1959 Cherie Currie is born in Encino, California. As lead singer of The Runaways she is at the core of the LA party scene in the late 1970s, leading to a lifelong struggle with drug addiction.More
1958 The Crests release "16 Candles."
1958 Pop singer Stacey Q, known for the 1986 hit "Two of Hearts," is born Stacey Lynn Swain in Fullerton, California. She picks up her stage name as a member of the synthpop band Q, who borrowed its name from the James Bond tech scientist.
1957 John Ashton (guitarist for The Psychedelic Furs) is born in London, England.
1953 June Pointer (of The Pointer Sisters) is born in Oakland, California.
1953 Guitarist Shuggie Otis is born Johnny Alexander Veliotes, Jr. in Los Angeles, California. He is the son of R&B pioneer Johnny Otis. Shuggie composes the 1977 crossover hit "Strawberry Letter 23" for The Brothers Johnson.
1945 Deep Purple bass player Roger Glover is born in Wales.
1943 Leo Lyons (bassist for Ten Years After) is born David William Lyons in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England.
1943 Grass Roots frontman Rob Grill is born in Los Angeles, California.
1943 The Nat King Cole Trio records "Straighten Up and Fly Right."
1939 Harry James records "Concerto for Trumpet."
1937 Jimmy Bowen, producer of Frank Sinatra's "Strangers in the Night," is born in Santa Rita, New Mexico. He starts his music career as a teen idol, singing the 1957 hit "I'm Stickin' With You."
1937 Country singer Frank Ifield is born in Coundon, Warwickshire, England to Australian parents. Known for a string of '60s hits, including "I Remember You" and "Lovesick Blues."
1937 Soul singer Luther Ingram is born in Jackson, Tennessee.
1935 Country singer Jack Reno, who has a Top 10 hit in 1967 with "Repeat After Me," is born in Bloomfield, Iowa.
Michael Jackson releases Thriller, which becomes, by far, the best selling album worldwide.
Read more1991 Billboard changes its methodology for determining the Hot 100, using SoundScan data to track record store sales and BDS information for radio plays. SoundScan, an electronic system that counts record sales when they are rung up, replaces record store reporting, which was typically done with phone calls. BDS is a Shazam-like service that identifies songs played by radio stations, which eliminates the need for stations to report their playlists. The first #1 on the revamped chart is "Set Adrift On Memory Bliss" by P.M. Dawn.
1979 Pink Floyd's album The Wall is released, seeing out the '70s in spectacular fashion as it sells over 13 million copies. The powerful concept album's themes of isolation and despair resonate with legions of fans, and it even spawns a #1 single - "Another Brick In The Wall (part II).More
1977 Bing Crosby's last Christmas special airs. The program was recorded in September, and Crosby died that October. The show is remembered for Crosby's unusual duet with David Bowie, where they sing a modified version of "Little Drummer Boy," with Bowie singing the new "Peace On Earth" lyrics composed by the show's writers.
1974 Elton John's Greatest Hits album hits #1 in America, where it stays for the last five weeks of 1974 and first five of 1975.
1955 Billy Idol is born William Michael Albert Broad in Stanmore, Middlesex, England.
1940 Desi Arnaz marries Lucille Ball. The pair met on the set of the RKO musical Too Many Girls and eloped less than two months after the film's release.
1929 Dick Clark is born in Mount Vernon, New York. Dubbed the "world's oldest teenager," he becomes a cultural icon as the longtime host of American Bandstand and Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve.
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