ON OCTOBER 28^TH…

In 1956…Elvis Presley made his second appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show.  He performed “Don’t Be Cruel,” “Love Me Tender,” “Hound Dog” and “Love Me.” After the performance, Sullivan gave him a gold record for the sales success of “Love Me Tender.”

In 1961…In a Liverpool record shop, a customer asked clerk Brian Epstein for “My Bonnie,” a single by The Beatles. Epstein didn’t have it, but after a second customer requested the record, he ordered it and tracked the group down to the Cavern Club. Epstein later became the band’s manager.

In 1962…The Beatles played their first major gig at the Liverpool Empire after they released their first single “Love Me Do.” The bill also included Little Richard.

In 1964…The TAMI Show was filmed in Santa Monica, California. The concert movie featured Chuck Berry, The Beach Boys, Marvin Gaye, Jan & Dean, The Supremes, The Rolling Stones and James Brown.

In 1968…A court ruled in favor of Cynthia Lennon in her divorce settlement case with John Lennon.

In 1972…The Who’s “Join Together” became the official theme song of the United States Council for World Affairs.

In 1977…The Sex Pistols’ Never Mind the Bollocks Here’s the Sex Pistols was released in the U-S.

In 1985…Bob Dylan released Biograph, one of the first box sets.

In 1999…A Kenny Rogers fan was injured after the singer threw a frisbee into the audience during a concert in Dallas. Kevin O’Toole later claimed the accident left him impotent and sued Rogers for two-million dollars.

In 2003…Sting published the first volume of his autobiography, Broken Music. The tome took Gordon Sumner from his childhood in Newcastle, England up to the early days of The Police.

In 2003…At a benefit show in Santa Barbara, California, Pearl Jam were joined on stage by ex-drummer Jack Irons, singer/songwriter Jack Johnson, Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist John Frusciante and Chris Cornell for an impromptu Temple of the Dog reunion.

In 2003…Courtney Love turned herself in to the Los Angeles police to face charges of illegally possessing the prescription painkillers hydrocodone and oxycodone.

In 2003…David Bowie and his wife Iman signed with Tommy Hilfiger as the clothing designer’s new spokesmodels.

In 2003…Tonight’s the Night, a musical based around the songs of Rod Stewart, opened in London’s West End.

In 2005 …The Game was arrested while signing autographs at a North Carolina mall. The Compton rapper, who was wearing a Halloween mask, was charged with disorderly conduct and resisting arrest.

ON OCTOBER 29^TH…

In 1955…Billboard cast its critical eye on the new single “Tutti Frutti” by Little Richard. It decided the song was “cleverly styled novelty with nonsense words, rapid-fire delivery.”

In 1957…Buddy Holly released “Oh Boy!” with “Not Fade Away” on the B-side. The song became his third top-ten single.

In 1961…Bob Dylan performed on the radio show Folksong Festival.

In 1966…Memphis’ Beale Street, popularly referred to as “The Home of the Blues,” was made a national landmark.

In 1967…Pink Floyd appeared on Dick Clark’s American Bandstand. They had lip-synched their single “See Emily Play,” but singer Syd Barrett kept his mouth shut throughout the “performance.”

In 1967…Hair opened at New York’s Public Theatre. It was advertised as “The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical.”

In 1967…In Battersea, England, The Beatles shot sequences for their film The Magical Mystery Tour. Scenes included Ringo and his aunt going up the street to the tour bus.

In 1971…Guitarist Duane Allman died after wiping out on his motorcycle outside Macon, Georgia. The 24-year-old contributed memorable licks to recordings by Eric Clapton and Delaney & Bonnie then revitalized southern rock with his Allman Brothers Band.

In 1977…Meat Loaf released Bat out of Hell.

In 1983…Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon had been on the Billboard album charts for 491 weeks, which established a new record for longest listed album.

In 1990…The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame announced plans to induct LaVern Baker, The Byrds, John Lee Hooker, The Impressions, Wilson Pickett, Jimmy Reed and Ike & Tina Turner.

In 1999…The Who reunited to perform at Las Vegas’ MGM Grand. The concert, which also featured Kiss and the Dixie Chicks, was held to celebrate the launch of Internet video company Pixelon’s new player. It turned out the company’s founder was a wanted felon.

In 2003…Clay Aiken topped the album chart for a second week with his debut album, Measure of a Man.

In 2003…Rod Stewart entered the charts as the highest new entry at number two with As Time Goes By… The Great American Songbook, Vol. II.

In 2003…No Doubt‘s Gwen Stefani unveiled her L.A.M.B. clothing line, which included bikini tops, low-slung pants and bum flaps.

