Music History

Glenn Miller and His Orchestra recorded “Elmer's Tune.”

Craig Douglas, born Terence Perkins in Newport on the Isle of Wight, became an English pop and rock and roll singer. Before beginning his professional music career, he worked as a milkman and became known as the “Singing Milkman”. His manager, Bunny Lewis, gave him the stage name Craig Douglas. He later became famous for his 1959 hit “Only Sixteen”, which reached No. 1 on the UK Singles Chart.

The country singer and songwriter, known for the 1964 hit “Once A Day”, was born Constance June Meador in Elkhart, Indiana.

He was born in Los Angeles. He was a singer, songwriter and founding member of The Byrds and Crosby, Stills & Nash, with whom, and sometimes with Neil Young, he achieved great success. With The Byrds, he took folk-rock to a new level, while with Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young he helped establish new standards for vocal harmonies. Throughout his life, he had numerous problems, mostly drug-related, and in 1986 he spent five months in prison.

American country musician Don Rich was born, a member of Buck Owens' backing group The Buckaroos.

Singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist David “Dave” Brock was born in Isleworth, Middlesex, England. He became known as one of the founders and the leading figure of the space-rock band Hawkwind, which had the No. 3 UK hit “Silver Machine” in 1972.

American singer and songwriter Jackie DeShannon, born Sharon Lee Myers, was born in Hazel, Kentucky. She became known for songs including “What the World Needs Now Is Love” and “Put a Little Love in Your Heart”.

Keyboardist, multi-instrumentalist and songwriter Tom Coster was born in Detroit, Michigan. He became known for his long collaboration with Carlos Santana, with whom he co-wrote the song “Europa (Earth's Cry Heaven's Smile)”.

Pete Shannon, bassist with The Nashville Teens, was born in Antrim, County Antrim, Northern Ireland.

Elliot Ingber, an American guitarist known as a member of Frank Zappa's Mothers of Invention, founder of Fraternity of Man and later a member of Captain Beefheart's Magic Band, was born.

Ernest Wright, doo-wop singer of Little Anthony & the Imperials, was born in Brooklyn, New York.

Christopher Augustine, drummer of Every Mother's Son, was born in New York City. The group is known for the 1967 hit “Come on Down to My Boat”.

Skinnay Ennis recorded the song “Don't Let Julia Fool Ya”.

English drummer and singer Christopher Crummey, known as Chris Curtis, was born in Liverpool. He became known as a member of The Searchers in the 1960s.

English drummer John Marshall was born. He was a founding member of the jazz-rock group Nucleus and served as the drummer of Soft Machine from 1972 to 1978. He also worked with Allan Holdsworth, Alexis Korner, Jack Bruce, and John McLaughlin.

English guitarist and singer John McNally was born in Walton, Liverpool. He was a founding member of The Searchers, with whom he remained for more than 60 years. The group had the UK No. 1 single “Needles And Pins” in 1964 and the US No. 3 single “Love Potion Number Nine”.

American songwriter, producer and musician Allen Toussaint was born.

American music producer and sound engineer Elliot Mazer was born in New York City. He worked with artists including Bob Dylan, Janis Joplin, Neil Young and Linda Ronstadt.

Ron Meagher, bassist of The Beau Brummels, was born in Oakland, California. In 1965, the group had the U.S. hit “Just A Little,” which reached No. 8.

American rock 'n' roll singer Chubby Checker, born Ernest Evans, was born in Spring Gully near Andrews, South Carolina, and grew up in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He popularized a number of dance styles, especially the Twist through the 1960 hit “The Twist,” originally recorded by Hank Ballard & The Midnighters, and the Pony through his 1961 cover of “Pony Time.” His biggest UK hit was “Let's Twist Again” from 1962. “The Twist” was the first song to reach No. 1 on the US Billboard Hot 100 twice, first in 1960 and again in 1962; this was not repeated until nearly 59 years later, when Mariah Carey's “All I Want for Christmas Is You” did so in December 2020. Chubby Checker also became famous for songs including “Limbo Rock” and “Pony Time.”

“Piano Concerto in B Flat” by Freddy Martin and His Orchestra reached number one on the US chart on October 4, 1941. The recording was based on Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto.

Arlene Smith, singer of the African-American girl group The Chantels, was born.

Claude Thornhill recorded the song “Autumn Nocturne.”

English musician Martin Murray, rhythm guitarist of the beat group The Honeycombs, was born in London.

R&B singer Tony Silvester of The Main Ingredient was born in Colón, Panama, as Enrique Antonio Silvester. The group is best known for their 1972 hit “Everybody Plays the Fool.”

