August 6th

Musical birthdays today include Charlie Haden (76), Allan Holdsworth (67), Randy Debarge (55) and Geri Haliwell (41).. Shoutout to the Great Beyond for Velvet Underground producer and manager Andy Warhol, who would have been 85 today, and for Elliot Smith, who would have been 44... for early jazz great Bix Beiderbecke, who died on this day in 1931 at the age of 28... for Memphis Minnie, who departed 40 years ago today... and for Rick James, who left us today in 2004 aged 56... Also on August 6th: Chubby Checker appears on American Bandstand to perform The Twist, which will go to no. 1 on the Billboard chart within a week (1960)... At CBS Recording Studio A, Bob Dylan begins the sessions for The Times They Are A-changin' with producer Tom Wilson. The title track will become Dylan's first hit single in the UK, and the album will be the first to feature only the singer's own compositions (1963)...The Beatles' album Help! is released in the UK (1965)... At Shea Stadium, Steppenwolf, Janis Joplin and Paul Simon headline the Concert for Peace, held on this date to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima (1970)... 

Stevie Wonder was seriously injured when the car he was riding in crashed into a truck on the I-85 Interstate near Winston-Salem, North Carolina leaving him in a coma for four days. The 

accident also left him without any sense of smell (1973)... 

Abba score their first US top 10 hit when 'Waterloo' goes to No.6. The Swedish group are also on their first American tour (1974)...

The Police appear at The Red Cow pub, Hammersmith Road in London ~ admission is 60p (1977)...

Stevie Nicks releases her first solo album, Bella Donna, which contains four top 40 US hits. ‘Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around’, (with Tom Petty), ‘Leather and Lace’, (with Don Henley), ‘Edge of Seventeen’ and ‘After the Glitter Fades (1981)... 

Pink Floyd's 'The Wall' starring Bob Geldof opens in movie theatres in New York. The film was conceived alongside the double album by band member Roger Waters (1982) 

Guns N' Roses debut album Appetite for Destruction completes a 57-week scent to the top spot on the US album charts went to No.1 in the US, after spending 57 weeks. Singles from the album, ‘Sweet Child O’ Mine,’ ‘Welcome to the Jungle’ and ‘Paradise City’ were all US top 10 hits. The album remains the best-selling debut album of all-time in the US, with Boston's eponymous debut a distant second (1988)... 

Whitney Houston become one of the highest-paid musicians in the world after signing a new deal with Arista Records said to be worth more than $100 million (2001)... 

Steven Tyler is airlifted to hospital after falling off stage during a gig at the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in South Dakota. The 61-year-old Aerosmith frontman fell from a catwalk into the crowd, injuring 2 fans as well as himself. Approximately 30 minutes after the accident, guitarist Joe Perry came out to tell the crowd that the remainder of the show had been cancelled (2009).