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.
1967 - Cream released their second studio album Disraeli Gears which became the group's American breakthrough. , It saw the power trio move towards psychedelia and also helped give the album a thematic coherence missing from the debut. This, of course, means that Cream get further away from the pure blues improvisatory troupe they were intended to be, but it does get them to be who they truly are: a massive, innovative power trio.
1969 - Creedence Clearwater Revival released Willy and the Poor Boys, the third studio album that the band released in this year. Make no mistake, Willy & the Poor Boys is a fun record, perhaps the breeziest album CCR ever made. Fogerty's rage remains, blazing to the forefront on "Fortunate Son," a working-class protest song that cuts harder than any of the explicit Vietnam protest songs of the era, which is one of the reasons that it hasn't aged where its peers have. It might seem to be out of step with an album that is pretty laid-back and friendly, but there's that elemental joy that by late '69 was one of CCR's main trademarks. Regardless, It all adds up to one of the greatest pure rock & roll records ever cut.
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.' While their subsequent chart-topping albums would contain far more ambitious songwriting and musicianship, the Police's 1978 debut, Outlandos d'Amour is by far their most direct and straightforward release. Unquestionably one of the finest debuts to come out of the '70s punk/new wave movement.
1987 - George Harrison releases Cloud Nine, a commercial comeback and the last album he puts out in his lifetime. Teaming with legendary Beatles obsessive Jeff Lynne, George Harrison crafted a remarkably consistent and polished comeback effort, featuring Ringo Starr, Eric Clapton, Gary Wright and Jim Keltner. Elton John also plays on three tracks.
1992 - Neil Young releases Harvest Moon. After 20 years, Neil Young finally decided to release the sequel to Harvest, his most commercially successful album. It manages to be sentimental without being sappy, wistful without being nostalgic. A beautiful album that proudly displays scars, heartaches, and love.
1999 - Foo Fighters released their third studio album There Is Nothing Left to Lose. the album has a stripped-down sound and an immediate attack that makes even the poppier numbers rock hard. The organic, natural sound is welcome, but the album also benefits from the strongest set of songs Grohl and Foo Fighters have yet written. Features the first appearance of drummer Taylor Hawkins. Early pressings of the disc included a temporary tattoo, similar to the one featured on the album cover.
2015 - Adele went to No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Hello', the lead track from her third album 25. 'Hello' became the first song to sell more than a million digital copies in a single week.
2018 - The Queen biopic Bohemian Rhapsody, starring Rami Malek as Freddie Mercury, opens in theaters. Sacha Baron Cohen was originally cast in the lead role until the remaining band members voiced their concerns about his comedic roles - such as Ali G and Borat - being a possible threat to the seriousness of the film. It wins four Oscars, including Best Actor for Malek. (Photo by Stuart C. Wilson/Getty Images)
Birthdays:
J.D. Souther is born in Detroit, Michigan on this day in 1945. Co-wrote a number of hits with the Eagles.
1944 - Keith Emerson of Emerson, Lake & Palmer.
1961 - k.d. lang is born Kathryn Dawn Lang in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
On This Day In Music History is sourced from Allmusic, This Day in Music, SongFacts, and Wikipedia.