August 25th

 

Musical birthdays today include Gene Simmons (74), Judas Priest lead singer Rob Halford (72), former Yes & Asia keyboardist Geoff Downes (71), Elvis Costello (69), Billy Ray Cyrus (62), Def Leppard guitarist Viv Campbell (61), Wilco frontman Jeff Tweedy (56), Belle & Sebastian lead singer Stuart Murdoch (55), country singer Jo Dee Messina (53) and Amy Macdonald (36). 

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for Leonard Bernstein, born on this day in 1918... for jazz saxophonist Wayne Shorter, who would have been 90 today... for former Siouxie and the Banshees and PiL guitarist John McGeoch, who would have been 67... for Mia Zapata of The Gits, who would have been 57... for jazz legend Stan Kenton, who died on this date in 1979... for film score composer and longtime Neil Young sideman Jack Nitzsche, who left us today in 2000... and for Aaliyah, who was killed in a plane crash today in 2001 at the age of 22. 

Also on August 25: Little Eva, babysitter to the songwriting team of Gerry Goffin and Carole King, takes the couple's tune The Loco-motion to № 1 on the US charts (1962)... Two female Beatles fans hire a helicopter to fly them over the house in Beverly Hills that the group are renting. They jump from a height of approximately 50 feet and land unhurt in the swimming pool (1965)... The Beatles depart for Bangor in North Wales by train for a bank holiday weekend of study and meditation with the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi...  The № 1 song in the US today: Bobbie Gentry's 'Ode to Billy Joe'. The song will stay in the top spot for the next month... In Honolulu, Brian Wilson plays live with the Beach Boys for the first time in two years, as the group promote the recently released Heroes and Villains album (1967)... A party to celebrate the grand opening of Electric Ladyland Studios is held in NYC... Elton John makes his live debut in America as he opens a 17-date tour with a show at the Troubador in Los Angeles. Also making their live debut, in the UK, are Emerson, Lake and Palmer, who are performing in Plymouth (1970)... At the Las Vegas Hilton, Bobby Darin gives his final live performance (1973)... Bruce Springsteen releases Born to Run (1975)... R.E.M. appear at the Scorpio in Charlotte, NC. The gig is billed as 'Charlotte's first gay new wave disco and costume party.' Admission is $3, with all funds raised to go to local lesbian and gay charities (1981)... Snoop Doggy Dogg is released on $1 million bail after being accused of involvement in the murder of a member of the By Yerself Gang in L.A. He will be acquitted of the charges in 1996 (1993)... Jimmy Page and Robert Plant record their MTV Unplugged set in London... Jimmy Buffett crashes his Grumman G-44 Wigeon seaplane on takeoff from Martha's Vineyard, MA. He swims away from the wreckage uninjured... An escaped mental patient attempts to set fire to the stage on which Michael Jackson is performing in Helsinki, Finland. The man splashes gasoline on the stage from a jerry can, but is subdued by security before he can light it... The marriage of Billy Joel and Christie Brinkley is dissolved (1994)... Bob Dylan reveals on his weekly radio show that he is speaking to a number of car companies about becoming the voice for their satellite navigation systems. The 68-year-old singer says he thinks that drivers might enjoy hearing his distinctive voice say such things as "Take a left at the next street... No,  right... You know what? Just go straight" (2009).