June 5th

Musical birthdays today include former Sly and the Family Stone guitarist Freddie Stone (78), Laurie Anderson (77), country singer-songwriter [and first ever female producer on a Nashville label] Gail Davies (76), Iron maiden drummer Nicko McBrain (72), Psychedelic Furs lead singer Richard Butler (68), Kenny G [né Kenneth Gorelick] (68), Nile guitarist Karl Sanders (61), operatic soprano Sandrine Piau (58), Cox Family mandolinist & singer Suzanne Cox (57), Brian McKnight (55), Mark Wahlberg (53), rapper & producer Aesop Rock [né Ian Bavitz] (48), Thousand Watt Stare guitarist Christian Martucci (47), Fall Out Boy bassist Pete Wentz (45), and Simple Plan guitarist & singer Sébastian Lefebvre (43).

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for musical screenwriter & director Jacques Demy, born on this day in 1933... for Badfinger guitarist & songwriter Tom Evans, who would have been 77... for stage singer Ronnie Dyson, who would have been 74... for blues & gospel singer Carole Fredericks, who would have been 72... for composer Carl Maria von Weber, who died on this date in 1826... for bluesman Sleepy John Estes, who died in 1977... for country singer Conway Twitty, who died in 1993... for Mel Tormé, who passed away in 1999... and for Dee Dee Ramone [né Douglas Colvin], who died of a drug overdose today in 2002 at the age of 49.  

Also on June 5th: Miles Davis & sidemen hold the second of the three sessions that will produce the album Round about Midnight, Davis' debut on Columbia (1955)... Elvis appears on ABC-TV's 'The Milton Berle Show'. During the performance, Presley abruptly halts an uptempo rendition of 'Hound Dog' with a wave of his arm and launched into a slow, grinding version accentuated with energetic, exaggerated hip movements. The singer's gyrations create a storm of controversy and public reaction (1956)... Robert Allen Zimmerman graduates from Hibbing High School in Hibbing, MN. In the school yearbook, the future Bob Dylan has declared as his ambition 'to join Little Richard' (1959)... Roy Orbison has his first № 1 hit in America with 'Running Scared' (1961)... The Rolling Stones play their first ever live gig in the US at the Swing Auditorium in San Bernardino, CA (1964)... The Jimi Hendrix Experience appear on the Dusty Springfield TV show 'It Must Be Dusty', taped in London. Hendrix performs 'Stone Free' and 'Voodoo Chile', and then duets on a version of 'Mockingbird' with the hostess (1968)... Barclay James Harvest release their eponymous debut album (1970)...  James Levine makes his NY Metropolitan Opera debut, conducting a performance of Tosca... Grand Funk Railroad break a record held by The Beatles when they sell out Shea Stadium in less than 72 hours... Paul & Linda McCartney's album Ram is at № 1 on the UK chart (1971)...  During sessions for Wish You Were Here at Abbey Road Studios, Syd Barrett turned up unexpectedly as Pink Floyd are listening to playbacks of 'Shine On You Crazy Diamond', a song that happens to be about the group's former leader. By this time, the 29-year-old Barrett has shaved off all of his hair [including his eyebrows] and become overweight, and his ex-bandmates do not at first recognise him. Barrett eventually leaves without saying goodbye, and none of the band members will ever see him again (1975)...  Alice Cooper's boa constrictor, a co-star of his live act, suffers a fatal bite from a rat it is being fed for breakfast. Cooper will hold auditions for a replacement, and a snake named 'Angel' gets the gig (1977)... Muddy Waters, 64, marries his girlfriend Marva Jean Brooks on her 25th birthday (1979)... On tour in the US, U2 record their concert at the Red Rock Amphitheater outside of Denver, CO. The performance will be released as the album Under  Blood Red Sky (1983)... Mariah Carey marries Sony Music CEO Tommy Mottola in Manhattan. Guests include Billy Joel, Bruce Springsteen, Barbra Streisand and Ozzy Osbourne (1993)... Officials in Singapore reject an appeal of a ban on Janet Jackson's latest album All for You. They decide that the lyrics of the album, particularly to the song song ‘Would You Mind’, are 'not acceptable to our society'. The record was initially outlawed because of its 'sexually explicit lyrics', including 'I just wanna touch you, tease you, lick you, please you, love you, make love to you.' EMI say that they are attempting a compromise by trying to persuade Jackson's management to delete ‘Would You Mind’ from the album for Asian distribution (2001)... A grandfather who set up his own pirate radio station in Wakefield, Yorkshire is under investigation by local broadcasting authorities. Ricky Rock, as he calls himself, erected a 32 ft. transmitter in his back garden and has been playing hits by The Beatles, The Beach Boys, and Elvis. Ricky says he set the station up because the "talentless boy bands and droning dance music" featured on local stations does not cater to the tastes of his generation (2003)... Sir Paul McCartney releases his 21st solo album, 'Memory Almost Full' on the new Starbucks label Hear Music. It is later announced that copies sold through UK Starbucks will not be eligible to be counted for the UK charts as the 533 stores were not registered with the Official Chart Company. The album is being played non-stop in more than 10,000