History Highlight:

Happy Birthday to Ernie Isley of The Isley Brothers, born in 1952, which makes him 66 today. The Isley Brothers were first formed by Ernie's older brothers as a gospel group, then as a secular singing group. Ernie started playing drums at 12 and his first live gig as a member of his brothers' band was as a drummer in 1966 at the age of 14. After many years of successful hit albums, the six-member lineup of the band fractured in 1983, with Ernie, Marvin, and Chris Jasper forming the short-lived spinoff group Isley-Jasper-Isley, who had the No. 1 1985 hit "Caravan of Love".

Also, Today In:

1966 - Brian Wilson released his debut solo single "Caroline, No". It would later peak at number thirty-two on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles Chart and be included on The Beach Boys' album Pet Sounds.

1970 - Simon and Garfunkel's album Bridge Over Troubled Water started a ten week run at No. 1 on the U.S. chart. The duo had split up by the time of release.

1970: Creedence Clearwater Revival peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles Chart with "Travelin' Band" which was their fifth top ten single in the U.S.

1973 - A song from the movie "Deliverance" called "Dueling Banjos" by Eric Weissberg and Steve Mandel became one of the few 1970s instrumentals to be awarded a Gold record.

1975: David Bowie released his ninth studio album Young Americans which contained his first number one hit in the U.S. "Fame".

1976 - Elton John was immortalized at Madame Tussaud's wax museum in London. John was the first rock star to receive this honor since The Beatles.

1987 - The Beastie Boys became the first rap act to have a No. 1 album in the U.S. with their debut album, Licensed To Ill. It was also one of Columbia Records' fastest-selling debut records to date, eventually selling over 9 million copies in the United States. In 2003, the album was ranked number 217 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. It features hits such as "Brass Monkey", "(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (To Party!) and "Girls".

1987 - Peter Gabriel reached the top ten of the Billboard Hot 100 Singles Chart for the second and final time with "Big Time" which peaked at number eight. The song featured Stewart Copeland from The Police on drums.

1987 - The Beatles' first five studio albums were released on CD. This was the first time the original mono mixes of the first four albums were released in the U.S.

1991 - The readers of Rolling Stone voted George Michael the best male singer and sexiest male artist.

1994 - The U.S. Supreme Court decided that rap group 2 Live Crew's parody of Roy Orbison's "Oh, Pretty Woman" did not break federal copyright laws.

2004 - The Smiths' song "I Know It's Over" topped a poll of tunes, which people turn to when they are miserable in "The Songs That Saved Your Life" poll by BBC radio station 6 Music. REM's "Everybody Hurts" and Radiohead's "Fake Plastic Trees" also made the Top 10.

Birthdays:

Singer-songwriter Townes Van Zandt was born today in 1944.

Chris White, bassist with The Zombies, is 75.

Peter Wolf, lead vocalist for the J. Geils Band, is 72.

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