1962, The Beach Boys signed to Capitol Records in the US, their first hit was in Sept this year with ‘Surfin’ Safari.’
1966, Jack Bruce, Ginger Baker and Eric Clapton formed Cream the three piece group only lasted 2 years, leaving behind some classic recordings including ‘Sunshine of Your Love,’ ‘Badge,’ ‘Strange Brew,’ and ‘White Room.’
1967, Joni Mitchell, Leonard Cohen, Judy Collins, Janis Ian, David Blue, Mike Settle, Tom Paxton and Eric Andersen all appeared at the Newport Folk Festival in Newport, Rhode Island.
1969, During recordings for their Abbey Road album, The Beatles worked on two new George Harrison songs, ‘Here Comes The Sun’ and ‘Something.’ Harrison was inspired to write ‘Here Comes The Sun’ when taking a day off from Apple business and spending the day walking around the garden at Eric Clapton’s house.
1970, Pink Floyd recorded a show at the BBC Paris Cinema, in London, England for broadcast on the John Peel Sunday Concert, on BBC Radio 1 (broadcast 19 July of this year.)
1977, Shaun Cassidy went to No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘Da Doo Ron Ron’, his only US No.1. Shaun is the half brother of David Cassidy.
1981, US singer-songwriter Harry Chapin, who had success in the 70s with ‘Taxi’, ‘W-O-L-D’ and a No. 1 ‘Cat’s In The Cradle’, was killed aged 38 suffering a cardiac arrest while driving on a New York expressway. His car was hit from behind by a tractor-trailer, causing the gas tank to explode.
1993, The first of the three day Phoenix festival in England started, featuring Sonic Youth, Faith No More, The Black Crowes, Julian Cope, Pop Will Eat Itself, Radiohead, Living Colour, Manic Street Preachers, Pulp, tickets £49.
1995, Rap singer Queen Latifah was the victim of a car-jacking attempt that went wrong, leaving her bodyguard shot and wounded.
1995, Wayne Osmond from The Osmonds underwent a brain tumour operation at Duke University Medical Centre, North Carolina.
2000, Coldplay went to No.1 on the UK album chart with their debut release Parachutes. The release spawned the hit singles ‘Shiver’, ‘Yellow’, ‘Trouble’, and ‘Don’t Panic’ and won the Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album in 2002.
2000, Matchbox Twenty went to No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘Bent.’ The single was taken from their second album Mad Season.
2000, The Corrs presented a petition to the European Commission demanding legislation to end piracy on the Internet. The Manic Street Preachers and The Spice Girls also added their names to the petition.
2001, Robbie Williams started a two week run at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘Eternity / The Road To Mandalay.’ The 4th No.1 for the former Take That singer.
2007, Three masked men, carrying sledgehammers and crowbars, broke into the home of former Atomic Kitten singer Kerry Katona and escaped with goods including the singers BMW M5 sports car, two laptops, two gaming machines and two televisions. The robbers held a knife to the neck of the former pop star during the raid on her home in Wilmslow, Cheshire.
2007, The White Stripes played their ‘shortest live show ever’ at George Street, St. John’s, Newfoundland, Canada. Jack White played a single C# note accompanied by a bass drum/crash cymbal hit from Meg. At the end of the show, Jack announced, “We have now officially played in every province and territory in Canada.” They then left the stage and performed a full show later that night in St John’s.
2009, A stage being built in France for a concert by Madonna collapsed, killing two workers and injuring six others. Technicians had been setting up the stage at the Velodrome stadium in Marseille when the partially-built roof fell in, bringing down a crane. Madonna was performing on her Sticky and Sweet tour in Udine, Italy, when she received news of the incident and was said to be “devastated” by the news.
2012, Jon Lord the former keyboard player with Deep Purple, died aged 71. Lord was a co-founder of Deep Purple in 1968 and co-wrote many of the group’s songs including Smoke On The Water. He also played with bands including Whitesnake. He had been receiving treatment for pancreatic cancer since last August.
2012, Queen’s 1975 classic Bohemian Rhapsody was voted as the UK’s “Favorite No. 1 Single,” narrowly beating out Michael Jackson’s ‘Billie Jean’ for the top spot. The poll conducted by the Official Charts Company had The Beatles ‘Hey Jude’ at No.5, with Adele’s hit ‘Someone Like You’ at No.3.
2012, American country music singer Kitty Wells died in Madison, Tennessee, from complications of a stroke. She was 92. Her 1952 hit ‘It Wasn’t God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels’, made her the first female country singer to top the US country charts, and turned her into the first female country star. Her Top 10 hits continued until the mid-1960s, inspiring a long list of female country singers who came to prominence in the 1960s.
2012, Hungarian-American bassist, Bob Babbitt died aged 74, from brain cancer. He is most famous for his work as a member of Motown Records’ studio band, the Funk Brothers, from 1966 to 1972. Babbitt’s most notable bass performances include ‘Signed, Sealed, Delivered I’m Yours’ by Stevie Wonder, ‘War’ by Edwin Starr, ‘The Tears of a Clown’ by Smokey Robinson & the Miracles, ‘Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)’ and ‘Inner City Blues’ by Marvin Gaye, ‘Band Of Gold’ by Freda Payne, ‘Ball of Confusion (That’s What the World Is Today)’, and ‘Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me)’ by The Temptations.
2014, Blues guitarist Johnny Winter died at the age of 70 in Zurich, just days after playing at the Lovely Days Festival in Austria. Winter, who was instantly recognisable by his long white hair, worked with some of the greatest bluesmen, producing several albums for his childhood hero Muddy Waters – with whom he won a number of Grammys.
2015, A sports car belonging to US hip-hop pioneer Grandmaster Flash which contained valuable vintage records was mistakenly given away by a parking attendant. The incident happened in a Manhattan garage where the musician returned to pick up the vehicle after nearly two hours, the attendant said he had given it to someone else thinking he was the owner.
2016, American vocalist, punk icon and visual artist Alan Vega died aged 78. Primarily known for his work with the electronic protopunk duo Suicide. The duo released their influential self-titled debut in 1977, one of Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.
2017, DMX was charged with tax fraud in the US after allegedly hiding millions of dollars in earnings. The rapper, whose real name is Earl Simmons, was arrested in New York. Law enforcement officers claimed he owed millions of dollars in taxes from songs and said he “went out of his way” to break the law. He faced up to 44 years in prison if he was found guilty on all 14 counts.
