History Highlight:

Today in 2006, TV on the Radio released their second studio album, Return to Cookie Mountain, in Europe; it would be released in the U.S. and Canada on September 12 of that year. Return to Cookie Mountain was the first album from TV on the Radio to feature the band’s late keyboardist Gerard Smith, who had been recruited into the band by Tunde Adebimpe. The album was recorded at Stay Gold Studio and Head Gear Studio, both located in Brooklyn, New York. Return to Cookie Mountain includes the tracks “A Method,” “Hours,” “Province” and “Wolf Like Me.” Whereas the initial European release contained 11 tracks, the North American release of the album included three additional tracks: “Snakes and Martyrs”; a remix of “Hours” by El-P from Run the Jewels; and “Things You Can Do.” During recording, TV on the Radio welcomed several guest vocalists to perform on the album, most notably David Bowie as a backing singer on “Province.” By year’s end, several publications, including Spin, Rolling Stone and Pitchfork, named Return to Cookie Mountain among the best albums of 2006.

Also, Today In:

1950 - Johnny Cash joined the U.S. Air Force.

1957 - John Lennon and Paul McCartney met for the first time in Woolton, Liverpool, at the St. Peter's Church parish festival where 16-year-old Lennon's skiffle band, The Quarrymen, performed. McCartney impressed Lennon by playing "Twenty Flight Rock" by Eddie Cochran and "Be-Bop-A-Lula" by Gene Vincent. Lennon was even more impressed when McCartney showed Lennon and Eric Griffiths how to tune their guitars, something they'd been paying someone else to do for them.

1963 - James Brown went to No. 2 on the U.S. album chart with Live At The Apollo. Recorded on the night of Oct. 24, 1962, at Brown's own expense, the record spent 66 weeks on the Billboard Albums chart. In 2003, the album was ranked No. 25 in Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.

1964 - The Beatles film A Hard Day's Night premiered at The Pavilion in London.

1965 - Jackie Wilson released "Higher And Higher."

1966 - Elvis Presley's movie, Paradise Hawaiian Style, opened nationwide.

1967 - Pink Floyd appeared on the British TV show Top Of The Pops for the first time, performing "See Emily Play."

1968 - The Rolling Stones scored their fifth U.S. No. 1 single when "Jumpin Jack Flash" reached the top of the charts. Keith Richards has recalled that he and Mick Jagger wrote the lyrics while staying at Richards' country house, where they were awoken one morning by the sound of gardener Jack Dyer walking past the window. When Jagger asked what the noise was, Richards responded, "Oh, that's Jack — that's jumpin' Jack."

1971 - Bjorn Ulvaeus and Agnetha Faltskog of ABBA were married in Verum, Sweden.

1971 - American jazz trumpeter, singer and bandleader, Louis Armstrong died. He had many hits including the 1964 U.S. No. 1 “Hello Dolly!,” the 1968 U.K. No. 1 “What A Wonderful World” plus “When The Saints Go Marching In,” “Ain't Misbehavin’,” and “We Have All the Time in the World.” Armstrong’s 1967 recording of “What a Wonderful World” returned to the Billboard Hot 100 in 1988, eventually peaking at No. 32, after its inclusion in the film, Good Morning, Vietnam.

1972 - David Bowie performed "Starman" on Top Of The Pops, causing an uproar among the conservative British audience by singing with his arm coquettishly draped around the shoulder of guitarist Mick Ronson — a move that made him a household name overnight.

1974 - "Rock The Boat" by The Hues Corporation became the first disco song to top the Hot 100.

1977 - Performing at Olympic Stadium in Montreal on the final stop of Pink Floyd's first stadium tour, Roger Waters spit on an unruly fan and criticized the crowd for setting off fireworks. The experience inspired their next album, The Wall.

1979 - The B-52’s released their self-titled debut album. It features “Rock Lobster.”

1979 - Van McCoy, known for the 1975 disco hit "The Hustle," died of a heart attack at age 39.

1981 - Pat Benatar released her third studio album, Precious Time. It features “Fire and Ice.”

1984 - Public Image Ltd released their fourth studio album, This Is What You Want... This Is What You Get. It features “Bad Life” and “This Is Not a Love Song.”

1984 - The Jacksons kicked off their North American Victory tour at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City. More than two million people attended the tour’s 55 concerts, which grossed more than $75 million. Michael Jackson donated $5 million to various charities.

1985 - Phil Collins went to No. 1 on the U.S. singles chart with "Sussudio," his third U.S. No. 1.

1987 - Echo & the Bunnymen released their self-titled fifth album. It features “Lips Like Sugar,” “The Game,” and “Bedbugs and Ballyhoo.”

1987 - The Grateful Dead released their 12th studio album, In the Dark. It features “Touch of Grey.”

