Births
1925: June
Christy (Jazz Singer)
1946: Duane
Allman (Guitar for The Allman Brothers & Derek and the Dominoes)
1947: Joe
Walsh (Guitar & Vocals for The Eagles & Solo)
1965: Mike D (Mike Diamond) (Rapper in The
Beastie Boys)
1965: Sen Dog (Senen Reyes) (Rapper in Cypress
Hill)
1975: Davey Havok (Lead singer for
AFI)
1975: Dierks
Bentley (Country Artist)
1977: Josh Turner (Country Artist)
1986: Jared Followill (Bass for Kings Of Leon)
Events
1955: At New
York City's Warwick Hotel, Sun Records owner and producer Sam Phillips sells
Elvis Presley's contract to RCA for an unheard-of $35,000, at that time the
largest amount ever paid to sign a recording artist. Elvis receives $13,500 of
the total; Phillips invests his share in a local hotel chain called the Holiday
Inn.
1955: After
agreeing to perform Tennessee Ernie Ford's hit "Sixteen Tons" on
CBS-TV's Ed Sullivan Show, Bo Diddley instead plays the song he was
actually there to promote, his own hit "Bo Diddley." A furious
Sullivan blackballs Bo from ever appearing on the show again. The singer has
claimed he was never paid for the performance.
1961: Billboard
reports on the stunning popularity of the "Twist" craze: three
separate films, starring Chubby Checker, Joey Dee and the Starlighters, and
Dion, are scheduled for production, and New York television station WOR is
airing hourly twist lessons of between one and five minutes, also featuring
Checker.
1970: The
Kinks' Ray Davies flies to London to re-record a section of the lead vocals for
the group's latest single, "Apeman." Radio stations are objecting to
the line "The air pollution is foggin' up my eyes," claiming
"foggin'" sounds too much like another f-word.
1973:
19-year-old Who fan Scot Halpin has his dream come true when the group invites
him onstage to play the last three songs of their set at San Francisco's Cow
Palace. Drummer Keith Moon, who was said to be suffering from "jet
lag," was in a near-coma after ingesting seven horse tranquilizers and
passing out on his kit. Halpin performs "Smokestack Lightning,"
"Spoonful," and "Naked Eye" with the group, then takes a
bow with them. Later. Rolling Stone awards Halpin their "Pick-Up
Player Of The Year Award."
1975: Bay
City Rollers lead singer Les McKeown is found not guilty of vehicular homicide
after striking and killing 76-year-old Euphemia Clunie with his car the
previous May, after it was ruled that Clunie was walking very erratically while
crossing the street. The singer is, however, charged with reckless driving,
fined $250, and has his license suspended for a year.
1975: George
Harrison and Paul Simon duet on "Homeward Bound" and "Here Comes
The Sun" in pre-recorded versions aired on tonight's episode of NBC-TV's Saturday
Night Live. Harrison also does an opening sketch where he asks for his quarter
of the famous $3,000 offered by show producer Lorne Michaels, earlier in the
year, for the Beatles to reunite.
1984: Michael
Jackson is awarded a star on Hollywood's Walk of Fame directly in from of
Mann's famous Chinese Theatre, creating the largest-ever crowd for such an
unveiling.
1991: Randy
Jackson of the Jacksons is sentenced to a month in a Los Angeles jail for
violating his probation for spousal abuse.
1993: August,
GA mayor Charles DeVaney re-dedicates the city's Ninth Street as "James Brown
Boulevard" in honor of its native son.
1994: Former
Byrds and CSNY member David Crosby receives a liver transplant.
2001: Charlie
Daniels undergoes surgery in Nashville for prostate cancer.
2002: Stevie
Wonder threatens to sue his mother, Lula Hardaway, for a passage in her new
autobiography where she claims Stevie lost his virginity to a prostitute. The
story was deleted from future copies.
2003: Famed
"Wall of Sound" producer Phil Spector is formally charged with
first-degree murder in the shooting death of b-movie actress Lana Clarkson at
his Los Angeles home. Spector enters a plea of "not guilty."
2003: After
returning to his Neverland home after a raid on it a few days before, and in
response to an arrest warrant, Michael Jackson is charged with child
molestation in Santa Barbara, CA. The singer is immediately released after
posting three million dollars' bail.
