a day like today ... September 16th

...2008,  Norman Whitfield, songwriter and producer on such hits as "I Heard It Through the Grapevine", "Cloud Nine", "War", "Papa Was A Rolling Stone" and many others, died of diabetes and other illnesses in Los Angeles.
...2005, CMT Crossroads featuring Bon Jovi and Sugarland premiered on CMT. Bon Jovi would have a hit with Jennifer Nettles of Sugarland the following year with “Who Says You Can’t Go Home”.
...2004, Green Day performed their rock opera American Idiot during their show at the Pantages Theater in Hollywood, California.
...1996, Pearl Jam kicked off their tour in support of “No Code” at the KeyArena in Seattle. This would be their final tour where they performed at non-Ticketmaster venues.
....1985,  Mr. Mister released their first single "Broken Wings".
....1978, The Grateful Dead ended their three night stand in Cairo, Egypt. They were the first Western rock band to perform in Egypt.
...1959, The Isley Brothers released the single "Shout".  It would not become immensely popular until years later--at the time it only reached #47!  (Note:  some sources report the release date as September 21.  This is physically impossible, as people in the business know.  "Shout" first charted on September 21, and there is no way a song can chart the same day it is released.)
....1960, Johnny Burnette recorded "You're Sixteen".
....1963, "She Loves You" by the Beatles was released by Swan Records in the United States and, despite being #1 in the U.K., was ignored until 1964 when the Beatles' invasion was well underway.
....1965, The Rolling Stones, the Everly Brothers, the Byrds and the McCoys opened the second season of Shindig!
....1966, Bassist Pete Quaife left the Kinks.
....1967, The Beatles recorded "Your Mother Should Know" at Abbey Road Studios.  The version was not used at the time, but was later included on the compilation Anthology 2.
1970, Jimi Hendrix performed for the final time, appearing with Eric Burdon and War at Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club (47 Frith Street) in London.
...1971, Led Zeppelin played at the Honolulu Civic Auditorium in Hawai'i.
....1972, The Eagles were in concert at the Curtis Hixon Convention Hall in Tampa, Florida.
     - Rod Stewart topped the U.K. album chart with Never A Dull Moment.
1989,  U2 jammed with B.B. King on a boat that had been rented for King on his 64th birthday in Sydney Harbour in Australia.


Birthday

-B.B. King was born in Itta Bena, Mississippi, at 1925
-Joe Butler, drummer and a founding member of Lovin' Spoonful, was born in Foxboro, Massachusetts, at1941
-Bernie Calvert, bass guitarist for the Hollies, was born in Brierfield, Lancashire, England, at 1942
-Ron Blair – bassist for Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers born in 1948
-Kenney Jones – drummer for The Faces & The Who born in 1948
-Richard Marx was born in Chicago, Illinois, at 1963