In 2003…Joan Jett appeared on TV’s Crossing Over with John Edward. The “I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll” singer served as a psychic conduit for friends to hear from their daughter, who recently passed away.

In 2003…A Nielsen survey found that Beatles fans were getting younger rather than older. Nearly one-third of the people who bought their 1 compilation were between the ages of 18 and 24.

In 2004…Jay-Z and R. Kelly’s Best of Both Worlds tour fell apart after Kelly was pepper-sprayed by a member of Jay-Z’s entourage at New York’s Madison Square Garden. Kelly refused to take the stage because he said he saw guns in the audience.

ON OCTOBER 30^TH…

In 1963…With the final mix of “Money (That’s What I Want)” by George Martin, work was finished on With the Beatles, the group’s second album.

In 1967…Brian Jones answered charges of drug possession in a London court. The Rolling Stones guitarist pled guilty to possessing marijuana and not guilty to possessing cocaine and Methedrine. The judge sent him to prison to await sentencing on the following day.

In 1967…Pink Floyd and The Sopwith Camel performed at San Francisco’s Fillmore in a benefit for the radio station KPFA. Floyd appeared the same day on The Pat Boone Show. Madcap singer Syd Barrett refused to answer Pat’s questions during the program.

In 1970…A Miami court sentenced Jim Morrison to six months in jail and a five-hundred-dollar fine for indecent exposure after he allegedly flashed an audience.

In 1971…John Lennon’s Imagine was the number-one album in the U-S.

In 1972…Elton John performed at the Royal Variety Performance for Queen Elizabeth II. He was the first rocker to do so since The Beatles entertained her majesty in 1963.

In 1973…John Lennon released his album Mind Games. The album peaked at number nine.

In 1976…Led Zeppelin announced that they would embark on another world tour. However, the tour was later postponed due to Robert Plant’s tonsillitis.

In 1977…Poet Allen Ginsburg visited his old friend Bob Dylan and the two taped several interviews together.

In 1978…Kiss’ Phantom of the Park first aired on NBC.

In 1982…Paul Weller announced he was breaking up The Jam.

In 1982…English singer Mari Wilson, best known for “Cry Me a River,” announced she was going to insure her beehive hairdo for 150-thousand dollars.

In 1984…Linda Ronstadt performed opera for the first time in a production of La Boheme at New York’s Public Theatre. The show later transferred to the Anspacher Theater and ran until December 30^th.

In 1986…The Beastie Boys released their debut album License to Ill.

In 1995…The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame announced the induction of David Bowie, Tom Donahue, Gladys Knight & the Pips, Jefferson Airplane, Little Willie John, Pink Floyd, Pete Seeger, The Shirelles and The Velvet Underground.

In 1997…Drummer Bill Berry announced he was leaving R.E.M. The band said that Screaming Trees’ Barrett Martin would fill in at the studio for him.

In 1998…Kiss guest-starred on FOX’s show Millennium, both with and without make-up.

In 1998…David Bowie kicked off a contest on his Web site Bowienet.com, asking users to help him finish writing the lyrics for the song “What’s Really Happening.” The winner was 20-year-old Alex Grant.

In 2003…Over a hundred police officers were called to a Marilyn Manson concert in Kansas City after fans pushed down a security barrier twice and the shock-rocker abruptly ended his show.

In 2003…Lionel Richie filed for divorce from his second wife, Diane, citing “irreconcilable differences.”

In 2003…Britney Spears canceled a French concert to promote her new album In the Zone after she came down with a flu and severe throat infection.

In 2003…Fans, family and friends of the late Jam Master Jay held a memorial in Queens a year after the Run-DMC DJ’s murder.

In 2003…Guitarist Terry Corso left Alien Ant Farm, the punk/poppers best known for their hit cover of “Smooth Criminal.”

In 2003…A Pasadena, California court ordered troubled Stone Temple Pilots singer Scott Weiland into rehab following his arrest for driving under the influence.

In 2003…Jennifer Lopez unveiled her new line of perfume – Still Jennifer Lopez. She described the scent as “very true to my passions and my relationship to the public.”

In 2003…The file-sharing application Napster returned to the Internet as Napster 2.0, and offered a paid-for downloading service.

In 2003…Paul McCartney became a dad again as his wife Heather Mills gave birth to a baby girl, seven-pound Beatrice Milly.

In 2005…Willie Nelson held a fundraiser on his Austin ranch and golf course to raise money for his old pal and Texas gubernatorial candidate, the writer-songwriter-gadfly Kinky Friedman. Also in attendance: Jesse “The Body” Ventura.