Births
1898: George
Gershwin (Composer & Pianist)
1925: Marty
Robbins (Country Artist)
1926: Julie
London (Torchsong Singer)
1945: Bryan
Ferry (Singer for Roxy Music & Solo)
1947: Lynn
Anderson (Country Singer)
1948: Olivia
Newton-John (Pop Singer)
1955: Carlene Carter (Country Artist)
1960: Doug Supernaw (Country Artist)
1962: Tracey Thorn (Vocals for Everything But The
Girl)
1964: John Tempesta (Drummer for Exodus, White
Zombie & Testament)
1964: Nicki French (Dance music Singer)
1965: Cindy Herron (Vocals for En Vogue)
1967: Shannon Hoon (Singer for Blind Melon)
1972: Shawn Stockman (Vocals for Boyz II Men)
1981: Christina Milian (Singer)
Events
1908: The
first stereo advertisement, for an Edison Phonograph, appears in the Saturday
Evening Post.
1937: Bessie
Smith died at age 43 after being critically injured in a car accident outside
of Memphis, Tenn.
1955: Debbie
Reynolds marries Eddie Fisher in New York City, a marriage that will last just
four tumultuous years before Fisher leaves America's Sweetheart for Elizabeth
Taylor.
1956: The
mayor of Tupelo, MS declares today Elvis Presley Day in honor of its favorite
son; among others, a young Tammy Wynette is in the audience at the concert
Elvis gives later.
1957: The
musical West Side Story, a retelling of Romeo and Juliet with New
York City gang members, debuts on Broadway at the Winter Garden Theatre. It
would run for 732 performances.
1961:
Folksinger Bob Dylan lands his first major gig, opening for the Greenbriar Boys
for two weeks at Gerde's Folk City in New York. Critic Robert Shelton of the New
York Times says of today's performance: "Bob Dylan is one of the most
distinctive stylists to play in a Manhattan cabaret in months... there is no
doubt that he is bursting at the seams with talent... Mr. Dylan's voice is
anything but pretty... a searing intensity pervades his songs. Mr. Dylan's
highly personalized approach toward folk song is still evolving." This
review essentially launches Dylan's career.
1964 : The Kinks released the single "You
Really Got Me” in the US.
1965: At the end of a European tour Roger Daltry
knocked out Keith Moon and was fired from The Who. The band were playing two
shows in one night in Denmark, when an argument broke out between all four band
members. Daltry was reinstated the following day.
1965: Queen
Elizabeth II presents the Beatles with the Order of the British Empire,
recommended by Prime Minister Harold Wilson, who said later: "I saw the
Beatles as having a transforming effect on the minds of youth, mostly for the
good. It kept a lot of kids off the streets." The Beatles, who reportedly
get high in a bathroom before the event, are said to be delighted, though many
older and more conservative honorees return their honors in protest.
1967: Pink Floyd played the first of three nights
at the Fillmore in San Francisco, the groups first ever live dates in the US.
1969:
Legendary promoter Bill Graham opens the Fillmore West, a West Coast version of
his popular New York "rock ballroom," in San Francisco.
1970: Motown
announces that its newest singing sensation, the Jackson 5, have sold ten
million records worldwide in just nine months.
1975: The
Rocky Horror Picture Show, starring Tim Curry, Susan Sarandon, and a young
unknown singer who goes only by the name of Meat Loaf, opens in Westwood, CA. A
film version of the popular off-Broadway musical hit, it is an instant flop
nationwide, and is miraculously resuscitated some time later when audiences at
the midnight showings in New York City begin to talk back to the screen,
creating a cult phenomenon that lasts to this day.
1979: The Clash released their first U.S. single.
It was their remake of Bobby Fuller Four's "I Fought The Law."
1981: Bruce Dickinson joined UK rock band Iron
Maiden, (Dickinson had been the vocalist with Samson).
1984: Paul
Anka is awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6840 Hollywood Blvd.
1988: "Talk Is Cheap"
was released by Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards. It was his first solo
album.
2002: Country artist Doug
Supernaw is arrested outside a bar in Brenham, Texas, after fighting with five
police officers. He's charged with public intoxication, assaulting a police
officer and resisting arrest.
2003: Robert
Palmer, a heavy smoker, died in Paris, France, from a heart attack at the age
of 54.
2012: Singer Andy Williams died
after a long battle with bladder cancer at age 84.
