1963, The Beatles made their third appearance on the Radio Luxembourg program The Friday Spectacular. The Beatles were interviewed by the host and played two tracks, ‘Please Please Me’ and ‘Ask Me Why.
1965, Over 3,000 screaming fans met The Rolling Stones and Roy Orbison at Sydney Airport when they arrived for a 16 date tour of Australia and New Zealand.
1966, George Harrison married Patti Boyd at Leatherhead Register Office in Surrey with Paul McCartney as Best man. George had first met Patti on the set of The Beatles movie ‘A Hard Day’s Night’. She left Harrison in the mid-’70s and started an affair with Harrison’s friend Eric Clapton, who wrote the song “Layla” about her. The two married in May 1979, but split in 1988.
1968, Jimi Hendrix recorded his version of the Bob Dylan song ‘All Along the Watchtower’ at Olympic Studios in London. Rolling Stone Brian Jones and Dave Mason from Traffic both played on the session. The track was released in the US as a single in 1968, peaking at No.20.
1972, Pink Floyd appeared at The Guildhall, Portsmouth, England. This was the first time that they were able to perform the whole of what became the The Dark Side of The Moon album in its entirety, the previous night’s performance in Brighton having been halted for technical reasons.
1978, The soundtrack album ‘Saturday Night Fever’ started a 24 week run at No.1 on the US album charts, it went on to sell over 30 million copies world wide, making it the best selling soundtrack album of all time.
1982, B.B. King donated his entire record collection of over 20,000 discs to Mississippi University’s centre for the Study of Southern Culture,
1984, Soul singer Jackie Wilson died aged 49. Wilson suffered a massive heart attack while playing a Dick Clark show at the Latin Casino in New Jersey on September 29, 1975, falling head-first to the stage while singing ‘Lonely Teardrops’, and had remained in a coma until his death 8 years later. His 1957 single Reet Petite became a posthumous No.1 when re-issued in 1987 due in part to a new animated video made for the song, featuring a clay model of Wilson. Van Morrison wrote ‘Jackie Wilson Said’ which was covered by Dexy’s Midnight Runners.
1987, Keith Richards inducted Aretha Franklin at the 2nd annual Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Awards, held in New York City. Keith later took part in a jam with Bruce Springsteen, Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley, Roy Orbison, Sting, and Daryl Hall.
1989, Six weeks after his death Roy Orbison started a three-week run at No.1 on the UK album chart with ‘The Legendary Roy Orbison’ collection.
1992, Billy Idol pleaded guilty to assault and battery charges after an incident outside a West Hollywood restaurant. He was fined $2,700 and ordered to appear in a series of anti-drug commercials.
1997, ‘Colonel’ Tom Parker, Elvis Presley’s manager and agent died of a stroke in Las Vegas, Nevada, at the age of 87. Born Andreas van Kuijk, a Dutch immigrant who changed his name as soon as he arrived in the US, Parker never applied for a green card and feared deportation his entire life. He briefly managed country singers Eddy Arnold and Hank Snow.
1997, Songwriter Jesse Levine died of kidney failure aged 58. Co-wrote, ‘Knock Three Times’ and ‘Tie A Yellow Ribbon’ both US & UK No.1’s for Dawn in the early 70’s.
2002, American singer and actress Peggy Lee died of complications from diabetes and a heart attack at the age of 81. 1958 US No. 8 & UK No.5 single ‘Fever.’ Lee worked with Benny Goodman, Randy Newman, Quincy Jones and was nominated for 12 Grammy Awards, winning Best Contemporary Vocal Performance for her 1969 hit ‘Is That All There Is?’
2003, David Palmer, former keyboard player for Jethro Tull changed his name to Dee Palmer after a successful sex change operation. Palmer was the keyboard player for Jethro Tull between 1969 and 1980. He played on all the Tull classics including ‘Thick As A Brick’ and ‘Aqualung.’
2004, As the third season of American Idol was aired on US TV a memo was leaked showing a list of songs banned from being performed at this year’s auditions that included, Elton John’s ‘Candle In The Wind’ and ‘Fallin’ by Alicia Keys. Also all songs by Bruce Springsteen, Mariah Carey, No Doubt, R. Kelly, Tom Petty, Korn and Linkin Park were not allowed after concerns over the cost of securing rights for the song’s use, (or the composers not wanting their song’s to be performed on the show).
2007, Mika scored his debut UK number one hit single with ‘Grace Kelly’, which went on to be became the third biggest-selling single in the UK in 2007. Amy Winehouse kept her place at the top of the UK album chart with ‘Back to Black’.
2012, Adele was at No.1 on the US album chart with her second studio album 21. The album which yielded five hit singles including the lead single ‘Rolling in the Deep’, has now sold over 26.4 million copies worldwide.
(This Day in Music)
