April 16th

Musical birthdays today include Bobby Vinton (89), pop singer Vince Hill (87), former Midnight Oil lead singer Peter Garrett (71), former Minor Threat guitarist Ian MacKaye (62), Jimmy Osmond (61), Soul Asylum frontman Dave Pirner (60), and singer-songwriter Marié Digby (41). 

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for Henry Mancini, and former Bill Haley & His Comets saxophonist Rudy Pompilli, both born on this day in 1924... for jazz flautist Herbie Mann, born in 1931... for empresario & producer Robert Stigwood, who would have been 90... for Dusty Springfield, who would have been 84... for original Foghat lead singer Dave Peverett, who would have been 81... for Gerry Rafferty, who would have been 77... for Selena, who would have been 52... for original Jefferson Airplane drummer Skip Spence, who died in 1999... and for prog rock guitarist Allan Holdsworth, who left us today in 2018. 

Also on April 16th: Meyerbeer's opera Le Prophète premieres in Paris (1840)... Heitor Villa-Lobos' opera Izaht is performed in Rio de Janeiro for the first time (1940)... Decca Records release Buddy Holly's debut single, 'Blue Days, Black Nights' (1956)... At Gerde's Folk City, Bob Dylan performs 'Blowin' in the Wind' in public for the first time (1962)... The Rolling Stones' eponymous debut album is released in the UK... The Beatles film the 'chase scenes' for 'A Hard Day's Night ' with actors dressed as policemen in the Notting Hill Gate area of London. In the evening, the band record the title track for the film at Abbey Road. John and Paul had the title first, and then finished the song around it. They complete the track in nine takes (1964)... Transatlantic records release Bert Jansch's self-titled debut (1965)... Pye Records release A Gift from a Flower to a Garden, the first double album of Donovan's career (1968)... Desmond Dekker and the Aces have the № 1 single in the UK with 'The Israelites', making them the first Jamaican artists to top the British chart... Elektra Records drop The MC5 from their label after the band took out an advertisement in a Detroit newspaper that included the company logo and the words 'Fuck Hudson's.' The band were expressing their displeasure at the Michigan department store's refusal to stock their albums (1969)... 'Whole Lotta Love' is certified Gold in the US after selling over a million copies. The single peaked at № 4 on the US singles chart. In the UK, Atlantic Records had expected to issue the 45 RPM as well, and pressed initial copies for release on the of 5th December 1969. However, Led Zeppelin manager Peter Grant was adamant that the band maintain a 'no-singles' approach to marketing their recorded music in Britain, and he halted the release (1970)... The Electric Light Orchestra make their debut at The Fox and Greyhound in Croydon, Surrey. ELO were formed to accommodate the desire of Roy Wood and Jeff Lynne, both former members of The Move, to create modern rock and pop songs with classical overtones. Wood departed following the band's debut record, leaving Lynne to write and arranged all of the group's original compositions and produce every album (1972)... Paul McCartney's first television special, 'James Paul McCartney', airs in America on the ABC network. The show, which includes performances by McCartney and Wings, will be broadcast in the UK on May 10th (1973)... David Soul, one half of the TV duo Starsky & Hutch, makes his only hit as a singer a big one, topping the charts in both the US and the UK with 'Don't Give up on Us' (1977)... The soundtrack to Martin Scorsese's film of The Band's final concert in 1976 'The Last Waltz is released (1978)... Bonnie Tyler's debut album Faster Than the Speed of Light gives the Welsh singer her only UK № 1 LP (1983)... David Lee Roth is arrested in Washington Square Park in NYC for allegedly buying a $10 bag of marijuana from an undercover police officer (1993)... The Artist Formerly Known as Prince has his first UK № 1 single with 'The Most Beautiful Girl in the World.' It is the singer's first release since changing his stage name to an unpronounceable symbol (1994)... Jerry Lee Lewis files for divorce from his sixth wife, Kerrie McCarver Lewis. They had been married since 1984 (2003)... OK Computer by Radiohead is voted the best album of all time in a national phone-in poll by UK TV station Channel 4. U2 are in second place with The Joshua Tree and Nirvana in third with Nevermind (2005).