Birthday Highlight:

Beck David Hansen — born Bek David Campbell in Los Angeles on July 8, 1970 — is 55 today. Best known as a Grammy-award-winning American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He rose to fame in the early 1990s with his experimental and lo-fi style, and became known for creating musical collages of wide-ranging genres. He has musically encompassed folk, funk, soul, hip-hop, electronic, alternative rock, country, and psychedelia. He plays 12 instruments, including guitar, keyboard, banjo, sitar, drums, and more. Beck has released 14 studio albums (three of which were released on indie labels), as well as several non-album singles and a book of sheet music; coincidentally, on this date in 2008, Beck released his 11th studio album, Modern Guilt, which features the tracks “Chemtrails,” “Gamma Ray,” and “Youthless.” Beck’s most recent studio album was 2019’s Hyperspace, but he’s been busy collaborating with Gorillaz, the Chemical Brothers, Phoenix, and Hinds in recent years.

Also, Today In:

1954 - Dewey Phillips of Memphis' WHBQ radio played a new song, "That's Alright Mama", and its flip, "Blue Moon Of Kentucky", on his Red Hot & Blue R&B show. An instant hit, the song was immediately played 14 more times. Callers to the station insisted that the singer, a local boy named Elvis Presley, must be a black man. Elvis himself, who knew of the airplay in advance, hid out at a local movie, but response was so immediate and positive that Dewey tracked him down for a live radio interview later that evening.

1958 - The first Gold Record presented by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) was awarded to the soundtrack of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Oklahoma. The honor signified that the album had reached $1 million in sales.

1967 - The Monkees began a 29-date tour with The Jimi Hendrix Experience as their supporting act. Hendrix was dropped six shows later after being told his act was not suitable for their audience, which consisted mostly of teenage pop fans.

1968 - Pink Floyd kicked off their first 20-date North American tour at the Kinetic Playground in Chicago.

1969 - Singer/actress Marianne Faithfull, girlfriend of Mick Jagger, attempted suicide with barbiturates while on the set of the film "Ned Kelly" (also starring Mick). She was dropped from the cast of the movie, eventually recovered, and when waking from her coma, told friends that "wild horses couldn't drag me away." The Rolling Stones song "Wild Horses" was built around that phrase.

1970 - The Everly Brothers Show started an eleven-week prime time slot on ABC television. It began as a summer replacement in 1970 for The Johnny Cash Show.

1972 - Bill Withers started a three-week run at No. 1 on the U.S. singles chart with "Lean On Me," his only No. 1 hit.

1978 - Joe Strummer and Paul Simonon of The Clash were arrested for being drunk and disorderly after a concert at the Apollo in Glasgow.

1978 - After a disco-rific six months at No. 1, the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack was finally bumped off the top spot of the album chart by Gerry Rafferty's City To City.

1993 - Tag Team released their debut studio album, Whoomp! (There It Is). It features the singles "Whoomp! (There It Is)" and "Here It Is, Bam!"

1995 - TLC started a seven-week run at No. 1 on the U.S. singles chart with "Waterfalls," the group's signature song and second U.S. No. 1. The song was written by band member Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes with Marqueze Etheridge and Organized Noize for TLC's second album, CrazySexyCool. The song tackles issues of illegal drug trade and HIV/AIDS. BMG noted that "Waterfalls" was the first No. 1 song ever to reference AIDS in one of its verses. The song's music video reflected its socially conscious lyrics and with a million-dollar budget, the video was an MTV staple credited for giving the single much of its success.

1997 - Smash Mouth released their debut album, Fush Yu Mang. It features “Walkin’ on the Sun.”

2002 - Michael Jackson spoke out against the music industry's treatment of artists, alleging that the business was rife with racism. Speaking at a civil rights meeting in New York, Jackson claimed there was a 'conspiracy' among record companies, especially towards black artists.

2003 - TV on the Radio released their debut EP, Young Liars. It features “Staring at the Sun” and a cover of the Pixies’ “Mr. Grieves.”

2007 - Prince was forced off stage by Minneapolis Police halfway through his set at First Avenue. The club was only allowed to stay open until 3 a.m., and Prince went onstage at 2:45. Before his appearance at First Avenue, Prince had already played two shows in Minneapolis: the first was at the downtown location of Macy's department store, where Prince promoted his new fragrance with a nine-song, 45-minute set; the second was his concert at Target Center, just across the street from First Avenue.

2008 - Beck released his 11th studio album, Modern Guilt. It features “Chemtrails,” “Gamma Ray,” and “Youthless.”

2016 - Drake was at No. 1 on the U.S. chart with his fourth studio album Views. With Views, Drake also joined Adele, Michael Buble and Taylor Swift as the only artists in the 2010s to have an album remain at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 for six consecutive weeks.

Birthdays:

Louis Jordan, saxophonist known as “King of the Jukebox,” was born today in 1908.

Billy Eckstine was born today in 1914.

Johnnie Johnson, who played with Chuck Berry, was born today in 1924.

Jerry Vale (“You Don’t Know Me”) was born today in 1930.

Steve Lawrence, of Steve and Eydie, was born today in 1935. He died in 2024.

Joe B. Mauldin, bassist for Buddy Holly’s band the Crickets, was born today in 1940.

Jaimoe, founding drummer for the Allman Brothers Band, is 81.

Raffi is 77.

Kevin Bacon, of the Bacon Brothers, is 67.

Andy Fletcher, founding member for Depeche Mode, was born today in 1961. He passed away in 2022.

Toby Keith was born today in 1961. He died in 2024.

Joan Osborne is 63.

Ben Jelen is 46.

Arctic Monkeys guitarist Jamie Cook is 40.

Sky Ferreira is 33.

Maya Hawke is 27.

Jaden Smith is 27.

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