1948 Brownsville Station frontman Michael "Cub" Koda is born in Detroit, Michigan. He writes the group's 1973 hit "Smokin' in the Boy's Room," which is later covered by Motley Crue.
1947 Mud lead guitarist Rob Davis is born in Carshalton, Surrey, England.
1947 Martin Turner (bassist/lead vocalist for Wishbone Ash) is born in Torquay, Devon, England.
1947 Mariska Veres (lead singer for Shocking Blue) is born in The Hague, Netherlands.
1945 Soul singer Donny Hathaway is born in Chicago, Illinois, raised by his grandmother in St. Louis, Missouri.
1944 Barbara Parritt of The Toys is born in Wilmington, North Carolina.
1943 Jerry Martini, sax player for Sly and the Family Stone, is born in Denver, Colorado.
1942 Herb Fame of Peaches & Herb is born Herbert Feemster in Anacostia, Washington, D.C.
1935 Thirteen-year-old Judy Garland signs with MGM and goes on to star in a number of hit films, including Meet Me in St. Louis, Easter Parade, and The Wizard of Oz.
1934 Songwriter Geoff Stephens of The New Vaudeville Band is born in New Southgate, North London.
1932 Albert Collins, electric blues guitarist and singer, is born in Leona, Texas. Movie fans can catch his cameo appearance in the 1987 comedy Adventures in Babysitting, where he performs "Babysitting Blues" with the cast.
1930 Singer/actor Richard Harris, who has an unlikely hit with "MacArthur Park," is born in Limerick, Ireland.
1926 Ragtime performer Max Morath is born in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
1919 Songwriter J.M. Robinson is born Jessie Mae Booker in Call, Texas.
1913 Producer/composer Charles Randolph Grean is born. Wrote the popular 1950 novelty song "The Thing."
The Beach Boys release their first album, Surfin' Safari, which includes their debut single, "Surfin'." The album climbs to #32 in the US.
Read more2017 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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