| 83 | years ago | 1943 | Jerry Martini of Sly & the Family Stone is born. |
| 62 | years ago | 1964 | Vee Jay Records, capitalizing on material it owns, recorded by its two best-selling groups, releases the album The Beatles Vs. The Four Seasons. Despite the awesome combined sales of the two groups, the album, which consists of previously released stuff, stays on the LP chart for three weeks reaching only as high as #142. |
| 59 | years ago | 1967 | Hoping to take advantage of the British government's recent ban on pirate radio stations, the BBC airs Radio One, a new broadcasting service modeled on U.S. rock and roll. |
| 59 | years ago | 1967 | Pink Floyd arrives in New York to start its first tour of the U.S. |
| 58 | years ago | 1968 | Kevin Griffin, one third of the New Orleans' trio Better Than Ezra is born. |
| 57 | years ago | 1969 | An omen of '70s “progressive” radio programming: Denver's KMYR-FM drops it pop format in favor of comedy and top instrumental arrangements of contemporary hits. The station programming people call it “Pzazz-95.” |
| 56 | years ago | 1970 | Jimi Hendrix is buried in his hometown of Seattle, Washington. |
| 56 | years ago | 1970 | Curtis Mayfield leaves the Impressions to start up his solo career and to found his own label. |
| 54 | years ago | 1972 | Jon Mark, guitarist for the Mark Almond Band, loses the ring finger of his left hand while in Hawaii on tour. He's expected to recover and play again, but the remainder of the tour is canceled. |
| 51 | years ago | 1975 | Al Jackson is shot to death in his Memphis home by an intruder. He was the drummer for the MGs, the legendary Stax Records house band which backed-up Otis Redding, Sam & Dave, and Wilson Pickett. His wife is questioned about the killing because she was arrested in July for shooting her husband in the chest. He was 39. |
| 49 | years ago | 1977 | Elton John becomes the first rock & roller to be honored in New York City's Madison Square Garden Hall of Fame. |
| 47 | years ago | 1979 | Elton John plays the first of eight straight shows at Madison Square Garden. |
| 46 | years ago | 1980 | Paul Simon's semi-autobiographical film One Trick Pony premieres in New York City. Besides Simon, those appearing in the film include Lou Reed, Sam & Dave, the B-52's, and The Lovin' Spoonful. |