History highlight:

Today in 1994, Pixies frontman Frank Black (AKA Black Francis, born Charles Thompson) released his second solo studio album, Teenager of the Year. The title is reportedly based upon an actual award Black received during his high school days in Massachusetts. The album comes after Pixies broke up in 1992 and follows his self-titled solo debut in 1993. The 22-track Teenager of the Year was recorded with Eric Drew Feldman, former keyboardist for Pere Ubu and Captain Beefheart. It explores new songwriting styles beyond Black’s Pixies days and features the infectious single “Headache.”

Also, today in:

1964 - "I Get Around" by the Beach Boys was released. Thanks to the flip side, "Don't Worry, Baby," it went on to be their first No. 1 record.

1964 - Ella Fitzgerald became the first artist to have a hit with a Beatles cover when "Can't Buy Me Love" entered the UK chart.

1966 - A great Beatles single came out: "Paperback Writer," with "Rain" on the B-side. The latter was an early psychedelic effort, primarily the work of Lennon, featuring the band's first experiments with backwards tracking. There are different accounts of who first stumbled upon this effect (John Lennon or producer George Martin), but the most entertaining account comes from Lennon, claiming he accidentally loaded the tape backwards while "stoned out of [his] mind." A total of three promotional clips were filmed for "Rain," featuring collage-like cutting of the footage in a way that would become commonplace for countless music videos by the mid-1980s; looking back, George Harrison remarked, "So I suppose we invented MTV" (with the clips).

1969 - The Who released their fourth album Tommy, which was the first album to be billed as a rock opera. The album went on to reach No. 4 on the album chart and sell 2 million copies in the U.S.

1970 - The Grateful Dead performed their first concert outside of North America, appearing at the U.K.'s Hollywood Rock Music Festival. Their set went on for four hours. A DVD and CD set of footage from the event was issued in 2010, featuring archive material from the Grateful Dead's set, and one number each from Free, Family, Screaming Lord Sutch, and Radha Krishna Temple along with a biographical booklet of the event.

1974 - George Harrison announced the formation of his record label Dark Horse Records. The label's first signing was Ravi Shankar.

1979 - The Who's film biography "The Kids Are Alright" premiered in New York City. This film contained footage of the last concert they performed with Keith Moon.

1984 - The Bangles released their debut studio album, All Over the Place. It features “Going Down to Liverpool.”

1987 - The Doobie Brothers reunited for a Vietnam veterans benefit concert at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles.

1994 - Seal released his second self-titled album. It features “Kiss From a Rose” and “Prayer for the Dying.”

2000 - During an interview on KROQ in Los Angeles, Billy Corgan revealed that the Smashing Pumpkins would be calling it quits following the fulfillment of prior contractual agreements.

2000 - Noel Gallagher walked out on his band Oasis during a European tour.

2000 - Del the Funky Homosapien, Dan the Automator, and DJ Kid Koala as Deltron 3030 released their self-titled debut album. It features “Time Keeps On Slipping” and “3030.”

2006 - The king of Sweden presented the surviving members of Led Zeppelin with the Polar Music Prize in Stockholm, recognizing them as "great pioneers" of rock music.

Birthdays:

Artie Shaw was born today in 1910.

Rosemary Clooney was born today in 1928. 

Robert Moog, inventor of the synthesizer, was born today in 1934. 

Tiki Fulwood, drummer for Parliament and Funkadelic, was born today in 1944. 

Danny Klein, bassist for the J. Geils Band, is 78. 

Radiohead drummer Philip Selway is 57. 

Matt Flynn, Maroon 5 drummer, is 54. 

Maxwell is 51. 

Singer-songwriter Jewel Kilcher (Jewel) is 50. 

Scott Raynor, original Blink-182 drummer, is 46.

Steve Lacy is 26. Lacy was born in Compton, California, in 1998. The multi-genre musician and playful producer started his career with alternative R&B collective, The Internet. At 19, he released his debut solo EP, Steve Lacy's Demo, featuring the hit "Dark Red." Lacy's latest release, Gemini Rights, earned a Grammy for Best Progressive R&B Album, and the single "Bad Habit" rose to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, in part due to it soundtracking 400,000+ Tik Tok videos. Lacy has also co-written songs for Solange, Chloe x Halle, and Kendrick Lamar.  

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