History Spotlight:

Today in 2003, Eva Narcissus Boyd, better-known as the pop singer Little Eva, died at age 59, 18 months after being diagnosed with cervical cancer. Most famously known for the hit "The Loco-motion", Boyd's other single recordings were "Keep Your Hands Off My Baby", "Let's Turkey Trot" and a remake of the Bing Crosby standard "Swinging on a Star," recorded with Big Dee Irwin. As a teenager, she worked as a maid and earned extra money as a babysitter for songwriters Carole King and Gerry Goffin, who wrote "The Loco-Motion" for her and had her record it as a demo. The song reached No. 1 in the United States in 1962, and it sold over one million copies.

Also, Today In:

1956 - Nat King Cole was attacked on stage by a group of five racial segregationists during a show at the Municipal Hall in Birmingham, AL.

1967 - Marvin Gaye recorded his version of "I Heard It Through The Grapevine". The song was first recorded by The Miracles and had also been a million-seller in 1967 for Gladys Knight and the Pips.

1970 - At a concert in Boston, Jim Morrison paused to ask the audience, "Does anyone want to see my genitals?" Apparently, he had some takers. Theater management quickly switched off the power, and Doors keyboardist Ray Manzarek dragged Morrison off stage.

1970 - In a press release announcing his imminent debut solo album, Paul McCartney quit The Beatles. McCartney was released 10 days later.

1976 - Peter Frampton went to No. 1 on the U.S. album chart with Frampton Comes Alive. It was the best-selling album of 1976, selling more than 6 million copies in the U.S., and was voted Album of the Year in a 1976 Rolling Stone readers' poll. It stayed on the chart for 97 weeks.

1985 - Madonna began her first tour, the Virgin Tour, in Seattle.

1990 - A jury awarded Tom Waits $2.5 million in punitive damages following his suit against Doritos chips for unauthorized usage of a Waits sound-alike singer in a commercial.

1993 - Depeche Mode entered the U.S. album chart at No. 1 with Songs Of Faith And Devotion.

2001 - Bruce Springsteen won a court battle to keep the rights to his early songs.

2005 - The final episode of The Osbournes was aired on MTV in the U.K. The show reached a peak audience of eight million at its height during its three-year run. Ozzy Osbourne was at a loss to explain its popularity, saying, "I suppose Americans get a kick out of watching a crazy Brit family like us make complete fools of ourselves every week."

2013 - Kate Bush received her CBE — Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, an order of chivalry — for her services to music, presented by Queen Elizabeth II at an investiture ceremony at Windsor Castle. The singer-songwriter, who was catapulted to fame in 1978 when Wuthering Heights topped the charts, said she was "incredibly thrilled", and she dedicated the award to her family and joked that it would have pride of place at the top of her Christmas tree.

Birthdays:

Brian Setzer is 59.

Mark Oliver Everett, better known as E., the creative force behind the band Eels, is 55.

Andrew Dost of Fun. is 35.

Mandy Moore is 34.

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