June 20th

Musical birthdays today include Brian Wilson (81), Anne Murray (78), ex-Crystals vocalist Dolores 'LaLa' Brooks (76), former Bay City Rollers bassist Alan Longmuir (75), Lionel Ritchie (74), Van Halen bassist Michael Anthony (69), Cox Family singer & guitarist Evelyn Cox (64), Duran Duran bassist John Taylor (63), Switchfoot guitarist Jerome Fontamillas (56), bluegrass singer-songwriter Dan Tyminski (56), Goon Moon lead singer & Marilyn Manson sideman Twiggy Ramirez (52), Deftones lead singer Camillo 'Chino' Moreno (50), ex-Ash guitarist Charlotte Hatherley (44), and Mest frontman Tony Lovato (43). 

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for composer Jacques Offenbach, born on this day in 1819... for folksinger & songwriter Jimmy Driftwood, born in 1907... for country guitarist Chet Atkins, born in 1924... for Eric Dolphy, born in 1928... for former Coasters vocalist Billy Guy, who would have been 87... for Material Issue Jim Ellison, who took his own life today in 1996 at the age of 32... for Four Tops vocalist & arranger Lawrence Payton, who died in 1997... and for Kool & the Gang lead guitarist Claydes Charles Smith, who left us in 2006.

Also on June 20th: A production of Gilbert & Sullivan's The Pirates of Penzance at NYC's Town Hall is broadcast by experimental TV station W2XBS and becomes the first televised opera (1937)... Edward Wallerstein of Columbia Records gives the first public demonstration of the company's new 33 1/3 RPM long-playing record at a press conference at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel... Toast Of The Town, which will later be renamed The Ed Sullivan Show, premieres on CBS-TV. The first show is produced on a budget of $1,375. Only $375 has been allocated for talent and $200 of that is shared by the young stars of the evening's program, Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis (1948)... The Beatles begin a 14-day European tour with two performances at the Palais des Sports in Paris (1965)... David Bowie records 'Space Oddity' at Trident Studios in London (1969)... A three day festival in Newport, CA opens featuring Ike And Tina Turner, Marvin Gaye, Creedence Clearwater Revival, The Byrds, The Rascals, Steppenwolf, The Jimi Hendrix Experience, Janis Joplin, Johnny Winter, Eric Burdon and Love. A three day ticket costs $15. Hendrix receives $125,000, at the time the highest fee ever paid to a rock act for a single appearance (1969)... Neil Diamond headlines the 20th anniversary show of American Bandstand (1973)... Asylum Records release Before the Flood, a double album of recordings from Bob Dylan's triumphant US tour with The band earlier in the year... (1974)... Neil Young's Tonight's the Night is released nearly two years after it was originally recorded (1975)... Aerosmith open their 147-date 'Permanent Vacation' world tour at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, TX (1987)... Mariah Carey scores his sixth US № 1 with 'I'll Be There', which was also a chart-topper for The Jackson Five in 1970 (1992)... The promoters of an outdoor Paul McCartney concert in Petersburg, Russia hire three jets to spray dry ice into the clouds so it will not rain during the show. The gig is McCartney's 3,000th concert appearance. He has performed 2,535 times with the Quarrymen and the Beatles, 140 gigs with Wings and 325 solo shows (2004).