Pick a Day

8 OCTOBER

In Music History

1989 After Rolling Stones' Ron Wood suggests that The Who were re-forming for the money alone, Who guitarist Pete Townshend publicly answers: "Mick needs a lot more than I do. His last album was a flop," referring to The Rolling Stones' ill-received Dirty Work.

1988 Keith Richards plays his first solo single, "Take It So Hard," on Saturday Night Live.

1987 The acclaimed Chuck Berry documentary Hail! Hail! Rock 'n' Roll premieres in US theaters.

1987 Chuck Berry is awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1777 N. Vine.

1987 Promoting their space-themed Afterburner record, ZZ Top book passage on what is announced as the first passenger flight to the moon.

1983 "Total Eclipse Of The Heart" by Bonnie Tyler stays at #1 in America, with "Making Love Out Of Nothing At All" by Air Supply at #2, a configuration that holds for three weeks. Both songs were written and produced by Jim Steinman, making him the first solo writer and producer to hold the top two spots.

1982 Culture Club release their debut album, Kissing To Be Clever, in their native UK. Issued in America a few months later, it kicks out three Top 10 hits in that country ("Do You Really Want To Hurt Me?," "I'll Tumble 4 Ya" and "Time (Clock of the Heart)"), leading a wave of MTV-friendly UK acts that includes Duran Duran and Eurythmics.

1980 Prince releases his third album, Dirty Mind. The title hints at the lascivious songs within, including "Head" and "Sister." The biggest hit from the set is the modest "Uptown," which goes to #5 on the R&B chart.

1980 Talking Heads release their fourth album, Remain In Light, their last produced by Brian Eno. The song "Once In A Lifetime" gets a video showing David Byrne's herky-jerky stage moves; it becomes an MTV favorite, aired the first day the network goes on the air.

1968 Mama Cass Elliot of The Mamas & the Papas, makes her solo debut at the Circus Maximus theater at Caesars' Palace in Las Vegas, where she is scheduled for two shows a night for three weeks at a rate of $40,000 per week. She gets sick before the first show but does both anyway, straining to get through them. The rest of the run is cancelled, and Elliot undergoes throat surgery.

1966 Cream drummer Ginger Baker collapses while on stage at a Sussex University gig in England, just after completing his epic 20-minute solo on "Toad."

1965 C.J. Ramone (bassist and occasional vocalist for The Ramones) is born Christopher Joseph Ward in Queens, New York City.

1963 Steve Perry (lead singer/rhythm guitarist for Cherry Poppin' Daddies) is born in Syracuse, New York.

1962 Little Richard, who gave up show business to preach in 1957, returns to rock with a UK tour that also includes Sam Cooke and Billy Preston.

1962 The South African musician Solomon Linda, who wrote and recorded the original version of "The Lion Sleeps Tonight," dies at age 53.