Today In Oldies Music History: July 27
--Births
1922: Bob Thiele1927: Bob Morse (The Hi-Los)
1929: Harvey Fuqua (The Moonglows)
1933: Nick Reynolds (The Kingston Trio)
1943: Al Ramsey (Gary Lewis and the Playboys)
1944: Bobby Gentry
1947: Andy McMaster (The Motors)
1949: Maureen McGovern
1950: Michael Vaughn (Paper Lace)
Deaths
1990: Bobby Day1999: Harry "Sweets" Edison
2001: Harold Land
2001: Leon Wilkeson (Lynyrd Skynyrd)
2002: John Entwistle (The Who)
Events
1958: A study by Esso oil (formerly Standard Oil, eventually Exxon) finds that drivers speed more and therefore waste more gas when listening to the new fad of rock and roll music.1968: A riot erupts at Chicago's Grant Park after Sly and the Family Stone fail to appear for a free concert.
1969: Robin Gibb of the Bee Gees collapses from "nervous exhaustion" just as the group is about to embark on its first US tour, but it's actually a ruse designed to hasten his exit from the group.
1974: After 23 years, Dinah Shore leaves the NBC-TV network when it cancels her morning program Dinah's Place in order to concentrate on game shows.
1976: John Lennon ends his four-year fight to stay in the US as a special government hearing granted him a green card (Number A-17-597-321).
1976: Bruce Springsteen's meteoric career rise is stalled when he sues manager Mike Appel for fraud and breach of contract, keeping him from performing or recording for over a year.
1976: After years of alleged physical and verbal abuse, and having left over the Fourth of July with nothing but pocket change and a gas station credit card, Tina Turner files for divorce from her husband of sixteen years, Ike.
1979: A firebomb destroys Alice Cooper's Indian art store in Scottsdale, AZ, causing $200,000 in damage to, among other things, some of Cooper's gold records. The singer jokes that perhaps a "disco music freak" torched the place, as Alice had been quite vocal about not liking the new musical trend.
1992: Michael Jackson sues the London tabloid Daily Mirror over claims that too many plastic surgeries had left him permanently disfigured.
1994: Bob Seger serves jury duty in Michigan and, as the foreman in a criminal trial, finds the defendant guilty.
2006: The company behind file-sharing service Kazaa agrees to pay record labels over $115 million in damages for piracy.
Releases
1959: Santo and Johnny, "Sleepwalk"1968: The Rascals, "People Got To Be Free"
1968: Mama Cass Elliot, "Dream A Little Dream Of Me"
1974: Lynyrd Skynyrd, "Sweet Home Alabama"
Recording
1942: Peggy Lee, "Why Don’t You Do Right"1961: The Tokens, "The Lion Sleeps Tonight"
Charts
1955: Chuck Berry's "Maybellene" enters the R&B charts1957: The Bobbette's "Mr. Lee" enters the charts
1974: John Denver's "Annie's Song" hits #1
