Today In Music History
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| August 1, 1981 | MTV goes on the air, bringing music videos to the masses — at least the ones with cable. |
| August 2, 1968 | The Doors started a two week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Hello I Love You', the group's second US No.1. The Doors scored 8 top 40 US hits from 67-71. |
| August 2, 1998 | The Beatles are named "Favorite Recording Artist Of All Time," beating out Elvis, Frank Sinatra, Queen and Elton John, in that order, in a poll carried out by UK music magazine Mojo. |
| August 3, 1968 | The two day Newport Pop Festival took place in Costa Mesa, California with Alice Cooper, Canned Heat, Chambers Brothers, Charles Lloyd Quartet, Country Joe and the Fish, Electric Flag, Paul Butterfield Blues Band, Sonny & Cher, Steppenwolf and Tiny Tim. Over 100,000 fans attended the festival. |
| August 3, 1985 | Tears For Fears' "Shout" hits #1 in the US for the first of three weeks. It's the English duo's second chart-topper, following "Everybody Wants To Rule The World." |
| August 4, 1968 | The second day of the two day Newport Pop Festival took place in Costa Mesa, California with Blue Cheer, Eric Burdon & The Animals, Grateful Dead, Illinois Speed Press, Iron Butterfly, Jefferson Airplane, Quicksilver Messenger Service and The Byrds. Over 100,000 fans attended the festival. |
| August 4, 1972 | The movie Super Fly is released, along with a soundtrack by Curtis Mayfield. |
| August 5, 1983 | Crosby Stills Nash & Young member David Crosby was sentenced to five years in jail in Texas for cocaine and firearms offences. Crosby had slept through most of his trial. |
| August 5, 2021 | Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga play the second of two sold-out shows at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. It's Bennett's last performance. |
| August 6, 2015 | The hip-hop infused musical based on the life of Alexander Hamilton, Hamilton, opens on Broadway at the Richard Rodgers Theatre six months after a sold-out off-Broadway debut. |
| August 7, 1980 | John Lennon began recording his final album, 'Double Fantasy' at The Hit Factory, in New York City. It would be released on November 17th by the newly-formed Geffen Records and would win the 1982 Grammy Award for Album of the Year. |
| August 7, 1991 | Paul Simon performs a free concert in Central Park, a recording of which eventually becomes the album Paul Simon's Concert In The Park. |
| August 8, 1969 | The Beatles shoot the photo for their Abbey Road album cover at the crosswalk outside Abbey Road studios, where they are recording. |
| August 8, 1970 | Janis Joplin bought a headstone for the grave of her greatest influence Bessie Smith at the Mont Lawn Cemetery in Philadelphia. Blues singer Smith died in 1937 after being refused admission to a whites only hospital. |
| August 9, 1968 | After the other Beatles had gone home for the evening (2.00 am), Paul McCartney stayed behind and recorded 'Mother Nature's Son', taping 25 takes at Abbey Road studios. The song was included on The White Album. |
| August 10, 1963 | Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead dies from a heart attack at age 53. |
| August 10, 1963 | Stevie Wonder's "Fingertips (Part 2)" becomes the first live recording to hit #1 in the US. It holds the position for three weeks. |
| August 10, 1963 | Stevie Wonder's "Fingertips (Part 2)" becomes the first live recording to hit #1 in the US. It holds the position for three weeks. |
| August 11, 1973 | The first big oldies revival kicks off in earnest as George Lucas' new film, American Graffiti, opens in theaters. Set in/1962, the film creates a wave of nostalgia for songs from the '50s and early '60s. |
| August 11, 2008 | The Canadian singer Feist appears on Sesame Street, where she turns her song "1234" into a lesson in counting. It becomes one of the most popular music segments on the show. |
| August 12, 1970 | At Harvard, Janis Joplin performs what will be her final concert, ending with a version of Gershwin's "Summertime." |
| August 12, 2014 | Lauren Bacall, the last living film star mentioned in Madonna's song "Vogue," dies at age 89. |
| August 13, 1966 | The Lovin' Spoonful's "Summer In The City" hits #1 for the first of three weeks, becoming the first chart-topper with street sounds in the mix. |
| August 13, 1990 | While doing a sound check for an outdoor concert at Wingate Field in Flatbush, Brooklyn, Curtis Mayfield is paralyzed when a lighting tower falls from the stage and onto his back. He remains a quadriplegic for the next nine years until his death in 1999. |
| August 14, 1965 | Sonny and Cher's "I Got You Babe" hits #1 for the first of three weeks. |
| August 14, 2015 | The first presidential playlists are released. Barack Obama's selections include tracks by Bob Dylan, Aretha Franklin and John Legend. |
| August 15, 1965 | The Beatles perform at Shea Stadium in New York marking the first time a rock band headlines a stadium in America. |
| August 15, 1965 | The Beatles set a new world record for the largest attendance at a pop concert when they played in front of 55,600 fans at Shea Stadium in New York City. The Beatles were paid $160,000 for the show, the set list included: ‘Twist and Shout’, ‘She's a Woman’, ‘I Feel Fine’, ‘Dizzy Miss Lizzie’, ‘Ticket to Ride’, ‘Can't Buy Me Love’, ‘Baby's In Black’, ‘I Wanna Be Your Man’, ‘A Hard Day's Night’, ‘Help!’, and ‘I'm Down’. Two of the Rolling Stones were among the audience, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards and later that evening; Bob Dylan visited The Beatles at their hotel. |
| August 16, 1977 | The King is dead. Elvis Presley dies at his home in Graceland. |
