1958, Having been sworn in as Private 53310761 the previous day Elvis Presley received the regulation short back and sides haircut from army barber James Peterson. Presley would earn $78 per month as an army private.
1958, Buddy Holly appeared at The Gaumont Theatre in London, the final date on his only UK tour. Also on the bill was Gary Miller, The Tanner Sisters, Des O’Connor, The Montanas, Ronnie Keene & His Orchestra.
1964, The Beatles made their debut on UK TV show Top Of The Pops singing ‘Can’t Buy Me Love’ and ‘You Can’t Do That.’ The show had been recorded on March 19th.
1966, At a photo session at Bob Whitaker’s studio in London, The Beatles posed in white coats using sides of meat with mutilated and butchered dolls for the cover of their next American album, ‘Yesterday and Today’. After advance copies were sent to disc jockeys and record reviewers, negative reaction to the cover photo was so strong Capitol recalled 750,000 copies from distributors to replace the cover. The total cost to Capitol to replace the cover and promotional materials was $250,000, wiping out their initial profit
1967, The Turtles started a three week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘Happy Together’, it made No.12 in the UK.
1967, The Who and Cream made their U.S. concert debut at RKO 58th Street Theatre, New York City as part of a rock & roll extravaganza promoted by DJ Murray the K.
1967, The Rolling Stones kicked off a three-week European tour in Orebro, Sweden. Arriving in Copenhagen for the tour the group were delayed after customs officers search all their luggage for drugs.
1967, Pink Floyd played three gigs in 24 hours. The appeared at the Ricky Tick Club in Windsor, England, then the New Yorker Discotheque in Swindon and then played at the Shoreline Club in Bognor Regis (in the early hours 26 March).
1969, John Lennon and Yoko Ono started their week long ‘bed-in’ in the presidential suite at The Amsterdam Hilton hotel. The couple invited the world’s press into their hotel room every day, to talk about promoting world peace.
1972, America started a three week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with their debut hit ‘Horse With No Name’, it made No.3 in the UK. The group scored eight other US top 40 hits during the 70’s.
1978, Bill Kenny, lead singer of The Ink Spots died. Had the UK No.10 single ‘Melody Of Love.’ ‘The Gypsy’ was their biggest chart success, staying at the No.1 position on the US chart for 13 weeks.
1983, Motown Records celebrated its 25 anniversary with a concert in Pasadena, featuring; The Supremes, Stevie Wonder, The Temptations, The Four Tops, Martha Reeves, Jr. Walker, The Commodores, Marvin Gaye, Smokey Robinson and The Jackson 5.
1986, Guns N’ Roses signed a world-wide deal with Geffen Records. The band has now sold more than 100 million albums worldwide, their 1987 debut album, Appetite For Destruction has sold in excess of 28 million copies worldwide.
1989, Madonna was at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘Like A Prayer’, the singers sixth UK No.1, also No.1 in the US. The song was accompanied by a highly controversial music video, which in 2005 was voted the “Most Groundbreaking Music Video of All Time” by viewers of MTV.
1990, Motley Crue’s Tommy Lee was arrested for mooning at the audience during a gig in Augusta. Lee was charged with indecent exposure.
1995, Pearl Jam singer Eddie Vedder was rescued after a riptide carried him 250 feet offshore in New Zealand.
1999, 73-year-old Country music singer Ray Price was arrested in his Texas home for possession of marijuana. He was fined $200 after pleading no contest to the charges. According to Price in a 2008 interview, old friend Willie Nelson – no stranger to marijuana arrests – phoned and told him he’d just earned $5 million in free publicity with the drug bust.
2000, Former Bay City Rollers drummer Derek Longmuir was given 300 hours community service after being caught with a hoard of child pornography including 150 videos and 73 floppy disks.
2000, *NSYNC set a new world record after selling a million tickets in one day for the group’s forthcoming tour, netting them over $42.5 million.
2001, The first Britney Spears Pepsi TV commercial was aired on US television. Spears had signed a multi-million dollar deal with Pepsi for her forthcoming world tour.
2002, Bono from U2 made a appearance at the air rage trial of R.E.M. guitarist Peter Buck, telling the court ‘I came to court because Peter is actually famously known for being a peaceable person. I once had to twist his arm to get him to a boxing match’. Buck was later cleared of all charges. He had been accused of attacking two cabin staff and covering them in yoghurt, knocking over a trolley and trying to steal a knife. Come Fly With Me
2002, The seven-year mystery of missing Manic Street Preachers guitarist Richey Edwards took a grisly twist when human feet were found near where he vanished in 1995.
2005, Ozzy Osbourne and his wife Sharon Osbourne were forced to flee their Buckinghamshire mansion after a blaze broke out as they slept. Ozzy and his wife were roused by a fire alarm and ran to safety in the garden, rescuing their pets as they escaped.
2006, Buck Owens Jr, American singer and guitarist died. He pioneered the Bakersfield sound, a reference to Bakersfield, California. He scored twenty No.1 hits on the Billboard country music charts.
2008, Richie Sambora was arrested in California on suspicion of drink driving. The 48 year-old Bon Jovi guitarist was arrested after a police officer noticed his black Hummer weaving in traffic lanes in Laguna Beach. He was ordered to appear in court on one count of driving under the influence.
2010, The manager of pop star Justin Bieber was arrested after police claimed he failed to warn fans on Twitter about overcrowding at a shopping centre event. Police said they asked Scott Braun to tell fans through Twitter that Bieber would not be appearing because of fears over safety after hundreds turned up – resulting in five people being taken to hospital with minor injuries. Police said Mr Braun refused to send the message until 90 minutes later. He pleaded not guilty to charges including reckless endangerment related to November’s event in Roosevelt Field Mall in a New York suburb.
2015, Radiohead’s seminal album OK Computer became one of 25 recordings to be preserved by the US Library of Congress. It was joined by Ben E King’s ‘Stand By Me’ and recordings by Joan Baez, The Doors, The Righteous Brothers and Steve Martin.
(This Day in Music)
