1953, Guy Mitchell was at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘Look At That Girl’ his second No.1 this year. As an international recording star of the 1950s he sold over six million singles.
1963, Cilla Black signed a management contract with Beatles manager Brian Epstein. Cilla changed her name to Black, (it was white), after a misprint in the music paper ‘Mersey Beat’.
1967, Engelbert Humperdinck was at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘The Last Waltz’, the singers second UK No.1.
1968, Working at Abbey Road studio’s in London on The White Album, The Beatles recoded overdubs onto the new George Harrison song ‘While My Guitar Gently Weeps’. Eric Clapton added the guitar solo (and became the first famous outside musician to play on a Beatles recording) and George recorded his lead vocal.
1970, Jimi Hendrix made his final live appearance when he appeared at the Isle Of Fehmarn in Germany. The guitarist died 12 days later on 18th Sept 1970 after choking on his own vomit.
1974, The 101 All Stars (featuring Joe Strummer), made their debut at The Telegraph, Brixton Hill, London.
1975, Glen Campbell started a two week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘Rhinestone Cowboy’, his first No.1 after 13 Top 40 hits. The record gained three Grammy nominations and was the Country Music Association’s Song of the Year for 1976.
1975, Rod Stewart was at No.1 on the UK singles chart with his version of the Sutherland Brothers song ‘Sailing’. The song had been featured in the BBC TV series about HMS Ark Royal.
1978, Record producer Tom Wilson died. He worked with various US acts including Bob Dylan (The Times They Are a-Changin’, Another Side of Bob Dylan, and Bringing It All Back Home), Frank Zappa (Freak Out!), Simon and Garfunkel (Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M.) and The Velvet Underground, (White Light/White Heat).
1980, The Jam were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘Start!’, the group’s second UK No.1 and taken from the band’s fifth album Sound Affects.
1985, ‘Desperately Seeking Susan’ went on general release in the UK, the movie featured Madonna and Rosanna Arquette. The filmmakers had initially wanted Diane Keaton and Goldie Hawn to play the roles of Roberta and Susan, but the director decided to cast newcomers Rosanna Arquette and Madonna instead.
1986, All girl group Bananarama went to No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘Venus’, the song had also been a No.1 for Dutch group Shocking Blue in 1970.
1988, 2,000 items of Elton John’s personal memorabilia including his boa feathers, ‘Pinball Wizard’ boots and hundreds of pairs of spectacles were auctioned at Sotheby’s in London.
1990, Tom Fogerty rhythm guitarist with Creedence Clearwater Revival died aged 49, due to complications from AIDS acquired during a blood transfusion. During 1969 CCR scored three US Top Ten albums and four Top 5 singles and after leaving CCR in 1971 Fogerty released several solo albums.
1994, English keyboard player Nicky Hopkins died aged 50, in Nashville, Tennessee, of complications from intestinal surgery. Was a highly respected session musician, worked with The Rolling Stones, Jeff Beck, The Beatles, The Who, The Kinks, Small Faces, Led Zeppelin, John Lennon, George Harrison, and the Jerry Garcia Band. The Kinks song ‘Session Man’ from Face to Face is dedicated to (and features) Hopkins.
1997, Elton John recorded a new version of ‘Candle In The Wind’ after performing the song live at Diana Princess of Wales funeral. An estimated 2.5 billion people around the world watched Elton play the special tribute to Diana. The track went on to become the biggest selling single of all-time.
2001, Earth Wind and Fire announced that Viagra would sponsor their forthcoming 30th anniversary American tour.
2004, Jamiroquai singer Jay Kay was banned for six months and fined £750 after being clocked driving at more than 100mph. His lawyers had argued at Perth Sheriff Court that he needed his licence so he could have “respite” from his busy professional life. But Sheriff Robert McCreadie said his conduct was “entirely unacceptable”. Jay Kay admitted driving a four-wheel-drive vehicle at 105mph on the A9 in Perthshire in February while overtaking.
2005, Sir Bob Geldof was awarded the freedom of his native Dublin after the City Council voted in favour of giving him the accolade in honour of his campaign against world poverty and alleviating debt in Africa.
2006, Victor Willis, who performed as the policeman in The Village People was given three years probation for drugs offences after pleading no contest to the charges, dating from March 2006. Willis co-wrote some of the group’s biggest hits – including ‘YMCA’ and ‘In The Navy.’
2006, A man named Paul van Valkenburgh from Florida died of lung cancer. An obituary published in a local paper was picked up by the Associated Press, which ran a short obituary of the dead man but giving him the wrong name. The real Paul Vance, who was alive and well and living in Coral Springs, Florida, contacted local media after viewing a report of his death on local TV. He announced that he was still alive and was able to prove this with a stack of royalty cheques from ASCAP from his biggest hit ‘Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny Yellow Polka-Dot Bikini.’ He told a reporter for the New York Times that his relatives and friends, shocked by the AP report, had called to check on him after the media reports.
2008, US rock band Great White whose pyrotechnics sparked a fire that killed 100 people, agreed to pay $1m to survivors and victims’ relatives. The blaze began at The Station nightclub in the US state of Rhode Island in 2003 when the band’s tour manager shot off pyrotechnics at the start of the concert. More than 200 people were also injured in the blaze. One band member, guitarist Ty Longley, was killed in the fire. Tour manager Daniel Biechele pleaded guilty in 2006 to 100 counts of involuntary manslaughter and was given parole in March after serving less than half of his four-year prison sentence.
2010, Morrissey caused controversy after he claimed that the Chinese were a “sub-species” because of the way they treat animals. In an interview with UK paper The Guardian, the former Smiths frontman said: “Did you see the thing on the news about their treatment of animals and animal welfare? Absolutely horrific. You can’t help but feel that the Chinese are a sub-species.”
2011, A California judge ruled that Madonna did not hold a trademark over the phrase “Material Girl” for her line of clothing just because she wrote a song by that name in 1985. An L.A. retailer called LA Triumph has been using the name “Material Girl” clothing and has registered it as a trademark.
2016, Barbra Streisand extended her US chart record after she scored her 11th US No.1 album with her Encore: Movie Partners Sing Broadway. The star had already notched up more chart toppers than any other female artist, and now extends her lead over Madonna, who has eight. She also overtook Elvis Presley, who has 10, to tie with Bruce Springsteen.
(This Day in Music)
