16 August

Pick a Day

16 AUGUST

In Music History

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1985 Red Hot Chili Peppers release the cocaine-fueled funk album Freaky Styley, produced by Parliament-Funkadelic founder George Clinton, and welcome back guitarist Hillel Slovak.More

1980 "A Thousand Miles" singer Vanessa Carlton is born in Milford, Pennsylvania.

1972 Emily Robison of the The Chicks is born in Pittsfield, Massachusetts.

1969 CBS premieres the sitcom The Debbie Reynolds Show, starring the Singin' in the Rain actress.

1969 The Beckenham Arts Lab holds the Free Festival in Beckenham, London. One one of the performers is David Bowie, who memorializes the concert in his song "Memory of a Free Festival." The festival is largely forgotten by history, probably because it happened at the same exact time as Woodstock in the United States.

1969 Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young perform together for the first time, playing two shows at the Auditorium Theatre in Chicago. Their next gig comes two days later when they take the stage at Woodstock.

1968 The Jackson 5 play their first concert, opening for Diana Ross and the Supremes at the Forum in Los Angeles.

1966 The Monkees release their first single, "Last Train To Clarksville." It's a lighthearted-sounding song with a somber subtext: The lyric is about a guy who gets drafted into the Vietnam War and wonders if he's ever coming home.

1962 Peter, Paul, and Mary release "If I Had A Hammer."

1960 Drummer Chris Pedersen (of Camper Van Beethoven and Monks of Doom) is born in Great Lakes, Illinois.

1957 Buddy Holly's group The Crickets play the first show of a six-night engagement at Harlem's Apollo Theater. They were booked due to confusion with a black group (led by Dean Barlow) that was also called The Crickets. Nonetheless, Holly and his band win over the crowd.

1957 INXS lead guitarist Tim Farriss is born in Perth, Western Australia.

1953 James "J.T." Taylor (lead singer for Kool & the Gang) is born in Laurens, South Carolina.

1949 Scott Asheton (drummer for The Stooges) is born in Washington, D.C.

1948 Barry Hay (frontman for Golden Earring) is born in Faizabad, Uttar Pradesh, India.

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The King Is Dead

1977

The King is dead. Elvis Presley dies at his home in Graceland as a result of an overdose from prescription drugs.

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