20 OCTOBER
In Music History
1980 U2 release their debut album, Boy, produced by Steve Lillywhite. It doesn't yield any hits but "I Will Follow" becomes one of their most popular songs.
1979 Bob Dylan makes his only appearance on Saturday Night Live, performing three songs from his Christian album Slow Train Coming.
1978 The Police make their US performance debut at CBGB's in New York.
1976 The Led Zeppelin concert documentary The Song Remains The Same opens in London and New York, with the band attending the New York premiere.
1974 Eric Burdon (of The Animals) names his newborn daughter Mirage (he later changes it to Alex).
1969 John Lennon and Yoko Ono release their Wedding Album LP (with a photo of their own wedding cake and a copy of their marriage certificate included).
1964 Jim Sonefeld (drummer for Hootie & the Blowfish) is born in Lansing, Michigan, but would relocate to Naperville, Illinois.
1960 Elvis Presley's film G.I. Blues premieres.
1959 Patty Duke opens on Broadway in The Miracle Worker.
1958 Mark King (lead singer, bassist for Level 42) is born in Cowes, Isle of Wight, England.
1955 Harry Belafonte records "The Banana Boat Song (Day-O)."
1955 Bill Haley, Pat Boone and Elvis Presley all appear together in concert at a Cleveland High School (the concert is filmed for a documentary of Cleveland DJ Bill Randle but is never released).
1954 LaVern Baker records "Tweedle Dee."
1951 Al Greenwood (keyboardist for Foreigner) is born in New York.
1950 Tom Petty (of Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, The Traveling Wilburys) is born in Gainesville, Florida.
Lynyrd Skynyrd Singer And Guitarist Killed In Plane Crash
1977Lynyrd Skynyrd members Ronnie Van Zant and Steve Gaines die in a plane crash in Mississippi. Gaines' sister Cassie, a backup singer with the group, is also killed along with two pilots and the band's manager. Other members of the group are badly injured.
Read more20 OCTOBER
Featured Events
2000 Ice-T, who in 1992 released the incendiary song "Cop Killer," makes his debut on the TV series Law & Order: Special Victims Unit playing a cop: Detective Fin Tutuola.
1992 Madonna releases Erotica, a concept album about the pleasures and pitfalls of sex and romance, a day before her controversial Sex book hits the market.More
1979 The instrumental "Rise" by Herb Alpert goes to #1 in America, thanks to its use on the soap opera General Hospital.
1977 In town for a gig with The Police, Sting kills some time by walking through the red light district of Paris. Watching the ladies of the night ply their trade gives him the inspiration for what becomes the band's first hit: "Roxanne."
1973 The Rolling Stones ballad "Angie" hits #1 in America.
1971 Snoop Dogg is born Cordozar Calvin Broadus, Jr. in Long Beach, California. His parents call him "Snoopy" because of his resemblance to Charlie Brown's pet beagle.
1962 "Monster Mash" by Bobby Pickett & the Crypt-Kickers hits #1 on its way to becoming the most famous Halloween song of all time. Pickett's vocals are his impression of Boris Karloff, who was known for his role as Frankenstein's monster.
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