History Highlight:

Today in 1994, Liz Phair releases her sophomore album, Whip-Smart, featuring the Grammy-nominated hit "Supernova.” The album's candid and often provocative lyrics, combined with Phair's distinctive blend of lo-fi and pop-rock sensibilities further established her as a trailblazing voice in the '90s music scene. Produced by Brad Wood, who also worked on Exile in Guyville, the album retained Phair's signature frank lyricism but embraced a more polished sound. 

Also, Today In: 

1957 - Buddy Holly released his hit single, “Peggy Sue.” The song was originally named “Cindy Lou,” after Holly’s niece, but the artist later changed the name to “Peggy Sue,” for Peggy Sue Gerron, the future wife of Crickets drummer, Jerry Allison. 

1964 - The Beatles concluded their U.S. tour with a charity show in Brooklyn. That night, they made another of their memorable appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show. 

1967 - Arlo Guthrie releases Alice's Restaurant. 

1968 - Led Zeppelin (recording under the name of The Yardbirds) started recording their debut album at Olympic Studios in London, England. The album took only about 36 hours of studio time to complete at a cost of around p1,782, with most of the tracks being recorded live in the studio with very few overdubs. 

1969 - During a meeting in London between John Lennon, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, Lennon announced he was leaving The Beatles. 

1969 - Based on the comic-book TV series Archie and his friends, The Archie's started a four-week run at No. 1 on the U.S. singles chart with "Sugar Sugar". It became the longest running one hit wonder in the U.K. after spending eight weeks at the top of the charts. 

1969 - Blind Faith started a two-week run at No. 1 on the U.K. chart with their self-titled debut album. The only release from the Eric Clapton, Steve Winwood, Ginger Baker and Rick Grech line-up also reached No. 1 in the U.S. 

1972 - Paul McCartney is arrested for growing marijuana on his farm in Scotland. The judge in his case has never seen a cannabis plant, so he takes a good look at it and fines McCartney 100 pounds. 

1973 - Neil Young & Crazy Horse played the opening night of the then brand new Roxy Club on Sunset Blvd. in Los Angeles. 

1973 - On his way to perform his second concert of the day, U.S. singer, songwriter Jim Croce was killed with five others when his chartered aircraft hit a tree on take off in Louisiana. 

1975 - "Fame" gave David Bowie his first No. 1 in the U.S. The song was co-written with John Lennon. Lennon's voice is heard towards the ending of the song repeating the words: "Fame, Fame, Fame" before Bowie finishes the lyrics. The song is one of four of Bowie's songs to be included in The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll. Bowie would later claim that he had "absolutely no idea" that the song would do so well as a single, saying "I wouldn't know how to pick a single if it hit me in the face." 

1975 - The Bay City Rollers made their U.S. TV debut when they appeared on the "Saturday Night Variety Show". 

1976 - AC/DC released their third studio album Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap. 

1976 - The first of the two night 100 Club Punk Festival, Oxford St, London, featuring the Sex Pistols, The Clash, Sub Way Sect, Suzie (spelling on the poster), And The Banshees, The Buzzcocks, Vibrators and Stinky Toys. Admission £1.50. 

1979 - The Clash bass player Paul Simonon, frustrated because the crowd at The Palladium in New York City isn't standing, smashes his instrument on stage. The photo is later used as the cover of their London Calling album. 

1980 - Queen started a five-week run at No.1 on the US album chart with The Game, the group's only U.S. No. 1 album. 

1980 - Kate Bush scored her first U.K. No. 1 album with Never For Ever. It was the first-ever album by a British female solo artist to top the U.K. album chart as well as being the first album by any female solo artist to enter the chart at No. 1. 

1986 - Huey Lewis and the News started a three-week run at No. 1 on the U.S. singles chart with "Stuck With You", a No. 12 hit in the U.K. 

1994 - The Dave Matthews Band released Under the Table and Dreaming. The album featured their first commercial hits "What Would You Say", "Satellite", and "Ants Marching". The album was dedicated to Matthews' older sister Anne, who was killed by her husband in 1994. 

1997 - Elton John started a six-week run at No. 1 on the U.K. singles chart with "Something About The Way You Look Tonight", and "Candle In The Wind 97", a re-write of his 1974 hit about Marilyn Monroe. This version was raising funds for the Diana, Princess of Wales charity, following her death in Paris. 

2000 - Traditional country music singer and yodeler Don Walser receives the National Endowment for the Arts' National Heritage Award during ceremonies at the Russell Senate Office Building in Washington, D.C. 

2004 - Billy Joel gets a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. 

2005 - The benefit concert "From The Big Apple To The Big Easy" is held in New York's Madison Square Garden in order to raise funds for the Gulf Coast cities and towns devastated by Hurricane Katrina. Among others, Simon & Garfunkel, Elvis Costello, Lenny Kravitz and Elton John perform at this charity concert. 

2010 - Leonard Skinner, the namesake of the band Lynyrd Skynyrd, dies of Alzheimer's disease at age 77. As a gym teacher at Robert E. Lee High School in Jacksonville, Florida, he sent Ronnie Van Zant to the principal's office because his hair was too long. 

2018 - Paul McCartney was at No.1 on the US chart with his 17th solo studio album Egypt Station. 

2020 - American musician and singer Tommy DeVito died age 92 after contracting COVID-19. He is best known as a founding member, vocalist, and lead guitarist of the Four Seasons who were one of only two American bands (the other being the Beach Boys) to enjoy substantial chart success before, during, and after the British Invasion. The Four Seasons are one of the best-selling musical groups of all time, having sold an estimated 100 million records worldwide. 

2020 - Weezer and Fall Out Boy go head to head on Celebrity Family Feud, with FOB coming out on top. 

2021 - Sarah Dash died unexpectedly at the age of 76. She first appeared on the music scene as a member of Patti LaBelle & The Bluebelles and later was Dash was a member of Labelle, and worked as a singer, session musician, and sideman for The Rolling Stones, and Keith Richards. 

Birthdays: 

Robert Wiggins better known by his stage name Keef Cowboy of Grandmaster Flash And The Furious Five was born today in 1960. He passed away in 1989. 

Ben Shepherd of Soundgarden is 55. 

Highlights for Today in Music History are gathered from This Day in Music, Song Facts and Wikipedia.