| August 17, 1968 | The Doors' third album, Waiting For The Sun, hits #1 in America thanks to the hit "Hello, I Love You." |
| August 17, 1998 | Santana's Carlos Santana is awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. |
| August 18, 1937 | The first FM (frequency modulation) radio station in the US, Boston's WGTR is granted its construction permit by the FCC. |
| August 18, 1955 | Pete Seeger testifies before the House Un-American Activities Committee, where he is asked if he has performed for communists. Seger replies: "I have sung for Americans of every political persuasion, and I am proud that I never refuse to sing to an audience, no matter what religion or color of their skin, or situation in life. I have sung in hobo jungles, and I have sung for the Rockefellers, and I am proud that I have never refused to sing for anybody." |
| August 19, 1969 | Crosby, Stills and Nash appear on the Dick Cavett Show, giving a first-hand account of the Woodstock festival that took place over the weekend. Joni Mitchell, who skipped the festival to make sure she could keep her appearance on the show, performs a song she wrote about it called "Woodstock." |
| August 19, 1969 | Crosby, Stills and Nash appear on the Dick Cavett Show, giving a first-hand account of the Woodstock festival that took place over the weekend. Joni Mitchell, who skipped the festival to make sure she could keep her appearance on the show, performs a song she wrote about it called "Woodstock." |
| August 20, 1972 | Stax Records commemorates the seventh anniversary of the 1965 Watts riots with a star-studded benefit concert at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Isaac Hayes, The Bar-Kays, The Staple Singers and Kim Weston, among others perform for more than 100,000 fans. |
| August 20, 1983 | Taco's cover of the Irving Berlin song "Puttin' On the Ritz" reaches #9 on the Hot 100, making the 95-year-old Berlin the oldest living songwriter ever to land a Top 10 on that tally. |
| August 21, 1993 | The soundtrack to the hit romantic comedy Sleepless In Seattle knocks Cypress Hill's Black Sunday off the top of the Billboard 200. |
| August 21, 1993 | For one week, standards outsell rap as the soundtrack to the hit romantic comedy Sleepless In Seattle knocks Cypress Hill's Black Sunday off the top of the Billboard 200. |
| August 22, 1938 | Count Basie records "Jumpin' At The Woodside." |
| August 22, 1964 | The Supremes started a two week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Where Did Our Love Go' the girl group's first No.1. Holland–Dozier–Holland had originally composed the song for The Marvelettes to record it who rejected the song. |
| August 22, 2021 | Don Everly, of the Everly Brothers, died at the age of 84. |
| August 23, 1968 | The Beatles record "Back In The U.S.S.R." |
| August 23, 1969 | Johnny Cash's album Johnny Cash At San Quentin, which is the soundtrack to a documentary of the same name featuring Cash performing at the prison, hits #1 for the first of four weeks. |
| August 24, 1966 | The Youngbloods record "Get Together." |
| August 24, 1966 | The Youngbloods record "Get Together." |
| August 24, 2021 | Charlie Watts, drummer for the Rolling Stones, died at the age of 80 surrounded by his family at a London hospital. |
| August 25, 1967 | After a two-year bout with stage fright, Beach Boys founder and musical genius Brian Wilson returns to playing live with the band. |
| August 25, 1970 | Jimi Hendrix opens Electric Ladyland Studios in New York City. He dies a few months later, but the studio lives on, with many major acts recording there over the years. |
| August 26, 1970 | The five-day Isle of Wight festival kicks off in England, with Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Joni Mitchell, Donovan, Jethro Tull, Miles Davis, Emerson, Lake And Palmer, The Doors, The Who, The Moody Blues, Chicago, Procol Harum, Sly and the Family Stone, and in his last concert appearance in England, Jimi Hendrix. |
| August 26, 1970 | The five-day Isle of Wight festival kicks off in England, with Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Joni Mitchell, Donovan, Jethro Tull, Miles Davis, The Doors, The Who, The Moody Blues, Chicago, Procol Harum, Sly and the Family Stone, Free and, in his last concert appearance in England, Jimi Hendrix. |
| August 27, 1965 | Elvis Presley meets The Beatles for the first time when the Fab 4 visit The Elvis’ Los Angeles mansion. They hang out, talk music and have a little jam session. |
| August 27, 1998 | Tracy Chapman's self-titled debut album hits #1 in the US while her song "Fast Car" peaks at #6. |
| August 28, 1963 | Martin Luther King delivers his famous "I Have A Dream" speech at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC. The music connection: Peter, Paul and Mary sing Bob Dylan's "Blowin' In The Wind" before King speaks. |
| August 28, 1996 | Isaac Hayes officially protests the use of Sam and Dave's classic "Soul Man" (which he wrote) by the Bob Dole US Presidential campaign (which had renamed it "I'm A Dole Man"). |
| August 29, 1920 | Jazz saxophonist Charlie "Bird" Parker is born in Kansas City, Kansas. But is raised in Kansas City, Missouri. |
| August 29, 1970 | The Isle of Wight Festival hits its stride on Day 4 (of 5), with performances by Miles Davis, The Doors The Who & Joni Mitchell |
| August 30, 1969 | Santana release their self-titled debut album, with standout tracks "Evil Ways" and "Soul Sacrifice." |
| August 30, 1969 | Santana releases their self-titled debut album. |
| August 31, 1971 | John Lennon leaves England to start a new life with his wife, Yoko, in New York City. He never returns to England. |
| August 31, 2015 | On his 70th birthday, Van Morrison plays two shows on Cyprus Avenue in Belfast, inspiration for his song "Cyprus Avenue." |