1971 - David Bowie arrived in the U.S. for the first time but was not allowed to play anywhere due to work permit restrictions. Bowie had forgotten his work visa so he was unable to perform outside of a few free showcases. He creates a stir by wearing a dress to many of the appearances. He traveled from Washington D.C. to California by bus and fell in love with the country. It was here he planned his next career move, inventing a character that melded the persona of Vince Taylor (sang the original version of Brand New Cadillac, covered by the Clash, had a drug induced meltdown and joined a cult) as well as on other eccentrics like Texas “psychobilly” singer Legendary Stardust Cowboy and Japanese designer Kansai Yamamoto. It was the birth of Ziggy Stardust.
1973 - 'Superstition' from Stevie Wonder's Talking Book album became his second No.1 single in the US. Jeff Beck created the original drum beat while in the studio with Wonder. After writing the song, Wonder offered it to Beck to record, but at the insistence of Berry Gordy, Wonder himself recorded it first. Beck was instead offered 'Cause We've Ended As Lovers', which he recorded on his Blow by Blow album in 1975.
2015 - Tom Petty and Jeff Lynne were given a songwriting credit on Sam Smith's hit "Stay With Me" because of the similarities to the 1989 track "I Won't Back Down". "About the Sam Smith thing. Let me say I have never had any hard feelings toward Sam,” Petty wrote. “All my years of songwriting have shown me these things can happen. Most times you catch it before it gets out the studio door but in this case it got by. Sam’s people were very understanding of our predicament and we easily came to an agreement." (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)
Birthdays:
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born on this day in 1756.
Elmore James, blues guitarist and singer, known as the King of the Slide Guitar, was born today in 1918.
Bobby Bland was born on this day in 1930.
Nick Mason, drummer for Pink Floyd, is 78. Nick is the only member of the band to play on every album since the band's formation in 1965.
Brian Downey of Thin Lizzy is 71.
Seth Justman of The J. Geils Band is 71.
Margo Timmins, Cowboy Junkies, is 61.
Mike Patton of Faith No More is 54.
On this Day In Music History are gathered from Pop Expresso, Rolling Stone, This Day in Music, Song Facts and Wikipedia.