Today in Oldies Music History: May 21

Today In Oldies Music History: May 21

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Births

1901: Horace Heidt
1904: Fats Waller
1918: Dennis Day
1941: Ronald Isley (The Isley Brothers)
1943: Hilton Valentine (The Animals)
1943: Vincent Crane (The Crazy World of Arthur Brown)
1943: John Dalton (The Kinks)
1944: Marcie Blane
1947: Bill Champlin
1948: Leo Sayer

Deaths

1990: Morris Levy
2001: Tommy Eyre

Events

1956: 2,500 fans storm the stage at the Municipal Auditorium in Topeka, KS during Elvis Presley's show there.
1960: Fabian is reported to be working on two upcoming movies: High Time, starring Bing Crosby, and North To Alaska, starring John Wayne.
1964: After performing in England, Bob Dylan takes a vacation in Paris, where he would meet German model Nico, for whom he would later pen the classic "I'll Keep It With Mine."
1966: The Castiles, a band made up of five school kids from Freehold Regional High in New Jersey, perform at their own senior prom. Lead singer: future superstar Bruce Springsteen.
1968: Police raid the London flat of the Rolling Stones' Brian Jones and find marijuana, which Jones claims was left behind by a friend; although already on probation, he is merely fined 150 pounds by a sympathetic judge.
1971: Free announce their breakup; two of the band members would go on to form Bad Company.
1976: The Rolling Stones begin the first of six nights residency at London's Earls Court Arena, a tired series of shows, later immortalized on the Love You Live album, that lead to the first charge of "dinosaur" from the country's burgeoning punk movement.
1979: Elton John plays the first of eight historic concerts in Moscow, making him the first rock star to perform there.
1980: Gold albums of Jimi Hendrix' Are You Experienced?, Axis: Bold As Love, Cry Of Love, Rainbow Bridge, and Live At Monterey are stolen from New York's Electric Lady Studios.
1980: After poor ticket sales cause him to cancel his second concert there, Bob Dylan his last "gospel" show in Dayton, OH, eventually returning to secular music.
1981: Bob Marley is laid to rest, with full state honors, in St. Ann's, Jamaica.
1983: Ex-Doobie Brother Michael McDonald marries his first wife, singer Amy Holland.
1992: Johnny Carson, ending his 26-year tenure as host of NBC-TV's Tonight Show with his next-to-last show. The lone guest is Bette Midler, who famously sings a rewritten version of "You Made Me Love You" (as "You Made Me Watch You") and a moving version of "One For My Baby (And One More For The Road)."
2003: Paul McCartney is awarded an honorary doctorate in music from the conservatory of Russia's St. Petersburg University.
2008: Aerosmith's Steven Tyler, well-known for having overcome drug addiction decades earlier, shocks the rock world by checking into a rehab facility in Pasadena, CA.

Releases

1968: Elvis Presley, "Let Yourself Go"
1971: Paul McCartney, Ram

Recording

1940: Will Bradley, "Beat Me Daddy, Eight To The Bar"
1955: Chuck Berry, "Maybelline"
1957: Paul Anka, "Diana"
1959: Jackie Wilson, "I'll Be Satisfied"
1962: Dee Dee Sharp, "Gravy (For My Mashed Potatoes)"
1963: Stevie Wonder, "Fingertips (Part 2)"
1964: The Drifters, "Under The Boardwalk"
1965: Bob Dylan, "If You Gotta Go, Go Now"

Charts

1966: Dusty Springfield's "You Don't Have To Say You Love Me" enters the charts
1966: The Mamas and the Papas' LP If You Can Believe Your Eyes And Ears hits #1
1977: Stevie Wonder's "Sir Duke" hits #1

Certifications

1973: Sylvia's "Pillow Talk" is certified gold