History Highlight:

On this day in 1980, The Cure released the compilation Boys Don’t Cry in the United States, Canada, Germany and Australia. The compilation includes nine tracks from the Cure’s 1979 U.K.-only debut album Three Imaginary Boys, along with three singles released in the meantime, including the title track, “Jumping Someone Else’s Train,” and the controversial “Killing an Arab” (the song’s lyrics and title come from French writer Albert Camus’ novel The Stranger). Boys Don’t Cry was assembled and released to give the Cure more exposure outside of Great Britain; it succeeded in that mission, and it got its own release in Britain in 1983. In 2012, Rolling Stone magazine ranked Boys Don’t Cry at No. 438 in its list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.

Also, Today In:

1957 - Bill Haley & His Comets arrived in the U.K. to begin their tour of the U.K. Haley was the first American rock star to tour the U.K.

1967 - The News Of The World reported that Mick Jagger had taken LSD at the Moody Blues' home in the U.K. Jagger sued the paper for libel in an ongoing feud between the News Of The World and The Stones.

1967 - "Hello, Goodbye" off Magical Mystery Tour by The Beatles was the No. 1 single in the country. The single was commercially successful around the world, topping charts in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and several other countries.

1971 - Black Sabbath began recording their third album Master of Reality at Island Studios in London. The album would go on to become their first top ten album in the U.S.

1972 - Paul Simon released his first new song without Art Garfunkel, "Mother and Child Reunion", which peaked at No. 4 in the U.S. Simon got the idea for the song's title from a chicken-and-egg dish called Mother and Child Reunion that he saw on a Chinese restaurant's menu.

1978 - Emerson, Lake & Palmer broke up.

1979 - Bee Gees released their fifteenth studio album, Spirits Having Flown. It features the singles "Too Much Heaven," "Tragedy," "Love You Inside Out," and "Spirits (Having Flown)."

1982 - Bad Brains released their self-titled debut album.

1983 - Def Leppard's third album, Pyromania, entered the Billboard 200 Album Chart at number 69. The album would peak at number two, spend 116 weeks on the chart and sell ten million records in the U.S. alone.

1991 - Material Issue released their debut studio album, International Pop Overthrow. It features the singles "Renee Remains the Same," "Valerie Loves Me," and "Diane."

1994 - ZZ Top entered the Billboard 200 Album Chart at No. 14 with their eleventh studio album Antenna which was their first album for RCA Records. The album went on to sell one million copies in the U.S.

1994 - Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers peaked at No. 5 on the Billboard 200 Album Chart with Greatest Hits which went on to sell ten million copies in the U.S.

1996 - Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds released their ninth studio album, Murder Ballads. It features the singles "Where the Wild Roses Grow" and "Henry Lee."

2006 - The Rolling Stones performed the halftime show of Super Bowl XL in Detroit. The NFL imposed a five-second delay and censored lyrics considered too explicit.

2007 - Mika released his debut studio album, Life in Cartoon Motion. It features the singles "Grace Kelly," "Love Today," "Big Girl (You Are Beautiful)," "Happy Ending," "Relax, Take It Easy," and "Lollipop."

2008 - Nada Surf released their fifth studio album, Lucky. It features the singles "See These Bones," "Whose Authority," and "Weightless."

2008 - Bob Mould released his seventh solo album, District Line. It features the single "The Silence Between Us."

2010 - Sade released their sixth album, Soldier of Love. It features the title track, “Babyfather,” and “The Moon and the Sky.”

2012 - American record producer and session musician Al De Lory died at age 82. In the early Sixties De Lory played keyboards for various Phil Spector productions, and The Beach Boys' Pet Sounds. As producer for Capitol Records he worked on a series of worldwide hits by Glen Campbell including John Hartford's "Gentle on My Mind", Jimmy Webb's "By the Time I Get to Phoenix", "Wichita Lineman" and "Galveston". He was also a member of the Los Angeles session musicians known as The Wrecking Crew. As a bandleader he had his own hit in 1970 with an instrumental version of the "Song from M*A*S*H".

2013 - Jim James released his debut solo album, Regions of Light and Sound of God. It features the singles "Know Til Now" and "A New Life."

2013 - Unknown Mortal Orchestra released their second studio album, II. It features the singles "Swim and Sleep (Like a Shark)," "So Good at Being in Trouble," and "Faded in the Morning."

