History Highlight:

Today in 1980, David Bowie released Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps), featuring "Ashes To Ashes." The song referenced Bowie's Major Tom character from his 1969 song, "Space Oddity." Bowie described the song as a "nursery rhyme" and also as his way of "wrapping up the 70s" for himself. A number one U.K. hit, "Ashes To Ashes" was also noted for its very innovative (for the time) music video, featuring Bowie in different costumes including one resembling the Italian renaissance character of Punch the clown.

Also, Today In:

1962 - John Lennon married Cynthia Powell at Liverpool's Mount Pleasant register office. He then played a gig that night with The Beatles at Liverpool's Riverpark Ballroom.

1965 - Security guards at a Manchester TV studio hosed down 200 Rolling Stones fans after they broke down barriers while waiting for the band to arrive for a performance.

1966 - The Beatles were at No. 1 on the U.K. singles chart with the double a sided "Yellow Submarine - Eleanor Rigby". The group's eleventh No .1, Paul McCartney said he came up with the name Eleanor from actress Eleanor Bron, who had starred with The Beatles in the film "Help!". Rigby came from the name of a store in Bristol, Rigby & Evens Ltd, Wine & Spirit Shippers.

1967 - Enjoying a wild birthday party, Keith Moon, drummer for The Who, drove a Lincoln car into a Holiday Inn swimming pool.

1967 - Joni Mitchell played her first ever U.K. show when she opened for The Piccadilly Line at The Marquee Club in London.

1969 - The man in black, Johnny Cash, began a four-week run at the top of the album chart with the live album, Johnny Cash At San Quentin.

1969 - The Rolling Stones had the No. 1 song in the U.S. with the rock classic, "Honky Tonk Women."

1969 - Ibex, featuring vocalist Freddie Bulsara (later known as Freddie Mercury) played a gig at the Octagon Theatre in Bolton, Lancashire, U.K.

1970 - Lou Reed and the Velvet Underground performed together for the last time at Max's Kansas City in New York. The band released a live recording of the night, Live at Max's Kansas City, and released it in 1972. The band's 1967 debut album, The Velvet Underground & Nico, featured Lou Reed and gave them some of their biggest songs including "Heroin," "All Tomorrow's Parties" and "Venus in Furs."

1974 - John Lennon claimed to see a UFO from his New York apartment. He described it as an archetypal flying saucer, surrounded by lights with a red one on top. In his next album, Walls and Bridges, he included this note in the booklet: "On the 23rd August 1974 at 9 o'clock I saw a U.F.O. - J.L."

2005 - Les McKeown, the lead singer of the Bay City Rollers, appeared in court charged with drugs offences.

2008 - Erykah Badu joins My Morning Jacket during their performance in Dallas to perform her song "Tyrone".

Birthdays:

Jimi Jamison of Survivor was born today in 1951.

Keith Moon was born today in 1946.

Rick Springfield is 69.

Dean DeLeo of Stone Temple Pilots is 58.

Cedella Marley of Ziggy Marley & The Melody Makers is 52.

Julian Casablancas is 41.

Skyler Austen Gordy (Sky Blu) of LMFAO is 33.

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