History Highlight:

Today in 1975, British band 10cc released their third studio album, The Original Soundtrack. Recorded in the band’s Strawberry Studios in Stockport, Greater Manchester, the album features lead single "Life Is a Minestrone" and the band’s most successful hit, "I'm Not in Love." The latter song was originally conceived as a bossa nova tune, but as the band members played with the idea in the studio, it evolved into a rock ballad. Using multi-track recording, the members of 10cc recorded layers of vocals, giving “I’m Not in Love” the sound of a 200-voice men’s choir. Also on the album is an operatic track in three movements, “Une Nuit à Paris (A Night in Paris),” a song that is reputed to have inspired Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody.”

Also, Today In:

1964 - The Beatles spent the day filming at Twickenham Studios for "A Hard Day's Night". They filmed on a set made to look like a train guard's cage, played cards and mimed to "I Should Have Known Better".

1968 - Otis Redding had his only Gold record with "(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay." It was released on Stax Records' Volt label three months after Redding's untimely demise in a plane crash in Madison, Wis. Redding started writing the lyrics to the song in August 1967, while he was sitting on a rented houseboat in Sausalito, Calif. He completed the song with the help of Stax producer and session guitarist Steve Cropper. The song features mimicked seagull whistles and sounds of the waves washing on the shore.

1970 - Deja Vu, the first album by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, (and the second by the trio configuration of Crosby, Stills, and Nash), was released. It topped the pop album chart for one week and spawned three U.S. Top 40 singles: "Teach Your Children", "Our House", and "Woodstock".

1972 - Neil Young went No. 1 on the U.S. album chart with Harvest. The album featured the hit single "Heart Of Gold."

1977 - The first all-female punk rock group The Slits made their live debut opening for The Clash at the Roxy Club in London. The band consisted of members from the groups The Flowers of Romance and The Castrators and their 1979 debut album Cut has been called one of the defining releases of the post-punk era.

1985 - Howard Jones released his second studio album, Dream Into Action. It features "Things Can Only Get Better" and "No One Is to Blame."

1985 - Sisters of Mercy released their debut album, First and Last and Always.

1993 - Oasis recorded their first demos at The Real People's studio in Liverpool. The set included "Rock 'n' Roll Star," "Columbia," and "Fade Away."

1997 - At the age of 54, former Beatles and Wings member Paul McCartney received one of Britain's highest honors when he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II.

1997 - The Twin Cities’ modern-rock radio station REV105 goes off the air at noon following its sale by Cargill Communications to Disney/Capital Cities/ABC. Although REV105 only existed for slightly less than three years, it left a lasting impact on the Twin Cities’ media landscape and music scene.

2005 - The front door of Ozzy Osbourne's childhood home in Birmingham went up for sale because the current owner was fed up with fans defacing it. Ali Mubarrat, who owned the house, auctioned the door on eBay and gave the money to charity.

2006 - The soundtrack to The Disney Channel Original Movie, High School Musical was at No. 1 on the U.S. album chart.

2008 - Madonna was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame at a star-studded ceremony in New York City. She received her honor from Justin Timberlake. John Mellencamp, Leonard Cohen, The Ventures and The Dave Clark Five were also among the inductees.

2015 - A jury ruled that the writers of "Blurred Lines" copied a Marvin Gaye track. Jurors in Los Angeles decided that the 2013 single by Pharrell Williams and Robin Thicke breached the copyright of Gaye's 1977 hit "Got To Give It Up". The family of the late soul singer was awarded $7.3m in damages. Thicke and Williams denied copying the hit, and their lawyer said the ruling set a "horrible precedent".

2015 - Jimmy Greenspoon, keyboardist with Three Dog Night died after a long battle with cancer at the age of 67. During the course of their career, the group had 21 top 40 hits, including three No. 1 singles.

2016 - English musician Keith Emerson took his own life in Santa Monica after he had become "depressed, nervous and anxious" because nerve damage in his hands had hampered his playing. Emerson found his first commercial success with the Nice in the late 1960s and was a founding member of Emerson, Lake & Palmer, one of the early progressive rock supergroups.

2019 - Drummer Hal Blaine, one of the most recorded musicians in pop music history, died of natural causes at his home in Palm Desert, California at the age of 90. As a member of the The Wrecking Crew his drumming can be heard on songs such as Presley's 'Return to Sender,' the Byrds' 'Mr. Tambourine Man,' The Beach Boys 'Good Vibrations,' Simon & Garfunkel's 'Bridge Over Troubled Water' and dozens of hits produced by Phil Spector, not to mention the theme songs to 'Batman,' and 'The Partridge Family'.

2019 - Danny Kustow, best known for his work with the Tom Robinson Band, died. '2-4-6-8 Motorway' was their first single, released in late 1977, which climbed into the top 5 of the U.K. singles charts. Kustow later played with The Planets and also alongside Sex Pistols' Glen Matlock in The Spectres and recorded with Gen X.

Birthdays:

Lawrence Welk was born on this day in 1903.

Guitarist Harvey Mandel is 80.

Mark Stein of Vanilla Fudge is 78.

George Kooymans of Golden Earring is 77.

Bobby McFerrin is 75.

Jimmy Iovine is 72.

Nina Hagen is 70.

Bruce Watson of Big Country is 64.

Mike Percy of Dead or Alive is 64.

Vinnie Paul of Pantera was born today in 1964.

Singer-songwriter Lisa Anne Loeb is 57. She is perhaps best known for the Grammy-nominated No. 1 hit song “Stay (I Missed You),” which was featured on the soundtrack for the 1994 romantic comedy Reality Bites. In addition to several albums aimed at an adult audience, Loeb also has recorded music for children as well. Her album Feel What U Feel won a Grammy for Best Children’s Album in 2018. She even has her own line of eyewear.

Foo Fighters and Wallflowers keyboardist Rami Jaffee is 56.

Twins Joel Madden and Benji Madden from Good Charlotte are 46.

LeToya Nicole Luckett of Destiny's Child is 44.

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