1949 - RCA Records issued the first ever 45rpm single, the invention of this size record made jukeboxes possible.
1967 - At Abbey Road studios in London, The Beatles started work on Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. The Beatles consciously synthesized such disparate influences as psychedelia, art-song, classical music, rock & roll, and music hall, often in the course of one song. After Sgt. Pepper, there were no rules to follow -- rock and pop bands could try anything, for better or worse.
1972 - Neil Young releases the album Harvest. After the members of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young went their separate ways in 1970, Young recruited a group of country session musicians (which he christened The Stray Gators) and recorded Harvest. The record was a massive hit, producing a US number one single in "Heart of Gold". The album's success caught Young off guard and his first instinct was to back away from stardom. He would later write that the record "put me in the middle of the road. Traveling there soon became a bore so I headed for the ditch. A rougher ride but I saw more interesting people there."
1980 - Blondie released "Call Me", the main theme song of the 1980 film "American Gigolo". European disco producer Giorgio Moroder wrote this with Blondie lead singer Debbie Harry, but originally wanted Stevie Nicks to provide vocals on the track but she declined the offer. (Photo by Simone Joyner/Getty Images)
1985 - The Eagles' Glenn Frey makes his acting debut in an episode of NBC's Miami Vice that is based on his song "Smuggler's Blues."
1994 - Green Day release their third album (their first on a major label), Dookie. On their first couple records, they showed promise, but with Dookie, they delivered a record that found Billie Joe Armstrong bursting into full flower as a songwriter, spitting out melodic ravers, treating nearly everything as joke and having as much fun as snotty punkers should.
2004 - Justin Timberlake punctuates the Super Bowl halftime show by tearing away part of Janet Jackson's costume, resulting in the famous "wardrobe malfunction."
2008 - NASA announced that "Across the Universe" by The Beatles was to become the first song ever to be beamed directly into space. The track would be transmitted through the Deep Space Network - a network of antennas - on the 40th anniversary of the song being recorded, being aimed at the North Star, Polaris, 431 light-years from Earth.
2012 - Don Cornelius, the host of "Soul Train" from 1971 until 1993, who helped break down racial barriers and broaden the reach of Black culture, died. He was 75.
2020 - Andy Gill, the founding member and guitarist of British post-punk band Gang Of Four, died aged 64. Gill's scratchy, staccato riffs provided the band with their signature sound, and influenced the likes of Nirvana, Fugazi and Franz Ferdinand. He also produced albums for artists such as the Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Stranglers, Michael Hutchence and Killing Joke.
Birthdays:
Don Everly, guitarist/singer with The Everly Brothers, is 84.
Rick James was born today in 1948.
Mike Campbell, guitarist with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, is 71.
Lisa Marie Presley is 53.
Patrick Wilson, drummer for Weezer, is 52.
Harry Styles is 27.
On This Day In Music History is sourced from This Day in Music, Paul Shaffer's Day in Rock, Song Facts, Allmusic, and Wikipedia.