1963, The Beatles on the last night of their tour with Roy Orbison, performed at King George’s Hall, Blackburn, Lancashire. It was during this tour that The Beatles’ fans started throwing jelly babies at them while they were on stage, after an off-the-cuff remark on television that George Harrison enjoyed eating them.
1964, During an evening session Bob Dylan recorded Mr. Tambourine Man at Columbia Recording Studios in New York City. This was the first session for the Another Side Of Bob Dylan, which saw Dylan recording fourteen original compositions that night. The Byrds later recorded a version of Mr. Tambourine Man that was released as their first single and reached No.1 on both the US & UK Chart. The Byrds’ recording of the song was influential in initiating the musical subgenre of folk-rock, leading many contemporary bands to mimic its fusion of jangly guitars and intellectual lyrics in the wake of the single’s success.
1967, Pink Floyd played two gigs in one day, the first at the College of Commerce in Hull, and then the UFO at The Blarney Club, Tottenham Court Road, London, England.
1972, Elvis Presley made entertainment history by performing four sold-out shows at New York’s Madison Square Garden. George Harrison, John Lennon, David Bowie, Bob Dylan and Art Garfunkel were among music stars that attended the shows. The shows were recorded and became the album ‘Elvis as recorded at Madison Square Garden’.
1972, Bruce Springsteen signed with Columbia Records and started to assemble the E Street Band from various Asbury Park ex-band mates.
1978, The Rolling Stones released Some Girls, their first studio album recorded with Ronnie Wood as a full member. The album cover was designed by Peter Corriston and featured The Rolling Stones in garish drag alongside select female celebrities and lingerie ads. The cover immediately ran into trouble when Lucille Ball, Farrah Fawcett, Liza Minnelli (representing her mother Judy Garland), Raquel Welch, and the estate of Marilyn Monroe threatened legal action.
1979, The Bee Gees went to No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘Love You inside Out’, the group’s 9th US No.1 and a No.13 hit in the UK.
1984, Cyndi Lauper started a two week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘Time After Time’ a No.3 hit in the UK. Lauper co-wrote ‘Time After Time’ with Philadelphia based Rob Hyman of The Hooters.
1990, Englandneworder started a two-week run at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘World In Motion’. England’s song for the World Cup in 1990, following their No.1 in 1970. In the game they were knocked out by Germany on both occasions.
1990, M.C. Hammer’s debut album started a record breaking 21 week stay at the top of the US album charts, making it the longest uninterrupted stay at the top since the album charts started.
1990, Bailiffs repossessed the mansion owned by the group 5 Star after non-payment of the mortgage. The group had achieved 15 top 20 hits over five years.
1990, Wilson Phillips went to No.1 on the US with ‘Hold On’. 25 years earlier to the day Wendy and Carnies father Beach Boy Brian Wilson had been at No.1 with ‘Help Me Rhonda’.
1994, After an argument TLC singer Left Eye set fire to her boyfriend’s Atlanta mansion, worth $2 million, burning it to the ground. She was charged with arson and fined $10,000 with five years probation.
1998, Oasis singer Liam Gallagher and Simply Red singer Mick Hucknall were involved in a brawl at The Metropolitan Hotel, London.
1998, The Ronettes appeared in the Supreme Court of New York for their lawsuit against producer Phil Spector. The Ronettes, whose hits included ‘Be My Baby’ and ‘Walking In The Rain’, claimed that Spector had breached the group’s 34-year-old contract by paying the members no royalties since 1963. Although The Ronettes went on to win the case, the New York State Court of Appeals overturned the decision in October, 2002, saying that the contract the Ronettes signed with Spector in 1963 was still binding.
2003, Former Boyzone frontman Ronan Keating raised more than £100,000 ($170,000) for cancer charities during a 23 day walk from the Giant’s Causeway in County Antrim to Kinsale in County Cork. He visited 610 towns along the way, walking an average of 32km (20 miles) each day.
2007, George Michael became the first music artist to perform at the new Wembley Stadium in London when he played the first of two shows at the venue during his ’25 Live Tour’.
2011, A Belgian music festival, which prides itself on its horse-meat sausages announced it was going meat-free on the day that vegetarian singer Morrissey appeard. The 10-day Lokerse Feesten, which boasts online about sales of sausage rolls and snails, will order stalls to sell vegetarian food only on 4 August, the day Morrissey is due to appear. In 2009, the singer left the stage at California’s Coachella festival saying he could “smell burning flesh”. The booking “meant a welcomed catering challenge for one day”, it added.
2015, A Toronto-based company called Nutritional High announced that they had secured the licensing rights to manufacture and distribute marijuana and hemp-based products using the song titles and bearing the likeness of iconic guitarist Jimi Hendrix.
2016, Paul Simon said he was “elated” to notch up his first UK No.1 studio album in 26 years after his 13th solo album, Stranger To Stranger, topped the charts.
