This Date In Music History - July 20

Birthdays:

John Lodge - Moody Blues (1945)

Kim Carnes (1945)

Carlos Santana - Santana (1947)



Jay Jay French - Twisted Sister (1952)

Jem Finer - Pogues (1955)

Marisa DeFranco - DeFranco Family (1955)

Paul Cook - Sex Pistols (1956)

Michael McNeil - Simple Minds (1958)

Chris Cornell - Soundgarden (1964)

Stone Gossard - Pearl Jam, Temple of the Dog (1966)


They Are Missed:

Singer Roy Hamilton died of a stroke in 1969 (age 40).

Gary Kellgren, studio engineer at the Los Angeles Record Plant studio, drowned in a Hollywood Swimming pool in 1977. Worked with Lennon, Harrison, Hendrix, Barbara Streisand and Rod Stewart.

The late Buddy Knox ("Party Doll") is born in 1933. Died February 14, 1999.



The late Dennis Yost ("Traces") was born in 1943. Yost died of respiratory failure, on December 7, 2008, at the age of 65


History:

Billboard's first comprehensive record chart was published in 1940. The magazine had previously published best-seller lists submitted by the individual record companies, but the new chart combined the top sellers from all major labels. Their first number one song was "I'll Never Smile Again" by Frank Sinatra and the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra.

In 1954, The Blue Moon Boys made their live debut appearing on the back of a flatbed truck outside a new drug store in Memphis. The band line up was Elvis Presley, Scotty Moore and Bill Black. The name was taken from a song they had recorded just two weeks previously, "Blue Moon of Kentucky."

John Lennon invited Paul McCartney to join the Quarrymen in 1957.

Roy Orbison’s "Only The Lonely" peaked at #2 on the US pop chart in 1960. The song was originally offered to both Elvis Presley and the Everly Brothers who passed.

The Beatles signed a German recording contract with producer Bert Kaempfert, as the Beat Brothers, in 1961.

Jan and Dean started a two week run at #1 (two weeks after its release) on the US singles chart in 1963 with "Surf City," written by Beach Boy Brian Wilson, with the Beach Boys on backing vocals.

Bob Dylan's "Like a Rolling Stone" was released in 1965.



Lovin' Spoonful's first record, "Do You Believe in Magic," was released in 1965.

Cream started a four-week run at #1 on the US album chart in 1968 with 'Wheels On Fire.'

Hugh Masekela started a two week run at #1 on the US singles chart in 1968 with "Grazing In The Grass."

In 1968, Iron Butterfly’s second album, 'In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida,' entered the US album chart for the first time. The album contained the 17-minute title track that filled the second side of the LP which went on sell over four million copies in the US alone.

Jane Asher called off her engagement to Paul McCartney live on BBC television in 1968.

The Carpenters show 'Make Your Own Kind Of Music', started a six week run on NBC-TV in 1971.

Joey Ramone became the lead vocalist for the Ramones in 1974.

In 1975, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band played the opening night on their Born To Run Tour at The Palace Theatre, Providence, Rhode Island. This also saw the live debut of Steven Van Zandt, (Miami Steve) as a member of The E Street Band.

The Buzzcocks made their live debut supporting The Sex Pistols and Slaughter & The Dogs at The Lesser Free Trade Hall, Manchester in 1976. In the audience (of around 40 people), was, Morrissey, Bernard Sumner, Peter Hook (soon to form Joy Division) and Mark E Smith, (The Fall).

The film based on the life of Sex Pistol Sid Vicious, 'Sid And Nancy' premiered in London, England in 1986.

Also in 1986, Carlos Santana celebrated his 39th birthday, and 20th anniversary in the music business, with a concert in San Francisco. Previous group members were assembled for the event, as 17 of them performed together on stage.

In 1990, Madonna played the first of three sold out nights at Wembley Stadium, London, England, on her 57-date Blond Ambition World Tour.

EMF went to #1 on the US singles chart in 1991 with "Unbelievable." It spent 14 weeks on the chart before reaching the top.



Candlebox released their self-titled debut in 1993. With the singles "Change," "You" and "Far Behind," the set sells more than three million copies.

In 1999, church group's in middle America claimed that pictures of Britney Spears printed in Rolling Stone magazine encouraged child pornography. The shots showed Britney with not many clothes on in her bedroom.

The Rolling Stones reported a gross income of $337 million in 1999, from almost two years of touring from their Bridges to Babylon and No Security tours. The Stones had played to over 5.6 million people, selling out all but 20 shows.

Also in 1999, Paul McCartney had an upcoming single bootlegged when "I Got Stung" was taken from a BBC broadcast and distributed over the Internet. The track was from his forthcoming release ‘Run Devil Run’ album.’

The Evergreen Ballroom in Lacey, Washington was destroyed by a fire in 2000. During the ballroom's heyday in the 1950s, 60s and 70s, many of music's greats played there: Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Duke Ellington, Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Ike & Tina Turner and Fats Domino. Glen Campbell had lived in the kitchen at the venue for a while before he became famous.

In 2003, a tooth said to have been pulled out of Elvis's mouth after an injury failed to sell on the auction site eBay. The tooth had been put on a 10-day sale with a reserve price of $100,000. Bids had pushed the price up to $2 million but they were later found out to be fraudulent.

Eric Clapton teamed with the Fender Guitar Company in 2007 to design a limited-edition line of guitars and amplifiers to raise money for the Crossroads Centre, the rehab facility he founded in Antigua. An Eric Clapton Crossroads Stratocaster with '57 Twin-Amps sells for $30,000. Without the amp it's 10-grand less.

Paul McCartney performed a free concert in Quebec in 2008 as part of the Canadian city's 400th anniversary celebrations.

A digital EP featuring four versions of David Bowie's seminal ‘69 hit "Space Oddity" was issued through the U.K. iTunes store in 2009. The collection is released in honor of the 40th anniversary of both man's first walk on the moon and the song's original drop date.



“Sweet Home Alabama -- The Country Music Tribute to Lynyrd Skynyrd” is available exclusively through Wal-Mart in 2010. "It's all these young Country bucks doing Skynyrd songs, which is pretty cool to us," Skynyrd frontman Johnny Van Zant tells Billboard.com. "It gives me great pleasure, because they're doing older stuff."

Today, Sheryl Crow issues her seventh album “100 Miles From Memphis.” She gets help from a diverse collection of performers ranging from the Stones’ Keith Richards to pop singer/actor Justin Timberlake. “Summer Day” is the lead single.