July 1

Births

1915: Willie Dixon (Blues Musician)

1928: Bobby Day (Pop Singer)

1939: Delaney Bramlett (Delaney and Bonnie)

1945: Deborah Harry (Singer for Blondie & Solo)

1948: John Ford (Bass for The Strawbs)

1951: Fred Schneider (Vocals for The B-52)

1954: Keith Whitley (Country Singer)

1956: Phil Solem (Singer for The Rembrandts)

1960: Evelyn "Champagne" King (R&B Singer)

1960: Ted Key (Housemartins)

1963: Roddy Bottum (Keyboards for Faith No More)

1967: Pamela Anderson (…Just because)

1971: Missy Elliott (Hip-Hop Artist)

Events

1897: The trade paper Billboard Advertising renames itself The Billboard.

1956: NBC's Steve Allen Show capitalizes on the outrage engendered by Elvis Presley's recent version of "Hound Dog" on The Milton Berle Show by winkingly presenting a new, "clean" Elvis, dressed in a tuxedo and singing "Hound Dog" to an actual basset hound perched on a stool. Backstage, a humiliated Elvis explodes in fury at the Colonel for agreeing to the stunt. The next day, however, fans protest the show, demanding "The REAL Elvis."

1956: An 11-year-old Brenda Lee signs her first recording contract with Decca Records.

1959: Dave Brubeck recorded "Take Five".

1962: Gene Vincent plays the Cavern Club in Liverpool, opening for a house band called The Beatles.

1964: Married only four days before, Michael Nesmith of The Monkees leaves his San Antonio home to make a name for himself as a folk singer in Los Angeles.

1969: John Lennon and Yoko Ono, along with his son Julian and her daughter Kyoko, are injured in a car crash near Golspie, Scotland. John gets 17 stitches in his face while Yoko has 14; soon, he will bring a cot into Abbey Road studios so she can rest comfortably while he records "Come Together."

1969: The Doors released the Album “The Soft Parade”

1969: Legendary producer Sam Phillips sells his Sun Records Studio in Memphis.

1970: Jimi Hendrix' Electric Ladyland Studios in New York are opened for the first time.

1970: Casey Kasem begins his weekly Billboard countdown on the nationally syndicated radio show American Top 40.

1974: Bob Marley and the Wailers released the Album “Burnin'”

1975: Ringo Starr divorces his first wife Maureen Cox after a decade of marriage.

1976: Connie Francis is awarded $2.5 million from the motel where she was sexually assaulted two years earlier.

1981: Rushton Moreve (Bass for Steppenwolf) died from injuries sustained in a motorcycle accident in Santa Barbara, California. He was 32.

1983: A New Jersey based quintet calling themselves Bon Jovi signed to Phonogram's Mercury records.

1989: Milli Vanilli scored their first US No.1 single with 'Baby Don't Forget My Number'.

1995: Wolfman Jack died of a heart attack at 57 years old.

1998: In her Malibu home, Barbra Streisand marries her second husband, actor James Brolin.

1999: Reggae artist Dennis Brown was rushed to Kingston's University Hospital, suffering from cardiac arrest on June 30^th. Brown died on this day in 1999 and the official cause of his death was a collapsed lung, although his cocaine habit was considered a contributing factor. He was 42 years old.

2003: Jazz flutist Herbie Mann died after a long battle with prostate cancer at 73 years old.

2004: Glen Campbell began serving 10 nights in jail along with two years of probation for a November 2003 drink-driving, hit-and-run collision. The 68 year old entertainer was also sentenced to 75 hours of community service and fined $900.

2005: Four Tops singer Renaldo "Obie" Benson died aged 69 in a Detroit hospital from lung cancer. He was diagnosed after having a leg amputated due to circulation problems.

2005: American R&B and soul singer-songwriter, record producer Luther Vandross died at the age of 54 at the JFK Medical Centre in New Jersey, two years after suffering a major stroke.

2008: The BBC broadcasts an unseen film interview with John Lennon and Paul McCartney that had been discovered languishing in a London garage.

2008: Whitesnake guitarist Mel Galley, died at the age of 60 from cancer of the oesophagus. Galley also played with Trapeze, Glenn Hughes, Cozy Powell and the Blue Jays.

2009: Michael Jackson's untimely death a week earlier sends all his albums back into the Billboard Top Ten, including, at #5, The Jackson 5's Ultimate Collection.