June 20 birthdays include Beach Boys Brian Wilson who turns 70 today, Lionel Richie is 63, Duran Duran bass player John Taylor celebrates birthday #52, as does Alan  Longmuir of the Bay City Rollers.  Michael Anthony, bass guitarist for Van Halen  is 58, and Pearl Jam guitarist Stone Gossard is the baby of today’s bunch at 46.

On June 20, 1948, Toast of the Town, later re-named The Ed Sullivan Show, began a 22 year run on CBS.  The first show was produced on a budget of $1,375, with only $375 allocated for talent, and $200 of that was split between the stars of that night’s program – Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis.  Ed‘s show was the place to see all the top groups of the 50′s and 60′s and for many of us it was the first time we saw Elvis Presley and The Beatles.  And there were all those bad comics, jugglers, and plate spinners we had to sit through to get to the “good stuff”.  The really big shew began 64 years ago today and Ed took his last bow on June 6, 1971.