Birthdays:
Pop machine Bob Crewe, responsible for the classic 1967 single "Music to Watch Girls By," was born in Newark, NJ in 1931. He also wrote and produced many of the Four Seasons' hits.
Terry Johnson - Flamingos (1935)
Ruby Nash Curtis - Ruby & the Romantics (1939)
Brian Hyland - "Itsy Bitsy Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini" (1943)
John Maus - Walker Brothers (1943)
Booker T. Jones - Booker T and the MG's (1944)
Neil Young - Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young and Buffalo Springfield (1945)
Donald Roeser - Blue Oyster Cult (1947)
Errol Brown - Hot Chocolate (1948)
Arthur Tavares - Tavares (1949)
Laurence Juber - Wings (1952)
Les McKeown - Bay City Rollers (1955)
David Ellefson - Megadeth (1964)
Tony Montana - Great White (1965)
R&B singer Omarion (1984)
They Are Missed:
The late Jo Stafford ("Suddenly There's A Valley") was born in 1920 (died July 16, 2008).
Mort Shuman, who provided the lyrics to hits like "Save the Last Dance for Me" and "Teenager in Love" as well as translating the work of Jacques Brel, was born in New York in 1936 (died January 2, 1991).
Billy Guy of the Coasters passed away in 2002.
Tony Thompson drummer with Chic died of cancer in 2003. Also worked with David Bowie, Madonna and appeared at Live Aid drumming with Led Zeppelin.
Mitch Mitchell, the British drummer with the Jimi Hendrix Experience, was found dead in his US hotel room in 2008 (age 61). Mitchell had been working with Georgie Fame & the Blue Flames when in 1966 he was invited to audition for a new band being formed to back Jimi Hendrix.
History:
The Abbey Road recording studio in London opened in 1931.
In 1955, Billboard published the results of its annual disc jockey poll. The most played R&B single was Johnny Ace's "Pledging My Love," most promising artist was Chuck Berry and the favorite R&B artist was Fats Domino. In the pop category, rock and roll was barely present. In fact, Elvis Presley was voted the most promising country & western artist.
"Jamboree," the first movie starring Jerry Lee Lewis, opened in Hollywood in 1957. Among those featured in the flick are Fats Domino [with whom Lewis shares top billing], Carl Perkins, Frankie Avalon, Slim Whitman and Connie Francis.
Shirley Ellis recorded "The Name Game" in 1964.
The Velvet Underground made their live debut in 1965 when they played at Summit High School, New Jersey. The band was paid $75 for the gig.
The Monkees debut album started a 13-week run at #1 on the US album chart in 1966, selling over 3 million copies in three months.
Johnny Rivers went to #1 on the US singles chart in 1966 with "Poor Side Of Town."
The Grateful Dead performed at a Hell's Angels dance held at San Francisco's Sokol Hall in 1966.
Hollywood's Sunset Strip riots on this date provided the inspiration for Buffalo Springfield's "For What It's Worth."
Donovan's trippy cut "Mellow Yellow" was released in 1966.
Jerry Lee Lewis' career starts anew as a country artist in 1967. He recorded "To Make Love Sweeter for You" today. The song goes on to be his first country #1 since "Great Balls of Fire."
In 1968, UK book and record chain W.H. Smiths refused to display The Jimi Hendrix Experience album "Electric Ladyland" due to the naked girls featured on the sleeve. The album was then made available as two albums with changed artwork after the complaints.
The Doors made their last appearance in New Orleans in 1970. Ray Manzarek, Robbie Krieger and John Densmore later recall watching Jim Morrison lose "all his energy" as the show comes to a close.
The Sex Pistols went to #1 on the UK album chart in 1977 with their debut LP "Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's The Sex Pistols," the punk group's only #1 album.
Jefferson Starship singer Marty Balin's rock opera "Rock Justice" opened a four-day run at San Francisco's Old Waldorf night club in 1979. Balin starred in and co-directed the musical, about a rock star who dreams he's on trial for not having a hit record.
Lionel Richie started a four week run at #1 on the US singles chart in 1983 with "All Night Long," becoming Motown's biggest seller to date.
Madonna released her breakthrough album "Like A Virgin" in 1984 .
A bad day for Sly Stone in 1987. First he shows up over an hour late for his "comeback" concert in Los Angeles. When he gets there he was arrested for nonpayment of child support.
U2 started a six-week run at #1 on the US album chart in 1988 with "Rattle And Hum."
In 1999, British glam-rocker Gary Glitter was sentenced to four months in a UK jail after pleading guilty to charges of child pornography. In a separate trial hours earlier, Glitter was acquitted of sexually assaulting an underaged fan almost two decades before.
Destiny's Child started an eleven week run at #1 on the US singles chart in 2000 with "Independent Women Part 1." Taken from the group's third studio album, "Survivor," the song first appeared on the soundtrack to the 2000 film Charlie's Angels.
Also in 2000, R Kelly started a two week run at #1 on the US album chart with "TP- 2.Com."
In 2002, die-hard Beatles fans were enraged after Paul McCartney altered the song writing credits on his 'Back In The US 2002' album, changing them to McCartney and Lennon from Lennon and McCartney.
New Jersey radio station WCHR pulled all Jethro Tull music from its playlist in 2003 after flute-waving frontman Ian Anderson criticizes excessive displays of the American flag, arguing, "It's easy to confuse patriotism with nationalism."
Paul McCartney was the first musician to broadcast live music into space when a segment of his Anaheim show was beamed, via NASA, to the International Space Station 220 miles above the Earth in 2005.
In 2007, E Street Band guitarist Steven Van Zandt launches a program to educate middle-school and high-school students about the history of Rock music. The Rock and Roll Forever Foundation partners with the National Association for Music Education and Scholastic publishers for Little Steven's Rock and Roll High School. "Our joint efforts will ensure that future generations will continue to be inspired, motivated and enlightened by the worldwide common ground communication of Rock & Roll," says Van Zandt.
In 2007, former Culture Club frontman, Boy George was charged with the false imprisonment of a 28-year-old man. Police said the offence was alleged to have taken place at the 47-year-old's home in Hackney, in London on 28 April of this year.
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