August 18

Births

1949: Nigel Griggs (Bass for Split Enz)

1950: Dennis Elliott (Drummer for Foreigner)

1952: Patrick Swayze (Actor / Singer)

1967: Dan Peters (Drums for Mudhoney)

1967: Blas Elias (Drummer for Slaughter)

1968: Brian Tichy (Drums for Billy Idol, Whitesnake & Foreigner)

1969: Everlast (Erik Schrody) (Rapper in House Of Pain & Solo)

1969: Masta Killa (Elgin Turner) (Rapper in The Wu-Tang Clan)

1971: Aphex Twin (Richard James) (Electronic Artist)

1981: Jonathan Schneck (Guitar for Relient K)

Events

1937: The first FM (frequency modulation) radio station in the US, Boston's WGTR (now WAAF), is granted its construction permit by the FCC.

1964: The Beatles arrive in San Francisco, CA, for the start of their first full US tour, met at the airport by nine thousand screaming fans (but not the ticker tape parade that had been rumored). A fenced-off press area is destroyed by the sheer size of the crowd, forcing a frightened group to retreat to their hotel. There, a woman is beaten and robbed on another floor, ignored by authorities who assume the screaming is part of the Beatles' fan base.

1969: The Woodstock Music and Art Fair in Bethel, NY, ends at approximately 9 am EST when Jimi Hendrix performs "Hey Joe." {His now-legendary rendition of the US National Anthem "The Star Spangled Banner" actually came a few songs earlier.)

1969: While filming the violent gangster movie Ned Kelly in Australia, Mick Jagger is hit in the hand by a stray bullet from an old gun being used as a prop.

1973: Jazz drumming legend Gene Krupa plays what is to be his last live show, a gig with the Benny Goodman Quartet in New York City.

1976: Marvin Gaye narrowly averts a ten-day stint in the Los Angeles country jail for failure to pay child support and alimony.

1977: Elvis Presley's funeral is held in at his Memphis estate, Graceland, where 150 mourners attend, including such luminaries as Ann-Margret, James Brown, and actor George Hamilton.  Held in Graceland's living room, It lasted from 2:00 pm to 4:00 pm, and was led by Woodale Church of Christ pastor C.W. Bradley. Televangelist Rex Humbard gave a short sermon, followed by a testimonial from comedian Jackie Kahane, who often opened Elvis' shows.  Outside, 75,000 fans mourn, so many that President Jimmy Carter has ordered the National Guard in to maintain order.

Elvis' burial begins with a long procession down the street that bears his name, a white hearse and seventeen white limousines behind, ending at Forest Hill Cemetery. The 900-pound copper coffin is carried by pallbearers Jerry Schilling, Joe Esposito, George Klein, Lamar Fike, Billy Smith, Charlie Hodges, Gene Smith, and Dr. George Nichopoulous. A small service is then held in the mausoleum, followed by the paying of respects from family and friends. Elvis' father, Vernon, is the last to pay respects, kissing the coffin and repeating "Daddy will be with you soon." Elvis is interred at 4:30 pm CST.


1977: The Police made their live debut as a three-piece band when they played at Rebecca's Birmingham, England.

1978: The Temptations' Melvin Franklin is shot four times in the hand and leg during an attempted carjacking, but survives.

1979: Nick Lowe married Johnny Cash's stepdaughter Carlene Carter in Los Angeles. The couple are now divorced.

1982: Liverpool names four of its streets for its hometown heroes the Beatles: John Lennon Drive, Paul McCartney Way, George Harrison Close and Ringo Starr Drive.

1984: George Michael was at No.1 on the UK singles chart with his first solo single 'Careless Whisper.' It made George the first person to reach No.1 as a solo artist and a member of a band in the same year. It gave Epic records UK their first UK million seller and the song was No.1 in nearly 25 countries, selling over six million copies worldwide.

1984: Nick Rhodes from Duran Duran married American model Julie Anne at Marylebone registry office London, England.

1986: Bon Jovi released their "Slippery When Wet" album.

1990: Jazzie B from Soul II Soul was injured when he was involved in a seven-car pile-up while travelling from Detroit to Chicago.

1991: Billy Preston is arrested on charges of battery after allegedly attacking a 16-year-old prostitute once Preston discovered he was a transvestite. The keyboardist and singer is eventually given five years probation.

1992: Kurt Cobain became a father when his wife Courtney Love gave birth to a daughter Frances Bean.

2005: Kanye West called for an end to homophobia in the hip-hop community during an MTV interview saying “hip-hop was always about speaking your mind and about breaking down barriers, but everyone in hip-hop discriminates against gay people. Not just hip-hop, but America just discriminates, I wanna just, to come on TV and just tell my rappers, just tell my friends, 'Yo, stop it'."

