This Day in Music History: Steely Dan announces their split, the first Fête de la Musique is held in France

1948 – The Columbia label announces its new technological breakthrough, a “long-playing” vinyl phonograph record that can hold up to 23 minutes of music on a side. They begin the first mass production of the 33 1/3 RPM LP.

1955 – Johnny Cash’s first single, “Cry Cry Cry,” is released.

1966 – Jimmy Page makes his live debut with The Yardbirds at The Marquee Club London.

1966 – The Beatles record a new John Lennon song, “She Said She Said,” at Abbey Road studios in London. The song is reportedly based on a bizarre conversation that Lennon had with Peter Fonda while John and George Harrison were tripping on LSD.

1973 – The band Bread, already having decided to break up, play their last live gig ever in Salt Lake City after one of their tour trucks flips over and destroys most of their gear.

1975 – Guitarist Ritchie Blackmore quits Deep Purple to form his own group Rainbow. The group goes through many line-up changes with Ronnie James Dio, Graham Bonnet, Cozy Powell, Roger Glover, and Doogie White all being members.

1979 – Mick Taylor releases his first solo album after leaving the Rolling Stones four years before.

1981 – Walter Becker and Donald Fagen announce the split of Steely Dan and begin work on solo projects. They re-form in 1993.

1982 – The first Fête de la Musique, a music festival also known as “World Music Day,” is launched in France and held every June 21 thereafter. Its purpose is to promote music in two ways: (1) Amateur and professional musicians are encouraged to perform in the streets. The slogan “Faites de la musique” (“make music”), a homophone of Fête de la Musique, is used to promote this goal. (2) Many free concerts are organized, making all genres of music accessible to the public. Two of the caveats to being sanctioned by the official Fête de la Musique organization in Paris are that all concerts must be free to the public, and all performers donate their time for free. The Fête de la Musique has spread to many countries throughout the world.

1988 – The Rascals reunite onstage for the first time in eighteen years.

Information for this post was gathered from This Day in Music, The Music History Calendar, On This Day, and Wikipedia.