Birthday Highlight:

Craig Finn is 54 today. Finn grew up in Edina, Minnesota, a first-ring suburb of Minneapolis, and he started going to live shows at First Avenue as a teenager. After earning a degree from Boston College, Finn returned to Minneapolis where he worked in finance for American Express and also played in the band Lifter Puller. Following the breakup of that band, Finn relocated to New York City in 2001, settling in Brooklyn, where he founded the band The Hold Steady in 2003. They released their debut album in 2004, and their third full-length, 2006’s Boys and Girls in America, is considered their breakout album. To date, The Hold Steady have released nine studio albums, the most recent being 2023’s The Price of Progress. Finn has concurrently maintained a solo career, releasing five albums to date under his own name. As a songwriter, Finn is known for third-person narratives about characters who struggle with life’s challenges and its deeper philosophical questions. And even though Finn has been a New Yorker for more than 20 years, his lyrics still frequently reference the geography of the Twin Cities area, and he continues to be a loyal fan of the Minnesota Twins.

Also, Today In: 

1956 - Filming began on Love Me Tender, Elvis Presley's first movie. 

1962 - The first photo of the Beatles (in the final four formation with Ringo on drums) was taken on August 22, 1962. The last was taken exactly seven years later, on August 22, 1969. 

1964 - The Supremes started a two-week run at No. 1 on the U.S. singles chart with "Where Did Our Love Go",' the group's first No. 1. 

1968 - Cynthia Powell Lennon, Julian's mother, sued John Lennon for divorce on the grounds that he'd committed adultery with Yoko Ono. 

1968 - Ringo Starr quit The Beatles during The White Album sessions when the constant bickering and tension became too much for him. The news of Ringo's departure was kept secret, and he rejoined the sessions on September 3rd. After Ringo walked out, the remaining Beatles recorded "Back In the USSR", with Paul on drums and John playing bass. 

1970 - Bread went to No. 1 on the U.S. singles chart with "Make It With You", the group's only No. 1 hit, which was a No. 5 in the U.K.. Many artists have covered the song including: The Supremes, Aretha Franklin, Earth, Wind & Fire, Dusty Springfield, Andy Williams and Marc Cohn. 

1970- Derek & the Dominos begin recording their famous album, Layla And Other Assorted Love Songs. The band features Eric Clapton, who in an attempt to lay low, downplays his involvement. 

1970 - Creedence Clearwater Revival started a nine-week run at No. 1 on the U.S. album chart with their fifth studio album Cosmo's Factory. The name of the album comes from the warehouse in Berkeley where the band rehearsed. Bandleader John Fogerty was so insistent on practicing (nearly every day) that drummer Doug "Cosmo" Clifford began referring to the place as "the factory". 

1978 - Sex Pistol Sid Vicious made his last live stage appearance when he appeared with Rat Scabies from The Damned, with former Sex Pistol Glen Matlock and Nancy Spungen at London's Electric Ballroom. In the audience was Elvis Costello, Blondie, Joan Jett, The Slits and Captain Sensible. 

1979 - Led Zeppelin released their eighth studio album, In Through The Out Door. The record cover was one of the most expensive and elaborate covers ever produced (moisten the inside sleeve artwork and it turns colors). It features “Fool in the Rain” and “All My Love.”

1983 - Depeche Mode released their third studio album, Construction Time Again. It features “Everything Counts.”

1987 - Madonna went to No. 1 on the U.S. singles chart with "Who's That Girl", her sixth U.S. No.1 and also a No.1 in the U.K. The track was from the soundtrack album of the motion picture of same name. 

1995 - Rancid released their third studio album, …And Out Come the Wolves. It features "Roots Radicals," "Time Bomb," and "Ruby Soho."

1994 - English band Portishead — drummer and producer Geoff Barrow, singer Beth Gibbons and guitarist Adrian Utley with engineer Dave McDonald — released their debut album, Dummy. Landing at a time when bands like Nirvana, Green Day and Pearl Jam were so prominent, Portishead’s Dummy was a sonic departure. Dummy captivated listeners with its hip-hop production: the use of samples, break beats, scratching and looping. The samples came from film soundtracks, jazz, vintage pop, funk and soul, and the album helped further solidify trip-hop as a legitimate genre, and it established Portishead’s hometown of Bristol as its base. Given the popularity of grunge, Dummy was an unexpected success; “Sour Times,” one of the album’s singles, peaked at No. 53 in the Billboard Hot 100, and its video was a hit on MTV. Other notable tracks include “Glory Box,” “Numb” and “Wandering Star.” Moreover, Dummy was ranked the No. 1 album of 1994 by Melody Maker, and it won the Mercury Prize in 1995. Since that time, Dummy has featured in the greatest-albums-of-all-time lists from Rolling Stone and the NME, and it has landed in numerous publications’ lists of essential albums from the ‘90s. Curiously, the album’s success for the band was, as Barrow told the New York Times in 2019, a “double-edged sword.” Whereas Portishead thought the record should be played very loudly, many listeners considered Dummy to be dinner-party music. “Those people bought the records and made the band big,” Barrow acknowledged, “but in the sense of people actually having a dinner party and putting our music on, I would want to go in with a baseball bat and smash the [heck] out of their fondue set.”

