... and more August 31 birthdays – Arthur Godfrey (1903) – radio personality/talent scout. Alan Jay Lerner (1918) – Broadway musical lyricist. Wilton Felder (1940) – saxophonist for The Crusaders. Roger Dean (1944) – album cover artist for Yes, Uriah Heep, Asia and others. Bob Welch (1945) – Fleetwood Mac and Paris. Rudolf Schenker (1948) – guitarist for Scorpions. Anthony Thistlethwaite (1955) – multi-instrumentalist for The Waterboys. Gina Schock (1957) – drummer for The Go-Gos. Glenn Tilbrook (1957) – vocalist/guitarist for Squeeze. Tony DeFranco (1959) – The DeFranco Family. Gerard Love (1967) – bassist for Teenage Fanclub. Debbie Gibson (1970)
August 31 R.I.P. – Lionel Hampton (2002) – congestive heart failure. Age 94. Vibraphonist. Carl Wayne (2004) – esophageal cancer. Age 61. Vocalist for The Move. Joe Barry (2004) – Age 65. Singer (“I’m A Fool To Care”). August 31 album releases – The Supremes – Where Did Our Love Go (1964) The Beach Boys – Sunflower (1970) Neil Young – After The Gold Rush (1970) The Rolling Stones – Goats Head Soup (1973) Michael Jackson – Bad (1987) August 31 events – 1939 – Frank Sinatra and the Harry James Orchestra record “All Or Nothing At All” for Columbia. 1955 – A London judge fines Sidney Turner three pounds, ten shillings for "creating an abominable noise" after Turner threatens to drive his neighbors “mad” by playing Bill Haley’s “Shake, Rattle And Roll” all night long. 1956 – For the first time ever, the top 10 songs on the UK singles chart are all by American artists, including Elvis Presley, The Platters, Doris Day, Frankie Lymon and The Teenagers and others. 1957 – Elvis Presley makes his last concert appearance ever outside the U.S., performing at Empire Stadium in Vancouver, Canada. 1958 – Ricky Nelson begins his live performance career by appearing at the Steel Pier in Atlantic City, New Jersey, where he sets the venue's all-time attendance record by performing for 44,221 fans over two days. 1961 – The Beatles receive their first review in print by Bob Wooler in an enthusiastic article about the group in Mersey Beat. 1963 – The Ronettes’ “Be My Baby” debuts on the Billboard Hot 100. 1965 – Sonny and Cher arrive in the UK for their first promo tour. 1965 – The Beatles play two shows at the Cow Palace in San Francisco, wrapping up their second U.S. tour. 1966 – The Rolling Stones begin recording “Have You Seen Your Mother, Baby, Standing In The Shadows” at IBC Studios in London. 1968 – 18-year old guitarist Danny Kirwan joins Fleetwood Mac. 1968 – The Rolling Stones release their single, “Street Fighting Man” b/w “No Expectations.” 1968 – Jeannie C. Riley makes her Grand Ole Opry debut. 1969 – The two-day New Orleans Pop Festival begins in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, featuring The Grateful Dead, The Byrds, Iron Butterfly, Janis Joplin, Jefferson Airplane, Santana, and many others. 1970 – Peter, Paul & Mary’s Peter Yarrow is arrested at the Shoreham Hotel for taking “immoral liberties” with a 14-year old girl. 1971 – The Rolling Stones, along with the father of Brian Jones, file a high court writ against ex managers Andrew Loog Oldham and Eric Easton, claiming they made a secret deal with Decca Records in 1963 to deprive the group of royalties. 1974 – Traffic gives their final concert performance at the Reading Festival in the UK. 1974 – The last episode of The Partridge Family airs on ABC-TV. 1974 – At his deportation trial, John Lennon testifies that the Nixon Administration wanted him deported to silence him for his anti-Vietnam War stance. 1975 – Rod Stewart and Faces, Loggins and Messina, Lynyrd Skynyrd, and Fleetwood Mac all appear at Balboa Stadium in San Diego. 1976 – George Harrison is found guilty of "subconscious plagiarism" of The Chiffons’ song “He’s So Fine” while writing his song "My Sweet Lord." 1980 – Karen Carpenter marries her first and only husband, Tom Burris. 1984 – Prince’s movie Purple Rain opens in theatres across the UK. 1984 – Canada’s answer to MTV, MuchMusic, begins broadcasting. 1986 – Boomtown Rats singer Bob Geldof marries his girlfriend of 10 years, Paula Yates. Duran Duran’s Simon Le Bon is best man. 1987 – To coincide with the album’s release, CBS-TV airs the 18- minute, Martin Scorsese-directed Michael Jackson video, Bad. 1989 – The Rolling Stones begin their first tour since 1981 at Veteran’s Stadium in Philadelphia on their Steel Wheels Tour. 1990 – Funeral services are held for Stevie Ray Vaughan at Laurel Land Memorial Park in the Oak Cliff area of Dallas, with over 1,500 in attendance. Jackson Browne, Bonnie Raitt and Stevie Wonder sing “Amazing Grace.” 1991 – Jan Berry marries his second wife, Gertie Filip, on stage during a concert at the Stardust Convention Centre in Las Vegas. Dean Torrence is Berry's best man. 2002 – NASA announces that ‘NSYNC singer Lance Bass is to become the first celebrity astronaut. However, Bass ends up not going when he fails to pay for his $20 million ticket on the craft. 2004 – The UK medical magazine Thorax issues a warning to music fans saying that listening to loud music in the car with a powerful bass box can give you a collapsed lung. 2009 – The IRS files a tax lien against singer Patti LaBelle for over $330,000 in back taxes. ____________________ Events correction -- Zeppelin's In Through The Out Door was released on August 15, 1979, and had only six different covers. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_Through_the_Out_Door
