1968 - George Harrison released his album Wonderwall Music, The first Beatle solo album -- as well as the first Apple album. It was offbeat score to the film Wonderwall. A fascinating if musically slender mishmash of sounds from East and West, with groups of Indian and British musicians, half recorded in London, the other half in Bombay. The songs which were mostly Harrison instrumentals, featured Eric Clapton, Ringo Starr and an unaccredited banjo contribution by Peter Tork of The Monkees.
1975 - Elton John's "Island Girl" hits #1 in America for the first of three weeks, knocking off a song Elton sang backup on and released on his Rocket label: "Bad Blood" by Neil Sedaka.
It was off the album, "Rock Of The Westies, recoded at Caribou Ranch just outside of Nederland.
1994 - Nirvana's MTV Unplugged in New York album, taken from a performance a year earlier, is finally released. It's a nakedly emotional record, with Nirvana proving its worth and diversity, and showcasing the depth of their songwriting. Original songs are performed along with covers of the Vaselines, Meat Puppets, David Bowie, and Leadbelly (the folk standard, "Where Did You Sleep Last Night").
2012 - Metal Hammer magazine published a list of the "Top ten rock and heavy metal moustaches…Ever". The list which included moustaches worn by the likes of Frank Zappa, all the members of Black Sabbath, (except Ozzy Osbourne). James Hetfield, and Lemmy placed Freddie Mercury at the top of the list.
Birthdays:
Writer/producer Jim Steinman was born on this day in 1947. His work included Meat Loaf's Bat Out Of Hell and Bat Out of Hell II: Back into Hell, and he produced albums for Bonnie Tyler. His most successful chart singles include Tyler's ‘Total Eclipse of the Heart’ and Air Supply's ‘Making Love Out of Nothing at All’.
Anthony Kiedis, of Red Hot Chili Peppers, is 61. Fun fact: Kiedis first met bandmate Flea in a driver's ed class where they became best friends while sitting next to each other. In a biography about the band written by Jeff Apter, Kiedis said, "We were both social outcasts. We found each other, and it turned out to be the longest-lasting friendship of my life." (Photo by Johnathan Wood/Getty Images)
On this Day In Music History was sourced from This Day in Music, Song Facts, Allmusic, and Wikipedia.
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