1995 - Dishwalla released their debut studio album, Pet Your Friends. It features “Counting Blue Cars.”

2002 - Jimmy Buffett's first Cheeseburger In Paradise restaurant, named for his 1978 song, opens in Indianapolis, Indiana. 

2006 - J Dilla’s third studio album, The Shining, is released posthumously.

2006 - OutKast released their sixth studio album, Idlewild. It features “Mighty O,” “Morris Brown,” “Hollywood Divorce,” and “The Train.”

2006 - The Thermals released their third studio album, The Body, the Blood, the Machine. It features “A Pillar of Salt.”

2009 - Soul singer Johnny Carter, who was a member of doo-wop groups The Dells and The Flamingos, died aged 75. 

2011 - The music world lost two of its greatest songwriters: Jerry Leiber, who died at 78, and Nicholas Ashford, who died at 70. Leiber formed a highly-successful creative partnership with Mike Stoller. Together, they penned such hits as “Hound Dog” (made famous first by Big Mama Thornton, followed by Elvis Presley) “Jailhouse Rock” (Presley), “Poison Ivy” (The Coasters) and “Stand By Me,” written alongside singer Ben E. King. Ashford, meanwhile, was best known for his work alongside his former wife, Valerie Simpson. Together, they wrote such notable singles as “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough,” “Ain’t Nothing Like the Real Thing” (both made famous by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell), and “I’m Every Woman,” which Chaka Khan made her signature hit in 1978. The couple also enjoyed a successful recording career, scoring hits with “Found A Cure” (1979) and “Solid” (1984). 

2014 - Aretha Franklin, with special guest The Four Tops, performed at the Minnesota State Fair Grandstand. Here’s the setlist.

2018 - Ed King died in his Nashville, Tennessee, home at 68 years of age. He was a guitarist for the psychedelic rock band Strawberry Alarm Clock and guitarist and bassist for the Southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd from 1972 to 1975 and again from 1987 to 1996. 

2018 - Vampire Weekend lead singer Ezra Koenig and his girlfriend, Rashida Jones, have a son, Isaiah. His grandfather is Quincy Jones, Rashida's dad. 

2020 - "WAP" by Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion hit No. 1 in America, becoming the most sexually explicit song ever to top the tally. It got bumped off two weeks later by a wholesome slice of K-pop: "Dynamite" by BTS. 

Birthdays: 

John Lee Hooker was born today in 1917. 

Bob Flanigan of the Four Freshman was born today in 1926.

Chuck Brown (“Bustin’ Loose”) was born today in 1936.

Dale Hawkins was born today in 1936.

Ron Dante of the Archies is 80.

Donna Jean Godchaux, the only female member of the Grateful Dead, is 78.  

David Marks of the Beach Boys is 77.

Peter Laughner of Pere Ubu was born today in 1952.

Vernon Reid, founder and primary songwriter of the Living Colour, is 67. 

Juan Croucier of Ratt is 66.

Collin Raye is 65.

Roland Orzabal (Tears For Fears) is 64. 

Bangles drummer Debbi Peterson is 64.

Tori Amos is 62. Born Myra Ellen Amos, she is a classically trained musician with a mezzo-soprano vocal range. Amos was the lead singer of the short-lived 1980s pop group Y Kant Tori Read before achieving her breakthrough as a solo artist in the early 1990s. Her songs focus on a broad range of topics, including sexuality, feminism, politics, and religion. 

Wu-Tang Clan rapper GZA (aka The Genius) is 59.

Layne Staley of Alice in Chains was born today in 1967.

Craig Finn is 54 (q.v.).

Paul Doucette of Matchbox Twenty is 53. 

Howie D of the Backstreet Boys is 52.

Dua Lipa is 30. 

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