1963 - Reviewing The Beatles' concert the night before in Cheltenham, England, the British paper Daily Mirror uses the headline "Beatlemania!", effectively inserting the phrase into the popular consciousness for the first time.
1969 - Creedence Clearwater Revival released Willy and the Poor Boys, the third studio album the band released that year. The album features the songs "Down on the Corner," which the album title references, as well as the protest song, "Fortunate Son." The album was the last of three studio albums the band released that year, arriving just three months after Green River. The album was supposed to have a concept as "Down on the Corner", making Creedence Clearwater Revival into Willy and The Poor Boys. However, this was dropped rather quickly, except for the cover, where the band remains in character.
1967 - Cream released their second studio album Disraeli Gears which became the group's American breakthrough, becoming a massive seller in 1968, and reaching No.4 on the American charts. The album features the two singles 'Strange Brew' and 'Sunshine of Your Love'. Drummer Ginger Baker recalled how the album's title was based on a malapropism which alluded to 19th-century British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli:
You know how the title came about – Disraeli Gears – yeah? We had this Austin Westminster, and Mick Turner was one of the roadies who'd been with me a long time, and he was driving along and Eric Clapton was talking about getting a racing bicycle. Mick, driving, went 'Oh yeah – Disraeli gears!' meaning derailleur gears...We all just fell over...We said that's got to be the album title.
1974 - George Harrison became the first Beatle to undertake a solo world tour when he played the first show of a 30-night tour in Vancouver, Canada.
1974 - Stevie Wonder went to No.1 on the US singles chart with 'You Haven't Done Nothin', a dig on President Richard Nixon. The track featured The Jackson Five on backing vocals.
1978 - The Police released their debut album, Outlandos d'Amour. The working title, 'Police Brutality,' was changed to make is sound more romantic. The title loosely translates as 'Outlaws of Love' but the term 'Outlandos' is actually a mix of the words for 'Outlaws' and 'Commandos.'
1979 - The Who's musical film Quadrophenia, featuring a small part played by Sting, opens in US theaters.
1995 - Chrissie Hynde of The Pretenders guest stars on the Friends episode "The One with the Baby on the Bus." She sings "Angel of the Morning" and learns "Smelly Cat" from Phoebe (Lisa Kudrow).
2018 - The Queen biopic Bohemian Rhapsody, starring Rami Malek as Freddie Mercury, opens in theaters. It wins four Oscars, including Best Actor for Malek. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images)
Birthday:
Keith Emerson of Emerson, Lake and Palmer was born today in 1944.
k.d. lang is 59.
Nelly is 46.
Chris Walla, former guitarist with Death Cab for Cutie, is 45.
On This Day In Music History is sourced from This Day in Music, Paul Shaffer's Day in Rock, Song Facts and Wikipedia.