1926 Jazz organist/bandleader Brother Jack McDuff is born Eugene McDuffy in Champaign, Illinois.
1926 Rock 'n Roller Bill Black is born in Memphis, Tennessee. He would later play slap bass in Elvis Presley's early trio, The Blue Moon Boys, before fronting his own Bill Black's Combo.
1923 Country musician Hank Williams is born Hiram King Williams in Mount Olive, Butler County, Alabama.
Pink Floyd's seminal double album The Wall makes it to the big screen as a feature-length musical. Few expected the sprawling concept album to be turned into a feature film, but the band's celluloid collaboration with director Alan Parker and animator Gerald Scarfe becomes a surprise box office hit and a cult classic.
Read more1991 Instead of releasing a double album, which they decide would be too expensive for fans, Guns N' Roses issue both Use Your Illusion I and Use Your Illusion II on the same day.
1983 Star Search debuts on CBS. Hosted by Ed McMahon, the TV talent competition introduces scores of future superstars, many from the music realm, including Justin Timberlake, Britney Spears, Alanis Morissette, Jessica Simpson, Christina Aguilera, Tiffany, LeAnn Rimes, Usher, Aaliyah, and Destiny's Child.
1967 Appearing on The Ed Sullivan Show, The Doors are asked to change the line "Girl, we couldn't get much higher" in their hit "Light My Fire" to "Girl, we couldn't get much better." Lead singer Jim Morrison agrees, then sings the offending line anyway, angering the host and earning a lifetime ban from the show.
1967 Keith Moon of The Who rigs his bass drum to explode at the end of "My Generation" during the group's appearance on the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, but he doesn't realize that the stage crew has already set the charge. The resulting explosion cuts Moon's leg, singes Pete Townshend's hair, and startles fellow guests Bette Davis and Mickey Rooney.
1955 Pat Boone banks his first #1 on the US Pop charts when "Ain't That A Shame" hits the top spot. Some folks think it's a shame that his sterilized version is far more popular than Fats Domino's original, but Boone's cover draws lots of attention to Domino and earns the New Orleans singer substantial royalties.
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