This Weekend in Music History

April 5th, 1967 - Fans of the Monkees march in protest from London's Marble Arch all the way to the US Embassy in Grosvenor Square trying to get singer Davy Jones out of his scheduled draft. Whether or not this helped influence the British Army's decision is yet to be determined but Jones was later deemed responsible for supporting his father and it was decided he would be exempt from the draft.

April 5th, 1984 - Marvin Gaye's funeral took place at The Forest Lawn Cemetery, L.A.; Smokey Robinson, Stevie Wonder, Quincy Jones, and many other Motown singers, writers, and producers attended the service. Gaye was murdered 4 days earlier by his own father after an argument in which he had struck his dad. Gaye's mother, Alberta, later told the police that her husband had made it very clear in the past, that if one of his kids ever hit him, he would murder them.

April 6th, 1971 - Carly Simon gets introduced to James Taylor after her show at the Troubadour, Los Angeles. The couple would marry on November  3rd, 1972. They recorded a remake of "Mockingbird" in the fall of 1973. The track was released as the lead single from Simon's album Hotcakes. Also, Simon sang backing vocals on a number of Taylor songs. She would later call for a divorce in the 80's, stating that their needs were different and it seemed impossible that they could stay together.

April 6th, 1974 - Swedish band Blue Swede goes to No.1 on the US singles chart with their cover of 'Hooked On A Feeling'.

April 7th, 1966 - The Beatles are at Abbey Road studios in London, where they recorded overdubs on the new Lennon song 'Tomorrow Never Knows' and the new McCartney song 'Got to Get You Into My Life' for the forthcoming Revolver album.

April 7th, 1981 - Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band kicked off their first full-scale tour in Hamburg, Germany. This was Springsteen's first tour outside North America, which would take in 10 countries.