1975 - Queen released "Killer Queen." Freddie Mercury elucidated on this song: "It's about a high class call girl. I'm trying to say that classy people can be whores as well.
1973 - The Jamaican cult classic film The Harder They Come is released in the US. The film casts real-life reggae performer Jimmy Cliff as an aspiring reggae singer who turns to a life of crime after getting mixed up with a corrupt record producer.
The actors' thick, dialect is difficult for many English speakers to understand, making the use of subtitles necessary. It doesn't find an appreciative audience until it runs on the midnight circuit a few months later, where the subtitles take a backseat to the real star of the movie: the soundtrack.
Indeed, Producer Perry Henzell wanted The Harder They Come to be the film that brought reggae off the island and into the rest of the world. The soundtrack features four songs from Cliff, including the title track, and tunes from Desmond Dekker, Toots and the Maytals, and The Slickers. It would also pave the way for Bob Marley and the Wailers, whose breakthrough album, Catch A Fire, would nearly coincide with the movie's US debut. (Photo by Suhaimi Abdullah/Getty Images)
1977 - Marquee Moon the debut album by Television was released. The album was met with widespread acclaim and was hailed by critics as an original musical development in rock music. Marquee Moon also proved to be a foundational record of alternative rock, as Television's innovative post-punk instrumentation for the album strongly influenced the new wave and indie rock movements of the 1980s and rock guitar playing in general.
1981 - R.E.M. held their first recording sessions at Bombay Studios in Smyrna, GA. Among their first recordings was the band's first single "Radio Free Europe," as well as the EP "Chronic Town" and the band's album debut "Murmur." Producer/engineer Joe Perry said the band arrived to their first recording session focused and ready to rock. "They wanted to record eight songs, complete with overdubs, vocals, mixing and cassette (copies), which was really ambitious. I was probably charging them $12 or $15 an hour, and they were all business. They were very serious."
2006 - David Bowie is awarded the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.
Birthdays:
Singer-songwriter Tom Rush was born on this day in 1941. Wrote and recorded the folk-rock standard "No Regrets."
Terry Melcher, who was behind hits by the Byrds, Ry Cooder and the Beach Boys (and the son of actress Doris Day) was born on this day in 1942.
Creed Bratton, from the band Grass Roots (Midnight Confessions, a top 5 in 1968) and from the TV show The Office, is 79.
Vince Neil, singer for Motley Crue, is 61.
Guy Man (Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo), French electronic musician with Daft Punk, is 48.
On This Day In Music History are gathered from Allmusic, This Day in Music, Song Facts and Wikipedia.