10 OCTOBER
In Music History
1961 Martin Kemp (bassist for Spandau Ballet) is born in Islington, London, England. Also known for his role as Steve Owen on the BBC soap opera EastEnders.
1960 Larry Verne's novelty song "Mr. Custer" hits #1 in America.
1959 Singer Kirsty MacColl, known for her vocals on the Pogues song "Fairytale Of New York," is born in Croydon, Surrey, England. Her dad is the folk singer Ewan MacColl.
1958 Country singer Tanya Tucker is born in Seminole, Texas. Known for '70s hits like "What's Your Mama's Name" and "Blood Red and Goin' Down."
1954 Longtime Van Halen frontman David Lee Roth is born in Bloomington, Indiana. Wildly extroverted, he's one of the most flamboyant frontmen in rock and helps the band earn lots of airtime on early MTV. As a solo artist, his hits include the MTV favorites "California Girls" (a Beach Boys cover) and "Just Like Paradise."
1953 Stan Freberg's "St. George And The Dragonet" hits #1.
1948 Cyril Neville (percussionist/vocalist for The Neville Brothers) is born in New Orleans, Louisiana.
1946 Singer-songwriter John Prine is born in Maywood, Illinois, near Chicago.More
1946 Ben Vereen, actor, dancer and singer, is born Benjamin Augustus Middleton in Miami, Florida. He would win a Tony award for his 1973 performance in the musical Pippin.
1945 Alan Cartwright (bass player for Procol Harum) is born in London, England.
1945 Jerry LaCroix (vocalist/saxophonist for Blood, Sweat & Tears, Edgar Winter's White Trash) is born in Alexandria, Louisiana.
1943 Denis D'Ell (lead singer/harmonica player for The Honeycombs) is born Denis James Dalziel in Whitechapel, East London.
1940 Lanny Ross records "Moonlight And Roses."
1928 Ennio Morricone (composer, orchestrator and conductor) is born in Rome to Libera and Mario Morricone. Ennio grew up during wartime, learning music while bombs fell. He says he remembers often being hungry.
1923 Louis Gottlieb (bass violinist/bassist for The Limeliters) is born in Los Angeles, California.
James Brown Endorses Richard Nixon
1972James Brown alienates much of his audience by meeting with President Richard Nixon in the White House and endorsing him in his bid for re-election.
Read more10 OCTOBER
Featured Events
2007 Radiohead takes an innovative approach with the release of their seventh studio album, In Rainbows, by offering it as a pay-what-you-want download. Most people pay nothing for the download, but the album still fares well - better, in fact, than the previous Hail to the Thief album - through pre-sales for "discbox" editions.More
2002 Jay-Z releases "'03 Bonnie And Clyde," featuring Beyoncé in her first solo appearance since the breakup of Destiny's Child. It's the first hint the couple are dating, as Jay declares them "the new Bobby and Whitney" on the track.
2001 Embracing the Internet at a time when broadband is rare, U2 webcasts a concert from their Elevation tour in South Bend, Indiana, for free on U2.com.
1995 No Doubt release their breakthrough album Tragic Kingdom, with the hits "Just a Girl" and "Don't Speak." It sells an amazing 10 million copies in America and catapults lead singer Gwen Stefani to stardom.
1992 Country music is all the rage in America, as The Chase by Garth Brooks debuts at #1 on the albums chart, supplanting Some Gave All by Billy Ray Cyrus, which has held the top spot for 17 weeks.
1977 An audience member throws an M-80 firecracker on stage at an Aerosmith show at The Spectrum in Philadelphia. The explosion injures lead singer Steven Tyler's cornea and guitarist Joe Perry's hand. The next year, Tyler is hit in the face with a bottle when they play the arena.
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