| 86 | years ago | 1939 | Cindy Birdsong, who performed with Patti Labelle and the Blue Belles, and as a member of The Supremes, is born in Camden, New Jersey. |
| 83 | years ago | 1942 | Dave Clark, drummer and leader of the Dave Clark 5, is born. |
| 79 | years ago | 1946 | Carmine Appice, drummer for Vanilla Fudge, is born. |
| 70 | years ago | 1955 | Paul Simonon of The Clash is born. |
| 68 | years ago | 1957 | Sammy Davis Jr. intiates a Westinghouse syndicated radio talk show with a “round-table” discussion of rock & roll. His guests are Columbia Records executive Mitch Miller and MGM Records president Arnold Maxim. When Davis and Miller blast rock & roll as “the comic books of music,” Maxim takes an opposing viewpoint and says, “I don't see any end to rock & roll in the near future.” |
| 67 | years ago | 1958 | In its year-end survey, Billboard rates the top pop tune of 1958 as Domenico Modugno's Volare, the top R&B tune as Chuck Willis' Hang Up My Rock & Roll Shoes, the best selling LP as the original cast album of My Fair Lady and the best-selling EP as Elvis Presley's Jailhouse Rock. |
| 66 | years ago | 1959 | The Everly Brothers record Let It Be Me in New York City, the first time they've recorded outside of Nashville and the first time they've recorded with strings. |
| 58 | years ago | 1967 | The Beatles' Magical Mystery Tour LP goes gold. |
| 57 | years ago | 1968 | Grace Slick, performing with the Jefferson Airplane on the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, appears in blackface and raises a black-leather glove in the black power salute at the conclusion of Crown of Creation. The incident is one of several which leads to the show's cancellation the following season. |
| 48 | years ago | 1977 | The Who perform a secret concert for longstanding fan club members and Jeff Stein's movie cameras at London's Shepperton Studios. The footage appears in Stein's The Kids Are Alright, his feature-length documentary. |
| 48 | years ago | 1977 | Two days before they are due to appear on American television (NBC'S Saturday Night Live) and to start their first U.S. tour, the Sex Pistols are denied visas to enter the U.S. |
| 46 | years ago | 1979 | Pink Floyd's Another Brick in the Wall hits #1 on the U.K. pop chart before subsequently finding similar success in the U.S. |
| 37 | years ago | 1988 | Godfather Of Soul James Brown is sentenced to a six-year jail term for leading police on a late-night, two-state car chase. |
| 21 | years ago | 2004 | “The Godfather of Soul,” 71-year-old James Brown undergoes successful prostate cancer surgery. On the walk from the clinic to the limo for the trip home, he tells reporters, “I feel good!” |