History Highlight:

Today in 1980, Blondie hit No. 1 on the charts with "The Tide Is High", a song written by Jamaican reggae star John Holt and released in 1967 with his group The Paragons. It would be Blondie's penultimate No. 1 hit, as their final chart topper was the following year's "Rapture."

Also, Today In:

1956 - Elvis' first film, Love Me Tender, premiered.

1965 - The Rolling Stones made their U.S. TV debut on Hullabaloo, performing "Get Off Of My Cloud". Hullabaloo was an American one-hour musical variety series that ran on NBC from January 1965 through August 1966.

1966 - The Doors officially signed with Elektra Records in a deal for the band to produce seven albums. The band also reluctantly agreed to release "Break On Through" as their first single. The lyric "She gets high/she gets high/she gets high" was changed to 'She gets/she gets/she gets" in order to secure radio play.

1969 - Janis Joplin was arrested during a gig in Tampa, Florida, after badmouthing a policeman and using "vulgar and indecent" language. Joplin became upset after police moved into the hall forcing fans to move back to their seats.

1969 - The Carpenters released their debut album, Offering, (later renamed Ticket To Ride) on A&M Records. It was a commercial failure and produced only one minor hit single, a ballad version of The Beatles song "Ticket to Ride".

1974 - The Faces released what would be their final single and one of the longest song titles, "You Can Make Me Dance, Sing or Anything (Even Take the Dog for a Walk, Mend a Fuse, Fold Away the Ironing Board, or Any Other Domestic Shortcomings)" Two years later, Rod Stewart permanently departed to devote all his efforts to a solo career.

1980 - Blondie had their fifth U.K. No. 1 single and third No. 1 of this year with "The Tide Is High", a song written by reggae star John Holt, also a No. 1 in the U.S.

1990 - David Bowie appeared as The Elephant Man on Broadway.

1990 - Milli Vanilli producer Frank Farian held a press conference to confirm the rumors that the two members of the group Rob and Fab had not sung on any of their hit records.

1992 - Ozzy Osbourne announced his retirement from touring after a gig in California, saying "Who wants to be touring at 46?"

2007 - Jay-Z went to No. 1 on the U.S. album chart with American Gangster, his 10th No. 1 album. This made the rapper second with Elvis Presley for the most No. 1 albums on the chart. Only the Beatles had more, with 19.

2016 - Jazz and blues pianist, singer, and songwriter Mose Allison died at age 89. He was famous for playing a unique mix of blues and modern jazz, and his music influenced many blues and rock artists including Jimi Hendrix, the Rolling Stones, Tom Waits, the Yardbirds, and the Who (who made Allison's "Young Man Blues" a staple of their live performances and is featured on their Live At Leeds album).

Birthdays:

Tony Thompson of Chic was born today in 1954.

Frida Lyngstad of ABBA is 73.

Ol' Dirty Bastard (ODB) was born today in 1968.

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