Benny Goodman's orchestra recorded “Buckle Down Winsocki” with singer Tom Dix as the lead vocalist.

American pop singer and songwriter Reese Francis Clifford III, known as Buzz Clifford, was born in Berwyn, Illinois. He became known for the hit “Baby Sittin' Boogie,” which reached No. 6 in the U.S. in 1961.

English musician Dave Arbus, who played violin, flute, and saxophones with East of Eden, was born. As a guest musician, he played the violin solo on The Who's “Baba O'Riley.”

English musician George Bellamy, rhythm guitarist of The Tornados, was born in Sunderland, England.

American singer, songwriter, and guitarist Paul Simon was born in Newark, New Jersey. He became famous as one half of the folk-rock duo Simon & Garfunkel. He met Art Garfunkel while they were performing in a school production of Alice in Wonderland. Together, they recorded hits including "The Sound of Silence", "Mrs. Robinson", and "The Boxer". Simon also enjoyed solo success with the album Graceland and the song "You Can Call Me Al".

The film “Holiday Inn” had its world premiere at the Paramount Theatre in New York. The film introduced the famous song “White Christmas.”

Country and pop singer B.J. Thomas was born in Hugo, Oklahoma. He became known for hits including “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head”, “Don’t Worry Baby”, “Hooked on a Feeling” and “(Hey Won't You Play) Another Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song”, all of which reached No. 1 in the U.S.

British bassist and singer Johnny Gustafson was born in Liverpool, England. He performed with groups including The Big Three, The Merseybeats, Roxy Music, Quatermass and Ian Gillan Band.

Guy Villari of The Regents, the original performers of “Barbara Ann,” was born in The Bronx, New York.

Drummer and founding member of Manfred Mann Mike Hugg was born in Gosport, Hampshire, England. Manfred Mann had the UK and US No. 1 hit “Do Wah Diddy Diddy” in 1964. Hugg later became a member of Manfred Mann Chapter Three.

British rock drummer Pete York, a founding member of The Spencer Davis Group, was born.

R&B singer and songwriter Barbara George, known for the 1961 hit "I Know (You Don't Love Me No More)", was born in Smithridge, Louisiana.

Robert "Squirrel" Lester, founding member and second tenor of the vocal group The Chi-Lites, was born in McComb, Mississippi.

American singer, songwriter, composer and actor Isaac Hayes was born in Covington, Tennessee. He became known, among other things, for the songs “Soul Man” and “Theme from Shaft”, which reached No. 1 in the U.S. and No. 4 in the UK in 1971. In 1998, as Chef, he reached No. 2 on the British chart with “Chocolate Salty Balls”. He died on August 10, 2008, aged 65.

Doo-wop singer Tony “Spaghetti” Micale, frontman of The Reflections, was born in the Bronx, New York. He became known for the 1964 hit “(Just Like) Romeo and Juliet”.

Carl Mann, known for his rockabilly versions of songs including Nat King Cole's „Mona Lisa“ and The Platters' „Twilight Time“, was born in Huntingdon, Tennessee.

Jimmy Soul, whose real name was James Louis McCleese, was born in Weldon, North Carolina. He became famous for the 1963 hit „If You Wanna Be Happy“, which reached No. 1 on the chart.

Marshall Thompson, American singer, multi-instrumentalist and founding member of The Chi-Lites, was born in Chicago, Illinois.

American musician and songwriter Keith Allison was born. He became best known as a member of Paul Revere & the Raiders from 1968 to 1975. He also played guitar and harmonica on the Sonny & Cher song “The Beat Goes On”.

American singer and dancer Samuel Mendola, known as Vic Dana, was born in Buffalo, New York. He became known for 1960s hits such as “Little Altar Boy”, “I Will” and the popular cover version of “Red Roses for a Blue Lady”.

Musician, songwriter and producer Daryl Dragon, known as “Captain” from the husband-and-wife duo Captain & Tennille, was born in Los Angeles. His father was conductor Carmen Dragon. Captain & Tennille had several hits on the US chart, including “Love Will Keep Us Together”, “Do That to Me One More Time” and “Muskrat Love”. Dragon also worked with The Beach Boys. He died on January 2, 2019, from kidney failure.

American multi-instrumentalist, songwriter and producer Douglas Hatlelid, known as Chip Douglas, was born in San Francisco. He became known as a member of The Turtles and as a producer of The Monkees, for whom he produced hits including “Daydream Believer” and “Pleasant Valley Sunday”. The Turtles had the US No. 1 hit “Happy Together” in 1967.