Today in 1968, Keith Moon tried to leave a birthday party that was raucous enough to attract the police. Moon found a Lincoln Continental limousine out front and tried to leave, but succeeded only in releasing the parking brake.
Gravity and momentum drove the limo into the house’s swimming pool.
The number one British single today in 1968 was the oldest singer to get a British number one:
The number one album today in 1976 was “Wings at the Speed of Sound”:
Today in 1990, the road crew for former Pink Floyd member Roger Waters was building a set for Waters’ “The Wall” concert in Potsdamer Platz, Germany, when it discovered an unexploded World War II bomb. Which led to obvious advice:
Proving that singers are often better off singing than speaking, today in 2007 Sheryl Crow suggested helping the environment by restricting use of toilet paper to “only one square per restroom visit, except, of course, on those pesky occasions where two to three could be required.”
Crow made her pronouncement online during a biodiesel-powered bus tour to raise awareness of climate change.
Birthdays begin with Barbra Streisand:
Drummer Doug Clifford of Creedence Clearwater Revival:
Glen Cornick of Jethro Tull (lest I be accused of …):
Today in 1964, the president of Britain’s National Federation of Hairdressers offered free haircuts to members of the next number one act in the British charts, adding, “The Rolling Stones are the worst; one of them looks as if he’s got a feather duster on his head.”
One assumes he was referring to Keith Richards, who is still working (and, to some surprise, still alive) 48 years later.
The number one British single today in 1965:
The number one British album today in 1972 was Deep Purple’s “Machine Head”:
Birthdays start with ex-Beach Boy Glen Campbell:
Peter Frampton recorded the biggest live album of all time:
Paul Carrack of Ace, Squeeze and Mike + the Mechanics:
Bon Jovi bassist Craig Logan:
Two deaths of note today: Songwriter (and Milwaukee native) Matilda Genevieve “Felice” Bryant in 2003 …
… and Paul Davis a day after his birthday in 2008:
Today in 1964, the Beatles appeared on the BBC’s “Morecambe and Wise”:
The Beatles had the number one single on both sides of the Atlantic that day:
The number one British single today in 1972 wasn’t exactly a one-hit wonder, but it wasn’t a traditional hit either:
Today in 1975, four fans of the Bay City Rollers were hospitalized and 35 others were treated at the scene when they tried to swim across a lake to see the Rollers, who were making a BBC Radio 1 fun day at an amusement park.
The number one British single today in 1981 was that year’s Eurovision song contest winner:
The number one single today in 2009:
Birthdays begin with Glen Hardin, one of Buddy Holly’s Crickets:
Today in 1969, MC5 demonstrated how not to protest a department store’s failure to sell your albums: Take out a Detroit newspaper ad that says “Fuck Hudsons.”
Not only did Hudsons not change its mind, Elektra Records dropped MC5.
Detective Kenneth Hutchinson of a California police department had the number one single today in 1977:
The number one album today in 1983 was Bonnie Tyler’s “Faster Than the Speed of Night”:
The number one album today in 1994 was Bonnie Raitt’s “Longing in Their Hearts”:
Birthdays begin with Henry Mancini:
The producer of two huge ’70s movies, Robert Stigwood:
Dusty Springfield:
Gerry Rafferty:
Stephen Singleton of ABC:
Green Bay native Dave Pirner of Soul Asylum:
One death of note today in 1999: Skip Spence, an original member of Jefferson Airplane:
Steve Prestegard.com: The Presteblog 