1963: Beatlemania descended on the British Isles when the Beatles appeared on the popular BBC television show Sunday Night at the Palladium performing “She Loves You,” “From Me To You,” “I’ll Get You,” and “Twist and Shout.” Fifteen million people in the UK alone watched the live performance.

1965: The Beatles recorded “Drive My Car” during a five hour session at EMI Studios in London. It was the group’s first session to end after midnight, which soon became commonplace.

1965: The Who recorded “My Generation” at IBC Studios in London. The song was released as a single by the end of the month and became the band’s highest-charting single in the UK, reaching #2. In America, the single reached #74. In addition to saying that the song was very much about trying to find a place in society, writer Pete Townshend cited jazz musician Mose Allison’s “Young Man Blues” as inspiration as well Queen Elizabeth, who allegedly had Townshend’s Packard hearse towed from a street in the upscale Belgravia district in London because it offended her on her daily drive through the neighborhood.

1966: Just a week after the formation of the Jimi Hendrix Experience in England, the band embarked on a four-show tour in France that started in Évreux and concluded at the Olympia Theatre in Paris. On all four dates, The Experience supported Long Chris, The Blackbirds, and Johnny Hallyday, along with The Brian Auger Trinity on the final date.

1967: The Troggs released “Love Is All Round.” It became the band’s second of two top 10 hits on the US charts, peaking at #7, and their fourth and final top 5 hit in the UK. Written by lead singer Reg Presley, the song was inspired by a television transmission of “Love That’s All Around” by The Joy Strings Salvation Army band.

1967: The Kinks released “Autumn Almanac.” The single reached #3 in the UK but failed to chart on the Billboard Hot 100 in the US. Writer and lead singer Ray Davies later described the song as being inspired by a local hunch-backed gardener in his native Muswell Hill neighborhood in North London.

1968: John Lennon recorded three solo takes of “Julia,” a song written about his mother, at EMI’s London studios for the Beatles’ self-titled ninth studio album known as the “White Album.”

1969: Neil Diamond released the gospel-inspired single, “Holly Holy.”

1970: The ashes of Janis Joplin were scattered at Stinson Beach in Marin County, California.

1973: The Rolling Stones’ eleventh British and thirteenth American album, Goats Head Soup, reached #1 on the Billboard pop chart. It was the group’s fourth #1 in the US and third in a string of eight straight chart-topping albums.

1973: Genesis released their fifth studio album, Selling England by the Pound. It became the band’s first top 10 album in the UK, reaching #3, as well as their first album to chart in the US, where it peaked at #70.

1978: The Jam released “Down in the Tube Station at Midnight,” the second single from their third studio album, All Mod Cons.

1979: “Take the Long Way Home,” the fourth single from Supertramp’s sixth studio album, Breakfast in America, entered the Billboard Hot 100, where it eventually peaked at #10.

1979: Blondie released their fourth studio album, Eat to the Beat. It later became their second #1 in the UK and reached #17 in the US.

1979: The Police achieved their first #1 album when their second studio album, Reggatta de Blanc, topped the UK chart.

1979: John Mellencamp, then known as “John Cougar,” debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 chart with his first single, “I Need a Lover.” After becoming a top 10 hit in Australia, the song was later included on his 1979 self-titled album and became his first US top 40 hit, reaching #28.

1979: Michael Jackson had his first #1 single on the Billboard Hot 100 in seven years and the second of his career with “Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough.”

1979: Elton John released his thirteenth studio album, Victim of Love. The disco-themed LP was John’s second of only two albums without lyricist Bernie Taupin.

1980: Australian band INXS released their self-titled debut album.

1980: Thin Lizzy released tenth studio album, Chinatown. The LP introduced guitarist Gary Moore’s replacement, Snowy White, as well as new keyboardist Darren Wharton.

1984: U2 topped the UK chart with their fourth studio album and second to reach #1, The Unforgettable Fire.

1984: Stevie Wonder started three weeks at the top of both the Billboard R&B and Hot 100 charts with “I Just Called To Say I Love You,” his seventh US #1. Produced by Lionel Richie, the single also reached #1 in UK and eleven other countries.

1987: Sting released his second solo studio album, …Nothing Like the Sun.

1987: Supertramp released their ninth studio album, Free as a Bird. The LP was a departure from the group’s progressive rock sound, employing synthesized dance beats and rhythms using computers and drum machines.

1992: Prince released Love Symbol, his fourteenth studio album and second with backing band the New Power Generation. The album’s official title is an unpronounceable symbol that Prince adopted as his stage name from 1993 to 2001.

2003: Blondie released their eighth studio album, The Curse of Blondie.

2005: Depeche Mode released their eleventh studio album, Playing the Angel.

2016: Bob Dylan became the first musician to win the Nobel Prize in Literature.

Birthdays Today

Chris Farlowe, rock, blues, and soul singer, was born John Henry Deighton in Islington, North London, England in 1940.

Paul Simon, singer-songwriter, solo artist, and half of folk duo Simon & Garfunkel, was born in Newark, NJ in 1941.

Neil Aspinall, long-time Beatles road manager, former head of their Apple Records label, and school friend of Paul McCartney and George Harrison, was born in Prestatyn, Denbighshire, Wales in 1941.

Robert Lamm, keyboardist, singer, songwriter, and founding member of Chicago, who wrote many of the band’s biggest hits, was born in Brooklyn, NY in 1944.

John Ford Coley, singer, pianist, and guitarist best known for his partnership with Dan Seals as the duo England Dan & John Ford Coley, was born John Edward Coley in Dallas, TX in 1948.

Simon Nicol, singer, multi-instrumentalist, record producer, founding member of Fairport Convention, and the only founding member still in the band, was born in Muswell Hill, London in 1950.