1961 The Marcels record "Blue Moon."
1961 Jackie Wilson is shot in Manhattan. The following issue of Melody Maker carries the front page headline Girl Fan Shoots Jackie Wilson, but controversy over the incident persists in spite of Wilson's claim that this is what really happened.
1960 Mikey Craig (bassist for Culture Club) is born in England.
1959 Ali Campbell (lead singer of UB40) is born in Birmingham, England, to Scottish folk singer Ian Campbell.
1958 ABC debuts a new show hosted by Dick Clark, hoping to duplicate the success of American Bandstand. The first guests on The Dick Clark Show include Connie Francis, Pat Boone and Jerry Lee Lewis.
1954 Big Joe Turner records one of the first rock songs, "Shake, Rattle And Roll," at Atlantic Records studios in New York.
1951 Melissa Manchester is born in the Bronx, New York.
1947 David Brown (bassist for Santana) is born in Daly City, California.
1945 John Helliwell (saxophonist for Supertramp) is born in Todmorden, Yorkshire, England.
1944 Mick Avory (drummer for The Kinks) is born in Surrey, England.
1941 Duke Ellington records "Take the A Train."
1941 Motown songwriter Brian Holland is born in Detroit, Michigan.
1939 Pop singer Alvin Cash is born in St. Louis, Missouri.
1928 "Among My Souvenirs" is the top song in America according to Variety.
1918 Country singer Hank Locklin ("Please Help Me, I'm Falling", "Send Me the Pillow You Dream On") is born in McLellan, Florida.
1969Rolling Stone's front cover features an article on "groupies" - introducing a new term to the popular lexicon.
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2016 In her Grammy acceptance speech for Album of the Year, Taylor Swift warns of "people along the way who will try to undercut your success or take credit for your accomplishments or your fame." This is in response to Kanye West, who rapped about Swift, "I made that bitch famous" in his song "Famous."More
2016 Prince protégé Vanity dies at age 57 after years of health problems.More
1987 Ben and Jerry's introduces a new flavor: Cherry Garcia, named after the Grateful Dead frontman Jerry Garcia.More
1979 Saturday Night Fever and Billy Joel are big winners at The Grammys, with the soundtrack getting Album of the Year and "Just The Way You Are" taking Record of the Year and Song of the Year.More
1975 Linda Ronstadt finally breaks through when her album Heart Like a Wheel and single "You're No Good" both hit #1 in America, establishing her as one of the biggest stars of the '70s. It took a while: none of her first four solo albums charted higher than #45, no single higher than #25.More
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