October 31

Musical birthdays today include Tom Paxton (76), Supertramp drummer Bob Siebenberg (64), Guided by Voices frontman Robert Pollard (56), singer-songwriter Kate Campell (52), Larry Mullen, Jr. (52), Motörhead drummer Mikkey Dee (50), Johnny Marr (50), My Bloody Valentine drummer Colm Ó Cíosóig (49), country singer Darryl Worley (49), Adam 'Ad-Rock' Horovitz (47), ex-Bow Wow Wow lead singer Annabella Lwin (47), Napalm Death guitarist Mitch Harris (44), former Ace of Base lead singer Linn Berggren (43), Fabulous Thunderbirds guitarist Johnny Moeller (43), Blind Melon guitarist Rogers Stevens (43), Less Than Jake bassist Roger Manganelli (39), and ex-My Chemical Romance guitarist Frank Iero (32). 

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for singing cowgirl Dale Evans, born on this date in 1912... for pioneering R&B saxophonist Illinois Jacquet, born in 1922... for saxophonist and Mingus sideman Booker Ervin, who would have been 83 today... for Ali Farka Touré, who would have been 74... and for producer and Chic bassist Bernard Edwards, who would have been 61.

Also on October 31: St. Louis-based pianist Johnnie Johnson hires a 26-year-old hairdresser named Chuck Berry as a guitarist in his band. While playing evening gigs in the area, Berry keeps his day job for the next three years (1955)...The Quarry Men decide to change their name to Johnny and the Moondogs. The band are in Liverpool auditioning for the Carrol Levis radio show (1959)... The Beatles return to London from Sweden and are greeted by hundreds of screaming fans as well as a mob of photographers and journalists. Ed Sullivan is at Heathrow waiting for a flight to New York as the Fab Four arrive, and is struck by the sight of Beatlemania in full swing; he makes a note to look into getting this group to appear on his television program (1963)... The Who make their first and only appearance at the Cavern Club in Liverpool (1965)... Led Zeppelin hold the UK launch for their new record label Swan Song at Chislehurst Caves, Surrey on Halloween night. Drinks are served by nuns in suspenders, a naked woman is lying in a coffin covered in jelly and naked male wrestlers cavort in recesses of the caves. Label mates Bad Company, The Pretty Things and Maggie Bell also attend. The launch also ties in with the releases of The Pretty Things new album Silk Torpedo. The label was named after an unreleased Zeppelin instrumental track (1974)... Roger Waters files an injunction went to try and stop David Gilmour and Nick Mason from using the name 'Pink Floyd' for future touring and recording (1986)... The first MTV Unplugged show is recorded in New York, with guests Squeeze. The program will be aired on the 26th of November (1989)... During a gig in Seattle, Billy Idol dumps 600 dead fish in Faith No More's dressing room. They respond by walking on stage naked during Idol's set (1990)... James Brown is arrested in Aiken, South Carolina for assaulting his 47 year old wife Adrienne, who alleges that her husband hit her with a mirror. The assault charges against Brown will be dropped when Adrienne dies in January, 1996 (1995)... Slash announces that he is leaving Guns N' Roses. The guitarist says that Axl Rose and he have only been civil to each other on two occasions since 1994 (1996)... Cher starts a seven week run at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Believe', taken from her twenty-third studio album. It makes Cher (who is 52) the first female artist to have a No.1 single over the age of 50. The song will top the charts in 23 countries (1998)... The white suit worn by John Lennon on the cover of the Beatles' Abbey Road album sells for $118,000 (£66,385) at an auction in Las Vegas, while an Austin Princess hearse driven by the late star in the documentary Imagine sells for $150,000 (£84,388). A portion of the proceeds from the sale of the items goes to Amnesty International (2005).