History Spotlight:

Today in 1949, Gilbert "Gil" Scott-Heron was born. A soul and jazz poet, musician, and author, known primarily for his work as a spoken-word performer in the 1970s and 1980s, his music, most notably on Pieces of a Man and Winter in America in the early 1970s, influenced and helped engender later African-American music genres such as hip hop and neo soul.

Also, Today In:

1966 - Pye Records released David Bowie's first solo single, "Do Anything You Say." Bowie had previously recorded as David Jones and The Lower Third.

1966 - The Troggs recorded "Wild Thing" at Regent Sound Studio in London. The song went on to be a No. 1 hit in the U.S. and a No. 2 hit in the U.K. in June the following year.

1969 - The Beach Boys announced they were suing their record label, Capitol, for $2 million in unpaid royalties.

1970 - As an April Fool's joke, John Lennon and Yoko Ono issued a statement to the press that they were having dual sex-change operations.

1976 - The Buzzcocks played their debut live gig when the appeared at Bolton Institute Of Technology (now Bolton University) in Greater Manchester, England. The power was turned off after three songs.

1984 - Marvin Gaye was shot dead by his father at his parents' home in Los Angeles.

1985 - David Lee Roth quit Van Halen shortly after releasing his version of The Beach Boys', "California Girls", (which featured Carl Wilson on background vocals). Roth was replaced by Sammy Hagar later in the year.

1989 - The Bangles went to No. 1 on the U.S. singles chart with "Eternal Flame".

1995 - Tupac Shakur is in jail (serving time for sexual abuse), but his third album Me Against the World hits #1, where it will stay for four weeks.

2000 - Santana started a nine-week run at No. 1 on the U.S. singles chart with "Maria Maria."

2007 - Modest Mouse were at No. 1 on the U.S. album chart with We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank, their fifth full-length studio album. The album was recorded at Sweet Tea Studio in Oxford, Miss., with producer Dennis Herring. It was Modest Mouse's only album that featured former Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr, who was in the band from 2006 to 2009. James Mercer of The Shins also featured on the album, singing backing vocals on the tracks "We've Got Everything," "Missed The Boat," and "Florida." We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank was certified Gold by the RIAA, having shipments of more than 500,000 copies in the USA.

2015 - Cynthia Lennon, John Lennon's first wife, died of cancer at age 75 in Mallorca, Spain.

Birthdays:

Isley Brother Rudolph Isley is 77 today.

Ronnie Lane of the Small Faces was born today in 1946.

Jimmy Cliff is 68 today.

Susan Boyle is 55.

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