4 OCTOBER
In Music History
1975 Pink Floyd's album Wish You Were Here hits #1 in America.
1974 At a concert in Wales, Thin Lizzy introduce their new lineup, with new additions Scott Gorham and Brian Robertson providing a twin-guitar attack.
1969 Creedence Clearwater Revival's LP Green River hits #1.
1968 Elvis Presley releases Singer Presents Elvis Singing Flaming Star And Others.
1968 Cream begins their announced farewell tour with a performance at Alameda County Coliseum in Oakland, California.
1967 George Harrison and John Lennon appear on David Frost's TV show, where they take the "pro" side in a debate over Transcendental Meditation. On the panel is the author Juan Mascaro, who later sends Harrison a book containing a translation of Chapter 47 of Tao Te Ching, which he uses as the lyric for the song "The Inner Light."
1966 The Vince Guaraldi Trio records music for the Halloween special It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown at Desilu's Gower Street Studio in Hollywood. The session includes a new arrangement of the theme "Linus and Lucy," with distinctive flute touches by Ronald Lang.
1965 Leo Barnes (saxophonist/manager for Hothouse Flowers) is born in Dublin, Ireland, where he would grow up in an orphanage.
1963 Dusty Springfield interviews The Beatles when they appear on the British TV show Ready, Steady, Go.
1963 A 17-year-old Eric Clapton makes his first appearance with The Yardbirds at the Crawdaddy Club in Richmond, England. He replaces their original guitarist Anthony "Top" Topham.
1961 Latin pop singer Jon Secada is born Juan Francisco Secada Ramirez in Havana, Cuba, but would be raised in Hialeah, Florida.
1961 Alvin & The Chipmunks, who already have #1 hits with "The Chipmunk Song" and "Witch Doctor," get their own TV show on CBS called The Alvin Show.
1959 Chris Lowe (of Pet Shop Boys) is born in Blackpool, Lancashire, England.
1958 Barbara K. MacDonald (of Timbuk3) is born in Wausau, Wisconsin.
1957 Elvis Presley comes in second to Pat Boone in the NME music poll.
Janis Joplin Dies At Age 27
1970Janis Joplin is found dead at the Landmark Hotel in Los Angeles after a heroin overdose. She was just 27.
Read more4 OCTOBER
Featured Events
2008 Darius Rucker, known as the frontman for the '90s pop band Hootie & the Blowfish, hits #1 on the Country chart with his first country single, "Don't Think I Don't Think About It," making him the first African American singer to top that tally since 1985, when Ray Charles hit the top with "Seven Spanish Angels," a duet with Willie Nelson.
2005 Little Big Town get the last laugh when their second album, The Road to Here, is released and spawns four Top 20 hits on the Country chart. It's humble pie for critics who shredded the group and their self-titled debut in 2002.More
2000 Dixie Chicks are the big winners at the CMA Awards, taking Entertainer of the Year, Album of the Year (for Fly), Vocal Group of the Year and Video of the Year for "Goodbye Earl."
1996 That Thing You Do!, a musical film starring its writer/director Tom Hanks, who plays the manager of fictional '60s band The Wonders, is released to US cinemas. The title track to the film was written by Adam Schlesinger, bass player for Fountains of Wayne.More
1986 The popular newsman Dan Rather is attacked by a man who hits him from behind and repeats the phrase "Kenneth, what is the frequency," prompting REM to write the song "What's the Frequency, Kenneth?"
1979 Jimmy Buffett appears on the cover of Rolling Stone ahead of his forthcoming Volcano album. The article details his experience recording the Caribbean-flavored tracks near a dormant volcano at George Martin's AIR Studios in Montserrat.More
©2026 Songfacts®, LLC