| 71 years ago (1948) | War's harmonica player Lee Oskar is born. |
| 68 years ago (1951) | Dougie Thomson of Supertramp is born. |
| 61 years ago (1958) | Elvis Presley is inducted into the Army at age 23 in Memphis. Over the next two years, his serial number, 53310761, will become perhaps the most favorite in history. |
| 60 years ago (1959) | The re-formed Drifters' There Goes My Baby is released on Atlantic Records. Not only is it the group's first disc with new lead singer Ben E. King replacing the departed Clyde McPhatter, but joining the production team are Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. |
| 54 years ago (1965) | On the first date of their anniversary tour, Rolling Stone bass player Bill Wyman is knocked unconscious by an electrical shock from a microphone stand in Odense, Denmark. |
| 53 years ago (1966) | The New York State Assembly passes a bill making it a misdemeanor to sell unauthorized copies of records or tapes; such records are commonly known as bootlegs. |
| 47 years ago (1972) | Twelve years after it was first a #2 hit for Paul Anka, Puppy Love by Donny Osmond climbs to #3 and goes gold. The tune also inspires lots of wisecracks about Osmond. |
| 46 years ago (1973) | Lou Reed is bitten on his bottom by a fan at a concert in Buffalo, New York. The “display of affection” occurs while Reed is about to perform Waitin' for the Man. Screaming “leather!” the fan gets past security as he assaults Reed. The fan is ejected and Reed comments after the show that the U.S. “seems to breed real animals.” |
| 41 years ago (1978) | The British courts grant British record companies the rights to seize bootleg and pirate recordings. |
| 28 years ago (1991) | The Black Crowes are dropped as the opening act on ZZ Top's tour for repeatedly criticizing Miller Beer, which was sponsoring the tour. |
| 27 years ago (1992) | A Chicago judge settles the Milli-Vanilli class-action suit by approving cash rebates of up to $3 to anyone proving they bought the group's music before November 27, 1990 -- the date the lip synching scandal broke. |
| 15 years ago (2004) | New Orleans trumpeter Wallace Davenport dies at the age of 78. He had recorded with Count Basie, Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr., and Ray Charles, among others. |
| 14 years ago (2005) | Speaking at the Saving Tomorrows Today conference, folk singer Judy Collins says her son Clark's 1992 suicide at the age of 33 “has been a catalyst. It has been about breaking open the secrets that have been in this family.” She says Clark loved music and his daughter, but struggled with depression and addition. Judy also says that she herself once tried to overdose on pills at the age of 14, overwhelmed by the demands of her father on his gifted musician daughter. |
| 14 years ago (2005) | Pop singer and American Idol judge Paula Abdul is fined about $900 and placed on 24 months informal probation after pleading no contest to a misdemeanor charge of hit-and-run driving. Her attorney says, “Unbeknownst to Paula, there was some minor contact between the tire of her car and another vehicle on the roadway. Paula immediately took full responsibility.” |
| 12 years ago (2007) | The wife of Velvet Revolver singer Scott Weiland torches his clothes outside their Toluca Lake home in California. She’s booked with investigation of felony arson vandalism. The couple had been arguing all week, and their children, ages 4 and 6, are placed in the custody of family friends. |
| 11 years ago (2008) | Los Angeles police arrest Poison’s drummer, Rikki Rocket, at LAX when he arrives on a flight from New Zealand. They charge him with a September, 2007 rape at a casino hotel room in Philadelphia, Mississippi. |
| 4 years ago (2015) | Stevie Wonder recreates his Songs in the Key of Life album live in New Orleans’ Smoothie King Center. The album had never been performed in its entirety before this tour. It takes more than 30 musicians to do it. |