Today In Oldies Music History: October 8

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Births

1934: Doc Green (The Drifters)
1940: Fred Cash (The Impressions)
1941: George Bellamy (The Tornadoes)
1941: Dave Arbus (East Of Eden)
1942: Buzz Clifford
1944: Susan Raye
1945: Ray Royer (Procol Harum)
1945: Butch Rillera (Redbone)
1947: Tony Wilson (Hot Chocolate)
1949: Hamish Stuart (The Average White Band)
1950: Robert "Kool" Bell (Kool and the Gang)

Deaths

1990: Barrie Wilson (Procol Harum)

Events

1935: Bandleader Ozzie Nelson marries his lead vocalist, Harriet Hilliard.

1962: Joining what he is told is a gospel music tour in England with Sam Cooke, Little Richard instead finds himself part of a rock and roll revue (featuring a young Billy Preston on keyboards). Cooke's popularity with his secular set convinces Richard to return to rock, and his self-imposed exile is ended... for the first time, anyway.
1966: Cream drummer Ginger Baker collapses while on stage at a Sussex University gig in England, just after completing his epic 20-minute solo on "Toad."
1968: "Mama" Cass Elliot's initial solo engagement at Caesars' Palace is a disaster, with Elliot collapsing from exhaustion and her backup band ill-rehearsed. While hospitalized, she contracts tonsillitis, forcing the cancellation of the entire two-week engagement.
1977: NBC airs The Paul Simon Special, which again reunites the singer with old friend Art Garfunkel.
1985: Little Richard passes out behind the wheel while driving his sports car in West Hollywood and runs into a telephone pole, seriously injuring him and forcing him to miss his induction in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

After he recovers, he returns yet again to spiritual music.
1987: The acclaimed Chuck Berry documentary Hail! Hail! Rock 'n' Roll premieres in US theaters on the same day that Berry himself is awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame at 1777 N. Vine.
1987: Promoting their space-themed Afterburner record, ZZ Top book passage on what is announced as the first passenger flight to the moon.
1988: The Rolling Stones' Keith Richards performs his first solo single, "Take It So Hard," on tonight's episode of Saturday Night Live.
1989: After Rolling Stone Ron Wood suggested the Who were reforming for the money alone, Who guitarist Pete Townshend publicly answered: "Mick needs a lot more than I do. His last album was a flop," referring to the Stones' legendary miscue Dirty Work.
1992: The US Postal Service issues a booklet of commemorative rock and roll stamps featuring Elvis Presley, Buddy Holly, Otis Redding, Bill Haley, Ritchie Valens, Clyde McPhatter, and Dinah Washington.

Releases

1979: Fleetwood Mac, Tusk

Recording

1941: Benny Goodman, "Buckle Down Winsocki"
1957: Jerry Lee Lewis, "Great Balls Of Fire"
1964: The Beatles, "She's A Woman"
1968: The Beatles, "Long Long Long," "I'm So Tired," "The Continuing Story Of Bungalow Bill"

Charts

1955: The Four Aces' "Love Is A Many-Splendored Thing" hits #1
1977: Billy Joel's LP The Stranger enters the charts

Certifications

1974: Dionne Warwick and The Spinners' "Then Came You" is certified gold