October 5th

 Musical birthdays today include bluesman Roy Book Binder (81), Steve Miller (81), Henry Cow saxophonist Geoff Leigh (79), former AC/DC lead singer Brian Johnson (77), original Funkadelic rhythm guitarist Lucius 'Tawl' Ross (76), Bob Geldof (73), Madness saxophonist Lee Thompson (67), Decemberists frontman Colin Meloy (50), Maroon 5 lead guitarist James Valentine (46), Good Charlotte bassist Paul Thomas (44), and Girls Aloud vocalist Nicola Roberts (39).

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for Glynis Johns, born on this day in 1923... for R&B singer Billy Scott, and for Temptations vocalist Richard Street, both of whom would have been 82 today... for former Sweet lead singer Brian Connolly, who would have been 79... for opera composer Jacques Offenbach, who died on this date in 1880... for Temptations founding member Eddie Kendricks, who passed away in 1992... for Bert Jansch, who died in 2011... and for Eddie van Halen, who left us four years ago today.

Also on October 5: The New York Philharmonic begins its series of Sunday afternoon radio broadcasts from Carnegie Hall (1930)... A year after launching the cool jazz movement with Birth of the Cool, Miles Davis turns away from the sound, going into Apex Studios in NYC with Sonny Rollins to record the post-bop album Dig (1951)... Cliff Richard and the Shadows play their first live show, at the Victoria Hall in Hanley, Staffs. (1958)... The Beatles release their first single in the UK, 'Love Me Do' (1962)... Johnny Cash is arrested in El Paso, TX as he attempts to return to the United States from Mexico with a guitar case full of pills. He receives  a suspended sentence and is fined $1,000 (1965)... Jimi Hendrix, Noel Redding and Mitch Mitchell have their first rehearsal together and form the Jimi Hendrix Experience (1966)... The Who, Small Faces, Joe Cocker and The Crazy World of Arthur Brown launch a package tour of the UK in London (1968)... Violinist Papa John Creach officially joins Jefferson Airplane... Atlantic Records release Led Zeppelin III (1970)... The № 1 song in the UK today is Mike Oldfield's 'Tubular Bells [Theme from the Exorcist]'. Across the Atlantic, Olivia Newton-John is atop the American charts with 'I Honestly Love You'... Randy Newman plays  show at Atlanta Symphony Hall backed by an 87-piece orchestra conducted by his uncle Emil (1974)... Bob Marley, Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer, the three original Wailers, perform together for the last time, at a benefit for the Jamaican Institute for the Blind. Also joining the trio on stage is Stevie Wonder... Willie Nelson has his first № 1 hit on the Billboard Country chart with 'Blue Eyes Crying the Rain' (1975)... Defying an international artists' boycott, Queen open a 10-day residency at Sun City, South Africa (1984)... Former Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr begins rehearsals with the Pretenders as they prepare to open for U2 on the N. American leg of the Joshua Tree tour (1987)... Roger Daltrey announces that the Who are reforming, and that their first show, which will also be broadcast live on the Internet, will be in Las Vegas on the 29th of this month (1999)... Madonna visits an orphanage in Malawi. Her publicist denies rumours that the star is planning to adopt a local child (2006).