September 20th

Musical birthdays today include Styx bassist Chuck Panozzo (76), jazzman Steve Coleman (68), Thompson Twins co-founder Alannah Currie (67), former Housemartins and Beautiful South lead singer Dave Hemingway (64), Soundgarden bassist Ben Shepherd (56), The Feeling frontman Dan Gillespie Sells (45), and Québécoise pop singer Marilou (34). 

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for jazz guitarist John Collins, born today in 1914... for drummer & bandleader Chico Hamilton, born in 1921... for classical pianist William Kappell, born in 1922... for jazz singer & guitarist Jackie Paris and pop singer Gogi Grant, both born in 1924... for original Coasters member Bobby Nunn, born in 1925... for former Styx drummer John Panozzo, who would have been 76... for Spanish violin virtuoso Pablo de Sarasate, who died on this date in 1908... for singer-songwriter Jim Croce, who was killed in an airplane crash today in 1973 at the age of 30... and for Leonard Skinner, the high school gym teacher who was the namesake of the band Lynyrd Skynyrd, who left us today in 2010. 

Also on September 20: Dimitri Shostakovich's Suite for Jazz Orchestra premieres in Leningrad (1938)... With the Beatles on hiatus, George Harrison travels to India to meet the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi for the first time (1966)... Led Zeppelin, still under the name The New Yardbirds, enter Olympic Studios in London to begin recording their first album. It will take only 36 hours to complete, at a reported cost of £1,780. Almost all of the tracks are recorded live off the floor with no overdubs (1968)... During a group meeting at Abbey Road Studios, John Lennon tells the other Beatles "I want a divorce" and announces that he is leaving the band... 'Sugar Sugar' by the Archies starts a 4-week run at № 1 in the US. It's 8-week stay at the top in Britain will set a longevity record in the spot for a one-hit wonder (1969)... Jim Morrison is acquitted on charges of lewd and lascivious behaviour, but is found guilty of exposing himself during a concert at the Dinner Key Auditorium in Coconut Grove, FL 18 months earlier. After his trial at the Dade County Courthouse in Miami, Judge Henry Goodman sentences the Doors vocalist to six months plus sixty days hard labour for public self-exposure and profanity, and a $500 fine. The sentence will still be on appeal when Morrison dies in Paris the following summer (1970)... Paul and Linda McCartney are arrested for possession of cannabis for the second time this month, this time at their farmhouse in Campbeltown, Scotland (1972)... The Roxy in Los Angeles opens its doors. The first headliners are Neil Young & Crazy Horse (1973)... David Bowie has his first US № 1 single with 'Fame', which he co-wrote with John Lennon (1975)... The four former Beatles turn down a £230 million offer from promoter Sid Bernstein to do a one-off reunion concert for charity (1976)... AC/DC release Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap (1976)... Kate Bush becomes the first female solo artist to have a № 1 album in Britain, with Never for Ever. Meanwhile, Queen score their only chart-topping LP in the US with The Game (1980)... Bruce Springsteen releases his first solo album Nebraska (1982)... Steve Winwood and Eric Clapton share a stage for the first time since the demise of Blind Faith when they appear at the ARMS [Artists for Research into Multiple Sclerosis] benefit concert at the Royal Albert Hall (1983)... The musical Miss Saigon has its world premiere in London's West End (1989)... The Dave Matthews Band release the album Under the Table and Dreaming, which features their first widely heard singles including 'What Would You Say' and 'Ants Marching' (1994)... In New Orleans, ex-10,000 Maniacs frontwoman Natalie Merchant kicks off her first solo tour (1995)... Pearl Jam's video for 'Jeremy' is cited as one of the reasons that school shooter Barry Loukaitis snapped and killed his algebra teacher and two fellow students in Washington state. The defendant's attorneys take the unprecedented step of playing the video in the courtroom (1997)... The former north London home of the original members of Pink Floyd is bought by a Singaporean developer named Sham Masterman. The businessman, who admits that he is not a fan of the group, purchases the Highgate house and the one next door for £1.2 million. Syd Barrett, Roger Waters, Rick Wright and Nick Mason all lived in the house in the late '60s. The previous owner, lighting technician Mike Leonard, was landlord and friend to the musicians, and even inspired their group's first name, 'Leonard's Lodgers' (2012)