September 13th

 Musical birthdays today include Blood Sweat & Tears frontman David Clayton-Thomas (81), Chicago lead singer Peter Cetera (78), Randy 'The Cowboy' Jones of the Village People (70), Don Was (70), The Church lead singer Steve Kilbey (68), drummer Vinny Appice (65), Megadeath and ex-Metallica guitarist Dave Mustaine (61), Zak Starkey (57), Jane's Addiction drummer Stephen Perkins (55), Rascal Flatts lead guitarist Joe Don Rooney (47), and Fiona Apple (45). 

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for composer and pianist Clara Schumann, born on this date in 1819... for composer Arnold Schoenberg, born in 1874... for film score composer Maurice Jarre, born in 1924... for jazz singer Mel Tormé, born in 1925... for Stone the Crows guitarist Les Harvey, who would have been 77... for conductor Leopold Stokowski, who died today in 1977... and for Tupac Shakur, who left us today in 1996 at the age of 25, succumbing to wounds sustained in a drive-by shooting six days earlier. 

Also on September 13: Nicolas Rubenstein, director of the soon to be opened Moscow Conservatory, offers Tchaikovsky the chair of Professor of Harmony (1866)... Cliff Richard makes his UK television debut on the variety show 'Oh Boy'. Before he is allowed to appear on the program, Richard is told he must shave his sideburns (1958)... The Federal Communications Act in the US is amended to outlaw payments of cash or gifts in exchange for airplay of records (1960)... After a Hollies gig in Scotland, Graham Nash checks to see if the side door of the group's van is locked properly as they drive along the motorway. It isn't, and Nash falls out as the vehicle is travelling at around 40 MPH. Miraculously, the future CSN&Y superstar has only minor bruises and abrasions (1963)... The Paul McCartney-penned 'Yesterday' comes out as a single in the US. The other 3 Beatles consider the final version so uncharacteristic of the rest of their work hitherto that they veto a UK release [which eventually happens in 1976] (1965)... The Beatles form an electronics company called Fiftyshapes, Ltd, with John Alexis 'Magic Alex' Mardas as director. Alex claims that he is close to perfecting a 72-track tape machine ~ it never materialises ~ and proposes replacing the acoustic baffles around Ringo's drums with an invisible sonic force field. George will later call employing Mardas 'the greatest disaster of all time' (1967)... John and Yoko fly to Canada to perform at the Rock 'n' Roll Revival show in Toronto. Eric Clapton and drummer Alan White were recruited so late that the ensemble have their first rehearsal on the airplane (1969)... Yes release Close to the Edge (1972)... Sting kicks off his first solo US tour in San Diego (1985)... Geffen Records give a party at a lower Manhattan hotel to launch Nirvana's single 'Smells like Teen Spirit'. The band members are thrown out of the affair after starting a food fight (1991)... Elton John throws a tantrum when he is set to appear at a sold out show at a casino near Lisbon. Unhappy because the audience are slow in leaving a VIP dinner before the concert and taking their seats, Elton leaves the building and flies back to the UK on his private jet without playing a note (2000)... WalMart refuses to stock the album Permission to Land by the British group Darkness [who sent the disc to the top of the charts in their home country] because the cover contains a shot of a woman's bare bottom (2003)... The childhood home of Jimi Hendrix in Seattle, WA is saved from demolition after a settlement with the city to relocate the structure is reached at the last minute. The James Marshall Hendrix Foundation and the City of Seattle agree to renovate the house into a community centre opposite the cemetery where the guitarist is buried (2005)... Earl Scruggs is honoured at Turner Field in Atlanta as part of the pre-game show for a Braves home game. Organizers set a world record for the most banjo players picking one tune together, as 239 play Scruggs' signature tune 'Foggy Mountain Breakdown' (2006)... The № 1 album in the UK today is Vera Lynn's career retrospective We'll Meet Again: The Very Best of Vera Lynn. The 92-year-old singer sets a record as the oldest person ever to achieve this feat with an album. The previous mark was set by Bob Dylan when he topped the British charts with Together through Life earlier this year at the comparatively youthful age of 67... Taylor Swift becomes the first country artist to win an MTV Music Video Award, taking Best Female Video honours for 'You Belong with Me'. Kanye West interrupts Swift's acceptance speech, saying that another video should have won. After a media stir that last several days, West apologizes ~ first on his blog, then by contacting Swift personally (2009).