History Highlight:

Today in 1982, John "Cougar" Mellencamp had two singles in the U.S. Top Ten as well as the No. 1 album. The singles "Jack and Diane" and "Hurts So Good" were at Numbers 4 and 8, respectively, while Mellencamp's album American Fool was at No. 1 for the first of nine weeks, and it was the best selling album of 1982.

Also, Today In:

1952 - Producer Ahmet Ertegun began recording his newest signing, 21-year-old Ray Charles, at Atlantic Records on West 56th Street in New York City.

1965 - The Beatles started a nine-week run at No. 1 on the U.S. album chart with Help!, the group's sixth U.S. chart topper.

1971 - The animated Jackson Five series premiered on ABC.

1976 - KC and the Sunshine Band went to No. 1 on the US singles chart with "(Shake Shake Shake), Shake Your Booty," the group's third No. 1 hit.

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 in December on Bing's posthumous TV special, A Merrie Olde Christmas, and later released on disc.

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

1982 - Frank Zappa's "Valley Girl" reached its chart peak of #32 on the Hot 100. It's the only Top 40 hit for the eccentric singer, who releases over 60 albums in his lifetime. His daughter, Moon Unit Zappa, plays the Valley Girl in the song.

1987 - Peter Gabriel's video of "Sledgehammer" was deemed best of the year by MTV.

1993 - Mariah Carey started a eight week run at No. 1 on the U.S. singles chart with "Dreamlover."

1996 - Noel Gallagher walked out on Oasis halfway through an American tour after a fight with his brother, Liam, in a Charlotte, N.C., hotel. Noel flew back to London the following day.

2001 - Walking to work as a comic-book illustrator in New York, Gerard Way witnessed the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center. The day's events inspired him to start a band, which became My Chemical Romance.

2014 - Songwriter, singer, manager, and record producer Bob Crewe died at age 83. Crewe wrote a string of Top 10 singles for the Four Seasons, including "Big Girls Don't Cry", "Walk Like a Man", and "Rag Doll". He also had hit recordings with Lesley Gore, Michael Jackson, Bobby Darin, Roberta Flack, Peabo Bryson, Patti LaBelle, Barry Manilow and others.

Birthdays:

Moby is 54.

Harry Connick Jr. is 52.

Richard Ashcroft of The Verve is 48.

Coldplay guitarist Jonny Buckland is 42.

Ludacris is 42.

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