2014 – English psych-rock band Temples released their debut album, Sun Structures. Powered by material like the featured single “Shelter Song,” the band earned the respect of Noel Gallagher and Johnny Marr early on. While the album has unmistakable ties to retro sounds of the Beatles, the Zombies, and T. Rex, there was something new lurking in this collection recorded and produced by frontman James Bagshaw in his house. Temples have now released a total of four studio albums, including 2023’s Exotico.

2016 - Lucinda Williams released her twelfth studio album, The Ghosts of Highway 20. It features the singles "Dust," "House of Earth," "Doors of Heaven," "Bitter Memory," and "Factory."

2016 - DIIV released their second studio album, Is the Is Are. It features the singles "Dopamine," "Bent (Roi's Song)," "Under the Sun," and "Is the Is Are."

2016 - Dr. Dog released their eighth studio album, The Psychedelic Swamp. It features the singles "Badvertise" and "Bring My Baby Back." It is based upon recordings from 2001.

2016 - A new species of black tarantula that lives near Folsom Prison, California, was named after Johnny Cash. Aphonopelma johnnycashi was among 14 new tarantula species from the southern U.S. which were described by biologists in the journal ZooKeys.

2021 - Foo Fighters released their tenth studio album, Medicine at Midnight. It features the singles "Shame Shame," "No Son of Mine," "Waiting on a War," "Making a Fire," and "Love Dies Young."

2021 - The Weather Station released their fifth studio album, Ignorance. It features the singles "Robber" and "Tried to Tell You."

2021 - The Staves released their fourth studio album, Good Woman. It features the singles "Trying," "Good Woman," "Satisfied," and "Devotion."

2021 - Black Country, New Road released their debut studio album, For the First Time. It features the singles "Science Fair," "Track X," "Athens, France," and "Sunglasses."

Birthdays:

William S. Burroughs, Beat Generation writer and poet, was born on this day in 1914. He has collaborated with R.E.M. (“Star Me Kitten”), Sonic Youth, Laurie Anderson, Nick Cave, Tom Waits, and Throbbing Gristle, and appears in U2’s music video for “Last Night on Earth.”

Hal Blaine, American drummer and session musician with the Wrecking Crew, was born on this day in 1929.

Alex Harvey, Scottish glam rock star of the Sensational Alex Harvey Band, was born today in 1935.

Barrett Strong was born on this day in 1941. He was the first artist to record a hit for Motown, "Money (That's What I Want)" which was famously covered by The Beatles and others, but he was mainly known for his songwriting skills as he contributed to the writing of many hits including "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" by both Marvin Gaye and Gladys Knight & the Pips; "War" by Edwin Starr; "Wherever I Lay My Hat (That's My Home)" by Paul Young; "Smiling Faces Sometimes" by the Undisputed Truth; and the long line of "psychedelic soul" records by the Temptations, including "Cloud Nine", "I Can't Get Next to You", "Psychedelic Shack", "Ball of Confusion (That's What the World Is Today)", and "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone", among others. Strong died on Jan. 28, 2023.

Henson Cargill, country singer of “Skip a Rope,” was born on this day in 1941.

Corey Wells of Three Dog Knight was born on this day in 1941.

J.R. Cobb — member of Classics IV and songwriter of several top-10 hits, including “Stormy” and “Traces” — was born on this day in 1944.

Al Kooper — who started Blood, Sweat & Tears, and did session work on Bob Dylan’s “Like a Rolling Stone” (organ), the Rolling Stones’ “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” (French horn and piano), the Who, Jimi Hendrix, B.B. King, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Roy Orbison, and many more — is 81.

Christopher Guest, the actor, director, writer and musician — known for his work as guitarist Nigel Tufnel in This is Spinal Tap and as banjo player Alan Barrows in A Mighty Wind — is 77.

David Denny from the Steve Miller Band is 77.

Cliff Martinez, former drummer for Red Hot Chili Peppers and Captain Beefheart, is 71.

Vinnie Colaiuta — drummer for Frank Zappa, Joni Mitchell, Sting, and more — is 69.

Duff McKagan, bassist for Guns N' Roses and Velvet Revolver, is 61.

Chris Barron of The Spin Doctors is 57.

Bobby Brown is 56.

Sara Evans is 54.

Kevin Gates is 39.

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