1972 - Bruce Springsteen signed with Columbia Records and started to assemble the E Street Band from various former bandmates.
1978 - The Rolling Stones released Some Girls, their first studio album recorded with Ronnie Wood as a full member. By 1978, both punk and disco had swept the group off the front pages, and Some Girls was their fiery response to the younger generation. The album cover featured The Stones in garish drag alongside select female celebrities and lingerie ads. The cover immediately ran into trouble when Lucille Ball, Farrah Fawcett, Liza Minnelli (representing her mother Judy Garland), Raquel Welch, and the estate of Marilyn Monroe threatened legal action.
Some Girls may not have the back-street aggression of their '60s records, or the majestic, drugged-out murk of their early-'70s work, but its brand of glitzy, decadent hard rock still makes it a definitive Stones album. (Photo by Scott Gries/Getty Images)
1993 - Tina Turner's life story, including her stormy relationship with her husband Ike, is portrayed in the film What's Love Got To Do With It, starring Angela Bassett as Tina.
2017 - Gene Simmons of Kiss filed a trademark application for the devil horns hand gesture, which he claims he invented in 1974. The description in the application reads: "Hand gesture with the index and small fingers extended upward and the thumb extended perpendicular."
Simmons' filing is for entertainment purposes, "namely, live performances by a musical artist; personal appearances by a musical artist." If granted, it's possible musicians will need his permission before throwing the horns on stage.
According to Simmons, he invented the gesture when he used it at a concert in 1974; he is seen using it on the cover of the 1977 Kiss album Love Gun.
Birthdays:
Cole Porter was born today in 1891. His numerous hit songs include "Night and Day", "Begin the Beguine", "I Get a Kick Out of You", "Well, Did You Evah!", "I've Got You Under My Skin", "My Heart Belongs to Daddy" and "You're the Top".
Les Paul, a key developer of the electric guitar, was born today in 1915. Paul suffered a severe car accident in 1948 in Oklahoma, when he slid off a bridge into a river in the middle of a snowstorm. His right arm and elbow were shattered. He asked surgeons to set his arm at such an angle that he could still play guitar, and after a year and a half of recovery, could once again play.
Trevor Boulder of Spiders From Mars and Uriah Heep was born today in 1950.
Chemical Brothers keyboardist Ed Simons is 51.
Matthew Bellamy of Muse is 43.
On This Day In Music History is sourced from This Day in Music, Allmusic, Gibson, Song Facts and Wikipedia.