1952: After premiering locally in March of 1950 and featuring short musical films that were precursors to the modern music video, a new edition of music and dance television show Bandstand, hosted by radio disc jockey Bob Horn, was first broadcast as a local show from WFIL-TV in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Horn was fired after a drunk driving arrest in 1956 and after producer Tony Mammarella spent a brief period as host, Dick Clark was hired to fill the role permanently. The show was later picked up nationally by ABC and renamed American Bandstand in 1957.

1957: Jimmie Rodgers’ first hit single, “Honeycomb,” topped the Billboard Top 100 and R&B charts.

1957: “Keep A-Knockin’” by Little Richard entered the Billboard top 40 on its way to #8 during its twelve-week chart run. It was Richards’ seventh top 40 hit on the pop chart and his eighth to reached the top three on the R&B chart.

1963: The Rolling Stones recorded “I Wanna Be Your Man,” a song written for them by John Lennon and Paul McCartney of the Beatles, at Kingsway Sound in London.

1964: The Jet Set, an early incarnation of The Byrds, released their first single, “Let Me Love You” backed with “Don’t Be Long.” Manager Jimi Dickson arranged a one-off single deal with Elektra Records founder Jac Holzman. Sessions included Roger McGuinn, Gene Clark, and David Crosby with session musicians Ray Pohlman and Earl Palmer, and the record was credited to The Beefeaters to capitalized on the British Invasion craze in America. During Thanksgiving later that year, the band changed their name to The Byrds, and in 1966, re-recorded “Let Me Love You” as “It Won’t Be Wrong” for their second studio album, “Turn! Turn! Turn!.”

1964: The Beatles were at the top of the bill on a special British edition of ABC’s music show Shindig!. Taped a few days earlier at Granville Studio in London, they performed “Kansas City / Hey-Hey-Hey-Hey!,” “I’m A Loser,” and “Boys.” Additional acts on the British special included Sandie Shaw, PJ Proby, The Karl Denver Trio, Tommy Quickly, Sounds Incorporated, and Lyn Cornell.

1966: The Hollies released “Stop Stop Stop,” which later appeared on their fifth UK album, For Certain Because.

1967: Jackie Wilson reached the top of the Billboard R&B chart for the sixth and final time with “(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher.”

1969: The first national single by the Jackson 5, “I Want You Back,” was released. The song later made it to the tops of both the Billboard Hot 100 and R&B charts.

1970: Ned Kelly, the Tony Richardson film about the Australian outlaw of the same name starring Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger in the titular role, premiered in England.

1971: Hot Tuna released “Been So Long” from their second studio album, First Pull Up, The Pull Down.

1975: The New York Supreme Court reversed a deportation order for John Lennon, allowing him to legally stay in the United States. Lennon had been an outspoken critic of the Vietnam war and the Nixon Administration, who’d attempted to force Lennon and wife Yoko Ono out of the country based on drug charges from 1968. Lennon subsequently received his green card in July of 1976.

1977: Queen released “We Are the Champions” backed with “We Will Rock You,” the first single from their sixth studio album, News of the World. The single went to #2 on the UK chart, #4 on the Billboard Hot 100, and #3 on the Cash Box chart.

1977: English band XTC released their first record, an EP titled 3D EP, through Virgin Records. Its three tracks were recorded at Abbey Road Studios with production and engineering by John Leckie. Additional songs recorded at the same sessions were later included on their debut LP, White Music.

1978: Boston had their first #1 album on the Billboard pop chart with their second studio album, Don’t Look Back.

1982: Supertramp released …Famous Last Words…, the band’s seventh studio album and last with singer, keyboardist, and guitarist Roger Hodgson, who left the group to pursue a solo career.

1986: Talking Heads released their seventh studio album, True Stories. The LP was issued around the same time as the satirical comedy film of the same name directed the band’s frontman, David Byrne.

1989: The reformed Jefferson Airplane played a concert at the Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, where admission was a can of food for the San Francisco Food Bank. Additional acts at the show included performances by Jefferson Airplane guitarist Jorma Kaukonen’s band Hot Tuna as well as by Bob Weir and Rob Wasserman.

1989: Tears for Fears went to #1 on the UK chart with their third album, The Seeds of Love. In the US, the album reached #8.

1995: Alanis Morissette became the first female Canadian artist to top US album charts when Jagged Little Pill reached #1 on the Billboard pop chart.

1997: Steve Earle released his seventh studio album and first in six years, El Corazón.

2008: The Pretenders released their ninth studio album, Break Up the Concrete.

2014: Jackson Browne released Standing in the Breach, his fourteenth studio album and first album of new material in six years.

Birthdays Today

Chet Powers, singer-songwriter and lead singer of Quicksilver Messenger Service from 1969-1979 best known for writing the 1960s love-and-peace anthem “Get Together,” who was also known by his stage name Dino Valenti and Jesse Oris Farrow as a songwriter, was born Chester William Powers Jr. in Danbury, CT in 1937.

Colin Cooper, vocalist, saxophonist, guitarist, and founder and leader of the Climax Blues Band, was born in Stafford, England in 1939.

Tony “Little Sun” Glover, musician, singer, and music critic best known for his association with “Spider” John Koerner and Dave “Snaker” Ray during the early 1960s folk revival, was born David Curtis Glover in Minneapolis, MN in 1939.

Martin Murray, rhythm guitarist for the Honeycombs, was born in East End of London, England in 1941.

Judee Sill, singer and songwriter who toured with Graham Nash and David Crosby and briefly worked with The Turtles and Frank Zappa’s Mothers of Invention, was born in Los Angeles, CA in 1944.

Kevin Godley, vocalist, drummer, and percussionist for 10cc and Godley & Creme, was born in Prestwich, Lancashire, England in 1945.

David Taylor, bassist for Edison Lighthouse, was born in High Wycombe, England in 1950.

John Mellencamp, singer-songwriter, was born in Seymour, IN in 1951.

Yo-Yo Ma, cellist and classical musician who has recorded across a wide variety of musical genres and collaborated with artists such as Bobby McFerrin, Chris Botti, Carlos Santana, and James Taylor, was born in Paris, France in 1955.

Sam Brown, singer, musician, solo artist, daughter of Joe Brown and Vicki Brown, and backing vocalist for artists including Gary Moore, George Harrison, Small Faces, Adam Ant, Pink Floyd, David Gilmour, and Nick Cave, was born in Stratford, London, England in 1964.

Thom Yorke, singer, guitarist, keyboardist, and principal songwriter of Radiohead, was born in Wellingborough, Northamptonshire, England in 1968.