Today in Music: A look back at pop music

(June 21)

Today's musical birthdays include O.C. Smith, who had a hit in the 1960s with "Little Green Apples," was born in 1942 (age 60); Ray Davies of the Kinks in 1944 (age 58); Troggs guitarist Chris Britton in 1945 (age 57); Badfinger bassist Joey Molland in 1947 (age 55); drummer Joey Kramer of Aerosmith in 1950 (age 52); singer/songwriter Nils Lofgren in 1951 (age 51); and Big Country drummer Mark Brzezicki in 1957 (age 45).

On this day in music history:

In 1948, Columbia Records became the first to commit to mass production of the 33-1/3-rpm album.

In 1955, Johnny Cash's first single, "Hey Porter," was released.

In 1958, Sly Stone missed his first concert, according to Spin magazine.

In 1973, Bread played its last show, in Salt Lake City.

In 1975, Ritchie Blackmore quit Deep Purple to form his own group, Rainbow.

Also in 1975, Elton John, the Eagles, the Beach Boys, Rufus, and Joe Walsh played for 120,000 fans at Wembley Stadium in London.

And in 1975, bass player Lemmy -- real name Ian Kilmister -- left Hawkwind to form Motorhead.

In 1980, the punk rock group The Stranglers was charged with starting a riot at Nice University in France.

In 1981, Walter Becker and Donald Fagen announced they were splitting up as Steely Dan. They've since gotten back together.

In 1987, a parade in Haight-Ashbury, San Francisco, marked the 20th anniversary of the "Summer of Love."

In 1988, The Rascals began its first tour together in 20 years, in Columbus, Ohio.

In 1990, a concert featuring Tracy Chapman, Judy Collins and Ritchie Havens marked Nelson Mandela Day in the United States.

In 1993, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear an appeal by Creedence Clearwater Revival's John Foherty to recover lawyers' fees from a failed copyright infringement suit brought against him.

In 1994, a British court upheld George Michael's 15-year contract with Sony Records. Michael said he would appeal. Sony later released Michael from his contract and he signed with the Dreamworks SKG label.

In 1997, more than 380,000 fans attended Blockbuster RockFest '97 at the Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth. The artists on the bill included Bush, Collective Soul, Counting Crows, Jewel, matchbox 20, No Doubt, Third Eye Blind and The Wallflowers.

Also in 1997, Sting accidentally left his favorite guitar on a luggage cart at the Frankfurt, Germany, airport. An airport worker delivered it to the rock star in the nick of time for his concert.

In 1999, Yoko Ono told Newsweek that George Harrison and Ringo Starr were not among the first people she thought to call the night John Lennon was killed. She said the first thing she did when she got back from the hospital was to ask her assistant to call Paul McCartney, Julian Lennon and John's Aunt Mimi.

Today's musical quiz:

What was the original name of Badfinger? Answer: The Iveys.