History Highlight:

Today in 1976, the Walter Murphy Band went to No. 1 on the U.S. singles chart with "A Fifth Of Beethoven," a disco rendition of the composer's Symphony No. 5, Op. 67, First Movement. The instrumental piece originated during a time in Murphy’s career when he was writing jingles and other music for TV and radio commercials, and a colleague suggested he try updating classical music. Murphy ended up recording a demo of four songs, including his updated rendition of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5. The demo made its way to music executive Larry Uttal, and Murphy got signed to Private Stock Records, who released the music as “A Fifth of Beethoven” (the alcohol-related double entendre of the name is intentional). Within 19 weeks of release, the instrumental hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. The following year, “A Fifth of Beethoven” was included in the soundtrack of the disco film, Saturday Night Fever.

Also, Today In:

1961 - Ray Charles started a two-week run at No. 1 on the U.S. singles chart with "Hit The Road Jack."

1964 - The Beach Boys recorded "Dance Dance Dance," with Glen Campbell playing the lead-guitar intro. It would go on to become the Beach Boys' 12th Top 40 hit.

1964 - Because of an anti-apartheid embargo by the British Musicians' union, the Rolling Stones cancelled a South African tour.

1965 - The Beatles started a four-week run at No. 1 on the U.S. singles chart with the Paul McCartney ballad “Yesterday,” giving the group their 10th U.S. No. 1. It was first released on the album Help! in August 1965, except in the United States, where it was issued as a single in September. With more than 2,200 cover versions, it is one of the most covered songs in the history of recorded music and was also voted the No. 1 pop song of all time by MTV and by Rolling Stone magazine. In 1997, the song was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.

1973 - Elvis Presley and Priscilla divorced after six years of marriage. Priscilla was awarded property, $725,000 cash and $4,200 per month support.

1976 - The Sex Pistols signed to EMI records for £40,000 ($68,000). The contract was terminated three months later with the label stopping production of the “Anarchy In The U.K.” single and deleting it from its catalog. EMI later issued a statement saying it felt unable to promote The Sex Pistols records in view of the adverse publicity generated over the preceding few months.

1978 - Belgian singer-songwriter Jacques Brel died of cancer at age 49. Artists who have recorded Brel's songs include Ray Charles, Frank Sinatra, Dusty Springfield, David Bowie and Nina Simone.

1984 - The popular children's show Thomas The Tank Engine And Friends began its run on BBC TV, featuring Ringo Starr as the show’s narrator.

1985 - On what would have been John Lennon's 45th birthday, a section of Central Park in New York City was christened "Strawberry Fields" in his memory.

1986 - Little-known Kenny G made his first appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, but instead of playing his cover of Junior Walker's "What Does It Take (To Win Your Love)" as agreed, he went off script and plays his own composition, "Songbird." Impressed by the reaction, Arista Records issued the song as a single and it became a hit, setting the stage for more instrumental sax songs from Kenny G and the emergence of the Smooth Jazz format.

1987 - Bruce Springsteen released his eighth studio album, Tunnel of Love. It features the singles "Brilliant Disguise," "Tunnel of Love," "One Step Up," "Tougher Than the Rest," and "Spare Parts."

1989 - The Jesus and Mary Chain released their third studio album, Automatic. It features “Head On” and “Blues from a Gun.”

1993 - Nirvana entered the U.S. album chart at No. 1 with In Utero, their third and final studio album.

1999 - Jazz vibraphonist Milt "Bags" Jackson died in Teaneck, New Jersey, at age 76. Jazz trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie discovered Jackson in 1946 when Gillespie hired Jackson for his sextet.

2000 - Dennis DeYoung of Styx, unable to tour because of debilitating fatigue, sued the band for touring without him. The suit was eventually settled, but DeYoung never returned to the fold. Styx carried on without him but left most of his songs out of the setlists.

2001 - The Strokes’ debut album, Is This It, was released on CD in the U.S. After the Sept. 11 attacks, the American compact disc release was delayed from Sept. 25 to Oct. 9 and had its track list amended, with the song "New York City Cops" removed and replaced with the newly written track, "When It Started."

2001 - Death Cab for Cutie released their third studio album, The Photo Album. It features the singles "A Movie Script Ending," "I Was a Kaleidoscope," and "We Laugh Indoors."

2001 - Bono, Michael Stipe, and Moby made unannounced appearances in New York at the second of two anti-violence benefit concerts organized by Beastie Boys.

2003 - Yeah Yeah Yeahs frontwoman Karen O, a very frenetic performer, was hurt when she tumbled off the stage and a monitor landed on her head during a show in Sydney. After one more song, she was taken to the hospital, but two days later she performed from a wheelchair when the band returned to the same venue for a festival.

2006 - The Bad Brains kicked off a three-night residency at CBGB's, during the famed music venue's last week of operation.

