Today in 1963, ABC-TV’s “American Bandstand” moved from every weekday afternoon in Philadelphia …

… to Saturdays in California:

The number one album today in 1968 was the Doors’ “Waiting for the Sun,” their only number one album:

Today in 2007, on the 11th anniversary of the Las Vegas shooting of rap stars Marion “Suge” Knight and Tupac Shakur (who died six days later), a study revealed that rock stars were twice as likely to die early as non-rock stars. Researchers said premature rock star deaths were so prevalent (for proof, read on) that the industry should be labeled a “high-risk” profession.

Birthdays begin with Al Caiola, who recorded two famous TV theme songs:

Buddy Holly:

Alfa Anderson of Chic:

Gloria Gaynor:

Chrissie Hynde of the Pretenders:

Jermaine Stewart, who claimed …

Two death anniversaries, first from The Who, who famously sang that they hoped to die before they get old. Keith Moon, drummer for The Who, died today in 1978 at 31, before he got old:

Today in 2003, Warren Zevon died. Zevon was known most for “Werewolves of London” …

… but he was also was the piano player and band leader for the Everly Brothers, recorded a song for the movie “Midnight Cowboy” …

… and had Jackson Browne, The Eagles and Linda Ronstadt play on his albums.

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