| 89 years ago (1935) | Folk singer Barry McGuire, whose Eve of Destruction would go to #1 in 1965, is born. |
| 82 years ago (1942) | Moby Grape's Don Stevenson is born. |
| 78 years ago (1946) | Richard Carpenter of The Carpenters is born. |
| 71 years ago (1953) | Tito Jackson, brother of Michael and Janet, is born. |
| 69 years ago (1955) | Buddy Holly opens a show for Elvis Presley in Lubbock, Texas. |
| 69 years ago (1955) | ABC-TV premieres a new hour-long, every-fourth Saturday night series, Grand Ole Opry. |
| 58 years ago (1966) | Pink Floyd and Soft Machine perform at the launching party for the new British-based youth-culture paper International Times. |
| 53 years ago (1971) | Fifties teen idol Rick Nelson is booed when he performs new material at an oldies show at Madison Square Garden. As a result of the experience, he writes Garden Party which makes it to #6 in October 1972. A line from the song, “If memories are all I'd sing, I'd rather drive a truck.” |
| 51 years ago (1973) | The Supreme Court decides by a 7-2 vote to refuse to review a 1971 Federal Communications directive that broadcasters, in effect, censor from the airwaves songs with drug-oriented lyrics. The two dissenting votes are cast by Justices William J. Brennan and William O. Douglas, who say, “The government cannot, consistent with the First Admendment, require a broadcaster to censor its music.” |
| 50 years ago (1974) | Alice Cooper's Greatest Hits turns gold, but Alice is all ready in the process of dumping the band for a solo shot. |
| 48 years ago (1976) | Ike and Tina Turner split as a musical act. |
| 47 years ago (1977) | Paul Simon's Slip Slidin' Away is released. |
| 47 years ago (1977) | Fleetwood Mac release their classic album, Rumours. |
| 44 years ago (1980) | The Cars rack up their third straight platinum album with Panorama. Althought the album goes to #5, it's considered something of a let-down after the back-to-back smashes of The Cars and Candy-O. Touch and Go from the LP peaks at #11. |
| 42 years ago (1982) | Lionel Richie of the Commodores fuels rumors that he'll be leaving the group as his solo song, Truly is on the R&B chart at #28. The song does rise to the Top Ten on both the R&B singles and pop singles charts. |
| 42 years ago (1982) | Marvin Gaye's Sexual Healing enters the black singles chart at #25. Within the month it rockets to the #1 spot on the chart and will win a Grammy as Best R&B Male Vocal Performance of the Year. |
| 37 years ago (1987) | Grateful Dead leader Jerry Garcia opens a sold-out two-week run of solo shows on Broadway. |
| 33 years ago (1991) | John Fogerty and his wife Julie become parents to son Shane Cody. |
| 28 years ago (1996) | Mötley Crüe drummer Tommy Lee is charged with attacking a cameraman. The cameraman was trying to take pictures of Lee and his wife Pamela Anderson Lee outside an L.A. club. |