The number one single today in 1963:

Today in 1967, the Beatles released “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band”:

The number one single today in 1968:

Today in 1969 during their Montreal “Bed-In” (moved from New York City due to a previous marijuana conviction), John Lennon and Yoko Ono, with backing vocals from Timothy Leary, Tommy Smothers, Dick Gregory, DJ Murray the K, Allen Ginsburg and others, recorded this request:

The number one single today in 1970:

Today in 1973, Paul McCartney and Wings release “Live and Let Die,” from my favorite James Bond movie:

Today in 1975, Ron Wood celebrated his 28th birthday by replacing Mick Taylor on guitar for the Rolling Stones:

The number one single today in 1985:

Birthdays today include band leader and composer Nelson Riddle, a name famous even for those who didn’t listen to his five decades of composing because he wrote these two songs:

(What, other than Riddle, do those two shows have in common? Martin Milner, who starred in “Route 66” and then “Adam-12,” whose character made an appearance in the “Emergency!” pilot.)

Keyboardist and bassist Mike Levine of Triumph:

Alan Wilder of Depeche Mode:

Alanis Morrisette:

Today is also the anniversary of the death of Temptations singer David Ruffin of a drug overdose at 50:

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