1961, The Beach Boys first single ‘Surfin’ was released on Candix Records, a small label based in Los Angeles. On the strength of the song’s performance in the Southern California market, Capitol Records signed the group. Other surfing songs would follow: ‘Surfin’ Safari,’ ‘Surfin’ U.S.A.,’and ‘Surfer Girl.’
1963, Frank Sinatra Jr was kidnapped at gunpoint from a hotel in Lake Tahoe. He was released two days later after his father paid out the $240,000 ransom demanded by the kidnappers, who were later captured, and sentenced to long prison terms. In order to communicate with the kidnappers via a payphone the senior Sinatra carried a roll of dimes with him throughout this ordeal, which became a lifetime habit, he is said to have been buried with a roll of dimes.
1966, Working at Abbey Road in London, Paul McCartney overdubbed his lead vocal for ‘When I’m Sixty-Four’. Then The Beatles set about remaking a new John Lennon song ‘Strawberry Fields Forever.’
1968, Singer and guitarist Graham Nash left The Hollies and started work with David Crosby and Stephen Stills who went on to form Crosby Stills and Nash.
1969, On trial in Canada on drug possession charges, Jimi Hendrix told a Toronto court that he had only smoked pot four times in his life, snorted cocaine twice and took LSD no more than five times. Telling the jury that he had now ‘outgrown’ drugs. They found the guitarist not guilty.
1973, Roxy Music had their first UK No.1 album when ‘Stranded’ went to the top for one week. The sleeve featured Playboy’s Playmate of The Year, model Marilyn Cole, (who was the magazines’s first full-frontal nude centerfold).
1977, Four people were arrested after a riot broke out when Blondie didn’t arrive for a gig in Brisbane. Over 1,000 Australian fans had waited over an hour for the group to appear on stage, but the gig was cancelled due to singer Debbie Harry being unwell.
1979, Styx went to No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘Babe’, the group’s only US No.1, a No.6 hit in the UK.
1980, John Lennon was shot five times by 25 year old Mark Chapman outside the Dakota building in New York City where John and Yoko lived. Chapman had been waiting for Lennon outside the Dakota apartments since mid-morning and had asked for an autograph earlier in the day. Lennon was pronounced dead from a massive loss of blood at 11.30pm. Chapman has since said he shot the former Beatle because he wanted to “steal” his fame — stating that now he was a bigger nobody than he was before. He also revealed he planned the killing for three months and considered murdering other celebrities who he thought were “phonies.”
1982, American country singer, songwriter Marty Robbins died aged 57 of complications following cardiac surgery. Had the first No.1 of the 60’s in the US with ‘El Paso’, (winning him a Grammy Award). Robbins later portrayed a musician in the 1982 Clint Eastwood film Honkytonk Man.
1984, Frankie Goes To Hollywood were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘The Power Of Love’. The group’s third No.1 of the year and final UK No.1. This made them the first group since Gerry And The Pacemakers to have a UK No.1 with their first three singles.
1984, Vince Neil from Motley Crue was involved in a car accident in Redondo Beach, Ca, which killed Nick Dingley from Hanoi Rocks and injured two other passengers. Neil was jailed for 20 days and paid $2.6 million in compensation.
1995, Courtney Love appeared on the ABC TV show ’10 Most Fascinating People’, telling the presenter that she wished she had done ‘eight thousand million things differently’ to have prevented the death of her husband Kurt Cobain.
1999, 1960’s singer Heinz was given a formal caution by magistrates in Southampton for playing music to loud in his flat. The singer who scored 4 Top 40 singles in the 60’s is now wheelchair bound.
2000, A plaque to commemorate the 20th anniversary of John Lennon’s death was unveiled outside his childhood home in Liverpool.
2003, BPI figures showed that the UK sales of seven-inch singles had increased by 84% on the previous year. The report claimed that bands such as The Darkness, The Strokes and The White Stripes had boosted sales by releasing special limited edition seven-inch records.
2004, Former Pantera guitarist Dimebag Darrell was one of five people killed after a man stormed the stage during a Damageplan show at the Alrosa Villa Club in Columbus. Nathan Gale, aged 25, began firing at the band and crowd, was then shot and killed by a police officer who arrived shortly after the first shots were fired.
2013, Metallica played a gig inside a dome at the Argentine Antarctic Base Carlini, thus becoming the first band ever to play on all seven continents. During the concert audio was transmitted to an audience made up of competition winning fans from Latin America through headphones. Staged in conjunction with Coca Cola Zero, it was only the second ever gig to take place on the continent, following a performance in 2007 from a group of musical scientists, called Nunatak, at British Antarctic Survey’s Rothera Research Station as part of the Live Earth climate change awareness concerts.
2016, Sir Mick Jagger became a father again at the age of 73, after his 29-year-old girlfriend, American ballerina Melanie Hamrick, gave birth to a boy in New York City. The singer already had seven children, whose ages range from 17 to 45 and he became a great-grandfather in 2014.
