This day in music history

1933, Born on this day, Ron Townson, The 5th Dimension, (1969 US No.1 & UK No.11 single 'Aquarius'). Died on 3rd August 2001.

1943, Born on this day, Rick Evans, singer, Zager and Evans, (1969 US & UK No.1 single 'In The Year 2525').

1948, Born on this day, Mel Pritchard, Barclay James Harvest, 8 UK Top 40 albums from 1974-87.

1950, Born on this day, Paul Stanley, guitar, vocals, Kiss, (1974 US No.5 single 'On And On', 1976 US No 11 album 'Rock and Roll Over' spent 26 weeks on the chart. 1987 UK No.4 single 'Crazy Crazy Nights').

1969, Born on this day, Nicholas Allen Jones, Manic Street Preachers, (1996 UK No.2 single 'A Design For Life' 1998 UK No.1 album 'This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours').

1965, American disc-jockey Alan Freed died from uraemia at the age of 42. Freed called himself the "father of rock and roll", appeared in the movies such as Rock Around The Clock and Don't Knock the Rock. His career was destroyed by the payola scandal that hit the broadcasting industry in the early 1960s.

1966, The Spencer Davis Group were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Keep On Running'.

1972, On the first date of a UK tour, Pink Floyd premiered their new album Dark Side Of The Moon at The Dome, Brighton, England.

1982, During a Ozzy Osbourne concert in Des Moines, Iowa, a member of the audience threw an unconscious bat onto the stage. Thinking it was one of his rubber fakes, Ozzy picked it up and bit off its head. The singer was taken to hospital to be given a rabies injection.

1985, Foreigner had their only UK No.1 single with 'I Want To Know What Love Is'. London-born Mick Jones wrote the song and sang lead vocals with the British-American rock band.

1988, The Beatles were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. George Harrison, Ringo Starr, and Yoko, Sean, and Julian Lennon all attend. Paul McCartney does not attend, sending instead a letter stating that continuing business differences with the other ex-Beatles was the reason for his absence.

2002, George Harrison had the posthumous UK No.1 single with the re-release of the 1971 former No.1 'My Sweet Lord'. Harrison's single replaced Aaliyah's 'More Than A Woman', the only time in chart history that one deceased artist had taken over from another at No.1.