This day In Music - July 20

 This Day In Music – 20 July

Get the early Elvis double!

1933 - Buddy Knox born in Happy, Texas. Singer, songwriter who had the 1957 US No.1, 🇦🇺 No.6 & UK No.29 single 'Party Doll' which sold over one million copies. He was the first person in the rock 'n' roll era to write and record a No.1 hit. His other hits include 'Rock Your Little Baby To Sleep' and 'Hula Love' (AU No.9). Knox died of lung cancer on 14 February 1999 - https://youtu.be/NL7MJ-a2Kx4 .

1940 - The industry publication Billboard combines their sales charts for the first time, including all major labels. The first #1 is Tommy Dorsey's "I'll Never Smile Again," with vocals by Frank Sinatra. Covering the week to 27 July, the chart was published in the press on 27 July – Watch for chart to be posted! - https://youtu.be/il7DWoLySW8 .

1945 - Tony Thorpe born in Smithfield, London, England. From English pop band The Rubettes who had the 1974 🇦🇺 & UK No.1 single 'Sugar Baby Love'. Some sources suggest his birth year was 1947 - https://youtu.be/HxsNy4NoZUs .

1945 - John Lodge born in Erdington, Birmingham, England. Bassist & vocalist, with English rock band The Moody Blues who had the 1965 UK No.1, US No.10 & 🇦🇺 No.14 single 'Go Now' and the hit singles including 'Nights in White Satin' and 'Question' (No.31 🇦🇺). Reported in some sources as 1943 - https://youtu.be/V2L3UzM_FfE

1945 - Kim Carnes born in Los Angeles, California. US female singer, (1981 🇦🇺, US No.1 & UK No.10 single 'Betty Davis Eyes') - https://youtu.be/EPOIS5taqA8 .

1946 - Wendy Richard born in Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England . Actress who had 1962 UK No.1 & 🇦🇺 No.5 single with Mike Sarne, 'Come Outside', cast member of UK TV soap 'Eastenders' and Are You Being Served Miss Brahms) - https://youtu.be/pnTQT9Wbjk4 .

1947 - Carlos Santana born in Autlán de Navarro, Jalisco, Mexico. Mexican and American rock guitarist with Santana who had the 1977 UK No.11 single 'She's Not There' (🇦🇺 No.11), and their 1999 US No.1 & 🇦🇺 No.3 single 'Smooth' that spent eleven weeks at No.1 (also No.1 in the UK). He won eight Grammy Awards for his Supernatural album at the 2000 awards - https://youtu.be/ZahB3PakFc4 .

1952 - Jay Jay French born. Guitarist for Twisted Sister, (1983 UK No.18 single 'I Am, I'm Me', 1984 album 'Stay Hungry'). Best known in 🇦🇺 for their1984 No.2 single, 'We're Not Going To Take It' - https://youtu.be/4xmckWVPRaI .

1953 - 🇦🇺 - Marcia Hines was born in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. An American-Australian vocalist, actress and TV personality. Hines made her debut, at the age of 16, in the Australian production of the stage musical Hair and followed with the role of Mary Magdalene in Jesus Christ Superstar. A record contract with Robie Porter's Wizard Records in July 1974 led to Hines' first solo single, a cover version of James Taylor's "Fire and Rain", that peaked at number 17 on the 🇦🇺 singles charts in May 1975. Five Top Ten singles were released between 1976 and 1979, including her cover versions of Burt Bacharach/Hal David's "I Just Don't Know What to Do with Myself", "What I Did for Love" (from A Chorus Line) and Karen Carpenter's "Something's Missing (in My Life)". Hines' biggest hit was with Tom Snow's "You", which reached No.2 in the singles charts in 🇦🇺 in November 1977 - https://youtu.be/eIRQbFDLmDo .

