| 83 years ago (1941) | Ron Isley of the Isley Brothers is born. |
| 81 years ago (1943) | Hilton Valentine, guitarist with the Animals, is born. |
| 76 years ago (1948) | Leo Sayer is born. |
| 64 years ago (1960) | Teen idol Fabian is on the West Coast filming High Times with Bing Crosby and Go North with John Wayne. |
| 63 years ago (1961) | Every Beat of My Heart enters the Hot 100 in two versions. One is on the Fury label by Gladys Knight, and the other by the Pips on the Vee Jay label. They are not the same recordings but are rendered by the same act, victims of a contract dispute. The Vee Jay single will be more successful, rising to #6 on the pop chart and #1 R&B. Both groups will eventually sign to Motown's soul label. |
| 61 years ago (1963) | Little Stevie Wonder, who turned 13 just eight days ago, records his second album, The Twelve Year-Old Genius, live at a Detroit ballroom. One tune off the album, Fingertips, Part Two, will become Wonder's first hit, topping both the R&B and the pop charts. |
| 58 years ago (1966) | British singer Dusty Springfield's You Don't Have to Say You Love Me enters the Hot 100, where in 13 weeks, it becomes her biggest hit, reaching #4. |
| 56 years ago (1968) | Rolling Stone Brian Jones is arrested a second time for possession of cannabis in his London apartment. |
| 56 years ago (1968) | Ten weeks after walking out on KMPX-FM, San Francisco's striking DJs find work on the city's KSN-FM, formerly a classical station. |
| 55 years ago (1969) | The Beatles officially announce the appointment of New York City accountant Allen Klein and his ABKCO to handle their financial things. Klein had done the same with Donovan and the Rolling Stones. |
| 55 years ago (1969) | John Lennon and Yoko Ono begin a ten-day “bed-in” in Montreal's Queen Elizabeth Hotel. |
| 53 years ago (1971) | Paul McCartney releases Ram, which, unlike his first solo LP, is not a one-man show. His wife Linda is on vocals, and he enlists session men David Spinozza and Hugh McCracken on guitar and bass, and drummer Denny Seiwell. |
| 51 years ago (1973) | Sylvia (from Mickey and Sylvia) has a novelty smash with Pillow Talk, a single with suggestive lyrics. Pillowtalk hits #3 and goes gold. |
| 50 years ago (1974) | Mikel Jollett of Airborne Toxic Event is born. |
| 50 years ago (1974) | One year after his firing from Columbia Records, Clive Davis is hired by Bell Records as a consultant. |
| 48 years ago (1976) | Aerosmith receives a gold LP for Rocks. The album will eventually go to #3 on the album chart. |
| 48 years ago (1976) | The Rolling Stones open a six-night stand at London's Earl's Court Theatre. The indifference of the Stones' performance causes them to be targeted as “dinosaurs” by the growing British punk movement. |
| 45 years ago (1979) | Elton John starts a series of Russian concerts. The shows will be videotaped for a cable TV special and a videodisc, both titled To Russia with Elton. |
| 44 years ago (1980) | Singer/guitarist Joe Strummer of the British punk group the Clash is arrested in Hamburg, Germany following a concert in which a battle erupted between the band and the audience. Strummer hit one fan on the head with his guitar. |
| 18 years ago (2006) | Twisted Sister’s Dee Snider and Mark “The Animal” Mendoza participate in the March of Dimes “Bikers for Babies,” asking fans on their Web site to sponsor them and raise money for premature babies. The 45-mile ride starts at New York’s Nassau Coliseum and ends at Brookhaven Town Hall. |
| 9 years ago (2015) | Louis Johnson, one of The Brothers Johnson, dies at age 60. The bassist known as “Thunder Thumbs” was also a well-regarded session musician who played on albums by artists ranging from Michael Jackson to George Benson to Herb Alpert. |
| 8 years ago (2016) | Nick Menza, former drummer for the metal band Megadeth, dies after collapsing on stage during a concert with his new band Ohm. He was 51. |