August 1
1951: Tim Bachman of Brave Belt and BTO is born in Winnipeg, MB.

August 2
1937: Garth Hudson of The Band is born in London, ON.

1966: The Lovin' Spoonful, featuring Zal Yanovsky, see their biggest hit, "Summertime In The City" peak at number 1 on Billboard.

1973: Brave Belt sign with Mercury Records. They're told to change their name, which they do. Now they're Bachman Turner Overdrive.

August 3
1974: In a strange booking, Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band open for Anne Murray in New York City. The crowd is baffled.

August 4
1953: Holly Woods of Sass and later Toronto is born in Durham, NC.

August 5
1947: Gordon MacBain, drummer for Bobby Kris & The Imperials is born in Toronto.

1989: Shania Twain attends her class reunion at Timmins High and Vocational School in Timmins, ON. She says she's there for the same reason as everyone else, “To see old friends.”

1995: In celebration of The Bay's 325th birthday, 30 Canadian acts converge on High River, AB for a weekend festival that features Bryan Adams, Susan Aglukark, Burton Cummings, Jann Arden, Blue Rodeo, Celine Dion, David Foster, Colin James, Ashley MacIsaac, Sarah McLachlan, Anne Murray, The Rankin Family, Buffy Sainte-Marie, and Michelle Wright, among others.

August 6
1950: Carol Pope of Rough Trade is born in Manchester, England.

1971: Procol Harum record their live album with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra on this day, with conductor Lawrence Leonard and the 24-member Da Ca Camera Singers at the Jubilee Auditorium.

August 7
1957: Paul Anka debuts on 'American Bandstand.' He performs "Diana."

1959: The CBC debuts The Don Messer Show, later renamed The Don Messer Jubilee.

1998: Anvil performs at the Wacken Open Air Festival in Wacken, Germany. The show finds its way to DVD in 2004 as one half of BACK TO BASICS.

August 8
1980: The Edmonton Folk Festival is held for the first time.

1999: The Guess Who, featuring Bachman, Cummings, Kale and Petersen play together for the first time in 16 years, in front of 5,000 athletes and 22,000 fans at the closing ceremonies of the 13th annual Pan Am Games at the Winnipeg Stadium.

2006: Colin James and Chilliwack both make their first stops ever in Cold Lake, AB, during the second annual Great Canadian Patio Party. On the bill with James are several ex-Odds members, as well as Simon Kendall of Doug & The Slugs fame.

August 9
2004: Bryan Adams' 1981 self-titled debut is re-released on CD.

August 10
2006: Ra McGuire from Trooper not only visits the local library, he read passages from "Here For a Good Time", at the main branch of the Ottawa Public Library.

August 11
1943: Guess Who bassist Jim Kale is born in Winnipeg.

1946: Michael Fonfara, keyboardist for Jon Lee & The Checkmates is born in Stevensville, ON.

1959: Alan Frew of Glass Tiger is born in Coatbridge, Scotland.

1978: The first Vancouver Folk Festival is held in Stanley Park, Vancouver.

2007: Honeymoon Suite play for the first time in Cold Lake, AB, when they headline 'An Evening In The Park.'

August 12
1984: Lenny Breau. master of jazz, flamenco, classical, country and more, but more importantly the mentor for Randy Bachman, is found strangled at 43 at the bottom of his swimming pool in Los Angeles, the victim of a homicide that remains unsolved to this day.

1989: The Moscow Music Peace Festival kicks off. The 2 day festival was set up by Doc McGhee, as part of a plea bargain for drug smuggling charges. All proceeds go to fighting drug abuse in the US and the USSR. Sebastian Bach and Skid Row are among the featured acts, along with Motley Crue, Bon Jovi, Scorpions and Ozzy.

August 13
1968: Tal Bachman is born in Winnipeg, MB.

1969: The Guess Who release the "American Woman" lp.

1977: BTO announce their split-up, the first time.

August 14
1967: "Summer In The City" by The Lovin' Spoonful, featuring Zal Yanovsky, topped Billboard's chart on this day. The song started out as a poem written by John Sebastian's brother, Mark, before the band changed some words and then set it to music.

1969: The Guess Who receive their first American gold record for the song, "These Eyes."

1976: Paul Anka's duet with Odia Coates, "You're Having My Baby," is certified gold. This is despite feminists' objections to the use of the word 'my' as in "my baby", not "our baby." Nonetheless, the track tops Billboard's charts.

1980: Alice Cooper cancels a Toronto show due to illness, or was just too drunk. Regardless, a crowd of 1,400 riot, and the police are called in.

August 15
1925: Jazz great Oscar Peterson is born in Montreal.

1974: Neil Young releases ON THE BEACH, which 'Rolling Stone' calls the most despairing album of the decade.

August 16
1939: Joe Sealy, was born this day in Montreal, QB. The pianist that was taught by Oscar Peterson's sister, Daisy Peterson Sweeney.

1969: "Sugar, Sugar", is released by the Archies. The song was written by Montreal born Andy Kim, who also penned a number of other Archies hits.

2007: Frank Soda plays Healey's in Toronto, along with him are Max Webster alumni Terry Watkinson and Mike Tilka. They play Soda's songs, as well as a few Max Webster hits.

August 17
1959: Ronnie Hawkins and The Hawks, better known later as The Band, debut on Dick Clark's American Bandstand, where they perform "40 Days" and "Mary Lou."

