1969 - New Jersey state prosecutors issue a warning to record dealers that they will be charged with distributing pornography if they are caught selling the John Lennon / Yoko Ono LP "Two Virgins". The front cover of the album showed the pair frontally nude, while the back cover showed them from behind. The rather unflattering photo would later be described by Lennon as a picture of "two slightly overweight ex-junkies".
1972 - Paul Simon released his self-titled album. If any musical justification were needed for the breakup of Simon & Garfunkel, it could be found on this striking collection, Paul Simon's post-split debut. Simon breaks from the occasionally conservative sound of Simon and Garfunkel with explorations into reggae and South American sounds.
1972 - Aretha Franklin released Young, Gifted and Black, many arguing that it may be her greatest. And with songs like "Rock Steady," that may be a valid argument. Franklin was in her prime here, not only in terms of voice but also in terms of confidence -- you can just feel her exuding her status as the best of the best.
1979 - The Clash released their first single in the U.S. with "I Fought The Law" (written by Sonny Curtis of Buddy Holly's Crickets, later popularized in a version by the Bobby Fuller Four). Joe Strummer and Mick Jones were inspired to learn the song after hearing the Bobby Fuller version on a jukebox owned by a San Francisco recording studio where they had been recording overdubs for their second album. This cover version helped gain the Clash their first taste of airplay in the States and is one of the best-known cover versions of the song. (Photo credit should read STR/AFP via Getty Images)
1980 - A billboard was erected on Sunset Strip, West Hollywood, California to promote Pink Floyd's new album The Wall. A blank wall was pasted up and each day a brick was ‘removed’ to slowly reveal the inside spread and title of the album.
2019 - Weezer released The Teal Album, a collection of covers featuring their hit rendition of "Africa." Selections include "Take On Me," "No Scrubs" and "Billie Jean."
Birthdays:
Aaron Neville is 82. A founding member of the Neville Brothers. Blessed with a voice that's smooth as silk, and strong despite his emphasis on his higher register, Aaron Neville was one of the most distinctive R&B artists of his generation, a legend of New Orleans music who went on to become a star in pop, country, and adult contemporary circles thanks to his collaborations with the likes of Linda Ronstadt and Trisha Yearwood.
Neil Diamond is 82. He became one of the best-selling recording artists of the 20th century as well as a dynamic, internationally known touring act and skilled songwriter whose compositions produced numerous hits for himself and others.
Warren Zevon was born today in 1947. Few of rock & roll's great misanthropes were as talented, as charming, or as committed to their cynicism as Warren Zevon. A singer and songwriter whose music often dealt with outlaws, mercenaries, sociopaths, and villains of all stripes, Zevon's lyrics displayed a keen and ready wit despite their often uncomfortable narrative circumstances, and while he could write of love and gentler emotions, he did so with the firm conviction that such stories rarely end happily. He remained a cheerful pessimist right up to the moment he met a fate that could have visited one of his own characters.
John Belushi was born today in 1949. Although John Belushi was best known as a TV and movie actor, he enjoyed quite a bit of success late in his tragic career as one half of the blues revival act the Blues Brothers. He also become a major admirer of the burgeoning punk movement. One of Belushi's next projected movie projects before he died, would have even been punk rock-based (he was supposed to play a journalist covering the punk scene),
Jools Holland of Squeeze is 65. Became a TV presenter on the long running UK music show The Tube and then the BBC music show Later... With Jools Holland. He also tours and releases records with the Jools Holland Big Band.
On This Day In Music History was sourced from This Day in Music, Song Facts and Wikipedia.