History Highlight:

Today in 1978, British singer-songwriter Kate Bush, at 19 years old, released her debut album, The Kick Inside. The collection of art pop features her debut single "Wuthering Heights", which topped the UK Singles Chart for four weeks, thus making Bush the first female artist to achieve a UK number one with a self-written song. The production of The Kick Inside included efforts by several progressive rock veterans, including Duncan Mackay, Ian Bairnson, David Paton, Andrew Powell, and Stuart Elliott of the Alan Parsons Project, and David Gilmour of Pink Floyd. The album has been certified Platinum by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI).

Also, Today In:

1960 - Elvis earned his first Gold album for 1956's Elvis, which featured "Rip It Up," "Old Shep," "When My Blue Moon Turns To Gold Again" and "Ready Teddy."

1969 - Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash recorded a new version of "Girl From The North Country" together in Nashville, Tenn., at CBS Studios. The track appeared on Dylan's Nashville Skyline album. It was originally recorded in 1963 and released on The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan. The collaboration with Cash and an appearance on The Johnny Cash Show helped Nashville Skyline become one of Dylan's best-selling albums.

1971 - Singing "Fire And Rain" and "Carolina On My Mind," James Taylor made his primetime television debut on The Johnny Cash Show, which was a variety show hosted by Cash that aired on ABC from June 7, 1969 to March 31, 1971.

1975 - AC/DC released their debut album High Voltage.

1975 - John Lennon released the Phil Spector-produced Rock 'n' Roll album, a collection of some of his favorite rock and R&B oldies, including "Stand By Me". It was his final record before his self-imposed five-year exile from making records.

1976 - The Eagles release Their Greatest Hits (1971-1975), a collection of 10 songs from their first four albums. For a while, it is certified as the top-selling album in US history.

1982 - A major influence on Steely Dan, among other pop groups, pianist, composer and innovative jazz giant Thelonious Monk died in Weehawken, New Jersey, after a long illness. He was 64.

1984 - The musical drama Footloose opens in theaters with a soundtrack featuring Kenny Loggins, Deniece Williams, and Sammy Hagar. Two songs from the movie - "Footloose" and "Let's Hear it For the Boy" - go to #1 in America.

2005 - Scottish rockers Franz Ferdinand became the first act ever to win the Mercury Music Prize, Brit Awards and NME awards in the same year. The group has had multiple top 20 hits in the UK and has sold millions of albums worldwide. They have released four full-length albums along with an additional collaboration album with American rock band Sparks as supergroup FFS.

2010 - Mumford & Sons make their US TV debut on The Late Show with David Letterman.

2014 - Musician and sound engineer Bob Casale, best known as Devo's guitarist and keyboardist, died of heart failure. He engineered the first solo album for Police guitarist Andy Summers.

2020 - American blues piano player and singer Henry Gray died at age 95. He performed with many artists, including Robert Lockwood Jr., Billy Boy Arnold, Morris Pejoe, The Rolling Stones, Muddy Waters, and Howlin' Wolf. He released over 60 albums including recordings for Chess Records.

Birthdays:

Bobby Lewis (1961 U.S. No.1 single "Tossin' and Turnin") was born today in 1933.

Rickey Medlocke of Blackfoot and Lynyrd Skynyrd is 73.

Taylor Hawkins, drummer with Foo Fighters and Alanis Morissette was born today in 1972.

Billie Joe Armstrong is 51.

John Hassall, bassist with The Libertines, is 42.

Ed Sheeran is 32.

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