1964: Colin James is born Colin James Munn in Regina, SK.

1969: Steppenwolf perform “Born To Be Wild” and “Magic Carpet Ride” on the Ed Sullivan Show. It would be their only appearance on the show.

August 18
1961: The first annual Mariposa Folk Festival opens at Oval Park in Orillia, ON. Ian & Sylvia Tyson are among those on the card.

1969: Joni Mitchell is slated to perform at Woodstock but is advised to honor a commitment to appear on Dick Cavett's TV talk show. In lieu of appearing at that landmark event, she writes the anthemic tribute, "Woodstock."

1986: Ian & Sylvia reunite for a concert at the Kingwood Music Theatre in Maple, ON. Also on the bill are Gordon Lightfoot, Murray McLauchlan, Emmylou Harris and Judy Collins. The show is filmed by the CBC.

1999: Randy Bachman and Burton Cummings perform together as The Guess Who, featuring Kale and Petersen play together for the first time in 16 years, in front of 5,000 athletes and 22,000 fans at the closing ceremonies of the 13th annual Pan Am Games at the Winnipeg Stadium.

August 19
1944: Susan Jacks is born in Saskatoon, SK as Susan Pesklevits.

1950: Hank Snow's "I'm Movin' On" tops the Billboard country charts, and stays there for 21 weeks, only done twice before or since.

1974: Rush embark on their first US tour, backing up Uriah Heep, Rory Gallagher and KISS. The tour features new drummer Neil Peart.

1997: CBS releases the new Barney Bentall CD, TIL TOMORROW.

1965: Zal Yanovsky and Lovin' Spoonful release their debut single today, "Do You Believe In Magic?"

1967: "Cornflakes and Ice-Cream" by The Lords Of London reaches #1 on CHUM FM's (Toronto radio station) chart knocking off Bobbie Gentry's "Ode To Billy Joe."

August 22
1970: Anne Murray's "Snowbird" enters Billboard's Hot 100 on its way to a million seller, marking the first time in history that an American gold record was awarded to a solo Canadian female.

1987: While doing a solo show in Asbury Park, NJ, Levon Helm is joined onstage by hometown boy Bruce Springsteen, and joins him on "Up on Cripple Creek" and "Lucille."

August 23
1950: Jimmy Watson of Kensington Market is born in Belfast, Northern Ireland.

August 24
2004: Anvil releases the 2 CD set, BACK TO BASICS.

August 26
1970: The Isle of Wight Festival kicks off in England, riddled with unpaid musicians and an angry mob that can't get in. During Joni Mitchell's set, someone from the audience jumps on stage and screams into the mic the festival's nothing but a “hippie concentration camp,” causing Mitchell to burst into tears.

1983: Bob & Doug McKenzie's silver screen venture, "Strange Brew" debuts, with Ian Thomas singing the title track.

2003: April Wine releases the DVD (audio only), LIVE FROM THE FRONT ROW.

August 27
1976: Sweeney Todd release the third version of "Roxy Roller," this time with new singer Bryan Adams. The song enters Billboard's Top 100 at #99, then disappears a week later.

2007: Doug Riley, known affectionately as Dr. Music, dies at the age of 62 of a heart attack while waiting for his plane to take off in Calgary. Riley wrote over 2,000 radio and TV commercial jingles over more than four decades and worked on several television programs in the late 60's and 70's.
As well as working with the likes of David Clayton-Thomas, Placido Domingo, Ringo Starr, Gordon Lightfoot, Ray Charles, Anne Murray, Sylvia Tyson, Dan Hill and Bob Seger, he was also mentor to many up and coming musicians at the time, including Paul Shaffer of SNL and David Letterman fame.

August 28
1931: John Perkins of The Crew Cuts is born.

1965: All hail the country/pop babe! Shania Twain is born in Timmins, ON.

1985: "Kim Mitchell Day" is proclaimed in his hometown of Sarnia, ON.

1986: In Long Beach, CA, Stevie Nicks, Neil Young, most of the Eagles, and Mick Fleetwood perform at a concert billed Get Tough on Toxics.

2003: EMI releases Zappacosta's self-titled debut in the US on CD.

2003: Streetheart's DRUGSTORE DANCER is re-released in the US on EMI.

August 29
1953: Alex Lifeson, Rush's guitar-god, is born in Fernie, BC, as Alex Zivojinovich.

1971: Five Man Electrical Band see their biggest single, "Signs," peak at number 3 on the US charts.

1971: Led Zeppelin is booked for the Man-Pop Festival at the Winnipeg Stadium. The outdoor festivities were rained out, and although their contract said they didn't have to play then, 18,000 fans crammed the Winnipeg Arena when they took the stage later that night.

1976: Spirit perform a reunion concert in Santa Monica, Calif. Though he's an invited guest, Neil Young gets onstage to play "Like a Rolling Stone" with them. But Spirit guitarist Randy California pushes him away. The concert proceeds after the bonehead is told who he just shoved.

2002: Lee Aaron's self-titled debut lp from 1982 is released on CD.

August 30
1990: Paul Anka becomes an American citizen in Las Vegas. In the meantime his car is towed away by the police for being parked in a handicapped zone.

August 31
1969: The Band appear at the British Isle of Wight Festival, performing a set of their own before backing up Bob Dylan.

1984: MuchMusic hits the airwaves.

1992: Barney Bentall releases AIN'T LIFE STRANGE.