History Highlight:

Today in 1964, Darryl "D.M.C." Matthews McDaniels was born. He is a founding member of hip hop group Run-D.M.C., and is considered one of the pioneers of hip hop culture. Run-D.M.C. was the first group in the genre to have a gold album (Run-D.M.C., 1984) and be nominated for a Grammy Award. They were also the first to earn a platinum record (King of Rock, 1985), to earn a multiplatinum certification (Raising Hell, 1986), to have videos on MTV, and the first to appear on American Bandstand and the cover of Rolling Stone.

Also, Today In:

1964 - The Dave Clark Five made their North American television debut on The Ed Sullivan Show where they performed "Glad All Over". They would later make 18 more appearances, more than any other rock band.

1966 - Filming began on The Monkees first TV series. The Monkees' first single, "Last Train to Clarksville" was released in August 1966, just weeks prior to the TV broadcast debut.

1968 - Working on what will become The White Album, The Beatles added overdubs of bass and vocals on "Revolution". After numerous overdubs have been added, the final six minutes of the song evolved into chaotic, jamming, with Lennon repeatedly shouting "alright" and Yoko Ono speaking random phrases.

1973 - Steely Dan received their first Gold record for their debut album Can't Buy a Thrill which went on to be certified Platinum 20 years later.

1976 - The Who entered the Guinness Book of World Records for performing the loudest concert in history at the time during their concert at England's Charlton Athletic Grounds with 76,000 watts at 120 decibels. This record would stand for nearly a decade.

1977 - The BBC announced a ban on the new Sex Pistols single "God Save The Queen" saying it was "in gross bad taste".

1980 - Lipps Inc went to No.1 on the U.S. singles chart with "Funkytown". The disco hit was also a No. 1 in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Norway, Australia and The Netherlands. It reached No. 2 in the U.K.

1980 - The Theme From M*A*S*H* (Suicide Is Painless), was at No. 1 on the U.K. singles chart, 10 years after it was first recorded after being championed by BBC Radio 1 DJ Noel Edmonds. Mike Altman, the son of the original film's director (Robert Altman), was 14 years old when he composed the song's lyrics.

1986 - Peter Gabriel scored his second solo U.K. No. 1 album with So featuring the singles "Sledgehammer" and a duet with Kate Bush called "Don't Give Up".

1998 - Geri Halliwell announced she had quit The Spice Girls saying "This is because of differences between us. I am sure the group will continue to be successful and I wish them all the best."

2008 - Death Cab For Cutie were at No. 1 on the U.S. album chart with their sixth release Narrow Stairs.

2014 - A car and jewellery belonging to Miley Cyrus were stolen from her home in San Fernando Valley, Los Angeles.

Birthdays:

Peter Yarrow of Peter Paul and Mary, is 79.

John Bonham, drummer for Led Zeppelin, was born today in 1948.

Andrew John Hurley of Fall Out Boy is 37.

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