1956, Elvis Presley’s double sided hit ‘Don’t Be Cruel / Hound Dog was released. The single went to No.1 on the US chart, where it stayed for 11 weeks – a record that would not be broken until 1992’s Boyz II Men hit ‘End of the Road’.
1962, Neil Sedaka started a two week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘Breaking Up Is Hard To Do’, his first US No.1 as an artist. It reached No.7 on the UK chart.
1964, The Beatles started recording their fourth album (‘Beatles For Sale’, not yet titled), at EMI studios in London, England.
1964, The High Numbers, (later to become The Who), played at The Railway Hotel in Harrow, England. Just before the band were due on stage, Roger Daltry’s father-in law came into the venue and dragged the singer outside and hit him. The band started their set and Daltry appeared back on stage after the fight.
1966, At a press conference held at The Astor Towers Hotel in Chicago, John Lennon apologised for his remarks that The Beatles were ‘more popular than Jesus’. Lennon told reporters “Look, I wasn’t saying The Beatles are better than God or Jesus, I said ‘Beatles’ because it’s easy for me to talk about The Beatles. I could have said ‘TV’ or ‘Cinema’, ‘Motorcars’ or anything popular and would have got away with it’’.
1967, Small Faces, The Move, Marmalade, Paul Jones, Pink Floyd, Amen Corner, Donovan, Zoot Money, Cream, Jeff Beck, John Mayall, Peter Green’s Fleetwood Mac and The Crazy World Of Arthur Brown all appeared at this years UK Reading festival. An advance 3 day ticket cost £2. Arthur Brown’s trademark flaming helmet burnt out of control and organiser Harold Pendleton’s father-in-law had to douse the flames with a pint of beer.
1969, 350 special guests were invited to see Motown Records new signings The Jackson Five play at The Daisy Club in Beverly Hills, California.
1979, Led Zeppelin played their last ever UK show when they appeared at Knebworth House, England. The set list included: The Song Remains The Same, Celebration Day, Black Dog, Nobody’s Fault But Mine, Over The Hills And Far Away, Misty Mountain Hop, Since I’ve Been Loving You, No Quarter, Hot Dog, The Rain Song, White Summer/Black Mountainside, Kashmir, Trampled Under Foot, Sick Again, Achilles’ Last Stand, In The Evening, Stairway To Heaven Rock And Roll, Whole Lotta Love and Communication Breakdown.
1984, Ray Parker JR. started a three week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with the theme from the film ‘Ghostbusters’. Parker who had been a session guitarist for Stevie Wonder and Marvin Gaye was accused of plagiarizing the melody from Huey Lewis and the News song ‘I Want a New Drug’, resulting in Lewis suing Parker, the pair settled out of court in 1985.
1989, Three members of L.L. Cool J crew were arrested and charged with raping a 15 year-old girl. The incident took place after a concert when the girl had won a backstage pass on a radio contest.
1999, KISS arrived on Hollywood Boulevard to unveil their star on The Walk Of Fame. The band had released over 30 albums and sold over 80 million records world-wide.
2000, Madonna gave birth to a baby boy Rocco Ritchie at The Cedars-Sinai Hospital Beverly Hills.
2002, Bruce Springsteen started a two week run at No.1 on the US album chart with ‘The Rising’, the singers fifth US No.1. Also No.1 in the UK.
2014, 5 Seconds of Summer were at No.1 on the US album chart with their debut studio album. The Australian rock band achieved the biggest first-week sales for a debut album by a group since Daughtry’s self-titled album in 2006. 5 Seconds of Summer were also the first Australian act to achieve a US No.1 album with their debut album.
(This Day in Music)