2006: Justin Hawkins the lead singer of The Darkness checked himself into the Priory rehabilitation clinic suffering from exhaustion after three years of non-stop work.

2008: Soul singer Pervis Jackson died of cancer. He was a member of The Spinners (Also known as The Motown Spinners and The Detroit Spinners). Had the 1980 UK No.1 & US No.2 single 'Working My Way Back To You'.

August 15

Births

1925: Oscar Peterson (Jazz Pianist)

1925: Bill Pinkney (Singer in The Drifters)

1933: Bobby Helms (Country Singer)

1948: Tom Johnston (Guitar & Vocals for The Doobie Brothers)

1950: Tommy Aldridge (Drums for Whitesnake, Ozzy & Thin Lizzy)

1951: Bobby Caldwell (Singer)

1952: Johnny Thunders (Guitar for The New York Dolls & The Heartbreakers)

1961: Matt Johnson (Singer for The The)

1978: Tim Foreman (Bass for Switchfoot)

1984: Dave Welsh (Guitarist for The Fray)

1989: Joe Jonas (Singer for The Jonas Brothers)

Events

1939: After five directors, several script drafts, and endless casting changes, The movie musical The Wizard Of Oz premieres at Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood.

1956: "Colonel" Tom Parker, actually a Dutch immigrant who merely played at being a Southern aristocrat, becomes "special adviser" to Elvis Presley, effectively taking over management duties from Bob Neal, who knew managing the King was about to become a full-time job.

1958: Buddy Holly marries Maria Elena Santiago, a former receptionist at his music publishing company, in a private ceremony held at Holly's boyhood home in Lubbock, TX.

1964: After the massive success of the Beatles' first film, A Hard Day's Night, United Artists rushes to sign up-and-comers The Dave Clark Five to a film project entitled Catch Us If You Can (which was released in the US as Having A Wild Weekend).

1965: At 8 pm EST, the Beatles take the stage at Shea Stadium in New York City, marking the very first time a rock band would headline a stadium concert and a major victory for promoter Sid Bernstein, who had arranged the gig after his gamble of booking the then-unknown group at Carnegie Hall had paid off. Tickets for the show, sold merely by word of mouth created by kids who asked Bernstein about the next Beatles show while he strolled in Central Park, sold out in just three weeks, beating the stadium's old seating record with 56,000 seats sold.

1969: Promising "three days of peace, love, and music," The Woodstock Music and Art Fair begins on Max Yasgur's sixty-acre farm in Bethel, NY (nearby Woodstock being the original location). Featuring two dozen of the country's hottest bands, the festival draws over 450,000 hippies to the tiny town, causing unimaginable traffic and logistics problems but nevertheless impressing the ordinary citizens. Three deaths, two births, four miscarriages, and a wedding are all reported before Jimi Hendrix ends the festivities with his legendary rendition of the US national anthem. Also appearing were (in part) Joe Cocker, Crosby Stills Nash and Young, Santana, The Who, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Grateful Dead, Janis Joplin, The Band, Canned Heat, Joan Baez, Santana, Melanie, Ten Years After, Sly and the Family Stone, Johnny Winter, Jefferson Airplane, Ravi Shankar, Country Joe and the Fish, Blood Sweat and Tears, and Arlo Guthrie. Among those who elected not to attend were Tommy James and the Shondells, Led Zeppelin, The Beatles, Bob Dylan, The Byrds, Jethro Tull, and The Moody Blues.

1973: Baltimore, MD, declares today "Cass Elliot Day" in honor of the native singer for The Mamas and the Papas.

1980: John Lennon enters the Record Plant Studios in New York to record his "comeback" album, Double Fantasy.

1983: Ramones guitarist Joey Ramone, beaten in a fight-undergoes brain surgery.

1996: A New York women's shelter refuses to take money raised by a recent benefit concert when they learn that one of the performers was James Brown, often accused of emotional and physical abuse of women.

2000: David Bowie and his wife, supermodel Iman, become the proud parents of their first child, Alexandria Zahra Jones.

2004: Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts was being treated for throat cancer after being diagnosed with the disease in June.

2005: Sly Stone comes out of a long seclusion to visit the Knitting Factory in Los Angeles, where his little sister Vet headlines with the latest version of the Family Stone.

2011: Singer/actress Hilary Duff, 23, announced that she is expecting her first child with husband Mike Comrie, 30. 

