History Highlight:

Today in 1987, Peter Gabriel's video of "Sledgehammer" was deemed best of the year by MTV. A number of internationally acclaimed animators, including Aardman Animations (of Wallace and Gromit fame) and the Brothers Quay, provided claymation, pixilation, and stop motion animation for the video. Gabriel lay under a sheet of glass for 16 hours while filming the video one frame at a time. Two oven-ready chickens, headless and featherless, were animated using stop-motion and shown dancing along to the synthesized flute solo in the middle of the song.

Also, Today In:

1971 - The animated Jackson Five series premiered on ABC.

1977 - One of the strangest pairings in the history of music turned out surprisingly well when David Bowie and Bing Crosby recorded their duet of "Little Drummer Boy/Peace On Earth." It was broadcast on Bing's posthumous TV special, A Merrie Olde Christmas in December and later released on disc.

1979 - The Who made their first appearance in the US without their late, great drummer, Keith Moon. Replacing him at the Passaic, New Jersey gig was ex-Small Faces and Faces drummer Kenney Jones.

1987 - Reggae star Peter Tosh was shot and killed by robbers when he reportedly refused to give them money. Others say he was assassinated for political motives.

1996 - Noel Gallagher walked out on the rest of Oasis half way through an American tour after a fight with his brother Liam in a hotel in Charlotte North Carolina. Noel flew back to London the following day.

Birthdays:

Richard Ashcroft, of The Verve, is 43 today.

Moby is 49 today.