2007 - The Imagine Peace Tower was officially unveiled near Reykjavik, Iceland. The memorial to John Lennon from his widow, Yoko Ono, consists of a tall "tower of light" projected from a white stone monument that has the words "Imagine Peace" carved into it in 24 languages.

2007 - Band of Horses released their second studio album, Cease to Begin. It features the singles "Is There a Ghost" and "No One's Gonna Love You."

2007 - LeAnn Rimes released her ninth studio album, Family, which features the hit singles "Nothin' Better To Do" and "What I Cannot Change."

2007 - Josh Groban released his Christmas album Noël. It becomes the top-selling album of 2007 and one of the best-selling Christmas albums of all time.

2007 - The Hives released their fourth studio album, The Black and White Album. It features the singles "Tick Tick Boom," "T.H.E.H.I.V.E.S.," "Won't Be Long," "Try It Again," and "You Got It All... Wrong."

2007 - Beirut released their second studio album, The Flying Club Cup. It features the singles "Nantes," "A Sunday Smile," "Cherbourg," and "The Penalty."

2008 - Paul McCartney (a vegetarian for 30 years) was said to be furious when he heard that a Liverpool branch of McDonald's restaurant displayed his picture, accusing them of using it to attract customers. Sir Paul was quoted as saying "What sort of morons do McDonald's think Beatles fans are?"

2012 - Macklemore & Ryan Lewis released their debut studio album, The Heist. It features the singles "Wings," "Can't Hold Us," "Same Love," "Thrift Shop," and "White Walls."

2012 - A.C. Newman released his third solo studio album, Shut Down the Streets. It features the singles "I'm Not Talking," "Encyclopedia of Classic Takedowns," and "Strings."

2018 - Mondo Scripto, the first-ever lyrics and drawing exhibition by Bob Dylan, opened at the Halcyon Gallery in London.

2020 - Future Islands released their sixth studio album, As Long as You Are. It features “For Sure.”

Birthdays:

Southern soul singer O.V. Wright, whose memorable songs include “That’s How Strong My Love Is” and "You're Gonna Make Me Cry," was born today in 1939.

John Lennon was born in Liverpool, England, on this day in 1940. Lennon is one of the most famous and iconic musicians of all time, best-known as one of the members of the Beatles, for his subsequent solo career and for his political activism. Starting with 1967's "All You Need Is Love", his songs were adopted as anthems by the anti-war movement including "Give Peace a Chance", "Instant Karma!", "Imagine" and "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)". John would have been 85 today had his life not been taken on December 8, 1980.

The Who bassist John Entwhistle was born today in 1944.

Nona Hendryx of Labelle is 82.

Jackson Browne is 78.

Rod Temperton — who wrote “Thriller,” “Off the Wall,” and “Rock With You” for Michael Jackson — was born today in 1949.

Sharon Osbourne is 74.

Dennis Stratton, briefly a guitarist for Iron Maiden, is 74.

James Fearnley, accordionist for the Pogues, is 72.

Ini Kamoze is 69.

Al Jourgensen of Ministry is 68.

Thomas Wydler from Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds is 67.

Kenny Garrett — saxophonist who has played with the Duke Ellington Orchestra and Miles Davis — is 66.

Kurt Neumann of BoDeans is 65.

PJ Harvey is 57. Growing up in Dorset in the southwest of England, Harvey took guitar lessons from acclaimed folk singer-songwriter Steve Knightley. Harvey’s music career began in 1988, when she joined a local band as a singer and multi-instrumentalist. It was in that band that Harvey met her longtime musical collaborator, John Parish. As a solo artist, PJ Harvey released her critically acclaimed debut album, Dry, in 1992. Since that time, Harvey has released an additional nine studio albums, the most recent being 2023’s I Inside the Old Year Dying. Harvey performed at the Palace Theatre in St. Paul on October 2, 2024, a concert that reviewer Joel Swenson described as “a masterclass in artistry.”

Giles Martin — son of Beatles producer George Martin, who has worked with the Rolling Stones, Elvis Costello, INXS, Kate Bush, Elton John, and more — is 57.

Steve Burns, recording artist and host of Blue’s Clues, is 53.

Sean Lennon — who, in a remarkable but clearly not statistically impossible coincidence, shares the same birthday as is father — is 51. The younger Lennon was born in New York, and like his parents John Lennon and Yoko Ono, Sean is a musician, producer and artist. As a musician, Sean has released solo albums and has been part of the bands Cibo Matto, The Ghost of a Saber Tooth Tiger, and The Claypool Lennon Delirium. Sean Ono Lennon has also composed music for film, and in 2024, he won an Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film for his work as a writer of War Is Over! Inspired by the music of John Lennon and Yoko Ono.

Alex Greenwald of Phantom Planet is 47.

Lecrae is 47.

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