18 SEPTEMBER
In Music History
1960 Teen idol Frankie Avalon turns 21, making him an adult and therefore eligible to claim the over $600,000 he earned while underage.
1959 The first "Dick Clark Caravan Of Stars" tour kicks off with Lloyd Price, Duane Eddy, Paul Anka, Bobby Rydell, The Coasters and more.
1957 The Big Record, CBS-TV's answer to American Bandstand, premieres with host Patti Page and guests Billy Ward & the Dominoes and Tony Bennett.
1956 Rock shows are banned at the US Naval Station in Newport, Rhode Island, after a fight breaks out during a Fats Domino concert.
1955 Keith Morris (frontman for Black Flag and Circle Jerks) is born in Hermosa Beach, California.
1955 CBS-TV's popular variety show Toast Of The Town is renamed what many people had been calling it all along, The Ed Sullivan Show.
1952 Dee Dee Ramone (Ramones bassist/songwriter) is born Douglas Glenn Colvin in Fort Lee, Virginia; he's raised in Berlin, Germany.
1949 Kerry Livgren (songwriter/guitarist/keyboardist for Kansas) is born in Topeka, Kansas.
1947 The first-ever country music presentation is held at Carnegie Hall, featuring Ernest Tubb and Roy Acuff.
1946 Alan "Bam" King (lead guitarist for Ace) is born in Kentish Town, London, England.
1945 Blind Willie Johnson, singer of "Dark Was the Night, Cold Was the Ground," dies at 48 years old from malarial fever.
1940 Singer/actor Frankie Avalon is born Francis Thomas Avallone in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
1929 Jazz/pop singer Teddi King is born Theodora King in Boston, Massachusetts. Known for the mid-'50s singles "Mr. Wonderful," "Married I Can Always Get" and "Say It Isn't So."
1899 The Copyright Office receives Scott Joplin's "Maple Leaf Rag."
1587 Francesca Caccini, composer and performer in the early Baroque era, is born in Florence, Tuscany, Italy.
Jimi Hendrix Dies
1970Jimi Hendrix is found dead in his basement. He had taken nine pills of the barbiturate Vesparax, that along with alcohol, caused a fatal overdose.
Read more18 SEPTEMBER
Featured Events
2009 After completing her set at a concert in Minneapolis, Lucinda Williams marries her manager, Tom Overby, on stage. After exchanging vows, they do an encore, starting with "Happy" by The Rolling Stones.
1994 The United States Postal Service issues the Billie Holiday stamp to honor the singer.More
1992 Cameron Crowe's film Singles hits theaters in the US. While at first glance, the movie could be seen as an epilogue to all those teen angst films of the '80s with the cast of offbeat and quirky rebels and outcasts moving through early adulthood with no less angst than before, it quickly proves to be much more than a post-adolescent coming-of-age flick. Pearl Jam and Soundgarden appear.More
1983 Kiss make their first public appearance without their trademark make-up when they show up on MTV to promote their new album - and single - "Lick It Up."
1978 WKRP in Cincinnati, a TV series about a radio station that switches format from easy listening to rock, makes its debut on CBS. It lasts four seasons, enjoying support from real radio professionals who recognize the quirky characters (incompetent general manager Arthur Carlson, disheveled morning jock Johnny Fever) in their co-workers.
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