1953 - 🇦🇺 - Dave Evans was born on the 20th of July 1953 in Carmarthen, Wales. He briefly sang for the hard rock band AC/DC in 1973–1974, appearing on their debut single before being replaced by Bon Scott. Evans then went on to join the band Rabbit who were active into the early 1980s - https://youtu.be/biaGJ_4rEzE

1954 - The Blue Moon Boys made their live debut appearing on the back of a flatbed truck outside a new drug store for its grand opening in Memphis. The band line up was Elvis Presley Scotty Moore and Bill Black. The name was taken from a song they had recorded just two weeks previously, 'Blue Moon of Kentucky.' - https://youtu.be/YW2M9dNBECw - https://youtu.be/4KCwjSA_-0w

1955 - Jem Finer born. Played banjo for Irish-British Celtic punk band The Pogues who scored the 1987 UK No.8 single 'The Irish Rover' and the 1987 UK No.2 single with Kirsty MaCcoll, 'Fairytale Of New York' - https://youtu.be/6nuHBme6Qr0 .

1955 - Marisa DeFranco born. From family pop group The DeFranco Family, who scored the 1973 US No.3 & 🇦🇺 No.10 single 'Heartbeat-It's A Lovebeat', the biggest selling US single of 1973. Based on The Osmonds, the group featured 10-year-old Tony DeFranco - https://youtu.be/I3Iw2qYtN8A .

1956 - Paul Cook born in Hammersmith, London. Drummer with the Sex Pistols, (1977 UK No.2 single 'God Save The Queen', and 1977 UK No.1 album Never Mind The Bollocks, Here's The Sex Pistols'. They failed to chart in the 🇦🇺 Top40.

1958 - Michael McNeil born on the Isle of Barra, Scotland. Keyboardist with Scottish rock band, Simple Minds, who had the 1985 US No.1 & 🇦🇺 No.7 single 'Don't You, Forget About Me', and the 1989 UK No.1 & 🇦🇺 No.8 single 'Belfast Child', plus over 20 other UK Top 40 singles - https://youtu.be/CdqoNKCCt7A .

1961 - The Beatles, known as The Beat Brothers, get some press in the British paper Mersey Beat, which announces their first record deal.

1963 - Jan and Dean started a two-week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Surf City', written by The Beach Boys, Brian Wilson, with the Beach Boys on backing vocals. The single peaked at No.26 in the UK. It also becomes an 🇦🇺 No.1 in July 1963 - https://youtu.be/ERrwjR4ZlfI .

1964 - The Beatles release "I'll Cry Instead" b/w "I'm Happy Just To Dance With You" and "And I Love Her" b/w "If I Fell." - https://youtu.be/9_c2XZd9mMo .

1964 - American musician, singer and songwriter Chris Cornell born Christopher John Boyle in Seattle, Washington. Best known as the lead vocalist, primary songwriter and rhythm guitarist for Seattle rock band Soundgarden and as lead vocalist and songwriter for the group Audioslave. Cornell died suddenly in Detroit on 17 May 2017 after performing at a show with Soundgarden.

1966 - Stone Gossard born in Seattle, Washington. Guitarist for Pearl Jam, (1992 UK No.15 single 'Jeremy', 1993 US No.1 & UK No.2 album 'Vs', 1994 US No.1 & UK No.4 album Vitalogy' and 1996 US No.1 & UK No.3 album 'No Code') Also a member of Brad. Their best outcome in 🇦🇺 was with the 1999 No.1 single Last Kiss - https://youtu.be/buGVXyYyqXw .

1968 - Hugh Masekela's trumpet composition "Grazing In The Grass" hits #1 in America (🇦🇺 No.13), knocking off trumpet player Herb Alpert's "This Guy's In Love With You." - https://youtu.be/Tp_S3QOJk90 .

1968 - Cream started a four-week run at No.1 on the US album chart with 'Wheels Of Fire'. The double album which consisted of a studio and a live record reached No.3 in the United Kingdom.