August 12

Births

1926: Joe Jones (R&B Singer)

1927: Porter Wagoner (Country Singer)

1929: Buck Owens (Alvis Edgar Owens) (Country Singer & Guitarist)

1949: Mark Knopfler (Guitar & Vocals for Dire Straits & Solo)

1954: Pat Metheny (Jazz / Rock Guitarist)

1960: Morty Black (Bass for TNT)

1961: Roy Hay (Guitar & Keyboards for The Culture Club)

1963: Sir Mix-A-Lot (Anthony Ray) (Rapper)

Events

1877: Thomas Edison finishes the prototype of his new invention, the phonograph, and hands it over to his master mechanic John Kreusi to build. Kreusi bets Edison two dollars that the contraption will never work.

1957: Encouraged by Roulette exec George Goldner and his recent success in England, Frankie Lymon officially leaves his group, the Teenagers, to pursue a solo career.

1958: On "compassionate leave" from the Army, Elvis Presley travels to Memphis' Baptist Memorial hospital to be by the side of his mother, Gladys, who is quickly deteriorating from acute hepatitis.

1960: After "auditioning" for the band at the Jacaranda club (the band actually had no other prospects), Pete Best is hired as the Silver Beatles' new drummer just as the band sets out for a series of dates in Hamburg, Germany.

1965: Jefferson Airplane make their stage debut, opening San Francisco's' new club The Matrix (3138 Fillmore).

1966: The Beatles begin the US leg of their last tour, playing a date at the International Amphitheater in Chicago, IL.

1967: Fleetwood Mac make their stage debut at the National Jazz and Blues Festival in Windsor, England, alongside such acts as Donovan, Cream, The Small Faces, and Chicken Shack, featuring a young Christine Perfect (later known as Christine McVie).

1968: The New Yardbirds, later to be known as Led Zeppelin, begin their first rehearsal beneath a record store at 22 Gerrard Street in Westminster, London, performing a cover of the old Johnny Burnette and the Rock and Roll Trio number "Train Kept A Rollin'."

1970: At Harvard, Janis Joplin performs what would be her final concert, ending with a version of Gershwin's "Summertime."

1970: The Hollywood Bowl holds a memorial concert for recently deceased folk legend Woody Guthrie, featuring (among others) Bob Dylan, Arlo Guthrie, Richie Havens, Pete Seeger, Odetta, and Tom Paxton.

1977: Henri Padovani, guitarist with The Police, quit the group after nine months leaving them a trio.

1978: The Commodores started a two week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Three Times A Lady', also No.1 in the UK and becoming Motown's biggest British selling single. Lionel Richie wrote the song about his love for his wife, mother and grandmother hence 'Once, Twice, Three Times a Lady.'

1985: Kyu Sakamoto was killed in a plane crash when JAL Flight 123, a 747, crashed and burned on a thickly wooded mountain about 60 miles northwest of Tokyo. He was 43. He had the 1963 US No.1 & UK No.6 single 'Sukiyaki', the first Japanese artist to hit the top of the US singles chart.

1989: Patty Loveless notches her first #1 country single with "Timber, I'm Falling In Love".

1993: The Red Hot Chili Peppers replaced guitarist Arik Marshall with Jesse Tobias. Tobias was replaced by Dave Navarro three months later.

1994: Less than two months after All-4-One netted a gold single for a pop version of "I Swear," John Michael Montgomery's country rendition also goes gold.

1994: The 25th Anniversary Woodstock concert, entitled "Woodstock '94," is held in Saugerties, NY, with over 30 bands playing for a crowd of about 350,000. The multi-day show is a huge success, with little hint of the violence that would mar the 30th anniversary concert.

1997: MTV debuts the Fleetwood Mac reunion concert The Dance, marking the first time the five had been on stage together since 1982.

1997: In the middle of Blues Guitarist Luther Allison’s summer of 1997 tour, he checked into a hospital for dizziness and loss of coordination. It was discovered that he had a tumor on his lung that had metastasized to his brain. He died on this day in 1997.

1998: Scott Weiland (Singer for Stone Temple Pilots) pled guilty to felony heroin possession and was sentenced to three months in a drug treatment facility.

1999: Governor Mel Carnahan of Missouri declares today "Porter Wagoner Day" in honor of the country legend.

1999: The movie Detroit Rock City, produced by KISS and telling the story of KISS fans on their way to a KISS concert, opens nationwide.

2000: During an outdoor gig in Mancos, California as .38 Special were mid-set, the wind took hold of an overhead canopy and brought down ten tons of equipment onto the stage. The drum kit was completely crushed, but no one was seriously injured.

2001: Shania Twain and husband-producer Robert John "Mutt" Lange have a son, Eja (pronounced "Asia") in Switzerland.

2006: Rodney Atkins earns his first #1 single in Billboard: "If You're Going Through Hell (Before The Devil Even Knows)".

2011: Jani Lane, who fronted the glossy rock band Warrant during the days of hair metal, was found dead in a motel room in Woodland Hills, Calif. of undetermined causes. He was 47.