History Highlight:

Today in 1950, singer and drummer Karen Carpenter was born in New Haven, Connecticut. Later, the Carpenter family — which included Karen’s brother, Richard — relocated to Los Angeles, where Karen’s interests in music emerged and were fostered through high school and as a music major at California State University, Long Beach. Karen’s instruments were drums and voice, and Richard’s instruments were vocals and piano. Together, the siblings would form the pop duo The Carpenters, who released more than a dozen hit records before Karen was even 24. Some of The Carpenters’ best-known songs include “Top of the World,” “(They Long to Be) Close to You,” “Rainy Days and Mondays,” “Superstar” and “We’ve Only Just Begun.” Karen Carpenter’s life and career were sadly cut short when, at age 32, she died of heart failure, a complication of anorexia nervosa.

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Also, Today In:

1955 - Bo Diddley had his first recording session at Universal Recording Studio in Chicago, where he laid down the single, "Bo Diddley", which would go on to top the U.S. R&B chart by the following June.

1963 - The Four Seasons became the first group to have three consecutive No. 1 singles in the U.S., when "Walk Like A Man" started a three-week run at the top.

1964 - The Beatles began filming what would become their first feature film, A Hard Day's Night, at Marylebone railway station in London.

1967 - The Supremes recorded "Reflections" and "The Happening."

1974 - Stevie Wonder won four Grammys: Album of the Year for Innervisions, Best R&B Song and Best Vocal for "Superstition" and Best Pop Vocal Performance for "You Are The Sunshine Of My Life."

1975 - A policeman who stopped a Lincoln Continental for running a red light in Los Angeles was surprised to find Paul McCartney at the wheel, accompanied by his wife, Linda. The cop detected the smell of marijuana, and on searching the car, found eight ounces of the substance. Linda was arrested for possession of it.

1977 - The Barry Manilow Special aired on ABC-TV.

1983 - A new digital-audio format, a five-inch compact disc or "CD" containing up to one hour of music, was launched by Sony, Philips and Polygram.

1984 - This Is Spinal Tap was released in theaters, chronicling the hapless heavy metal band with exploding drummers and an amp that goes to 11. The soundtrack — featuring "Tonight I'm Gonna Rock You Tonight," "Stonehenge," “Big Bottom,” and “Sex Farm” — was released the same day.

1985 - Wham! started a three-week run at No. 1 on the Billboard album chart with Make It Big.

1987 - Dolly Parton, Linda Ronstadt, and Emmylou Harris released their collaborative studio album, Trio. It features the singles "To Know Him Is to Love Him," "Telling Me Lies," "Those Memories of You," and "Wildflowers."

1987 - Siouxsie and the Banshees released their eighth studio album, Through the Looking Glass. It features the singles "This Wheel's on Fire" and "The Passenger."

1988 - U2 won their first Grammy Awards, taking Album of the Year and Best Performance by Rock Duo or Group with Vocal for The Joshua Tree.

1989 - "Like A Prayer" became the first hit song to debut in a commercial when it was used in a two-minute Pepsi ad starring Madonna.

1991 - French singer Serge Gainsbourg — famous for his very sexy 1969 duet with Jane Birkin, "Je t'aime… Moi non plus" — died of a heart attack. During his career, Gainsbourg wrote soundtracks for more than 40 films.

1999 - Dusty Springfield died after a long battle against cancer at age 59. International polls have named Springfield among the best female rock artists of all time, and she is a member of the Rock and Roll and U.K. Music Halls of Fame. With a career that extended from the late 1950s to the 1990s, she had six top-20 singles on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and 16 on the U.K. singles chart including "What Have I Done To Deserve This?", "You Don't Have To Say You Love Me," "Wishin' And Hopin'" and "Son of a Preacher Man."

2008 - Nine Inch Nails released their sixth studio album, Ghosts I–IV. It consists of 36 instrumental tracks grouped into four volumes and was released independently under a Creative Commons license.

2009 - Norman Cook, aka Fatboy Slim, checked himself into rehab to battle an alcohol addiction.

2010 - Portugal. The Man released their fifth studio album, American Ghetto.

2014 - Arby's bought the hat Pharrell Williams wore to the Grammys on eBay for $44,100. The fast-food chain donated the hat (which resembles its logo) to the Newseum in Washington, D.C. Money from the auction went to the From One Hand to Another charity.

2015 - Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds released their second studio album, Chasing Yesterday. It features "In the Heat of the Moment" and "Ballad of the Mighty I."

2016 - Bob Dylan sold his personal archive of notes, draft lyrics, poems, artwork and photographs to the University of Tulsa, where they would be made available to scholars and curated for public exhibitions. The 6,000-item collection also included master recording tapes of Dylan's entire music catalog, along with hundreds of hours of film video.

2018 - Superorganism released their self-titled debut studio album, Superorganism. It features the singles "Something for Your M.I.N.D.," "It's All Good," "Nobody Cares," "Everybody Wants to Be Famous," "Reflections on the Screen," "Night Time," and "The Prawn Song."

2021 - Dolly Parton received the coronavirus vaccine, which she helped fund with a $1 million donation to Vanderbilt University Medical Center. To encourage others to get it, she posted video of her getting the shot on her social media channels and adapted her song "Jolene" to the occasion: Vaccine, vaccine, vaccine, vaccine … I'm begging of you please don't hesitate.

Birthdays:

Composer Kurt Weill, whose best-known work, The Threepenny Opera, includes the song “Mack the Knife,” was born today in 1900. “Mack the Knife” has been recorded as a single by Louis Armstrong, Bobby Darin, and Ella Fitzgerald.

Dr. Seuss was born today in 1904.

BMI cofounder Henry Katzman was born today in 1912.

Desi Arnaz was born today in 1917.

Eddie Lawrence, who enjoyed a top-40 hit in 1956 with “The Old Philosopher,” was born today in 1919.

Lawrence Payton of The Four Tops was born on this day in 1938.

Lou Reed was born today in 1942. The Velvet Underground leader and prolific solo artist died on October 27, 2013.

Derek Watkins — trumpet player on several James Bond films and studio musician for The Beatles, Eric Clapton, Elton John, Frank Sinatra, and Barbra Streisand — was born today in 1945.

Larry Carlton — studio musician for Joni Mitchell, Steely Dan, and many others — is 78.

Irish guitarist and singer-songwriter Rory Gallagher was born today in 1948.

Karen Carpenter was born today in 1950. (See highlight, above)

Dale Bozzio, frontwoman for Missing Persons, is 71.

Jay Osmond, drummer for The Osmonds, is 71.

Mark Evans, bass player for AC/DC, is 70.

John Cowsill of The Cowsills is 70.

Larry Stewart of Restless Heart is 67.

John Bon Jovi is 64.

Alvin Youngblood Hart is 63.

Method Man is 55.

Chris Martin of Coldplay is 49.

Luke Combs is 36.

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