1968 - Iron Butterfly's second album, 'In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida', entered the US album chart for the first time. The album contained the 17-minute title track that filled the second side of the LP which went on sell over four million copies in the US alone.

1969 - When the Apollo 11 spacecraft lands on the moon and Neil Armstrong takes his one giant leap for mankind, it reverberates through the world of music. In the UK, David Bowie's "Space Oddity" is used to soundtrack the coverage - Bowie is grateful for the publicity, even though the song was inspired by the film 2001: A Space Odyssey and describes an astronaut (Major Tom) cutting himself loose and drifting into space. In the US, the #1 song is "In the Year 2525" by Zager & Evans, which describes humankind as becoming more detached with each passing millennium. Australian Reg Lindsay became best known for his single, "Armstrong", a tribute to the historic 1969 moon landing by American astronauts, particularly Neil Armstrong. It peaked at No. 6 on the 🇦🇺 Go-Set National Top 60 and remained in the charts for 16 weeks. It is included in a time capsule at the Johnson Space Centre in Houston, Texas - https://youtu.be/X-1VtFKiBzo .

1974 - Joey Ramone became the lead vocalist for the Ramones.

1975 - Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band played the opening night on their Born To Run Tour at The Palace Theatre, Providence, Rhode Island. This also saw the live debut of Steven Van Zandt, (Miami Steve) as a member of The E Street Band.

1976 - 🇦🇺 - Andrew James Stockdale born in Brisbane. An Australian rock musician, singer and songwriter best known as the lead vocalist, lead guitarist and only mainstay member of the rock band Wolfmother, which formed in 2000. In 2007, alongside his Wolfmother bandmates, he won 'Songwriter of the Year' at the APRA Awards - https://youtu.be/3afXXsJwYZo .

1984 - The NeverEnding Story debuts in US theatres, featuring a theme song by former Kajagoogoo lead singer Limahl - https://youtu.be/2WN0T-Ee3q4 .

1986 - Santana celebrate their 20th anniversary with a massive group reunion, as all 17 current and former members play a concert in San Francisco - https://youtu.be/N3kZPbKK8Xg .

1991 - EMF went to No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Unbelievable' it spent 14 weeks on the chart before reaching the top. It peaked at No.5 on 🇦🇺 charts - https://youtu.be/sfCLt0kTd5E .

1996 - Gary Barlow scored his first UK No.1 single with 'Forever Love' (🇦🇺 No.5) taken from his debut album Open Road. Barlow became the first member of Take That to top the charts with a solo record - https://youtu.be/iA8huEmBjK0 .

1999 - American rapper, singer, and songwriter Pop Smoke born. His debut studio album, Shoot for the Stars, Aim for the Moon, was posthumously released in July 2020 and debuted at No.1 on the Billboard chart with all 19 tracks from the album charting on the Billboard Hot 100. He died on 19 Feb 2020 after being shot twice in the chest during a home invasion in Hollywood Hills, California.

2000 - The Evergreen Ballroom in Lacey, Washington was destroyed by a fire. During the ballroom's heyday in the 1950s, 60s and 70s, many of music's greats played there: Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Duke Ellington, Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Ike & Tina Turner and Fats Domino. Glen Campbell had lived in the kitchen at the venue for a while before he became famous.

2015 - American country musician, songwriter and record producer Wayne Carson died at the age of 72 after suffering congestive heart failure. He co-wrote 'Always on My Mind', (a hit for Elvis Presley, Willie Nelson and others), 'The Letter', (recorded by The Box Tops, Joe Cocker and Leon Russell), and 'Soul Deep' - https://youtu.be/uXOy0Jgz9WM .

2017 - Linkin Park lead singer Chester Bennington died aged 41. His body was found at a private home, Bennington apparently hanged himself. The singer was said to be close to Soundgarden vocalist Chris Cornell, who took his own life in May 2017. Formed in 1996, Linkin Park had sold more than 70 million albums worldwide and won two Grammy Awards.

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