May 3rd

Musical birthdays today include Frankie Valli (84), former Troggs bassist Pete Staples (74), Mary Hopkin (68), music biographer Alan Clayton (67), Christopher Cross (66), REO Speedwagon bassist Bruce Hall (65), original Pavement drummer Gary Young (65), Angela Bofill (64), former Soft Cell keyboardist Dave Ball (59), country singer Shane Minor (50), ex-Reamonn frontman Rea Garvey (45), Interpol frontman Paul Banks (40), and former Destiny's Child vocalist Farrah Franklin (37).  

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for impresario and opera producer Richard D'Oyly Carte, born on this day in 1844... for Bing Crosby, born in 1903... for Pete Seeger, born in 1919... for jazz pianist John Lewis, born in 1920... for country singer Dave Dudley, who would have been 90 today... for James Brown, who would have been 85... for chansonnier Georges Moustaki, who would have been 84... for Stone the Crows guitarist Alex Harvey, who was electrocuted on this day in 1972 at the age of 27 when he touched an improperly grounded microphone during  gig in Swansea, Wales... for Franco-Italian pop singer Iolanda Gigliotti AKA Dalida, who took her own life today in 1987 at the age of 54... and for Jamaican saxophonist & flautist Cedric Brooks, who left us five years ago today. 

Also on May 3rd: Kitty Wells records 'It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels'. Wells was disenchanted with her career prospects and was considering retirement, but agreed to the session at Owen Bradley’s Nashville studio because of the $125 union scale recording payment. The song goes on to become the first Billboard № 1 single by a solo female country singer (1952)... 'The Fantasticks' opens off Broadway (1960)... The Beatles spend the day filming for their forthcoming film Help! on Salisbury Plain with the British Army's Third Tank Division (1965)... The Beach Boys open their US tour on which the co-headliner is Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. The second half of the concert, which features the Maharishi, consists of a lecture to the audience on 'spiritual regeneration.' The overwhelmingly negative reaction causes more than half of the remaining tour dates to be cancelled... The Jimi Hendrix Experience record 'Voodoo Chile' (1968)... Epic Records release Sly & the Family Stone's Stand!, the group's breakout album (1969)... In Copenhagen, at the opening gig of their current European tour, Led Zeppelin give the only known performance of a Page-Plant composition entitled 'Four Sticks', and also play 'Misty Mountain Hop' live for the first time (1971)... David Bowie opens a sold out six-night stand at Wembley Stadium, his first UK gigs since announcing his retirement from live performance three years previously... Paul McCartney makes his first live concert appearance in the US since 1966 when he and Wings kick off their 'Wings over America' tour at the Tarrant County Convention Center in Fort Worth, TX (1976)... Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band start a six week run at № 1 on the US album chart with 'Against The Wind' (1980)... Robert Palmer goes to № 1 on the Billboard singles chart with 'Addicted To Love'. Palmer originally recorded the song as a duet with Chaka Khan, but her vocal track had to be removed owing to contractual difficulties (1986)... In Dublin, Katrina and the Waves become the first British winners of the Eurovision song contest in 16 years with 'Love Shine a Light'...  The Notorious B.I.G. starts a three week run at № 1 on the US singles chart with his posthumous hit 'Hypnotize', released as a single shortly after the rapper's murder in March (1997)... The first Bob Dylan radio program is aired on XM Satellite Radio. Artists played on the show included Blur, Prince, Billy Bragg, Wilco, Mary Gauthier, L.L. Cool J and The Streets (2006)... Sean 'Diddy' Combs is honoured with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The 38-year-old singer dedicates the star to his father, who was shot dead in 1972 (2008)... Bob Dylan goes to № 1 on the UK album chart with Together Through Life, his seventh LP to top the British charts. Dylan's 33rd studio album is the first to reign on the UK chart with since 1970. His first № 1 in 1964, was ‘The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan'. Bob now holds the record, previously held by Tom Jones, for the longest gap between solo № 1 albums (2009).