July 20

Births

1933: Buddy Knox (Pop Singer)

1945: John Lodge (Bass for The Moody Blues)

1944: T.G. Sheppard (Country Singer)

1945: Kim Carnes (Singer/Songwriter)

1947: Carlos Santana (Guitarist)

1952: Jay Jay French (Guitar for Twisted Sister)

1955: Jem Finer (Banjo for The Pogues)

1955: Michael Anthony (Bass for Van Halen)

1956: Paul Cook (Drums for The Sex Pistols)

1958: Michael McNeil (Keyboards for Simple Minds)

1964: Chris Cornell (Vocals & Guitar for Soundgarden & Audioslave)

1965: Stone Gossard (Rhythm Guitar for Pearl Jam)

Events

1940: Billboard magazine publishes their first combined record sales chart, ranking the hits of all major labels. Sitting atop the ten entries is Tommy Dorsey's "I'll Never Smile Again," lead vocals by Frank Sinatra.

1954: Taking their name from their local hit recording of "Blue Moon of Kentucky," Elvis Presley, Scotty Moore, and Bill Black perform a concert as The Blue Moon Boys on a flatbed truck outside the grand opening of a Memphis drugstore.

1961: British paper Mersey Beat announces that the Beatles -- or rather, the Beat Brothers, as they were then known -- have just signed their first recording contract. Not with Capitol, but with famed German producer Bert Kaempfert.

1963: The Beatles nab their first UK Number One LP with Please Please Me.

1963: Jan and Dean started a two week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Surf City', written by Beach Boy Brian Wilson, with the Beach Boys on backing vocals. The single peaked at No.26 in the UK.

1965: Bob Dylan released the single “Like A Rolling Stone”.

1965: Frank Sinatra leaves his handprints in cement outside Hollywood landmark Grauman's Chinese Theatre at 6925 Hollywood Blvd.

1965: The Lovin' Spoonful released the single "Do You Believe In Magic?"

1968: Aware of Paul McCartney's various affairs, his fiancee, Jane Asher, announces on the BBC TV program Dee Time that she has broken off her engagement with the Beatle: "I haven't broken it off, but it is broken off, finished... I know it sounds corny, but we still see each other, and love each other, but it hasn't worked out. Perhaps we'll be childhood sweethearts and meet again, and get married when we're about seventy." Paul, watching at home, is reportedly surprised, but rumors had been swirling for months, so perhaps not.

1968: Iron Butterfly’s second album, In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida, entered the US album chart for the first time. The album contained the 17-minute title track that filled the second side of the LP which went on sell over four million copies in the US alone.

1970: The Carpenters appear as guest bachelor and bachelorette on ABC's Dating Game TV show.

1974: Joey Ramone became the lead vocalist for the Ramones.

1975: Steven Van Zandt makes his first appearance in concert with Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band.

1976: Buzzcocks made their live debut supporting The Sex Pistols and Slaughter & The Dogs at The Lesser Free Trade Hall, Manchester. In the audience was, Morrissey, Bernard Sumner, Peter Hook (soon to form Joy Division), Mark E Smith (The Fall) and Mick Hucknall.

1979: In trade ads announcing their newest single, "Don't Bring Me Down," the Electric Light Orchestra puckishly dedicate the song to Skylab, the first US space station, which was about to prematurely re-enter Earth's atmosphere in bits and pieces.

1986: Carlos Santana celebrates his 39th birthday, as well as the 20th anniversary of his band, by playing a concert in San Francisco featuring all living members of Santana -- 17, to be exact.

1991: EMF went to No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Unbelievable' it spent 14 weeks on the chart before reaching the top.

1995: Public Enemy member Flavor Flav broke both his arms when he was involved in a motorcycle accident in Milan.

1996: Kim Thayil (Guitar for Soundgarden) was arrested for assault and then later released after playing on the Lollapalooza '96 tour in North Carolina.

1999: Church group's in middle America claimed that pictures of Britney Spears printed in Rolling Stone magazine encouraged child pornography. The shots showed Britney with not many clothes on in her bedroom. She was 17 years old.

2008, Rapper DMX was arrested on suspicion he gave a false name to get out of paying for hospital medical expenses. County Sheriff Joe Arpaio said the star told Mayo Clinic in Arizona that his name was Troy Jones and failed to pay a $7,500 bill in April. The rapper whose real name is Earl Simmons - was arrested at a shopping centre in Phoenix.

2008: John Lydon denied claims by Kele Okereke from Bloc Party that he was racially abused and attacked by a member of the Sex Pistols' entourage at a music festival in Barcelona. Okereke claimed he had been attacked by several men after approaching Lydon backstage at the Summercase festival. He said the 'unprovoked' attack left him with a split lip and bruises. Lydon said: ‘I feel very sorry for a man that needs to lie about what was a perfect evening.’