September 8th

 Musical birthdays today include conductor Christoph von Dohnányi (91), Dokken drummer Mick Brown (64), Great White keyboardist Michael Lardie (62), Aimee Mann (60), ex-Fine Young Cannibals bassist David Steele (60), ex-Bad Religion drummer Jay Ziskrout (58), former Genesis guitarist Ray Wilson (52), singer-songwriter Neko Case (50), Keane drummer Richard Hughes (45) and Pink (41). 

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for composer Antonin Dvořák, born on this day in 1841... for early country star Jimmie 'The Yodeling Brakeman' Rogers, born in 1897... for Patsy Cline, who would have been 88... for Grateful Dead founding member Ron 'Pigpen' McKiernan, who would have been 75... for former Cars bassist and singer Benjamin Orr, who would have been 73... and for composer Richard Strauss, who died on this day in 1949. 

Also on September 8: Ray Charles has his first recording session for the Atlantic label (1952)... Eddie Cochran signs his first contract, with Liberty Records (1956)... The Beatles perform 'Hey Jude' on the TV show Frost on Sunday in front of an invited audience, many of whom will gather around the musicians to join in on the extended refrain that ends the song... The opening act for the nascent Led Zeppelin's latest Danish gig, at Raventlow Park in Nykobing, is The Ladybirds, an all-girl topless go-go dancing outfit (1968)... In Washington, D.C., the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts is inaugurated with a performance of Leonard Bernstein's Mass, A Theater Piece (1971)...  Mott the Hoople release their breakthrough album All the Young Dudes (1972)... Marvin Gaye has the № 1 song in the US today with 'Let's Get It on' (1973)... Joni Mitchell, CSN&Y and the Beach Boys headline the 'Somersault '74' festival at the Roosevelt Raceway in Westbury, NY... Recent RISD graduates and future Talking Heads David Byrne, Tina Weymouth and Chris Frantz move into a loft together in Manhattan's SoHo (1974)... Guitarist Jimmy McCulloch and drummer Joe English leave Paul McCartney & Wings (1977)... Led Zeppelin score their 8th UK № 1 album when In through the Out Door tops the charts (1979)... Elton John delivers a vast collection of costumes and concert props to Sotheby's of London, who will eventually auction off the items ~ including the oversized boots that the singer wore in Ken Russell's film of The Who's Tommy ~ for some $6.2 million (1988)... To promote their reissued back catalogue, Led Zeppelin release 'Whole Lotta Love' as their first ever single in Britain (1997)... Iron Maiden singer Bruce Dickinson starts a day job when he qualifies as an airline pilot. He lands a £35,000 a year job with Astreus, a small airline ferrying holiday makers from the UK to Egypt and Portugal (2002)... David Bowie performs the first interactive concert when his performance is beamed live into 21 cinemas from Edinburgh to Warsaw. Audience members talk to Bowie via microphones hooked up to ISDN lines and are asked by the singer to request songs (2003)... Jury selection begins for the involuntary manslaughter trial of Michael Jackson's physician Dr. Conrad Murray. Prospective jurors are required to fill out a 30-page questionnaire to determine their level of knowledge of the case (2009)... Sir Paul McCartney is made a member of the Légion d'Honneur in a ceremony at the Elysée Palace by French president François Hollande for his contributions to music (2012).