Today in Music: a look back at pop music

(Nov. 18)

Today's birthdays include songwriter Johnny Mercer born in 1909; Hank Ballard of Hank Ballard and the Midnighters, who was born in 1936 (age 66). The group recorded the original version of "The Twist." Herman Rarebell of the Scorpions was born in 1949 (age 53); Graham Parker in 1950 (age 52); Kim Wilde in 1960 (age 42); and Metallica's Kirk Hammett in 1962 (age 40).

Today's musical milestones:

In 1956, Fats Domino performed "Blueberry Hill" on "The Ed Sullivan Show."

In 1970, Jerry Lee Lewis and wife Myra were divorced. Marrying her in 1957, when she was just 13, all but ruined his career.

In 1971, the album "Procol Harum Live In Concert With The Edmonton Symphony," including the hit single "Conquistador," was recorded in Edmonton, Canada.

Also in 1971, Junior Parker died during brain surgery. He was 54.

In 1972, guitarist Danny Whitten of Neil Young's band Crazy Horse died of a heroin overdose. He was 29.

In 1979, the B-52s' self-titled debut album was certified gold.

In 1983, former Badfinger guitarist Tom Evans hanged himself. He was 36.

In 1992, a New York federal jury decided that Jimmy Merchant and Herman Santiago -- the last surviving members of Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers -- were the true composers of the group's 1956 hit "Why Do Fools Fall In Love?" The decision was worth as much as $4 million.

In 1993, a Los Angeles television station reported that police seized a nude photo of a boy during a raid on the home of Michael Jackson's family in Encino, Calif.

Also in 1993, Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder was charged with public drunkeness and disturbing the peace after he and his buddy, baseball player Jack McDowell, got into a barroom brawl in the French Quarter in New Orleans.

In 1997, as many as 25 people were injured trying to get inside a Grapevine, Texas, shopping mall for a concert by Hanson.

Also in 1997, Chico DeBarge, of the DeBarge family, released "Long Time No See." The album was his first in six years due to his imprisonment on drug charges.

In 1998, Melissa Etheridge's partner, filmmaker Julie Cypher, gave birth to the couple's second child, a boy, in Los Angeles. The couple already had a daughter, born in January 1997.

In 1999, a federal judge in Michigan dismissed a lawsuit filed by civil rights pioneer Rosa Parks against the rap group Outkast. The band had used her name as a song title on an album without her permission.

Topping the charts on this date:

Tom Dooley - The Kingston Trio (1958), Poor Side of Town - Johnny Rivers (1966), Whatever Gets You Through the Night - John Lennon with The Plastic Ono Nuclear Band (1974), Up Where We Belong - Joe Cocker and Jennifer Warnes (1982).

Today's musical quiz:

If you were a teenager back in the late 1950s and wanted to buy a copy of "The Twist" as recorded by Hank Ballard and the Midnighters, where could you find it? Answer: "The Twist" was the "flip" or B-side of Ballard's first charted song, "Finger Poppin' Time."