1969 - Police in Moscow reported that thousands of public phone booths had been vandalized after thieves were stealing parts of the phones to convert their acoustic guitars to electric. A feature in a Russian youth magazine had shown details on how to do this.
1970 - The Australian western film Ned Kelly opened; it marked Mick Jagger's acting debut. Based on the life of Ned Kelly, who is forced by police persecution to become a bushranger. He robs several banks and is eventually captured. He is hanged in Melbourne.
The film was poorly received at its opening, and was effectively disowned by Jagger. As late as 1980 Jagger claimed he had never seen the film.
1973 - The Watkins Glen outdoor summer jam was held outside of Watkins Glen, New York with The Allman Brothers Band, the Grateful Dead and The Band. Over 600,000 attended. Many historians claimed the event was the largest gathering of people in the history of the United States. Tickets were $10.
1987 - The surviving members of The Beatles, together with Yoko Ono, sued Nike and Capitol Records over the use of "Revolution" in a sneaker commercial.
Capitol Records, who owned the performance rights, meaning The Beatles version of the song, was paid $250,000. Michael Jackson, who owned the publishing rights, meaning use of the words and music, also had to agree and was paid for the song.
George Harrison: "It’s in the Beatles’ interest not to have our records touted about on TV commercials, otherwise all the songs we made could be advertising everything from hot dogs to ladies’ brassieres.”
The ads ran for about a year, and eventually a settlement was reached in the lawsuit.
2007 - "Hey There Delilah" by Plain White T's hits #1 in America two years after it was first released. "Delilah" is the runner Delilah DiCrescenzo, who lead singer Tom Higgenson was trying to impress with a song.
2014 - Linda Ronstadt was honored with a National Medal of Arts at the White House in Washington, D.C. The honor was a particularly special moment for Ronstadt, who didn't make it to her induction to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in April of that year since Parkinson's disease limited her ability to travel. The singer was brought into the East Room by wheelchair, but she walked onto the stage to receive her award.
2014 - Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers release, Hypnotic Eye. The album debuted at No.1 on the Billboard 200, becoming the first Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers album to ever top the chart.
Teeming with fuzz, overdriven organ, and hard four-four rhythms, all interrupted by the occasional blues workout or jazz shuffle, it's a record that celebrates all the disreputable 45s created in garages so they could be played in garages. (Photo by Jason Merritt/Getty Images)
2018 - Neil Diamond stops by the command post near his home in Basalt, near Aspen, to play for firefighters and rescue personnel who have been battling wildfires in the area.
Birthdays:
Pink Floyd keyboardist and vocalist Rick Wright was born on this day in 1943. Wright performed on all but one of the group's albums and played on all of their tours. He passed away in 2008.
1943 - Mike Bloomfield who was a member of the Paul Butterfield band and Electric Flag. He played on Bob Dylan's album Highway 61 Revisited. Bloomfield's Telecaster guitar licks were featured on Dylan's ‘Like a Rolling Stone’, and he appeared onstage with Dylan at the Newport Folk Festival, where Dylan used Bloomfield and the Butterfield Band which marked Dylan's first use of an electric band in a live performance.
Singer-songwriter Jonathan Edwards, ("Sunshine", Shanty") is 76.
Gerald Casale, vocalist, bass guitar/synthesizer player, and a founding member of Devo, is 76. He also directed most of Devo's videos and has also directed videos for The Cars, Rush, Foo Fighters and Soundgarden.
On This Day In Music History was from Magnet Magazine, This Day in Music, Song Facts and Wikipedia.