Music Almanac: May 8*

Birthdays:

• 1940 - Rick Nelson (d. 1985)
• 1942 - Jack Blanchard (Jack Blanchard & Misty Morgan) (70)
• 1942 -  Jim "Motorhead" Sherwood (Mothers of Invention) (70)
• 1943 - Toni Tennille (Captain & Tennille) (69)
• 1943 - Paul Samwell-Smith (Yardbirds) (69)
• 1944 - Gary Glitter (68)
• 1944 - Bill Legend (T-Rex) (68)
• 1945 - Keith Jarrett (67)
• 1947 - Rick Derringer (65)
• 1947 - Phil Sawyer (Spencer Davis Group) (65)
• 1950 - Eric Brittingham (Cinderella) (62)
• 1951 - Chris Frantz (Talking Heads) (61)
• 1951 - Philip Bailey (Earth, Wind & Fire) (61)
• 1953 - Billy Burnette (Fleetwood Mac) (59)
• 1955 - Alex Van Halen (Van Halen) (57)
• 1964 - Peter Gill (Frankie Goes to Hollywood) (48)
• 1976 - Martha Wainwright (36)

Deaths:

• 1967 - Laverne Andrews (Andrews Sisters) - Cancer (65)
• 1974 - Graham Bond - Suicide (36)
• 1982 - Neil Bogart (Founder of Casablanca Records) - Cancer (39)
• 2008 - Eddy Arnold (89)

On This Day:

• 1954 - The BBC banned the record Such a Night by Johnny Ray due to its suggestiveness.
• 1965 - The video for Bob Dylan's Subterranean Homesick Blues was shot next to the Savoy Hotel in London.
• 1967 - Gerry & the Pacemakers announced they were breaking up.
• 1969 - John Lennon, George Harrison and Ringo Starr signed a management agreement with Gary Klein of ABKCO.
• 1972 - Billy Preston became the first rock artist to headline at Radio City Music Hall.
• 1977 - Olivia Newton-John appeared in New York for the first time, playing the Metropolitan Opera House.
• 1990 - Tom Waits was awarded $2.5 million by a Los Angles Court in a case against Frito-Lay over the use of a sound-alike singer.
• 1993 - Mark Knopfler was given an honorary Doctorate of Music by the University of Newcastle on Tyne.
• 1996 - Def Leppard's Rick Allen has spousal abuse charges refiled against him in Los Angeles after he failed to complete a substance abuse counseling program.
• 1998 - Johnny Winter was added to the Hollywood Rock Walk.
• 2006 - The Rolling Stones were forced to call off their European Tour when Keith Richards has emergency brain surgery due to a fall from a coconut tree in Fiji.

Released:

• 1970 - Let It Be - Beatles

Number Ones - U.S. Singles:

• 1976 - Welcome Back - John Sebastian (1 week)
• 1982 - Chariots of Fire - Vangelis (1 week)
• 1999 - Livin' La Vida Loca - Ricky Martin (5 weeks)

Number Ones - U.S. Albums:

• 1993 - Get a Grip - Aerosmith (1 week)
• 1999 - Fanmail - TLC (1 week)
• 2010 - Glee: The Music, The Power of Madonna - Glee Cast (1 week)

Number Ones - U.K. Singles:

• 1976 - Fernando - ABBA (4 weeks)
• 1994 - Inside - Stiltskin (1 week)
• 2005 - Lonely - Akon (2 weeks)

Number Ones - U.K. Albums:

• 1971 - Sticky Fingers - Rolling Stones (4 weeks)
• 1976 - Greatest Hits - ABBA (9 weeks)
• 1985 - Tug of War - Paul McCartney (2 weeks)
• 1993 - Automatic For the People - R.E.M. (1 week (1 previous week at number 1))
• 2005 - Trouble - Akon (1 week (1 previous week at number 1))