10 ready-to-read segments for October 1, lead story first. Free to use on air; a quick credit to Today in Tunes is appreciated.
On this day in 1969, 57 years ago: Abbey Road arrives in American record stores. The last album the Beatles recorded together came out in the US five days after its UK release. It holds 'Something', 'Here Comes the Sun' and the long medley on side two. Here's The Beatles with “Here Comes the Sun.”
On this day in 1962, 64 years ago: The Beach Boys issue their first album, Surfin' Safari. Capitol put out the debut LP while the band was still a teenage family act, and it stayed on the Billboard album chart for 37 weeks. It was the start of the California surf sound going national.
On this day in 1974, 52 years ago: Harry Chapin releases "Cat's in the Cradle." The lyrics started as a poem by Chapin's wife Sandy about a father who never has time for his son. The single reached No. 1 in the US that December, the only chart-topper Chapin ever had.
On this day in 1982, 44 years ago: The compact disc goes on sale in Japan. The first 50 CD titles came out in Japan that day, and the first one listed was a reissue of Billy Joel's 52nd Street. Europe and North America got CDs about five months later.
On this day in 1996, 30 years ago: Nirvana's live album debuts at No. 1. From the Muddy Banks of the Wishkah came out two and a half years after Kurt Cobain's death. It went straight to the top of the Billboard 200, selling close to 159,000 copies in its first week.
On this day in 1865, 161 years ago: Paul Dukas, composer of The Sorcerer's Apprentice, is born. Dukas was such a perfectionist that he destroyed much of his own music. The piece that survives best owes a lot of its fame to Mickey Mouse in Disney's Fantasia.
On this day in 1903, 123 years ago: Piano titan Vladimir Horowitz is born in Kiev. He returned to perform in Moscow in 1986 after 61 years away. The concert was broadcast around the world and was seen as a sign of warming relations between the US and the Soviet Union.
On this day in 1945, 81 years ago: Soul visionary Donny Hathaway is born in Chicago. He wrote the Christmas standard "This Christmas" and recorded hit duets with Roberta Flack. His 1972 live album is still praised as one of the best live records ever made.
On this day in 1975, 51 years ago: Stax drummer Al Jackson Jr. dies after a shooting. Known as 'The Human Timekeeper', he was the founding drummer of Booker T. & the M.G.'s and played on records by Otis Redding and Sam & Dave.
On this day in 2018, 8 years ago: French chanson giant Charles Aznavour dies at 94. Aznavour recorded more than 1,200 songs in a 70-year career, and his label put his sales above 180 million. His English-language song "She" was a UK No. 1 in 1974.
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