| 86 | years ago | 1940 | William “Smokey” Robinson is born, as is one of his Miracles, Bobby Rogers.. |
| 83 | years ago | 1943 | Singer Lou Christie is born. |
| 78 | years ago | 1948 | Tony Iommi, guitar player with Black Sabbath, is born. |
| 71 | years ago | 1955 | A Dot Records advertisement in Billboard introduces “A Great New Voice -- Pat Boone” singing Tra-La-La and Two Hearts, the latter of which hits #16 in April and becomes the first of Boone's 38 Top Forty hits over the next seven years. |
| 68 | years ago | 1958 | The Miracles release their first single, Got A Job, in response to the Silhouette's Get A Job. |
| 68 | years ago | 1958 | Carl Perkins, whose Blue Suede Shoes was one of the biggest hits of 1957, leaves Sun Records to become Columbia's first rockabilly artist. Two weeks later, Columbia releases Perkins' first single for his new label, Pink Pedal Pushers. |
| 60 | years ago | 1966 | Billboard reports the Rolling Stones, following their tour down under of Australia and New Zealand, will fly to L.A. and record nine songs for their planned film, Back, Behind and In Front. |
| 55 | years ago | 1971 | Paul McCartney releases Another Day in the U. K. |
| 54 | years ago | 1972 | Led Zeppelin achieves its second biggest 45, Black Dog, which hits #15 and goes on to become an FM radio staple. |
| 54 | years ago | 1972 | Paul McCartney releases Give Ireland Back to the Irish, his commentary about the Britain-Ireland conflict and it's immediately banned by the BBC. The notoriety the song receives from the banning only increases its popularity in England, where it goes Top Twenty. |
| 54 | years ago | 1972 | Badfinger's Straight Up LP enters the Billboard charts. The album was produced by George Harrison and Todd Rundgren and featured the top-5 hit Day After Day. |
| 52 | years ago | 1974 | In response to the Grammy Awards, Dick Clark comes up with his own awards show, The American Music Awards The program is held just days before the Grammys and the winners are elected by the record buying public. The debut show is hosted by Smokey Robinson, Helen Reddy, and Roger Miller. |
| 52 | years ago | 1974 | Kiss makes their TV debut performing on Don Kirshner's Rock Concert. |
| 50 | years ago | 1976 | Donna Summer's first disco hit, Love to Love You Baby, which climbed to #2 on the pop chart earlier in the year, goes gold. In the song, Summer moans and many listeners agree it sounded like seven noisy orgasms. It turned out to be the first of a long list of disco and rock hits. |
| 50 | years ago | 1976 | One-time Tower of Power lead singer Rich Stevens is arrested and charged in the murders the previous night of three men in San Jose, California. Police believe the reason was drugs. Stevens and another are found guilty on two counts of murder in November. |
| 49 | years ago | 1977 | Warner Bros. releases Fleetwood Mac's Rumours. Recorded in Los Angeles when the two couples (John and Christine McVie & Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks) were breaking up. The album captures the emotions that come together when former lovers must continue to work closely. The album contained four Top Ten hits: Go Your Own Way, Don't Stop, Dreams, and You Make Loving Fun. Rumours will be the #1 pop album for 31 weeks and will sell over 10 million copies. |
| 49 | years ago | 1977 | Manfred Mann's Earth Band's remake of Bruce Springsteen's Blinded By The Light hits #1 on the chart. |
| 49 | years ago | 1977 | Stevie Wonder wins the Best Album Grammy for Songs In The Key Of Life. |
| 46 | years ago | 1980 | Bon Scott, born Ronald Belford Scott, lead singer of heavy metal band AC/DC, dies in London. He was on tour and chokes on his own vomit after an all-night drinking binge in London. His death comes just months after the band scores its first big American success with the album, Highway To Hell. He was 33 years old. |
| 41 | years ago | 1985 | Mick Jagger releases his first solo album, She's The Boss featuring appearances by Jeff Beck, Pete Townshend, and Vernon Reid (who would go on become a member of the band Living Color). |
| 41 | years ago | 1985 | Pop singer Haylie Duff is born |
| 31 | years ago | 1995 | Mötley Crüe drummer Tommy Lee marries Pamela Anderson of the TV show Baywatch on a beach in Cancun. The bride wore a white bikini. |
| 31 | years ago | 1995 | Jon Bon Jovi and wife Dorothea give birth to son Jesse James Louis. |
| 30 | years ago | 1996 | London police arrest singer Jarvis Cocker of the group Pulp for allegedly attacking three children performing with Michael Jackson at the Brit Awards. Cocker admitted he walked on stage but denied he touched any children. |
| 29 | years ago | 1997 | A New York judge dismisses a $7 million lawsuit a fan filed against Mötley Crüe for hearing loss suffered at one of their concerts. The judge says the fan knew the concert would be loud going into it. |
| 28 | years ago | 1998 | The Stray Cats reunite for a one show only performance at L.A.'s House Of Blues. The show is a benefit for the Carl Perkins Foundation. The three members of the band put on a greatest hits show for the sold-out crowd while also playing a couple of Carl Perkins tunes as well as Eddie Cochran's Somethin' Else as the final. |