1953, Guy Mitchell was at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘She Wears Red Feathers’. The song details a bizarre story of an English banker’s love for a hula-hula girl.
1962, The Beatles recorded their first radio appearance, at the Playhouse Theatre, Hulme, Manchester, for the BBC radio program Teenager’s Turn – Here We Go’. After a rehearsal, the Beatles put on suits for the first time and, along with the other artists appearing on the program, record the show in front of a teenage audience.
1965, During a Rolling Stones gig at The Palace Theatre in Manchester, England a female fan fell from the circle while the group were playing. The crowd below broke her fall and the girl escaped serious injury just breaking a few teeth.
1966, Mike Millward guitarist from The Fourmost died, aged 23. The Liverpool group who were managed by Brian Epstein had the 1964 UK No.6 single ‘A Little Loving’.
1966, Brian Wilson released ‘Caroline No’ the first solo single by a Beach Boy. Before it evolved into the final song we know today, the song was originally written as ‘Carol I Know’.
1966, Tina Turner recorded her vocal on the Phil Spector produced ‘River Deep Mountain High’. It went on to make No.3 in the UK but only No.88 on the US chart.
1967, Working on their next album The Beatles recorded additional overdubs for ‘Lovely Rita’, including harmony vocals, effects, and the percussive sound of a piece of toilet paper being blown through a haircomb.
1969, Led Zeppelin appeared at the Bluesville 69 Club at the Hornsey Wood Tavern, Finsbury Park, London, England. The venue was a function room at the back of the pub, and was so small that the stage was only just big enough for John Bonham’s drums, and the rest of the group had to stand on the floor at the same level as the crowd.
1970, Lee Marvin was at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘Wand’rin Star’, taken from the film ‘Paint Your Wagon.’
1970, Simon and Garfunkels album Bridge Over Troubled Water started a ten week run at No.1 on the US chart. The duo had split-up by the time of release.
1971, Jamacan saxophonist and flautist, Harold McNair died of lung cancer aged 39. Worked with Donovan, Melanie and Ginger Baker’s Air Force, and had toured Europe with Quincy Jones.
1973, During a showcase gig at Max’s Kansas City, New York, CBS records boss John Hammond suffered a heart attack. The event was to mark the signing of his new act Bruce Springsteen.
1973, A song from the movie Deliverance called ‘Dueling Banjos’ by Eric Weissberg and Steve Mandel became one of the few 1970s instrumentals to be awarded a Gold record. The record had topped the Cash Box Magazine Best Sellers list and reached No.2 on the Billboard Hot 100.
1975, David Bowie released his ninth studio album Young Americans. The album featured the song ‘Fame’ (co-written with Carlos Alomar and John Lennon),which gave Bowie his first US No.1 hit single.
1976, Elton John was immortalised in wax at Madame Tussauds in London. The first rock star to be so since The Beatles.
1980, The film Coal Miner’s Daughter, the biography of Loretta Lynn and starring Sissy Spacek opened. Spacek won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her portrayal of Lynn; Tommy Lee Jones and Beverly D’Angelo also play leading roles in the film, which was a huge success with critics and at the box office.
1987, The Beastie Boys became the first rap act to have a No.1 album in the US with their debut album, ‘Licensed To Ill.’
1987, The first five Beatles albums, Please Please Me, With the Beatles, A Hard Day’s Night, Beatles for Sale and Help! were released on Compact disc. Capitol Records decided to release the original UK mixes of the Beatles albums, which means that the first four CDs are released in mono. This marks the first time that many of these mono mixes were available in the US.
1988, British pedal steel guitar player Gordon Huntley died of cancer. Was a member of Matthews Southern Comfort, (UK No.1 single ‘Woodstock’) and as a session player worked with many acts including Elton John, Rod Stewart, The Pretty Things, Cliff Richard and Fairport Convention.
1991, The readers of Rolling Stone magazine voted George Michael the best male singer and sexiest male artist.
1998, Madonna went to No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘Frozen’ the singers eighth UK No.1. Taken from her dance-influenced album ‘Ray of Light’.
2001, The man who discovered Blur, David Balfe won a high court battle to earn £250,000 in back royalties. Balfe had waged a legal battle for over two years to regain the royalties after selling his Food Records label to EMI in 1994.
2004, The Smiths song ‘I Know It’s Over’ topped a poll of tunes, which people turn to when they are miserable in ‘The Songs That Saved Your Life’ poll by BBC radio station 6 Music. REM’s ‘Everybody Hurts’ and Radiohead’s ‘Fake Plastic Trees’ also made the Top 10.
2007, Rhett Hutchence the brother of INXS singer Michael Hutchence defended his decision to sell some of the late star’s belongings online saying he needed money to set up home with his new girlfriend. Items in the auction included lyrics, T-shirts and a fax his brother had sent to his then girlfriend Kylie Minogue.
2009, Rapper Coolio was charged with drug possession after being arrested at Los Angeles International Airport. The 45-year-old, whose real name is Artis Leon Ivey Jr, was later released on $10,000 bail.
2012, Sales of albums by The Monkees soared following the death of singer Davy Jones. ‘Best Of The Monkees’ re-entered the Billboard album chart at No.20 with sales of over 17,000 units.
2017, Darren Salter, senior coroner for Oxfordshire confirmed that George Michael died as a result of heart and liver disease. Michael was suffering from dilated cardiomyopathy with myocarditis and fatty liver. The singer died aged 53 on Christmas Day 2016 at his home in Goring-on-Thames, Oxfordshire.
