October 1953 in Music History

Events in Music

Music History

Oct 2 Victor Borge's one-man show "Comedy in Music" opens at John Golden Theatre, NYC; runs for 849 performances, a Guinness world record

Music History

Oct 19 Singer Julius LaRosa is fired on TV by Arthur Godfrey

Music Release

Oct 25 Dmitri Shostakovich completes his 10th Symphony

Birthdays in Music

Oct 4 Andreas Vollenweider, Swiss new-age harpist (Down to the Moon), born in Zürich, Switzerland
Oct 4 Gil "The Bird" Moore, Canadian rock drummer and vocalist (Triumph), born in Toronto, Ontario [some sources give birth date as Feb. 12, 1951]
Oct 5 Sandra "Puma" Jones, American reggae singer (Black Uhuru, 1979-86), born in Columbia, South Carolina (d. 1990)
Oct 7 (Hector) "Tico" Torres, American rock drummer (Bon Jovi - "Livin' On A Prayer";"It's My Life"), born in New York City
Oct 8 Ricky Lee Phelps, American singer (Kentucky Headhunters - "The Ballad Of Davy Crockett"), born in Paragould, Arkansas
Oct 8 Robert Saxton, British classical composer (The Circle of Light; Caritas), born in London
Oct 10 (James) "Midge" Ure, Scottish singer-songwriter, guitarist, and synth player ("Dear God"; Ultravox - "We Came to Dance"; Band Aid - "Do They Know It's Christmas?"), born in Glasgow, Scotland
Oct 14 Kazumi Watanabe, Japanese jazz and jazz-fusion guitarist, born in Tokyo, Japan
Oct 14 Shelley Ackerman, American astrologer, writer and singer, born in Manhattan, New York
Oct 15 Tito Jackson, American singer (Jackson 5 - "ABC"; "Never Can Say Goodbye"), born in Gary, Indiana
Oct 16 Tony Carey, American rock keyboardist, and singer-songwriter (Rainbow; Planet P Project), born in Watsonville, California
Oct 21 Charlotte Caffey, American rock guitarist, keyboardist, and vocalist (The Go-Go's - "We Got The Beat"), born in Santa Monica, California
Oct 21 Keith Green, American musician (d. 1982)
Oct 23 Gary Wilson, American experimental musician and performance artist (You Think You Really Know Me), born in Endicott, New York
Oct 23 Pauline Black [Belinda Magnus], English ska singer (Selecter -"On My Radio"), born in Romford, East London
Oct 24 Billy Thomas, American singer (McBride & Ride - "I Count on You"), born in Fort Meyers, Florida
Oct 26 Julian Keith Strickland, American drummer (B-52's - "Rock Lobster"), born in Athens, Georgia
Oct 28 Desmond Child [John Barrett], American-Hungarian songwriter (Bon Jovi - "You Give Love a Bad Name", "Livin' on a Prayer"; Aerosmith - "Dude (Looks Like a Lady)"; Ricky Martin - "Livin' la Vida Loca"), and producer, born in Gainesville, Florida

Deaths in Music

Oct 3 Arnold Bax, British composer known for his orchestral music (Tintagel), and memoirist (Farewell My Youth), dies of heart failure at 69
Oct 8 Kathleen Ferrier, English contralto singer (Orfeo Ed Evridice), dies of cancer at 41
Oct 18 Federico Gerdes, composer, dies at 80
Oct 24 Ernest Irving, English composer, dies at 74
Oct 27 Zdzislaw Jachimecki, Polish composer and music historian, dies at 71
Oct 29 William Kapell, American concert pianist and recording artist, dies in a plane crash at 31
Oct 30 Emmerich Kálmán, Hungarian composer of operettas, dies at 71