them to “drop the dept” to third world countries. A protester was shot dead by police during violent protests at the Summit. Geldof said, “I am offended by the tone of these summits, democratically elected leaders with the panoply of power, private jets, swishing through the high-security ‘red zone’ in motorcades.”