Today In Oldies Music History: May 7
--Births
1927: Jim Lowe1931: Teresa Brewer
1939: Johnny Maestro (The Crests, The Brooklyn Bridge)
1939: Jimmy Ruffin
1942: Lorrie Collins
1943: Rick West (The Tremeloes)
1945: Christy Moore
1946: Thelma Houston
1946: Bill Danoff (Starland Vocal Band)
1946: Bill Kreutzmann (Grateful Dead)
1946: Jerry Nolan (New York Dolls)
1948: Pete Wingfield
1949: Keith
1950: Prairie Prince (The Tubes)
Deaths
1989: Ron Wilson (The Surfaris)1998: Eddie Rabbitt
1998: Alphonso Howell (The Sensations)
2004: Rudy Maugeri (The Crew Cuts)
2010: Dave Fisher (The Highwaymen)
Events
1955: Ray Charles breaks through with his first R&B #1, a revamped version of a gospel standard called "It Must Be Jesus" called "I Got A Woman."1958: The Champs appear on ABC-TV's American Bandstand to perform their hit instrumental "Tequila."
1965: At London's Twickenham Studios, the Beatles film the scene in Help! entitled "The Exciting Adventures of Paul On The Floor," where a suddenly shrunken Paul McCartney tries to hide his newly-naked body.
1967: During Moscow's May Day celebrations, several Soviet teens dance the twist in outright violation of the Ministry of Culture's orders against Western decadence.
1967: Breaking his self-imposed exile after a motorcylce accident the previous year, Bob Dylan gives his first post-crash interview to the New York Daily News.
1968: Singer-songwriter Reginald Dwight changes his name legally to Elton Hercules John, the first and last names taken from his former bandmates in Bluesology, Elton Dean and Long John Baldry.
1972: Tom Jones' Special London Bridge Special, featuring the Carpenters and Engelbert Humperdinck but also celebrities from Kirk Douglas to Charlton Heston, airs on the BBC.
1978: Bob Dylan's upcoming series of concerts at London's Wembley Empire sell out all 90,000 tickets in just eight hours.
1982: Diana Ross is awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6712 Hollywood Blvd.
1991: In his hometown of Englewood, NJ, Wilson Pickett is arrested for insisting on driving over the lawn of his neighbor, Donald Aronson, who just happens to be the town's Mayor. After finding a knife and baseball bat in his vehicle, attempted murder is added to the charges. Pickett is inexplicably let off with a charity concert and a one-year probation.
1991: Rolling Stones bassist Bill Wyman, 54, ends his two-year marriage to model Mandy Smith, 21, whom he had begun dating at 13. Despite only spending two months total with Wyman during their marriage, she receives a settlement of $6.5 million.
1994: BTO's Randy Bachman acts as conductor in Vancouver for a 1,322-guitar orchestra, performing the band's hit "Takin' Care Of Business" for over an hour and, in the process, setting a new world record.
2002: London authorities wrap up their four-month investigation of Who guitarist Pete Townshend, charged with downloading child pornography in 1999. Townshend, who claimed he was researching a book he was writing about his own childhood sexual abuse, was not jailed but was placed on a national sex offender registry.
2003: Carole King appears as music store owner Sophie Bloom on tonight's "Help Wanted" episode of WB-TV's Gilmore Girls (King's re-recording of her hit "Where You Lead" is the show's theme song).
2009: Dolly Parton is awarded an honorary Doctorate of Music from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville.
Releases
1972: The Rolling Stones, Exile On Main Street1973: George Harrison, "Give Me Love (Give Me Peace On Earth)"
1975: Elvis Presley, Today
Recording
1941: Glenn Miller and his Orchestra, "Chattanooga Choo Choo"1968: Aretha Franklin, "Aretha in Paris"
Charts
1949: Hank Williams' "Lovesick Blues" hits #11961: Tony Orlando's "Halfway To Paradise" enters the charts
1966: Simon and Garfunkel's "I Am A Rock" enters the charts
1966: The Mamas and the Papas' "Monday, Monday" hits #1
1977: The Eagles' "Hotel California" hits #1
