History Highlight:

Today marks the anniversary of Tom Waits’ Swordfishtrombones. Encouraged by his wife, Kathleen Brennan, Waits released the album in 1983, as a significant departure from his previous, more mild music. Swordfishtrombones was produced entirely by Waits and ventured into new territory musically and lyrically. The songs were deep dives into vignettes, telling stories of a soldier's mental decline, the banality of small-town life, and much more. The abstract album gained critical acclaim, Spin magazine even named it the second-greatest album of all time.  

Also, Today In: 

1952 - Atlantic Records bought Ray Charles' contract from Swingtime Records, where Charles had been recording in the mellower, bluesy style of Nat King Cole and Charles Brown. 

1953 - The Texas duo of Buddy Holly and Bob Montgomery auditioned for radio station KDAV's Sunday Party. The duo started a slot on Sunday afternoon that became known as The Bob and Buddy Show. 

1956 - Elvis bought that famous pink Cadillac for his mother as his career gained momentum. 

1967 A young guitarist named Boz Scaggs joins The Steve Miller Band, the blues band led by his childhood friend, Steve Miller. 

1971 - After their successful summer-replacement series, Sonny And Cher begin their fall TV variety series on CBS. 

1977 - Blondie, a band co-founded by singer Debbie Harry and guitarist Chris Stein, signed their first major label contract with Chrysalis. Blondie were pioneers in the early American new wave and punk scenes of the mid 1970s. Their first two albums contained strong elements of both genres, and although successful in the United Kingdom and Australia, Blondie were regarded as an underground band in the United States until the release of Parallel Lines in 1978. 

1978 - Gloria Fajardo and Emilio Estenfan of Miami Sound Machine marry, giving her the name we know her by today, Gloria Estenfan. 

1979 - U2 released their first record in their native Ireland. It was an EP titled U2-3. 

1981 Hall & Oates release the Private Eyes album, which contains two #1 hits: the title track and "I Can't Go For That (No Can Do)." 

1983 - Guitarist Mick Jones was dismissed from the Clash by Joe Strummer and Paul Simonon for "drifting apart from the original concept of the band." The Clash soon broke up afterwards, and Jones went on to form Big Audio Dynamite. 

1984 - After 25 years in the music industry, Tina Turner had her first solo No. 1 single with "What's Love Got To Do With It." 

1988 - The Rock N' Roll Cuisine cookbook is published, with 95 recipes from various musicians. Selections include Yoko Ono's "Dream Soup" (sunshine in a bowl), Cher's "Boyfriend Approved Macaroni Salad," Mick Jagger's shrimp curry and Weird Al Yankovic's peanut butter and jelly sandwich. 

2008 - Jerry Reed passed away at age 71. Reed was famous for being a country singer as well as an actor who appeared in more than a dozen films like "Smokey and the Bandit", "The New Scooby-Doo Movies", "Concrete Cowboys" and even "The Waterboy", which was his final role. His signature songs included "Guitar Man", "A Thing Called Love", "When You're Hot, You're Hot" (which won him a Grammy), and of course "East Bound and Down" (the theme song for "Smokey and the Bandit"). Reed was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2017. 

2010 - Apple launches a social media network called Ping, which is integrated into its iTunes software. A rare flop for the company, it closes two years later. 

2011 - Green Day's Billy Joe Armstrong was removed from a Southwest Airlines flight for wearing his pants too low. A flight attendant approached Armstrong and told him, "Pull your pants up or you get off the plane." Later, Southwest spokesman Brad Hawkins released a statement saying that the airline and Armstrong had settled their differences over the incident. 

2012 - US songwriter Hal David, who wrote dozens of hits with collaborator Burt Bacharach, died in Los Angeles at the age of 91 from complications from a stroke. 

2023 - Jimmy Buffett died at the age of 76.

Birthdays: 

Boxcar Willie was born today in 1931.

Marshall Lytle of Bill Haley & His Comets was born today in 1933. He passed away in 2013. 

Conway Twitty was born today in 1933. He passed away in 1993. 

Archie Bell of Archie Bell & the Drells ("Tighten Up") is 80.

Barry Gibb of the Bee Gees is 78.

Greg Errico, drummer for Sly and the Family Stone, is 76.

Don Blackman — pianist with Parliament-Funkadelic and Earth, Wind and Fire — was born today in 1953.

Bruce Foxton, bassist for the Jam, is 69.

Gloria Estefan is 67.

Boney James is 63.

Grant-Lee Phillips of Grant Lee Buffalo is 61.

Charlie Robison was born today in 1964.

J.D. Fortune, former INXS frontman, is 51.

Babydaddy of Scissor Sisters 48. 

Joe Trohman, guitarist for Fall Out Boy, is 40.

Bill Kaulitz of Tokio Hotel is 35.

Zendaya is 28.

Jungkook of BTS is 27.

Highlights for Today in Music History are gathered from This Day in Music, Song Facts and Wikipedia.