1954, Sun Records released the first Elvis Presley single, ‘That’s All Right’, a cover of Arthur Crudup’s 1946 tune ‘That’s All Right, Mama’. Only about 7,000 original copies were pressed, but the disc became a local hit in Memphis.
1967, The Beatles were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘All You Need Is Love’ the group’s 12th UK No.1 single. The Beatles had been selected to represent the UK for the first-ever global-wide satellite broadcast. The group agreed to be shown in the studio recording a song written especially for the occasion, (which was aired on June 25). John Lennon wrote ‘All You Need is Love’ which was thought to sum up the 1967 ‘summer of love’ and The Beatles’ sympathies.
1967, Elvis Presley was working on his latest movie Speedway co-starring Nancy Sinatra at the MGM Soundstage, Hollywood, California. (It was Presley’s twenty-seventh film).
1968, Pink Floyd played the second of three nights at the Boston Tea Party, Boston, Massachusetts. Opened in January 1967 as a psychedelic club, many many famous artists, including Grateful Dead, Neil Young, The J. Geils Band, Frank Zappa, Cream, Fleetwood Mac, The Allman Brothers Band, Led Zeppelin, The Jimi Hendrix Experience, Jeff Beck, The Who, Santana, Taj Mahal, Ten Years After and Sly & the Family Stone all appeared.
1972, Rolling Stones Mick Jagger and Keith Richards were arrested in Warwick, Rhode Island on charges of assault after a fight broke out with a newspaper photographer.
1974, The Ozark Music Festival was held over three days on the Missouri State Fairgrounds in Sedalia, Missouri. One of the largest music festivals ever held, some estimates have put the crowd count at 350,000 people. Acts who appeared included, Bachman–Turner Overdrive, Blue Öyster Cult, The Eagles, America, Marshall Tucker Band, The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Boz Scaggs, Ted Nugent, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Electric Flag, Joe Walsh, Aerosmith and Spirit.
1975, The Bay City Rollers were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘Give A Little Love’, the group’s second and final UK No.1.
1975, Paul McCartney and Wings went to No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘Listen To What The Man Said’, his fourth US No.1, and No.6 hit in the UK, (the track features Tom Scott playing the saxophone solo). It would go on to sell a million copies in America and reach No.6 in the UK. Wings also had the US No.1 album chart with ‘Venus And Mars’. Paul McCartney’s fourth No.1 album since The Beatles.
1975, On his Natty Dread tour, Bob Marley & the Wailers appeared at the Lyceum Theatre in London. The show was recorded and the live single ‘No Woman, No Cry’ was later released.
1976, Deep Purple split up at the end of an UK tour. David Coverdale went on to form Whitesnake, Jon Lord and Ian Paice formed a band with Tony Ashton. The classic line up of Blackmore, Gillan, Glover, Lord & Paice reformed in 1984. Glenn Hughes returned to Trapeze and Tommy Bolin put together his own band, (but would die before the end of the year).
1980, Queen scored their third UK No.1 album with ‘The Game’, featuring the single ‘Another One Bites The Dust’.
1981, It was Roy Orbison Day in Odessa, Texas. Orbison was given the keys to the city, and performed for the crowd, the first time in Odessa in 15 years.
1986, Genesis went to No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘Invisible Touch’. The bands former lead singer Peter Gabriel was at No.2 with ‘Sledgehammer’.
1987, Bruce Springsteen played his first ever show behind the Iron Curtain when he appeared in East Berlin in front of 180,000 people. The show was broadcast on East German TV.
1989, James Brown changed accommodations behind bars after $40000 in cash and cheques was discovered in his minimum security cell. The Godfather of Soul had been given a six year sentence the previous December after several run-ins with the law, including illegal gun possession, resisting arrest, assault and leading the authorities on a number of car chases. His new home was at a medium security cell at the Stevenson Correctional Institute.
1989, Residents of Washington, Connecticut formed a ‘Roll the Stones Out of Town’, action group after they were unhappy with The Rolling Stones and their entourage setting up in the town for rehearsals for their forthcoming tour. Residents said it was like the army had moved in and taken over, with security guards stopping locals and asking them what they were doing there.
1991, Steven Adler ex drummer with Guns N’ Roses filed a suit in Los Angeles county court alleging that he was fraudulently removed from the group and that the band introduced him to hard drugs.
1996, The Spice Girls made their debut on UK TV music show Top Of The Pops performing their debut single ‘ Wannabe’ which gave them their first of nine UK chart toppers.
1997, Oasis went to No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘D’You Know What I Mean’. The first single from their third album ‘Be Here Now’.
1999, A gunman who sprayed bullets at Westwood’s car in Kensington, London, shot BBC Radio 1 DJ Tim Westwood. A statement the following day said he was recovering in a London Hospital.
2001, American soul and gospel singer Judy Clay died. Was a member of the Drinkard Singers – who later became better known as The Sweet Inspirations , also worked with Billy Vera, and had hits with William Bell (Private Number), and sang with Wilson Pickett and Ray Charles.
2001, Wu Tang Clan rapper ODB, (Russell Jones), was sentenced to spend between two and four years behind bars after being found guilty of drug possession. He was arrested in July 1999 when police found cocaine and marijuana in his car after he was pulled over for driving through a red light. The rapper was later sent to a Los Angeles rehabilitation centre, but went on the run from authorities last October.
2005, James Blunt was at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘You’re Beautiful’, from his debut album ‘Back To Bedlam’. The UK singer songwriters first No.1, spent 5 weeks at the top of the charts.
2010, Ozzy Osbourne and his former Black Sabbath band mate Tony Iommi settled a long-running legal dispute over the use of the group’s name. Ozzy had filed suit against the guitarist in May of last year, accusing Iommi of falsely proclaiming to be the sole owner of the Black Sabbath name by lodging an application with the US Patent and Trademark Office. The pair released a joint statement confirming they have settled the dispute “amicably”.
2014, Ed Sheeran was at No.1 on the UK album chart with X (pronounced multiply), his second studio album. The album peaked at No. 1 in fifteen countries, and the lead single, ‘Sing’, became Sheeran’s first UK No.1 song. By the end of 2014 Spotify named X the most-streamed album in the world for 2014, racking up more than 430 million streams for the year.
2017, A US judge halted an auction of personal items of Madonna, after she said her privacy was violated. Madonna’s underwear, a chequebook, a hairbrush, photos and a break-up letter from the late rapper Tupac Shakur had been among the scheduled lots. The singer said her possessions had been stolen by a former friend.
