1955 - Little Richard recorded the song "Tutti Frutti." The session had not been going well, but with only 15 minutes left in the session, Richard recorded the song and coined the phrase, "A-wop-bop-a-loo-bop-a-lop-bam-boom."
Little Richard wrote this song when he was working as a dishwasher at a Greyhound bus station in his hometown of Macon, Georgia. Richard says that "Awap bop a lup bop a wop bam boom" was kind of his catch phrase, something he would reply to folks who asked him how he was doing.
1968 - The first episode of the animated series, The Archies, based on the comic strip, aired on television. Rock mogul Don Kirshner (who also brought us The Monkees), was put in charge of the show's studio musicians.
1969 - Genesis take the stage for the first time, playing at the cottage owned by leader Peter Gabriel's former Sunday School teacher.
1974 - Eric Clapton scored a US No.1 with his version of the Bob Marley song 'I Shot The Sheriff' which was first released in 1973 on The Wailers' album Burnin'.
Clapton didn't want to use this on the album because he thought it might seem disrespectful to Marley. Members of his band and management convinced him that it should not only go on the album, but also be released as a single.
Eric spoke with Bob Marley about the song, he said "I tried to ask him what the song was all about, but couldn't understand much of his reply. I was just relieved that he liked what we had done."
1979 - The film version of Quadrophenia, The Who's 1973 rock opera about growing up mod in London, premieres at the Toronto Film Festival. In it, Sting makes his acting debut as "Ace Face."
2003 - Australian rockers Jet released their debut album Get Born that went on to sell over 3.5 million copies worldwide. The album is an homage to a lyric from the Bob Dylan song "Subterranean Homesick Blues" and includes Jet's most popular song, "Are You Gonna Be My Girl".
Birthdays:
Paul Kossoff, guitarist in Free (Alright Now) was born on this day in 1950.
Fred "Sonic" Smith of MC5 was born on this day in 1949. Smith was one of the key architects of the Detroit High Energy rock sound as guitarist and co-founder of the legendary MC5, and while his work after the band's breakup was sporadic, what has survived is strong enough to confirm his reputation as one of the great unsung heroes of Midwest rock & roll. In 1980, he marries fellow punk pioneer Patti Smith.
Steve Berlin musician (The Blasters, Los Lobos) and producer (R.E.M., The Replacements, the Go-Go's, many others) is 67.
Amy Winehouse was born in 1983. She was one of the U.K.'s flagship vocalists during the 2000s. While the British press and tabloids seemed to focus on her rowdy behavior and tragic end, fans and critics alike embraced her rugged charm, brash sense of humor, and distinctively soulful and jazzy vocals. (Photo by Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images for NARAS)
On This Day In Music History was sourced from Allmusic, This Day in Music, Song Facts and Wikipedia.