July 10

Births

1933: "Jumpin'" Gene Simmons (Rockabilly Singer)

1937: Sandy Stewart (Pop Singer)

1943: Jerry Miller (Singer & Guitarist for Moby Grape)

1947: Arlo Guthrie (Folk Singer)

1949: Dave Smalley (Bass for Young Rascals & Raspberries)

1949: Ronnie James Dio (Singer for Elf, Rainbow, Black Sabbath & Solo)

1949: Greg Kihn (Guitarist & Singer)

1953: Rik "The Rocket" Emmett (Vocals & Guitar for Triumph)

1954: Neil Tennant (Vocals for Pet Shop Boys)

1959: Sandy West (Drummer for The Runaways)

1965: Peter DiStefano (Guitar for Porno For Pyros)

1970: Gary LeVox (Singer for Rascal Flatts)

1980: Jessica Simpson (Singer)

Events

1941: Jazz pianist Ferdinand "Jelly Roll" Morton dies in LA at 56 from an asthma affliction.

1950: The Victor Talking Machine Company, later to become RCA Victor and the world's first great record label, trademarks its slogan "His Master's Voice," which referred to the iconic image of the Victor dog, Nipper, cocking an ear to the gramophone as if his master were actually in the room.

1950: The nation's favorite popular music countdown, "Your Hit Parade," gets its own home on NBC TV to match its longtime radio counterpart.

1954: WINS AM in New York hires legendary DJ Alan Freed away from his home at Cleveland's WJW, where, among other things, he helped popularize the term "rock and roll." Freed would move across town to WABC two years later, where he would eventually be fired for his participation in the "payola scandal."

1959: One of the most popular Fifties "rock and roll movies," Alan Freed's Go, Johnny, Go! opens nationwide, featuring Chuck Berry, Jackie Wilson, Eddie Cochran, Sandy Stewart, the Cadillacs, Harvey Fuqua of the Moonglows, Jimmy Clanton, and -- in his one and only film appearance -- Ritchie Valens.

1964: The Beatles A Hard Day's Night film has its Liverpool premiere, with over 200,000 locals (!) turning up to celebrate their hometown boys making good.

1965: The Rolling Stones started a four week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with '(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction', the group's first US No.1. Some US stations cut out the last verse believing it referred to women's 'time of the month'.

1966: A young Cat Stevens begins his recording career by cutting the minor UK hit "I Love My Dog."

1967: Singer Kenny Rogers leaves the folk group The New Christy Minstrels and, the next day, forms the First Edition.

1967: Bobbie Gentry recorded "Ode to Billie Joe."

1968: Eric Clapton announces the breakup of the supergroup Cream, currently finishing up its last tour.

1968: Early prog-rockers The Nice (Featuring Keith Emerson) are banned from London's Royal Albert Hall after burning an American flag on stage.

1969: The Rolling Stones founding member, Brian Jones, is laid to rest at Hatherley Road Parish Church in his hometown of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England, after drowning (or, some say, being drowned) in a swimming pool a few days earlier. Brian is buried 12 feet in the ground so as to discourage trophy-seeking fans. His epitaph: "Please don't judge me too harshly."  Bill Wyman, Keith Richards and Charlie Watts from The Stones attended the funeral, not Mick Jagger.

1974: Mac Davis debuts his own summer variety music show on NBC TV.

1975: Gregg Allman and Cher's famously rocky marriage almost ends in divorce after only ten days.

1975: Gladys Knight and the Pips debut their own summer variety music show on NBC TV.

1976: Vernon Presley, at the behest of his son Elvis, fires longtime "Memphis Mafia" members Sonny West, his cousin Red West, and Dave Hebler -- not coincidentally the three most adamant about getting him off his addiction to prescription drugs. Red would eventually write a book called Elvis: What Happened? which would alert the public to the King's drug problem for the first time.

1977: Cher gives birth to Elijah Blue Allman, her first and only child with Gregg Allman of the Allman Brothers.

1978: Rolling Stones bassist Bill Wyman falls from the stage at a gig St. Paul, MN and is knocked unconscious.

1979: Chuck Berry is sentenced to jail for the second time, this time a tax-evasion charge that nets him four months (for allegedly bilking Uncle Sam out of $200,000 back in 1973).

1979: Orchestra leader Arthur Fiedler dies at 84 after havind a heart seizure. He was in his 50th year as conductor of the Boston Pops Orchestra.

1981: Jerry Lee Lewis enters a Memphis hospital for the first of two emergency operations to counteract a bleeding ulcer.

1986: Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead slips into a diabetic coma. He recovers a five days later.

1987: Producer and record company executive John Hammond died. He brought Stevie Ray Vaughan, Bob Dylan, Aretha Franklin, Leonard Cohen and Bruce Springsteen to Columbia Records. Hammond also worked as a producer with Bessie Smith, Billie Holiday, Benny Goodman and Count Basie.

1989: The Monkees get a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. At the ceremony, all four Monkees reunite for the first time.

1989: David F Pearsall age 18 from Manchester, New Jersey was charged with theft after stealing a guitar at a concert in Riverfront Park belonging to Richie Sambora of Bon Jovi.

1993: Bob Seger marries his third and current wife, Juanita Dorricott.

1994: Anthrax guitarist Scott Ian weds Debbie Leavitt.

1997: Chrissie Hynde (Singer for The Pretenders) and Lucho Brieva were married.

1998:  Singer Sheena Easton filed for divorce from her husband of 11 months, Timothy Delarm.

2000: A much-ballyhooed Supremes "reunion" tour, "Return To Love," which features only Diana Ross from the original group, is canceled after initial ticket sales don't match expectations.

2002: Eddie Van Halen and Valerie Bertinelli announced that they had secretly separated 10 months before. They divorced in 2007.  

2008: The drum skin used on the cover of The Beatles' Sgt Pepper album sold for $1 M at Christie's Memorabilia auction in London. Other items sold included John Lennon's lyrics for ‘Give Peace a Chance’ which sold for $832,257 and a pair of tinted prescription sunglasses belonging to Lennon, which he wore for the cover of the single ‘Mind Games’, sold for $79,000. A rare 1/4 inch reel to-reel master tape recording of the Jimi Hendrix Experience performing at the Woburn Music Festival in 1968 went for $95,000, a Marshall amplifier used by Hendrix in concert fetched $50,000 and a pair of his stripy flared trousers made $49,000.