History Highlight:

Today in 1979, the space station Skylab crashed to Earth after six years in space. Leading up to the event, Electric Light Orchestra took out ads in trade magazines dedicating their new single, "Don't Bring Me Down", to Skylab.

Also, Today In:

1964 - The Beatles appeared live on the ABC Television program "Lucky Stars (Summer Spin)", performing 'A Hard Day's Night', 'Long Tall Sally', 'Things We Said Today' and 'You Can't Do That'. To avoid the crowd of fans waiting for them, The Beatles arrived at the Teddington Studio Centre by boat, traveling down the River Thames.

1969 - Space Oddity by David Bowie was released in the U.K. for the first time. It was timed to coincide with the Apollo moon landing but had to be re-released before it became a hit, later in the year in the U.K. (but not until 1973 in the U.S.).

1970 - Three Dog Night started a two-week run at No. 1 in the U.S. with their version of the Randy Newman song "Mama Told Me Not To Come", which was also a No. 3 hit in the U.K.. The song was first covered by Eric Burdon on his first solo album in 1966 and gave Tom Jones & Stereophonics a No. 4 hit on the U.K. Singles Chart in 2000.

1987 - Heart started a three week run at No. 1 on the U.S. singles chart with "Alone", It made No. 3 in the U.K..

1992 - A range of eight neckties designed by Jerry Garcia of The Grateful Dead went on sale in the US. President Bill Clinton bought a set. The collection grossed millions in the U.S. by the end of the year.

1996 - Smashing Pumpkins keyboard player Jonathan Melvoin died from a drug overdose in New York City at 34-years old.

2000 - Metallica's Lars Ulrich was the first witness to testify at a U.S. Senate hearing over copyright law issues concerning free sharing of music files on websites such as Napster and MP3.com.
, singer of Bauhaus, is 57 today. Thin, with prominent cheekbones, a baritone voice, and a penchant for gloomy poetics, Murphy is often called the "Godfather of Goth."

2002 - The funeral of The Who's bass player John Entwistle took place at a church in The Cotswolds. More than 200 mourners filed into the 12th century church of St Edward.

2009 - The Black Eyes Peas "I Gotta Feeling" started a 14-week run at No. 1 on the U.S. singles chart ending the 12-week run of the band's previous single "Boom Boom Pow". It made the band only the fourth to replace themselves at No. 1 in chart history, following The Beatles, Boyz II Men, and OutKast.

2013 - Pearl Jam released their tenth studio album 'Lightning Bolt' which went to No. 1 on the U.S. album chart.

2014 - Ramones drummer Tommy Ramone died of bile duct cancer at the age of 65.

Birthdays:

Peter Murphy, singer of Bauhaus, is 59 today.

Suzanne Vega is 57.

Guitarist Richie Sambora (Bon Jovi) is 57.

Lil' Kim is either 41 or 42 - sources differ.

Highlights for Today in Music History are gathered from This Day in Music, Paul Shaffer's Day in Rock, Song Facts and Wikipedia.