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Today In Music History

August 13 in Music History: 60th anniversary of The Supremes' "Baby Love"

American vocal trio The Supremes in London for their first time on a promotional visit arranged by EMI, October 8, 1964. From left to right, Florence Ballard, Mary Wilson and Diana Ross.
American vocal trio The Supremes in London for their first time on a promotional visit arranged by EMI, October 8, 1964. From left to right, Florence Ballard, Mary Wilson and Diana Ross.Keystone/Getty Images

August 13, 2024

History Highlight:

On this day in 1964, the Supremes recorded "Baby Love," written and produced by Motown's main production team Holland-Dozier-Holland. The song went on to be the group's second U.S. chart-topping single. It was also the second of five Supremes songs in a row to go to No. 1 in the United States. It was nominated for the 1965 Grammy Award for Best R&B Recording, losing to Nancy Wilson's "How Glad I Am," but it is considered one of the most popular songs of the late 20th century and was ranked No. 324 on the Rolling Stone list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

Also, Today In:

1965 - Jefferson Airplane made their live debut at San Francisco's Matrix Club.

1966 - The Lovin' Spoonful started a three-week run at No. 1 on the U.S. singles chart with "Summer In The City." The song features a series of car horns during the instrumental bridge, starting with a Volkswagen Beetle horn, and ends up with a jackhammer sound, in order to give the impression of the sounds of an urban summer.

1971 - John Lennon flew from London's Heathrow Airport to New York, never to return to Britain.

1973 - Lynyrd Skynyrd release their debut album, Pronounced 'LAbh-'nerd 'Skin-'nerd. It's an impressive set, containing the Skynyrd classics "Tuesday's Gone," "Simple Man" and "Free Bird."

1976 - The Clash made their first public appearance.

1979 - Cheap Trick enjoyed their biggest hit with the live version of "I Want You to Want Me."

1982 - Soul singer Joe Tex died of a heart attack. His biggest hit was "I Gotcha."

1994 - Woodstock '94 continued (started August 12) in Saugerties, N.Y., attended by more than 350,000 fans. The festival featured Green Day, Nine Inch Nails, Aerosmith and the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Tickets cost $135 each.

1994 - Members from Oasis and The Verve were arrested after smashing up a hotel bar and breaking into a church to steal communion wine. Both bands had been appearing at Hulsfred Festival in Sweden.

1999- Mick Jagger's marriage to model Jerry Hall was been declared null and void at the High Court in London.

2002 - Adam Ant pleaded guilty to threatening drinkers at The Prince Of Wales Pub in London in January of 2002. The 1980s pop star had returned to the bar with a starting pistol after being refused entry. He had also thrown a car alternator through the window of the pub.

2007 - Amy Winehouse pulled out of two Rolling Stones gigs in Hamburg, Germany, citing exhaustion. British group Starsailor replaced Winehouse for the shows.

2017 - David Bowie made a posthumous appearance in the TV series Twin Peaks: The Return. The late singer, who made a cameo appearance as a deranged FBI agent in the cult classic's 1991 prequel, Fire Walk With Me, was supposed to return for the show's revival but died before filming. Director David Lynch used archive footage from the movie to bring Bowie to life in the episode.

2021 - Singer-songwriter Nanci Griffith died at the age of 68.

Birthdays:

Don Ho (“Tiny Bubbles”) was born today in 1930.

Dave “Baby” Cortez (“The Happy Organ”) is 86.

Dan Fogelberg was born today in 1951.

Scott Powell — best known as the lead vocalist for the rock band Sha Na Na, who had its own television series and he appeared in the classic film Grease — is 76.

Hughie Thomasson of Outlaws was born today in 1952.

Feargal Sharkey of The Undertones (whose hit song, "Teenage Kicks," inspired the name of our Saturday-morning retrospective show) is 66.

Coincidentally, Michael Bradley, bassist for the Undertones, is 65.

Danny Bonaduce, known for his work on TV's The Partridge Family, is 65.

Tal Bachman Canadian singer who had a breakout hit song called "She's So High," is 56.

James Morrison is 40.

Today in 1987, Zac Carper frontman of FIDLAR was born, making him 37 years old today. FIDLAR began when members Zac Carper and Elvis Kuehn met while working at a recording studio in which Carper was employed as an engineer and Kuehn was an intern. The band's name is an acronym for F*** It Dog, Life's a Risk, a skate mantra gleaned from Zac's former roommates. Zac struggled with drug addiction and spent time in rehab for it, inspiring the song "No Waves". He credits Billie Joe Armstorng with helping him get clean. Zac is also a talented song writer and producer having worked with A Day To Remember, The Frights, SWMRS, Kate Nash, and more.

MØ, popular Danish electropop vocalist and songwriter, is 36.

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