August 11

Births

1925: Mike Douglas (Singer & Talk Show Host)

1942: Mike Hugg (Drums for Manfred Mann)

1943: Kenny Gamble (Songwriter)

1943: Jim Kale (Bass for The Guess Who)

1943: Denis Payton (Saxophone for The Dave Clark Five)

1949: Eric Carmen (Vocals & Keyboards for The Raspberries, The Young Rascals & Solo)

1954: Bryan Bassett (Guitar for Wild Cherry)

1955: Joe Jackson (Singer / Songwriter)

1957: Richie Ramone (Drummer for The Ramones)

1968: Charlie Sexton (Guitarist & Singer / Songwriter)

1970: Andy Bell (Guitar & vocals for Ride)

1976: Ben Gibbard (Lead Singer for Death Cab for Cutie & The Postal Service)

1985: J-Boog (Jarell Damonte Houston)(Singer in B2K)

Events

1951: Hank Williams hits #1 in Billboard's country chart with "Hey, Good Lookin'".

1952: Hank Williams was fired from the Grand Ole Opry and told not to return until he was sober.

1956: Elvis Presley's double sided hit 'Don't Be Cruel / Hound Dog was released. The single went to No.1 on the US chart, where it stayed for 11 weeks - a record that would not be broken until 1992's Boyz II Men hit 'End of the Road'.

1962: Booker T. and the MG's instrumental song, "Green Onions," was released.

1963: The Kingston Trio appear as the celebrity "mystery guests" on CBS-TV's What's My Line?.

1964: The Who, temporarily known as the High Numbers, take the stage at Harrow, England's Railway Hotel, but not before lead singer Roger Daltrey is involved in a fistfight with his father-in-law just outside.

1964: The Beatles' first film, A Hard Day's Night, has its US premiere in New York City.

1966: The Beatles fly to Chicago to begin their last world tour and give a press conference at the Astor Towers Hotel at which John Lennon attempts to apologize for his recent "bigger than Jesus" remarks: "If I had said television is more popular than Jesus, I might have got away with it... originally I was pointing out that fact in reference to England-- that we meant more to kids than Jesus did, or religion, at that time. I wasn't knocking it or putting it down, I was just saying it as a fact... I'm not saying that we're better, or greater, or comparing us with Jesus Christ as a person or God as a thing or whatever it is, you know. I just said what I said and it was wrong, or was taken wrong. And now it's all this..." Paul: "And this is the point-- you know, this is why we're getting in all these messes with saying things. Because, you know, we're just trying to move forwards. And people seem to be trying to just sort of hold us back and not want us to say anything that's vaguely sort of, you know, inflammatory... I think it's better for everyone if we're just honest about the whole thing." George: "Well, in the context that it was meant -- it was the fact that Christianity is declining, and everybody knows about that, and that was the fact that was trying to be made... I agree that it's on the wane." Ringo: "Well, I just hope it's all over now, you know. I hope everyone's straightened out, and it's finished."

1969: Diana Ross holds a party for 350 at Beverly Hills' Daisy Club to announce her discovery of the singing group the Jackson 5 -- even though Gladys Knight actually recommended them to Motown head Berry Gordy. That night, the group gains even more exposure by performing at the first Miss Black America pageant.

1972: The mayor of San Antonio, TX, declares today "Cheech and Chong Day" after the popular comedy duo, although neither was born anywhere near the city.

1972: Elvis and Pricilla Presley filed for divorce. They had married in May of 1967.

1973: Rather than join Paul McCartney in traveling to Nigeria to record the band's latest album, Band On The Run, Henry McCullough and Denny Seiwell both quit Wings, forcing Paul, wife Linda, and Denny Laine to record the album as a trio.

1976: Keith Moon of the Who is hospitalized after having a complete mental breakdown and trashing his room at the Fountainbleau Hotel in Miami, FL.

1982: Donna Summer has her first daughter, Amada Grace Sudano, with husband Bruce Sudano.

1984: Ray Parker JR. started a three week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with the theme from the film 'Ghostbusters'. Parker who had been a session guitarist for Stevie Wonder and Marvin Gaye was accused of plagiarizing the melody from Huey Lewis and the News song ‘I Want a New Drug’, resulting in Lewis suing Parker, the pair settled out of court in 1985.

1986: Thanks to MTV's repeated marathons of their Sixties TV show, six vintage albums by The Monkees re-enter the Billboard album charts.

1987: Rolling Stone magazine declares the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band the best album of the last twenty years.

1989: Bruce Springsteen joins Ringo Starr onstage at a concert in Holmdel, NJ, to sing four songs: "Get Back," "Long Tall Sally," "Photograph," and "With A Little Help From My Friends."

1989: Three members of L.L. Cool J crew were arrested and charged with raping a 15 year-old girl. The incident took place after a concert when the girl had won a backstage pass on a radio contest.

1992: The vast Mall of America opens in Bloomington, MN with Ray Charles on hand to sing his famous version of "America The Beautiful."

1996: Mel Taylor (Drummer for The Ventures) died from cancer.  Only two weeks elapsed between Taylor's cancer diagnosis until his death. He had been a cigarette smoker, but had quit the habit about 11 years before his death.

1999: KISS are awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

2000: Madonna gave birth to a baby boy Rocco Ritchie at The Cedars-Sinai Hospital Beverly Hills.

2001: Blake Shelton picks up his first #1 single in Billboard with "Austin," which remains at the top for five weeks.

2005: Steve Earle and Allison Moorer are married at the Hermitage Hotel in downtown Nashville. It's his seventh wedding, her second.