Today in Music History for Aug. 6:
In 1939, Canadian tenor Paul Trepanier was born in Noranda, Que.
In 1940, the Vancouver company "Theatre Under the Stars" opened its first season at Malkin Bowl in Stanley Park. "Theatre Under the Stars" produced operettas and musicals annually until 1963.
In 1950, Carole Pope, who with Kevan Staples led the Canadian rock band "Rough Trade" for a dozen years, was born near Manchester, England. Pope and Staples formed "Rough Trade" in Toronto in 1974 and two years later the band recorded the first direct-to-disc album made in Canada. Over the next 10 years, the band released half a dozen albums, and toured both North America and Europe. "Rough Trade's" final concert took place in Montreal on Jan. 31, 1986.
In 1971, the English rock band "Procul Harum" recorded a live album with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra at the city's Jubilee Auditorium. "Conquistador," a single from the LP, was a minor hit the following year.
In 1973, Stevie Wonder was seriously injured when the car he was riding in collided with a lumber truck in Salisbury, N.C. Wonder spent four days in a coma, but recovered with only his sense of smell seriously damaged.
In 1974, tenor saxophonist Gene (Jug) Ammons died at age 49. After problems with drug use and serving some jail time in the 1960s, he seemed to be making a comeback. Ammons's big-toned tenor was featured with the Billy Eckstine and Woody Herman band in the '40s, and he later formed his own small groups. Ammons's recordings of "Red Top," "My Foolish Heart" and "Jug" were all top-10 R&B hits in the late '40s and early '50s.
In 1981, Stevie Wonder was a surprise guest at the fourth annual Reggae Sunsplash Festival in Montego Bay, Jamaica. The event was billed as a tribute to Bob Marley, who had died on May 11. Wonder brought Marley's widow, Rita, on stage to sing with him.
In 1982, the movie "Pink Floyd - The Wall" had its U.S. premiere in New York.
In 1986, trumpeter Herb Alpert began a reunion tour with four of the seven original "Tijuana Brass" members at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles.
In 1987, the "Beastie Boys" sued the city of Jacksonville for including the phrase "mature audience" on their concert tickets and ads.
In 1988, "Yo! MTV Raps" made its debut, hosted by Fab 5 Freddy.
In 1989, bassist Adam Clayton of "U2" was arrested at his home in Dublin for pot possession.
In 1989, the first nude musical, "Oh! Calcutta!," closed on Broadway after 5,059 performances. John Lennon was one of the writers who contributed to the show, which had opened off-Broadway in 1969.
In 1994, Michael Jackson and Lisa Marie Presley made their first public appearance as newlyweds, in Budapest.
In 1994, "(Stay) I Miss You" by Lisa Loeb and Nine Stories hit No.1 on the pop charts, a first by an unsigned act.
In 1994, Italian singer Domenico Modugno, whose "Volare" topped the North American charts in 1958, died of a heart attack near his home on the island of Lampedusa. He was 66. The success of "Volare" made Modugno the only modern Italian pop singer to have a major hit in North America outside the Italian community. In Italy, the song was known as "Nel Blu Dipinto di Blu" -- which means "in the blue sky painted blue."
In 1996, "Def Leppard" drummer Rick Allen pleaded guilty to spousal battery for choking his wife and slamming her head into a wall at Los Angeles International Airport. Allen was ordered to attend Alcoholics Anonymous meetings and pay for the costs of making a domestic violence public service announcement and airing it on MTV.
In 2001, rap music mogul Marion "Suge" Knight was released from an Oregon prison after serving nearly five years for violating probation. The co-founder of Death Row Records was convicted of assault after a 1996 fight in a Las Vegas hotel. Hours after the fight, rap star Tupac Shakur was fatally shot in a drive-by attack as he rode in Knight's car.
In 2004, flamboyant funk music pioneer Rick James, best known for the 1981 hit "Super Freak," died at age 56 at a residence near Universal City, Calif. He was one of the biggest R&B stars of the 1980s, using danceable rhythms and passionate ballads to gain a wide following. His other hits included "Mary Jane," "Ebony Eyes" and "Fire and Desire," a stirring duet with Teena Marie.
In 2009, rock band "Creed" began its reunion tour in Pittsburgh. They last toured in 2002 before lead singer Scott Stapp went solo and Mark Tremonti, Scott Phillips and Brian Marshall went on to form "Alter Bridge."
In 2009, more than 70,000 fans gathered on Magnetic Hill in Moncton for an ear-splitting show by "AC/DC." The show kicked off the Canadian leg of the "Black Ice Tour" that included stops in Montreal, Ottawa, Regina, Winnipeg, Edmonton and Vancouver.
In 2009, Willy DeVille, who founded the punk group "Mink DeVille" and was known for his blend of R&B, blues, Dixieland and traditional French Cajun ballads, died at age 58.
In 2010, "U2" resumed their "360 Degrees World Tour" in Turin, Italy. The band had to postpone 16 North American dates between June 3-July 19 because Bono had emergency back surgery in Munich in late May.
In 2011, "The Oak Ridge Boys" were inducted into the Grand Ole Opry.
In 2012, Marvin Hamlisch, who composed or arranged the scores for dozens of movies including "The Sting" and the Broadway smash "A Chorus Line," died after a brief illness. He was 68. He won every major award in his career, including three Academy Awards, four Emmys, four Grammys, a Tony and three Golden Globes.
In 2014, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers finally achieved their first No. 1 album when their 13th release, “Hypnotic Eye,” debuted atop the Billboard 200 Albums chart. The band released their self-titled debut in November 1976.
In 2015 - Lin-Manuel Miranda's ''Hamilton," the hip-hop flavoured biography about Alexander Hamilton, the U.S.'s first treasury secretary, opened on Broadway.
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The Canadian Press