1 OCTOBER
In Music History
1995 Farm Aid 8 takes place in Louisville, Kentucky, with Willie Nelson, John Mellencamp, Neil Young, Hootie & the Blowfish and The Dave Matthews Band raising over $1 million to support American farmers.
1994 Wilson Pickett begins serving a one-year jail sentence for a 1992 incident where he hit a pedestrian with his car.
1992 R&B vocalist Harry Ray (of The Moments, later known as Ray, Goodman & Brown) dies of a stroke in Bound Brook, New Jersey, at age 46. Known for hits like "Love on a Two-Way Street" (1970).
1991 The world's most valuable golf glove - the original, crystal-studded one Michael Jackson wore - is stolen from the Motown Museum in Detroit. MC Hammer sets up a phone line and offers a $50,000 reward for the glove's return, but it's recovered by police two days later.
1987 Soundgarden release their first EP, Screaming Life, on Sub Pop Records. Recorded in 1986 at Reciprocal Recording in Seattle, Washington, the six-song release is co-produced by Jack Endino.More
1985 Madonna makes her acting debut in the low-budget independent film A Certain Sacrifice. Filmed five years earlier, it's released on video to capitalize on the pop star's fame.
1983 The first ever David Bowie convention is held in London's Cunard Hotel. Speakers at the convention include Bowie's former dance teacher, Lindsay Kemp; Bowie's former manager, Ken Pitt; guitar player John Hutchinson; Bowie archivist, Kev Cann; and photographer Ray Stevenson.
1983 "Total Eclipse Of The Heart," written by Jim Steinman, hits #1 in the US, making Bonnie Tyler the first Welsh singer to top the chart.
1982 In Tokyo, Sony introduces the first digital compact-disc player, which sells for about $650.
1979 Marvel publishes the first Alice Cooper comic book. The story takes place in a sanitarium and is based on his stay in rehab.
1977 The Madison Square Garden Hall of Fame inducts its first musician: Elton John.
1976 David Bowie retreats to West Germany in an attempt to clean up his cocaine addiction. While in Germany, Bowie works with Iggy Pop and Brian Eno. The song "Heroes" comes from this stay.
1975 Al Jackson Jr. (drummer for Booker T. & The MG's) is killed at age 39 when he finds intruders in his Memphis, Tennessee, home. His estranged wife, Barbara Jackson, is thought to be involved, being that she shot her husband in the chest just months earlier.
1974 Keith Duffy of Boyzone is born in Donaghmede, Dublin, Ireland.
1971 Cat Stevens releases his fifth album, Teaser And The Firecat, with the hits "Peace Train" and "Morning Has Broken."
Beach Boys Release Debut Album
1962The Beach Boys release their first album, Surfin' Safari, which includes their debut single, "Surfin'." The album climbs to #32 in the US.
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Featured Events
2017 During Jason Aldean's headlining set at the Route 91 Harvest festival on the Las Vegas strip, a gunman opens fire from his suite at the nearby Mandalay Bay hotel, killing 58 and injuring over 500 in the deadliest mass shooting in US history.More
2011 After 28 years and two children together, Gene Simmons (62) and Shannon Tweed (54) finally get married. Their wedding song is "At Last," sung by their daughter Sophie.More
2000 Australian rock band Midnight Oil play their hit "Beds Are Burning" at the closing ceremony of the Summer Olympics in Sydney. Their black outfits are emblazoned with the word "sorry," a symbolic olive branch towards the Aboriginals who were forced from their lands by a government that refuses to apologize.More
1977 #1 on the Hot 100 is "Star Wars Theme/Cantina Band" by Meco. It's a 15-minute song made up of Star Wars music set to a disco beat. There's even an R2-D2 bleeping solo.More
1970 Janis Joplin makes her last recordings, singing "Mercedes Benz," which is included on her posthumous Pearl album a capella. She also records a goofy version of "Happy Trails" as a birthday present for John Lennon. Joplin dies three days later.
1965 At a concert at Carnegie Hall, Bob Dylan introduces his new band. Formerly Ronnie Hawkins' backup band, they were known as the Hawks, but soon became The Band.
1962 Johnny Carson's Tonight Show makes its debut. The theme song ("Johnny's Theme") is written by Paul Anka, but as part of the deal, Carson writes some lyrics for the song that are published, but never used, earning him half of the royalties from the song, which are substantial, as the song runs throughout Carson's 30-year tenure on the show.
1947 Bing Crosby broadcasts the first ever pre-recorded radio show when he airs his Philco Radio Time show on the ABC network using a magnetophon, a Nazi recording technology discovered and brought to America by US Army Corps Officer John Thomas "Jack" Mullin. The magnetophon leads to the evolution of multi-track recording technology, which revolutionizes the music industry. Crosby becomes an investor in the technology, which he uses so he doesn't have to always do his shows live.
1935 Julie Andrews is born Julia Elizabeth Wells in Walton-on-Thames, Surrey, England.More
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