Today in Music History...July 28, 2017 (Now with more info & links)

Music History: July 28th

 

2016 Katy Perry performs her songs "Roar" and "Rise" on the final night of the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia. Before she sings, she encourages voters to support Hillary Clinton.More

2012 At a show in Gothenburg, Sweden, Bruce Springsteen plays "Jungleland" for the first time since the death of Clarence Clemons a year earlier. He dedicates the song to Clemons, whose nephew Jake earns rapturous applause after playing the famous saxophone solo.

2004 George Williams (lead vocalist for The Tymes) dies in Maple Shade, New Jersey, at age 68.

2000 Guitarist Jerome Smith (of KC And The Sunshine Band) dies in a construction-site accident in Miami, Florida, at age 47.

1996 Jason Thirsk (bass player for Pennywise) dies from a self-inflicted gunshot wound at age 28.

1996 Marge Ganser (of The Shangri-Las) dies of breast cancer at age 48 in Valley Stream, New York.

1995 Guitarist Eddie Hinton dies from a heart attack in Birmingham, Alabama. He wrote the Dusty Springfield hit "Breakfast in Bed."

1995 After decades of legal wrangling, James Al Hendrix, surviving father of Jimi, is once again granted legal use of his son's name and likeness for merchandising.

1993 10,000 Maniacs perform with lead singer Natalie Merchant for the last time at the birthday bash for New York radio station Z100 (Bon Jovi, Duran Duran, The Proclaimers and Terence Trent D'Arby are also on the bill). Merchant launches a successful solo career and the band soldiers on without her, bringing new lead singer Mary Ramsey into the fold.



1992 Prince trademarks the male/female symbol he has been using on various album covers and promotional materials. He later re-designs the symbol and uses it as his name.More

1992 Mary J. Blige releases her debut album, What's The 411?, produced by Sean "Puffy" Combs. It takes the top spot on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Chart as well as #6 on the Billboard 200. Her unique blend of hip-hop and soul earns her the nickname "Queen of Hip Hop Soul."

1992 Patti LaBelle walks offstage during her concert in Warwick, Rhode Island, having complained to the audience about the catering backstage.

1990 Rapper Soulja Boy is born DeAndre Cortez Way in Chicago, Illinois.

1989 Anne Murray opens the Anne Murray Centre, a multimedia museum of her career, in her hometown of Springhill, Nova Scotia.

1987 The Ice-T album Rhyme Pays becomes the first hip-hop album to get a warning label for explicit lyrics.

1987 Ozzy Osbourne performs "Jailhouse Rock" at Wormwood Scrubs prison in London, England, causing an audience full of murderers to storm him on stage. It is his "last good memory of the eighties."More

1987 The Beatles, along with Yoko Ono, sue Nike for using "Revolution" in TV commercials. Nike authorized the song through the group's US label, Capitol, and Michael Jackson, who owns the publishing. Nike doesn't back down and continues running the ads, which anger many Beatles fans but sell a lot of sneakers. The suit is later settled out of court for an undisclosed amount.

1985 It's "Kingsmen Day" in Portland, Oregon, in honor of their hometown heroes who made "Louie Louie" a garage rock classic.

1976 Jacoby Shaddix (lead singer of Papa Roach) is born in Mariposa, California.

1973 Grand Funk Railroad releases "We're An American Band."

1973 Chicago's Chicago VI LP hits #1 for the first of five weeks in the US.

1972 Mott The Hoople releases "All The Young Dudes."

1970 The Rolling Stones' Mick Jagger makes his acting debut in Ned Kelly, a film about the legendary Australian outlaw, which makes his debut in Kelly's own hometown of Glenrowan.

1969 The Beatles record "Polythene Pam" and "She Came In Through the Bathroom Window."

1968 The Beatles hold their "Mad Day Out," an all-day group photography session across London, which produces most of their well-known latter-day photographs, including the cover of Life and the inside gatefold of their Beatles 1967-1970 album.

1962 Singer/actress Rachel Sweet is born in Akron, Ohio. Recorded the hit "Everlasting Love" with Rex Smith.

1962 Tommy Roe's "Sheila" enters the charts, where it reaches #1 (US).

1961 The Tokens record "The Lion Sleeps Tonight."

1958 Doris Day's "Everybody Loves A Lover" enters the charts, where it reaches #14 (US).

1958 The Poni-Tails' "Born Too Late" enters the charts, where it reaches #7 (US).

1958 The Elegants' "Little Star" enters the charts, where it reaches #1 (US).

1957 Jerry Lee Lewis makes his first national TV appearance, singing "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On" on NBC's The Steve Allen Show.

1956 Gene Vincent makes his first national TV appearance, singing "Be-Bop-a-Lula" on NBC's The Perry Como Show.

1956 Elvis Presley's "I Want You, I Need You, I Love You" hits #1 on the Country charts.

1954 Guitarist Steve Morse is born in Hamilton, Ohio. After forming The Dixie Dregs, he joins Deep Purple in 1994.

1954 Elvis Presley gets his first interview through an article published in his hometown paper, the Memphis Press-Scimitar.

1954 The Crew-Cuts' cover of "Sh-Boom" hits #1 for the first of nine weeks in the US.

1951 Rosemary Clooney's "Come-On-A My House" hits #1 in the US for the first of eight weeks.

1949 Drummer Simon Kirke (of Free and Bad Company) is born in Lambeth, London, England.

1949 Pop singer Peter Doyle (of The New Seekers) is born in Melbourne, Australia.

1949 Steve Took (of T. Rex) is born in Eltham, London, England.

1946 Folk singer Jonathan Edwards ("Sunshine") is born in Aitkin, Minnesota.

1945 Rick Wright (of Pink Floyd) is born in Hatch End, Middlesex, England.

1943 Guitarist Mike Bloomfield is born in Chicago. He plays on Bob Dylan's Highway 61 Revisited and joins The Paul Butterfield Blues Band.

1941 Judy Garland marries her first husband, composer David Rose. They divorce in 1944.

1938 Guitarist/songwriter George Cummings (of Dr. Hook) is born in Meridian, Mississippi.

1937 Pianist/bandleader Peter Duchin is born in New York City.

1933 The first singing telegram is sent - to popular crooner Rudy Vallee, on the occasion of his 32nd birthday.

1915 Accordionist Frankie Yankovic is born in Davis, West Virginia. No relation to fellow accordionist Weird Al Yankovic, though the parody master says his parents chose the instrument for him because "they figured there should be at least one more accordion-playing Yankovic in the world."

1901 Pop crooner Rudy Vallee is born in Island Pond, Vermont.

1750 Johann Sebastian Bach dies at age 65.

 

Summer Jam Draws Biggest Festival Crowd Ever

 

1973The "Summer Jam" concert takes place at Watkins Glen racetrack in New York, outdrawing Woodstock with a crowd of over 600,000. The Grateful Dead, The Allman Brothers Band, and The Band play to the massive crowd that paid $10 a ticket - if they bought one.
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Featured Events

1992 Barenaked Ladies release their debut studio album, Gordon.

1979 After a show in Cleveland, Joe Perry quits Aerosmith when he gets in screaming match with Steven Tyler. He is replaced by Jim Crespo, but rejoins the band in 1984.

1939 Judy Garland records "Over The Rainbow."