Today in 1966, Jan Berry of Jan and Dean crashed his Corvette into a parked truck in Los Angeles, suffering permanent injuries.

The number one single today in 1969:

Today in 1975, David Bowie announced, “I’ve rocked my roll. It’s a boring dead end, there will be no more rock ‘n’ roll records from me.”

His retirement didn’t last. (Or put another way, he wasn’t ready after all for his Golden Years.)

The number one single today in 1975:

The number one British single today in 1980:

Birthdays today start with Herbert Mills of one of the great singing groups of the 1940s and 1950s, the Mills Brothers:

You probably have never heard of keyboard player Stan Free. You may have heard of his most notable record:

Who is Herbert Khaury? You knew him better as Tiny Tim:

Herbie Hancock has had a long jazz career, but hit the pop charts once for:

Who is Joachim Krauledat? You knew him better as John Kay, lead singer of Steppenwolf:

Blackfoot drummer Jackson Spires:

J.D. Nicholas was a guitarist for the Commodores and before that the underrated Heatwave:

Alexander Briley was a lead singer for the Village People:

Tony James played bass for Sigue Sigue Sputnik:

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