Pick a Day

3 OCTOBER

In Music History

1990 Charles Freeman, who owns the E-C Records store in Fort Lauderdale, is convicted of selling obscene material after selling a copy of the 2 Live Crew album As Nasty As They Wanna Be two days after it was ruled obscene in a federal court. His punishment: a $1000 fine.

1988 Lisa Marie Presley marries her first husband, musician Danny Keough (the union lasts five years).

1988 A$AP Rocky is born Rakim Athelston Mayers in Harlem, New York, named after the legendary rapper Rakim of Eric B. & Rakim. He takes his stage name after joining the rap collective A$AP Mob in 2007, and in 2011 he makes a statement with the track "Peso." In 2013 he puts out his debut album, LongLiveA$AP, which goes to #1 and sells over 2 million copies.

1987 "Brenda Lee Day" is declared in her home town of Lithonia, Georgia. A new street is named Brenda Lee Lane in her honor.

1987 Smokey Robinson holds the #10 spot on the Hot 100 with "One Heartbeat," while a song about him, "When Smokey Sings" by ABC, is at #8.

1984 Ashlee Simpson is born in Waco, Texas, to a family that includes older sister and fellow singer Jessica Simpson. Propelled by MTV's The Ashlee Simpson Show, her debut album goes straight to #1 and sells over 3 million copies.

1981 Two months after MTV's debut, Blue Öyster Cult's "Burnin' For You" reaches its peak of #40 in the US - their first Top 40 since "(Don't Fear) The Reaper" - thanks to a video shot in a Los Angeles culvert. Few American acts are making videos, so established rockers like BÖC and REO Speedwagon can get airtime. This changes a few years later when more photogenic artists make videos on a regular basis.

1980 The Police's third album release, Zenyatta Mondatta, continues their theme of giving their records French-sounding titles. This time, the title has no clear translation, although it is suggested that it is a stylized combination of "zenith" and "monde" (Top of the World). It becomes their most successful album so far in America, reaching a peak of #5 and winning the band a pair of Grammy awards.

1980 Bruce Springsteen begins his tour for The River in Ann Arbor, Michigan, where he's joined by Bob Seger in a performance of "Thunder Road."

1980 Diamond Head, one of the leading bands of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal movement, issue their debut album, Lightning To The Nations. Mega-DH fans Metallica cover five of the album's seven songs over the years: "Am I Evil?", "Helpless," "The Prince," "It's Electric," and "Sucking My Love." Other NWOBHM bands like Iron Maiden, Def Leppard and Saxon eclipse Diamond Head in terms of popularity, but the Metallica covers speak to their influence and ensure their place in history.

1980 Paul Simon's semi-autobiographical movie One-Trick Pony, in which he stars, is released in the US. It gets mixed reviews and does poorly at the box office, but does include a hit song: "Late in the Evening."

1979 Instrumentalist Nate Wood (of The Calling) is born.

1978 At an Aerosmith show in Fort Wayne, Indiana, cops arrest fans for smoking marijuana, prompting Steven Tyler to chastise them Jim Morrison-style from the stage. Tyler announces that the band will bail out anyone who is arrested that night, and the next day they do just that. Understandably, memories of the event are hazy, and the number arrested has been reported at anywhere from 28-58.

1977 The TV event Elvis In Concert, filmed just weeks before The King's death, is shown on CBS, with good friend Ann-Margret hosting. It shocks many with the depiction of a bloated and drug-addled Elvis Presley in his final days.

1975 Soul singer India.Arie is born in Denver, Colorado.