May 7th

Musical birthdays today include soul singer Jimmy Ruffin (83), Christy Moore (77), Thelma Houston (76), former Grateful Dead drummer Bill Kreutzmann (76), ex-Whitesnake guitarist Bernie Marsden (71), former Art of Noise keyboardist Anne Dudley (66), Motörhead lead guitarist Phil Campbell (61), Trans-Siberian Orchestra Johnny Lee Middleton (59), trip hop singer Martin Topley-Bird (47), Arctic Monkeys drummer Matt Helden (36), and Natalie Mejia (34). 

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for Johannes Brahms, born on this day in 1833... for Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, born in 1840... for DJ & early rock singer Jim Lowe, born in 1924... for jazz & pop singer Teresa Brewer, born in 1932 today... for Johnny Maestro, who would have been 83... for former New York Dolls drummer Jerry Nolan, who would have been 76... for composer Antonio Salieri, who died on this date in 1825... for big band drummer & Glenn Miller sideman Ray McKinley, who died in 1995... for country singer Eddie Rabbitt, who passed away in 1998... and for pop singer Teri Moïse, who took her own life five years ago today at the age of 43. 

Also on May 7th: Beethoven's Choral 9th Symphony has its premieres at the Kärntnertor Theatre in Vienna. The composer himself, by now totally deaf, keeps time, but the musicians follow the assistant conductor (1824)... RKO Pictures release the film 'Shall We Dance' with a complete George Gershwin score (1937)... Van Cliburn signs his first recording contract with RCA (1958)... The Mamas and the Papas go to № 1 on the Billboard singles chart with 'Monday Monday'. Reportedly, John Phillips was the only member of the group who liked the song (1966)... Jimi Hendrix plays London's Saville Theatre with Ringo Star, Brian Jones and members of The Beach Boys and The Moody Blues in attendance... Pearls Before Swine begin recording an album called One Nation Underground. The LP includes a song called 'Miss Morse', which would be banned in New York when it was discovered that lead singer Tom Rapp was singing F-U-C-K in Morse code. After disc jockey Murray The K played the record on the air, local Boy Scouts correctly interpreted the chorus and phoned in a complaint... In Baltimore, MD, John Coltrane plays his final live gig (1967)... Reginald Dwight legally changes his name to Elton Hercules John (1972)... Led Zeppelin hold a launch party at the Four Seasons Hotel in NYC for their own label, Swan Song Records (1974)... The Eagles have the № 1 single in America with 'Hotel California' (1977)... 90,000 tickets are sold in eight hours for Bob Dylan's forthcoming London dates at Earls Court (1978)... Paul Weller unveils his new group Style Council at an anti-nuclear benefit gig in London (1983)...  Wilson Pickett is arrested after running into an 86 year old man, and for yelling death threats whilst driving his car over the mayor's front lawn in Englewood, NJ. Pickett is also charged with driving with open containers of alcohol in his car (1991)... A leather Jacket worn by John Lennon in the years 1960 to 1963, sells at Christies of London for £24,200 (1992)... A Los Angeles federal jury recommend a $1.5 million award to a British record company that sued rapper-producer Dr Dre for song plagiarism. London-based Minder Music Ltd. sued Dre in 2000, claiming his 1999 song, 'Let's Get High,' used the bass line of The Fatback's 1980 song, 'Backstroking' that was featured on Dre's successful '2001' album, which sold 9 million copies worldwide (2003).