1966 - At a press conference held at The Astor Towers Hotel in Chicago, John Lennon apologized for his remarks that The Beatles were ‘more popular than Jesus'. Lennon told reporters "Look, I wasn’t saying The Beatles are better than God or Jesus, I said ‘Beatles’ because it’s easy for me to talk about The Beatles. I could have said ‘TV’ or ‘Cinema’, ‘Motorcars’ or anything popular and would have got away with it’’.
1973 - The first big oldies revival kicks off in earnest as George Lucas' new film, American Graffiti, opens in theaters. Set in 1962, the film creates a wave of nostalgia for songs from the '50s and early '60s. The film, which follows a group of teenagers on a night out in California, has a huge cultural impact. After seeing it, Bob Seger writes his coming-of-age song, "Night Moves."
1976 - With the help of some weed and tequila, Neil Young records an album's worth of songs in a single evening at Indigo Ranch Recording Studio in Malibu, California. Featuring "Pocahontas" and "Powderfinger," the album is buried by record executives until September 8, 2017, when it's released under the title of Hitchhiker.
1979 - The Knack started a five-week run at No. 1 on the U.S. album chart with Get The Knack, which included the hit single, "My Sharona." The Knack attempted to update the Beatles sound for the new wave era on their debut -- a good idea that was well executed. Get the Knack is at once sleazy, sexist, hook-filled, and endlessly catchy -- above all, it's a guilty pleasure and an exercise in simple fun.
1979 - Led Zeppelin played their last-ever U.K. show when they appeared at Knebworth House, England. John Bonham would tragically die a year later. Bonham, who would play with the band on a European tour of smaller venues the following summer, would pass away shortly after that tour, which put a stop to the band.
1984 - Ray Parker JR. started a three week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with the theme from the film 'Ghostbusters'. Parker who had been a session guitarist for Stevie Wonder and Marvin Gaye was accused of plagiarizing the melody from Huey Lewis and the News song 'I Want a New Drug', resulting in Lewis suing Parker, the pair settled out of court in 1985.
Birthdays:
Singer Eric Carmen, Raspberries and solo career, whose hits include "All By Myself," and "Hungry Eyes is 72.
Joe Jackson, is 67.
Charlie Sexton, known for the 1985 hit 'Beat's So Lonely' and for being the guitarist for Bob Dylan's backing band from 1999, is 53.
Ben Gibbard, Death Cab or Cutie, is 45. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images for iHeartRadio)
On This Day In Music History is sourced from This Day in Music, Song Facts, Far Out Magazine, Allmusic, and Wikipedia.