7 AUGUST
In Music History
1957 Paul Anka makes his US television debut, singing "Diana" on American Bandstand.
1954 The Crew-Cuts' cover of "Sh-Boom" hits #1 in America.
1952 Bass guitarist/vocalist Andy Fraser (of Free) is born in Paddington, London, England.
1951 Pete Way of UFO is born in Enfield, North London.
1947 Jazz historian, occasional songwriter and the future first wife of Larry Coryell, Julie Nathanson, is born in Manhattan, New York.
1945 Bassist/songwriter Kerry Chater (of Gary Puckett & the Union Gap) is born in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
1943 Pop singer Lana Cantrell is born in Sydney, Australia.
1942 B.J. Thomas is born in Hugo, Oklahoma. He lands #1 hits in America with "Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head" and "(Hey Won't You Play) Another Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song."
1939 Pop singer Ron Holden is born in Seattle, Washington. Known for the 1960 hit "Love You So."
1937 Bunny Berigan records "I Can't Get Started."
1936 Charles Pope (of The Tams) is born in Atlanta, Georgia.
1931 Herb Reed (founding member of The Platters) is born in Kansas City, Missouri.
1926 Voice actor/recording artist Stan Freberg is born in Pasadena, California.
1925 Songwriter Felice Bryant is born Matilda Genevieve Scaduto in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Co-wrote hit songs with husband Boudleaux Bryant, including the widely covered hit "Love Hurts."
1921 Big Band trombonist Warren Covington is born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Heavy Metal Hits Theaters
1981The animated sci-fi film Heavy Metal is released. Although it shares its name with the hard-rock genre, the film isn't intended to have anything to do with music, but instead is an anthology of various stories from the comic magazine Heavy Metal. Almost as an afterthought, an all-star soundtrack is added, featuring songs by Sammy Hagar, Devo, Blue Öyster Cult, Cheap Trick, Journey, and Black Sabbath, to name a few.
Read more7 AUGUST
Featured Events
2008 The Police wrap up their reunion tour at New York's Madison Square Garden. Their first tour since 1986, it lasts 151 shows and finishes as the third highest-grossing of all time.
1997 Garth Brooks plays a free show in New York's Central Park. It's the last Central Park show to benefit from highly inflated crowd estimates, which are stated at over 100,000. Hand counts at future shows prove that crowds at these concerts usually top out at 50,000.
1973 The film adaptation of Jesus Christ Superstar is released, based on the 1971 Broadway rock opera of the same name. Jesus is apparently a tenor.
1965 Herman's Hermits knock "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" from the top spot in America with "I'm Henry The VIII, I Am," a "second verse, same as the first" cover of a music hall song from 1910.
1963 Beach Party, starring Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello, opens in theaters. It's the first of many movies with a beach theme, and it features music by the surf-rock pioneer Dick Dale. Twenty-four years later, Frankie and Annette appear in Back To The Beach, where they are now parents of crazy teenagers.
1957 The Quarrymen (minus new member Paul McCartney, away at Scout camp) make their debut at Liverpool's Cavern Club. Manager Alan Sytner instructs them not to play Rock and Roll, but midway through their skiffle performance, John lights into a version of Elvis' "Don't Be Cruel," which the crowd loves. The group, of course, becomes The Beatles.
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