Brooklyn Music Milestones – September 2010

Aug. 15, 1969: The honor of opening the Woodstock Festival goes to Bedford-Stuyvesant’s own Richie Havens. After his four-song set, the promoters ask him to keep going because the next acts are held up in traffic. Havens runs through eight more numbers, ending with Freedom, a five-and-half-minute improvisation that became an anthem for the Woodstock Generation.

Aug. 24, 1972:During an astounding run of 10 sold-out concerts at The Greek Theatre in Los Angeles, Neil Diamond records one night’s show, which becomes the acclaimed double album Hot August Night. Released later that year, Hot August Night would spend 78 weeks on the charts, peaking at number 6.

Aug. 30, 1981: Crown Heights native Stephanie Mills begins a 16-week run in the Top 40 with Never Knew Love Like This Before. The song soon tops the soul charts, reaches number 6 on the pop charts, and earns Mills the distinction of becoming the first Brooklyn-born R&B artist to win a Grammy (“Best R&B Vocal Performance, Female”).

Sept. 9, 2008: Cobble Hill resident Joan Osborne releases Little Wild One. Four of the CD’s 11 tracks reference her adopted borough, including the Walt Whitman-influenced Hallelujah in the City and Sweeter Than the Rest.

Sep. 15, 1989: Bed-Stuy rapper Big Daddy Kane follows up his Gold-certified debut, Long Live the Kane, with the release of It’s a Big Daddy Thing, still his best selling and highest charting album. It spawns a number one single, Smooth Operator, and another rap classic, I Get the Job Done.

Sept. 18, 1964: The Addams Family TV series debuts and soon folks everywhere are snapping their fingers to prolific Brooklyn-born composer Vic Mizzy’s memorable theme song. One year later, viewers are introduced to Mizzy’s theme for Green Acres, another instant classic.