History Highlight:

Today in 1956, The Nat King Cole Show debuted on NBC. The variety program was one of the first hosted by an African American but struggled due to the lack of financial support. Commenting on the lack of sponsorship, Cole said shortly after the last episode which aired on December 17, 1957, "Madison Avenue is afraid of the dark." Besides hosting his own program, Cole also acted in films, on television and Broadway, and recorded over one hundred songs that became hits on the pop charts. He died at age 48 in 1965.

Also, Today In:

1956 - The Nat King Cole Show debuted on NBC.

1966 - The Monkees were top of the Billboard singles chart with "Last Train To Clarksville," the group's first No. 1.

1971 - Elvis Presley kicked off a 15-date North American tour at the Metropolitan Sports Center in Bloomington, Minn. (now the site of IKEA). Announcer Al Dvorin uttered the well-known phrase: "Elvis has left the building" at the end of the show. He was asked to make the announcement in an effort to quiet the fans who continued to call for an encore.

1977 - The manager of the Virgin record store in Nottingham, England, was arrested for displaying a large poster advertising the new Sex Pistols' album, Never Mind The Bollocks, Here's The Sex Pistols. High street stores banned the album after police warned they could be fined under the 1898 indecent advertising act.

1983 - Topper Headon of The Clash was arrested for walking his dog while drunk on London's Fulham Road.

1988 - The Beach Boys went to No. 1 on the U.S. singles chart with "Kokomo." The track had been featured in the Tom Cruise film, Cocktail.

1995 - The band Garbage kicked off their first world concert tour cycle when they played at The 7th Street Entry in Minneapolis.

1995 - A charity performance of The Wizard of Oz in Concert was staged at New York's Lincoln Center, featuring Jewel (Dorothy), Jackson Browne (The Scarecrow), Roger Daltrey (The Tin Man), and Nathan Lane (The Cowardly Lion).

1996 - Johnny Cash released Unchained, his second album produced by Rick Rubin. He's backed by Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers and covers their song "Southern Accents."

1998 - Former Smiths singer Morrissey lost an appeal ruling that all band profits should have been split equally and faced a backdated payout to former Smiths member Mike Joyce estimated at £1 million.

2002 - Billy Guy, the original baritone singer of The Coasters, died of heart disease at age 66.

2003 - Bobby Hatfield of The Righteous Brothers died at age 63.

2005 - Influential guitarist Link Wray died at age 76.

2010 - Keith Richards' autobiography, Life, was at No. 1 on the New York Times Hardcover Nonfiction Bestseller list.

2012 - To mark the 60th anniversary of the U.K. singles chart, the Official Charts Company published a chart which listed all 123 songs that have sold more than a million copies since it began in 1952. Elton John was at No. 1 with "Candle In The Wind", No. 2 was Band Aid with "Do They Know It's Christmas?" followed by Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" with 2.36 million copies.

More Birthdays:

Ike Turner was born today in 1951.

Art Garfunkel is 78.

Gram Parsons was born today in 1946.

Mike Score of A Flock Of Seagulls is 62.

Bryan Adams is 60.

Ken Coomer, former Wilco drummer and drummer for Uncle Tupelo, is 59.

Radiohead guitarist Jonny Greenwood is 48.

Ryan Adams is 45.

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