This Date In Music History- June 24

Birthdays:

Arthur Brown - formerly of the Crazy World of Arthur Brown - was born in Whitby, England in 1944.

Curt Smith of Tears for Fears was born in Bath, England in 1961.

Jeff Beck of the Yardbirds ("Over, Under Sideways Down") is 64.

Mick Fleetwood of Fleetwood Mac ("Tusk") turns 61.

Colin Blunstone (lead singer of the Zombies "She's Not There") is 63.

Dire Straits founding member, bassist John Illsley, starts life in Leicester, England in 1949.

History:

Pink Floyd made their debut performance on the BBC's Top of the Pops in 1967, performing their new single "See Emily Play." Syd Barrett wore a suit of velvet and satin.

The final Beatles world tour began in Munich in 1966.

The Richard Carpenter Trio (with sister Karen on drums) won a "Battle Of The Bands" at the Hollywood Bowl in 1966. Heavy, man, heavy.

In Fort Worth Texas in 1972, the Rolling Stones filmed the concert that will be released as "Ladies and Gentlemen, the Rolling Stones."

In 1975, the US Attorney in Newark, New Jersey handed down indictments to 19 music industry executives after a two year investigation. Counts of income tax evasion and payola are leveled against Clive Davis, former president of Columbia Records and Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff, architects of the Philadelphia sound of the 70's.

In 1999, Eric Clapton raised over $5 million for his Crossroads Centre at Antigua, and alcohol and drug-dependency treatment center in the West Indies by selling 100 guitars. "Brownie," the 1956 sunburst Fender he composed "Layla" on, goes for a record-breaking $497,500.

A Lennon/McCartney song topped the country charts for the first time in 1989. It's Rosanne Cash's cover of "I Don't Want to Spoil the Party."

John Lennon's second book, A Spaniard in the Works was published in 1965. It consisted of nonsensical stories and drawings similar to the style of his previous effort, 1964's In His Own Write.

In 2000, KISS begin auctioning off costumes and props from their 25 years in show business. The items brought in $876,000 on the first day of the two day event.

The beginning of the end came for The Lovin' Spoonful when guitarist Zal Yanovsky quit after a performance in New York at the Forest Hills Music Festival in 1967. One year later, John Sebastian would also leave the band to go solo. Although he made several unannounced guest appearances during John Sebastian concerts, Yanovsky gradually withdrew from music altogether and eventually became a restaurateur. He was 58 years old when he suffered a fatal heart attack on December 13th, 2002 at his farm near Kingston, Ontario, Canada.

Also in 1967, Procol Harum's "A Whiter Shade of Pale" entered the Billboard chart, where it peaked at #5. The song was written by the band around a melody composed by the group's organist, Matthew Fisher, who was inspired by the chord progression of Johann Sebastian Bach's "Orchestral Suite in D".

Brownsville Station leader, singer and guitarist Cub Koda died from complications due to kidney failure in 2000. Coda co-wrote, along with bassist Michael Lutz, the great “Smokin’ In The Boy’s Room.”

Sam Cooke started a two week stay at New York's Copacabana Club in 1964. A 70-foot billboard announcing the engagement was erected in Times Square.

Destiny's Child singer Beyonce Knowles releaseed her solo debut "Dangerously in Love" in 2003, featuring guest appearances from her boyfriend Jay-Z, Sean Paul and Missy Elliott.

The Insane Clown Posse released their album The Great Milenko in 1997, which Hollywood Records pulled from stores the same day. Good thinking.

Johnny Cash joined Kris Kristofferson onstage in Nashville in 1998 to sing "Sunday Morning Coming Down." It's Cash's first live performance since announcing he suffers from Shy-Drager Syndrome.

At the Cow Palace in 1966, the Beach Boys' Summer Spectacular featured performances by the Jefferson Airplane, the Lovin' Spoonful, Percy Sledge, the Byrds, and the Sir Douglas Quintet.