27 JULY
In Music History
1949 Singer/actress Maureen McGovern is born in Youngstown, Ohio.
1944 "Ode To Billie Joe" singer Bobbie Gentry is born Roberta Lee Streeter in Chickasaw County, Mississippi.
1942 Peggy Lee records "Why Don't You Do Right?"
1933 Nick Reynolds of the The Kingston Trio is born in San Diego, California.
1929 Harvey Fuqua of The Moonglows is born in Louisville, Kentucky.
1927 Bob Morse (of the Jazz/Pop vocal group The Hi-Lo's) is born in Pasadena, California.
1924 Italian composer/pianist Ferruccio Busoni dies.
1922 Record producer Bob Thiele is born in New York City. Co-wrote Louis Armstrong's "What a Wonderful World" under the pseudonym George Douglas.
1920 Henry D. "Homer" Haynes (of the country music parody duo Homer and Jethro) is born near Knoxville, Tennessee.
Prince Stars In Purple Rain
1984Prince stars in the film Purple Rain. The movie, in which he plays as an upstart musician who clashes with his band, parallels his life story, but is not strictly autobiographical, and he didn't write or direct it.
Read more27 JULY
Featured Events
2007 The Simpsons Movie debuts. Early in the film, Green Day sink into Lake Springfield.
1996 "Wannabe" hits #1 in the UK, making the Spice Girls the first all-female group to top the chart with their debut single.
1983 Madonna releases her first album. The self-titled debut doesn't burn up the charts and is derided by Rolling Stone (which calls her voice "irritating as hell"), but gets traction in dance clubs, setting the stage for her breakout second album, Like A Virgin.
1976 Later depicted in the movie What's Love Got to Do with It, Tina Turner files for divorce from her husband Ike. They have been married 16 years.
1970 A free concert in Chicago becomes a riot when fans pelt the stage with rocks and bottles before Sly & the Family Stone can go on. The band titles their next album There's a Riot Goin' On.More
1958 Esso Oil (formerly Standard Oil, later Exxon), issues a report warning that listening to rock music in the car could waste gas because "the rhythm can cause a driver to unconsciously jiggle the gas petal."
1940 Billboard issues its first chart detailing what records are selling the most copies. Titled "National List of Best Selling Retail Records," it's a precursor to the Hot 100 and the first to count record sales (the existing charts are for sheet music sales, jukebox play and radio plugs). It's not an exact science, as Billboard polls record stores to find out what is selling - a practice that stays in effect until the '90s, when call-a-clerk is replaced with Soundscan technology. The first chart is dominated by big band hits, with "I'll Never Smile Again" by Tommy Dorsey (featuring Frank Sinatra on vocals) at #1 and three songs by Glenn Miller in the Top 10.
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