Pick a Day

16 JULY

In Music History

1995 At North Carolina's Duke University Medical Center, Wayne Osmond of The Osmonds undergoes an operation to remove a brain tumor.

1990 Trial begins for Judas Priest after they are accused of implanting subliminal messages in their song "Better By You, Better Than Me." The suit alleges that the messages caused two teenage boys to enter a suicide pact (one of the boys killed himself instantly; the other died three years later from complications related to the suicide attempt). The case is dismissed August 24 after the judge determines that the supposed subliminal message is just an accidental recording oddity.

1984 Billy Williams dies of a heart attack at age 74. His group the Billy Williams Quartet was a fixture on Sid Caesar and Imogene Coca's "Your Show of Shows" in the '50s.

1983 Twenty of the songs in the US Top 40 are by British acts, the most since 1965. The Police are at #1 with "Every Breath You Take," followed by Eddy Grant's "Electric Avenue."

1982 Peter Gabriel launches the 3-day WOMAD (World of Music, Arts and Dance) festival at the Royal Bath and West showground in Somerset, England, with acts including the Drummers Of Burundi, Echo & the Bunnymen, and the Tian Jin dancers from China. It's a financial disaster but artistic success; Gabriel revives it the next year and the festival carries on, branching out to many countries over the next several years.

1980 Donna Summer marries Bruce Sudano, former member of Brooklyn Dreams, who appeared on her 1979 hit "Heaven Knows." Within the next two years, they welcome two daughters: Brooklyn and Amanda Sudano.

1977 Shaun Cassidy's "Da Doo Ron Ron" hits #1 in the US. The song was first recorded by the girl group The Crystals in 1963. Cassidy's version changes the line "Someboy told me that his name was Bill" to "Someboy told me that her name was Jill."

1977 Barry Manilow lands his first #1 album with Barry Manilow Live, recorded over a 12-night engagement at the Uris Theatre in New York City. A highlight is a medley of commercial jingles he wrote or sang on before he was famous, including "Stuck On Band-Aid" and McDonald's "You Deserve A Break Today."

1976 After six years, Kenny Loggins and Jim Messina decide to split up their partnership, which had three big hits in "Thinking Of You," "My Music," and "Your Mama Don't Dance."

1976 Driven by discord after Gregg Allman testified against the band's road manager, The Allman Brothers announce their breakup. Gregg records and album with his wife, Cher, and Dickey Betts forms Great Southern. The band reunites in 1978.

1972 Smokey Robinson performs his final show with The Miracles at the Carter Barron Amphitheater in Washington, DC. At the end of the show, Smokey introduces his replacement, 20-year-old Billy Griffin.

1971 Live lead singer Ed Kowalczyk is born in York, Pennsylvania.

1966 Tommy James and the Shondells' "Hanky Panky" hits #1 for the first of two weeks.

1964 Country singer Connie Smith records her debut single, "Once A Day," at RCA's Studio B in Nashville.

1962 The Beach Boys sign to Capitol Records, which has already released the group's single "Surfin' Safari."