Birthday Highlight:

The King of Surf Guitar, Dick Dale, turns 78 today. Born Richard Monsour in 1937 in Boston, Dick Dale pioneered the surf-music style by drawing on Eastern musical scales and experimenting with reverberation. He even worked closely with Fender to produce custom-made amplifiers, including the first-ever 100-watt guitar amplifier. Dale's innovative style influenced other guitarists, including Jimi Hendrix and Eddie Van Halen. Among Dick Dale's hits are 1961's "Let's Go Trippin'" and 1962's "Misirlou"; the latter's use in the 1994 film, Pulp Fiction, exposed a whole new audience to the music of Dick Dale, who continues performing to this day.

Also, Today In:

1956 - Gene Vincent recorded the classic rock 'n roll song "Be Bop-A-Lula", at Owen Bradley's studio in Nashville, Tenn. The song went on to be a Top 20 hit that year.

1959 - The first Grammy Awards presentation was held. Host Mort Sahl presented trophies to Domenico Modugno for "Nel Blu Dipinto Di Blu (Volare)," for Record Of The Year, and to Henry Mancini for The Music From Peter Gunn for Album Of The Year.

1964 - Louis Armstrong's "Hello Dolly" hit No. 1 in the U.S. singles charts.

1967 - The Young Rascals started a four week run at No.1 on the U.S. singles chart with "Groovin'".

1970 - Four students at Kent State University were killed and 11 wounded by National Guard troops at a campus demonstration protesting the escalation of the Vietnam War. The incident inspired Neil Young to compose "Ohio", which became a hit for Crosby Stills Nash & Young.

1974 - Grand Funk Railroad started a two-week run at No. 1 on the U.S. singles chart with their version of the Little Eva hit "The Loco-Motion."

1974 - The film soundtrack to The Sting by Marvin Hamlisch started a five-week run at No. 1 on the U.S. album chart.

1996 - Mariah Carey started a two-week run at No. 1 on the U.S. singles chart with "Always Be My Baby", her eleventh U.S. No. 1.

More Birthdays:

Country star Randy Travis is 56.

Green Day bassist Mike Dirnt is 43.