This Day in Music by Neil Cossar

Posted January 2, 2013 by shooting in Uncategorized / 9 Comments

Happy New Year! Yesterday was a much more hectic day than I thought it would be so I’m sorry I didn’t get this posted on New Year’s Day (that was the goal…)

This Day in Music: An Everyday Record of Musical Feats and Facts by Neil Cossar

Visit the Website

Review by Lauren

copy from – sent for review, but all opinions are my own

Official Summary: Here’s the perfect gift for music fans–a full year’s worth of the musical
history and happenings from the past 50 years. Based on the massively popular
website thisdayinmusic.com, this extraordinary day-by-day diary recounts the
musical firsts and lasts, blockbuster albums and chart-topping tunes, and other
significant happenings on each of the 365 days in the year. For each day,
readers learn who hit #1 on the charts, who got arrested, which record won an
award, and which concert broke new ground or signaled a band’s demise. Also
included are monthly feature pages which detail some of the pivotal events in
music history, such as The Beatles opening gig at the Cavern Club, Woodstock,
and the day Elvis died.

Review: This is seriously a wonderful gift for any music fan. I love that you can get it at any time because it spans the entire year. Of course, I’m doing my review now because I think it’s fun to have it throughout the year (so think about grabbing a copy for a Christmas gift this upcoming year- you know time flies!) Another thing that’s great about This Day in Music is that it’s a website so you can visit them everyday and learn a lot of new facts. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t get the book, but by viewing the site for a bit, it might help you decide on whether you want a physical copy or not.

Back to the book- each day of the year gets its own page with a list of who was born on this day at the very top. The rest of the page includes a year and then some facts (so you know, on say, June 29 of all these years, these things happen). There are even various photos (all black and white) on the pages that either show the event or simply the artist being mentioned.

On January 1, some of the following happened:

1962- The Beatles audition for Decca Records in London but A and R boss Dick Rowe turns them down.

1989- Nirvana sign a one-year contract with Sub Pop Records.

Obviously, I chose some of the smaller entries but there are ones that are a bit longer. My personal favorites are the ones the tell a story, not simply a fact.

The book is fairly recent. It seems like the latest facts come from 2009, but I could be wrong about that…meaning, there may be some a bit later.

It’s also not just for Rock and Roll fans. Yes, they make up a lot of the facts, but there are mentions of pop stars and other musicians too (from The Spice Girls to Dr. Dre).

Finally, it ends with a few pages of random facts. Some Did You Know Sections and even a page that tells you artists real names versus their stage names.

AKA: Brian Hugh Warner is Marilyn Manson, Faroukh Bulsara is Freddie Mercury, and more!

Overall, this would make a great gift. It’s thick like a coffee table book but it’s a gift that keeps giving all year long. You don’t just set it down for guests to peruse; you actually look at it everyday and learn more about the history of music. It’s like a page a day calendar with more information!

Recommended? Definitely! And I love the look of the cover/back- it’s like a musical scrapbook!

9 responses to “This Day in Music by Neil Cossar

  1. Oh, I love these kinds of books that are meant to be read over the course of a year – very fun and a good coffee table book or whatnot.

  2. Ooh I'm a huge music fan so I'll definitely have to check this one out! 😀 Also, that sounds awesome: all the fun facts! It's so intriguing too and I never knew the Beatles were turned down! (Their loss lol)

  3. Ohmigosh my uncle would love this – he's obsessed with music and "this day in history as related to birthdays." I may buy this for him for his birthday in the summer! 🙂

  4. This sounds so incredible! What a great find! I love music and I love fun facts, so this is the perfect combination!

    I ook a pop music in american history class freshman year, but it was boooorrring. It was mostly about slave songs and stuff, and how they influenced pop music. Totally not what I was expecting. I was expecting something much more like this book!

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