History Highlight:

Today in 1954, Chris Difford of Squeeze was born, making him 70 today. Together with fellow Londoner and bandmate Glenn Tilbrook, Difford has co-written songs for Squeeze, including “Up The Junction,” “Cool For Cats,” “Labelled With Love,” “Tempted” and “Black Coffee” and “Pulling Mussels (From The Shell).” Beyond Squeeze, Difford has hosted songwriting retreats for more than 30 years, including with the Buddy Holly Foundation’s outreach in Somerset in the South West of England, as well as in prisons and rehab programs. Difford’s autobiograhy, Some Fantastic Place, was published in 2017.

Also, Today In:

1957 - Jackie Wilson made his U.S. chart debut with "Reet Petite."

1961- Bob Dylan plays to a crowd of 53 at his Carnegie Hall debut, his first concert outside of the Greenwich Village scene. The show takes place in the smaller Chapter Hall auditorium.

1963 - The Beatles appeared on London's U.K. Royal Variety Show. The show was attended by the Queen Mother. This was the famous show where John Lennon thanked the audience for the applause and made the quip about those in the front row just "rattling your jewelry."

1968 - Rock's first supergroup, Cream (featuring Eric Clapton, Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker) played their final gig on U.S. soil on Long Island.

1972 - With reggae catching fire in America, "I Can See Clearly Now" by Johnny Nash (an American singer) hit No. 1 on the Hot 100, becoming the first reggae tune to top the chart. Primarily a reggae and pop singer, Nash was one of the first non-Jamaican artists to record reggae music in Kingston. Nash started a three-week run at No. 1 on the U.S. singles chart with his only U.S. chart topper. In the 1980s, Nash's song was used in a television advertisement for Glass Plus window-cleaning solution.

1978 - Boston plays in the city of Boston for the first time, a sold-out show at the Boston Garden.

1978 - Linda Ronstadt's LP Living In The USA hits No. 1.

1983 - Paul Simon releases Hearts and Bones, his sixth solo album. The title track is about his new bride, the actress Carrie Fisher.

1984 - Prince played the first of seven nights at the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit at the start of his 87-date North American Purple Rain tour. The outing marked the live debut of his new band The Revolution. The band officially disbanded in 1986 after the Hit n Run - Parade Tour, which supported Parade, the soundtrack for Under the Cherry Moon.

1985 - The Clash released their sixth and final studio album, Cut the Crap. It features “This Is England.”

1988 - Talk Is Cheap by Keith Richards and his X-pensive Winos cracked the Top 30 album chart.

1988 - The U2 documentary Rattle And Hum opens worldwide.

1989 - Roxette scored their second U.S. No. 1 single with "Listen To Your Heart."

1991- Irish alt rockers My Bloody Valentine release Loveless, an album that defined the shoegazing genre.

1993 - Depeche Mode's Martin Gore was arrested at the Denver Westin Hotel after refusing to turn down his music.

1994 - Fred "Sonic" Smith (of The Sonics, MC5), plagued by poor health, dies of heart failure at age 45.

2003 - Skid Row's Sebastian Bach started his recurring role on Gilmore Girls in the episode "The Festival of Living Art," as a guitarist who joins Lane Kim's band.

2016 - Justin Timberlake and Gwen Stefani lent their voices to the animated film Trolls. Timberlake plays Branch, a paranoid troll who's in love with a princess, while Stefani is resident disc jockey DJ Suki.

Birthdays:

Singer-songwriter Delbert McClinton is 84.

Chris Difford of Squeeze is 70.

Tom Greenhalgh of the Mekons is 68

James Honeyman-Scott, guitarist for The Pretenders, was born today in 1956.

Wayne Static of Static-X was born today in 1965.

Gregory Porter is 53.

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