1987 - Starship released their second studio album, No Protection. It features “Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now,” “Set the Night to Music,” and “It’s Not Over (‘Til It’s Over).”

1988 - MTV refused to play Neil Young's video for "This Note's For You," citing a policy against videos that mention products. The video was a parody of various ad campaigns, with lyrics mentioning Coke, Pepsi, Miller and Bud.

1989 - Full Moon Fever, Tom Petty's first solo album apart from his band The Heartbreakers, charted at No. 3.

1994 - Forrest Gump was released in theaters. Aside from becoming the top-grossing film of the year in North America and winning multiple Academy Awards, the movie spawned a hit soundtrack with songs by Elvis Presley, Three Dog Night, The Doors, The Byrds, The Mamas & the Papas, Buffalo Springfield, and others.

1998 - Cowboy singer and actor Roy Rogers died of heart failure in his sleep at his desert home in Apple Valley, California, at the age of 86.

2003 - The Chicks, formerly as the Dixie Chicks, performed a concert at Dallas' American Airlines Center despite an anonymous threat that group member Natalie Maines would be shot on stage after the controversy regarding her comments about President George W. Bush and the Iraq war. Maines had a police escort to and from the show and then directly to the airport. After a hiatus, the group toured again in 2010, 2013 and 2016. More recently, the group changed their name to the "The Chicks" in order to distance themselves from a name associated with the Confederate-era South. The Chicks performed at the Minnesota State Fair Grandstand on August 25, 2023.

2003 - Skip Battin, bassist and songwriter with The Byrds, died of complications from Alzheimer's. In his life, he also played with New Riders Of The Purple Sage and The Flying Burrito Brothers.

2003 - Beyoncé featuring Jay-Z started a three-week run at No. 1 on the U.K. singles chart with “Crazy In Love.” The track features a sample from The Chi-Lites' 1970 recording, “Are You My Woman (Tell Me So).” The song also spent eight weeks at No. 1 on the U.S. chart.

2004 - R&B/soul singer-songwriter Syreeta Wright died after a two-year battle with bone cancer at age 58. She teamed up with Billy Preston on the 1980 No. 1 hit "With You I'm Born Again," had once worked as a secretary at Motown Records, and married Stevie Wonder in 1970.

2005 - Grammy award-winning Rap star Lil' Kim, who was convicted of perjury and conspiracy in March 2005, was sentenced to a year in jail for lying to a grand jury to protect friends. Kim told the court, "I testified falsely to the grand jury and during the trial. At the time I thought it was the right thing to do. Now I know it was wrong." Lil' Kim, whose real name is Kimberley Jones, was also fined $50,000.

2016 - Drake equaled Michael Jackson's 1983 chart record after he had the No. 1 album and song in the American charts for seven consecutive weeks. "Views" and "One Dance" remained unbeaten on the Billboard charts respectively.

2017 - Jay-Z's digital-only album 4:44 went platinum within five days — despite limits on who could access it. The music was only available on Tidal, and to customers of Sprint.

2019 - With 13 weeks at No. 1, "Old Town Road" by Lil Nas X broke the record for longest-running hip-hop song on the Hot 100. "Lose Yourself," "Boom Boom Pow" and "See You Again" all had runs of 12 weeks.

2019 - Bossa nova star João Gilberto died at the age of 88.

2020 - American singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Charlie Daniels died at age 83 of a hemorrhagic stroke. Daniels is best known for his contributions to Southern rock, country, and bluegrass music, and he scored the 1979 No. 1 country hit, “The Devil Went Down to Georgia.”

2020 - Ennio Morricone — composer of scores for many films, including The Good, the Bad and the Ugly — died in Rome at the age of 91.

Birthdays:

Jazz drummer Louie Bellson was born in today in 1924.

Singer, actor, talk-show host and media mogul Merv Griffin was born today in 1925.

Bill Haley, considered the first rock 'n' roll star, was born today in 1925.

Singer and actor Della Reese was born today in 1931.

Jet Harris, bassist for Cliff Richard’s band the Shadows, was born today in 1939.

Gene Chandler, whose 1962 No. 1 hit “Duke of Earl” has been listed by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame among the 500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll, is 86.

Country singer Jeannie Seely, who had the 1966 Grammy-winning hit “Don’t Touch Me,” was born today in 1940.

Byron Berline, American fiddle player, was born today in 1944.

Singer Phyllis Hyman, best known for her 1979 disco hit, “You Know How to Love Me,” was born today in 1949.

Michael Shrieve, drummer for Santana, is 77.

Nanci Griffith was born today in 1953.

Inspectah Deck of Wu-Tang Clan is 56.

Curtis James Jackson III, better known as 50 Cent, is 51.

Nic Cester, frontman of Jet, is 47.

Joell Ortiz is 46.

Kate Nash is 39.

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