Subscribe | UPI Odd Newsletter Subscribe (March 24) Today's birthdays include the late singer Billy Stewart, who was born in 1937; War harmonica player Lee Oskar in 1946 (age 57); drummer Mike Kellie of Spooky Tooth in 1947 (age 56); April Wine bassist Steve Lang and Nick Lowe, both in 1949 (age 54); Supertramp bassist Dougie Thomson in 1951 (age 52); German pop singer Nena, whose real name is Gabriele Kerner, in 1960 (age 43); and Sharon Corr of The Corrs and rapper Mase, both in 1970 (age 33). Advertisement Today's musical milestones: In 1934, the debut of the radio program "Major Bowes' Original Amateur Hour" launched a national craze among amateur performers hoping to hit the big time. Billboard published its first pop-music chart for albums on this day in 1945. The first No. 1 album was Nat King Cole's King Cole Trio In 1958, Elvis Presley, 23, was sworn into the U.S. Army as Pvt. Presley, serial number US-53310761. In 1964, the British Top-10 singles chart was entirely British for the first time ever. In 1965, Rolling Stones bassist Bill Wyman was knocked unconscious by an electric shock from a microphone stand during a concert in Denmark. Advertisement In 1973, a fan at a Lou Reed concert in Buffalo, N.Y., jumped on-stage and bit into Reed's posterior after screaming "Leather!" Afterwards, Reed commented, "America seems to breed real animals." In 1984, Beach Boy Al Jardine married Mary Ann Helmandollar. In 1992, a Chicago judge approved a court settlement offering refunds to those people who bought the music of or attended concerts by the lip-synching duo Milli Vanilli. In 1993, Elton John broke Elvis Presley's record of having a top-40 single every year for 23 years straight when "Simple Life" entered the top 40 -- making it 24 years in a row for John. Also in 1993, singer Judy Collins went jogging with President Clinton but ran out of breath and hitched a ride with a limousine back to the White House. In 1998, a judge in Leicester, England, sentenced British pop singer Mark Morrison to one year in jail for sending an imposter to perform his court-ordered community service. Morrison had been convicted in a 1995 nightclub brawl that left one man dead. In 2000, a throat infection forced Latin pop star Enrique Iglesias to postpone his free concert at Universal's CityWalk Plaza Stage in Orlando, Fla. Advertisement In 2002, after 15 Oscar nominations, Randy Newman finally won an Academy Award for Best Original Song, "If I Didn't Have You" from "Shrek.' Today's musical quiz: When Elvis Presley became a G.I., his monthly earnings dropped by quite a bit. How much? Answer: Presley's pay dropped from $100,000 to $78 a month.
