1957, The Elvis Presley classic, ‘Jailhouse Rock’ was released. It became his ninth US number one single and stayed on the Billboard chart for nineteen weeks. The film clip from the movie where he sang the song is considered by many historians to be the first rock video.
1961, John Leyton was at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘Johnny Remember Me.’ The UK singers only UK No.1 and producer, Joe Meek’s first No.1 hit.
1962, Elvis Presley received an invitation to appear at the Royal Variety Performance in the UK which is attended by members of the British Royal Family. Presley’s manager, Colonel Tom Parker graciously declined, citing motion picture commitments. The real reason was that Parker was an illegal Dutch immigrant living in the United States who feared he might not be allowed to return if he left the country.
1966, Jimi Hendrix arrived in London with manager Chas chandler on a flight from New York City. With only the clothes he was wearing, Hendrix had sold his other belongings to pay a hotel bill in New York. One of the first things he did after arriving in England was to legally change his name from James to Jimi.
1966, The Association started a three week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘Cherish’. The New Christy Minstrels almost recorded the track but Association member and songwriter, Terry Kirkman, held onto ‘Cherish’ instead of selling it for $1000. The finished recording played for 3 minutes and 25 seconds, but the single’s label listed the time as 3:00 so that DJs wouldn’t be discouraged from playing a ‘long song.’
1967, Filming continued for The Beatles ‘Magical Mystery Tour’ at West Malling Air Station, Maidstone, Kent with the shooting of the ‘Your Mother Should Know’ ballroom finale. With The Beatles all dressed in white suits and shoes, gliding down a glittery staircase as 160 members of Peggy Spencer’s dance team swirled round about.
1975, Rod Stewart was at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘Sailing’. The song became a hit after it was used in a TV documentary series.
1980, The mixing of the forthcoming John Lennon and Yoko Ono album Double Fantasy moved from the Hit Factory in New York City to Record Plant East. During this session, John Lennon gave one of last ever interviews to Lisa Robinson from 97-FM in Buffalo.
1983, Billy Joel went to No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘Tell Her About It’, the former boxers second US No.1, a No.4 hit in the UK.
1984, Culture Club had their second UK No.1 single with ‘Karma Chameleon’, which stayed at the top of the charts for six weeks and became the best-selling single of 1983. The harmonica part was played by Judd Lander, who had been a member of Merseybeat group The Hideaways in the 1960s.
1988, Bobby McFerrin started a two week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘Don’t Worry Be Happy’, the first a-cappella record to be a No.1. It made No.2 in the UK. ‘Don’t Worry, Be Happy, was also included in the movie, Cocktail. The song would go on to win Grammy Awards for both Record of the Year and Song of the Year.
1988, The Hollies were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘He Ain’t Heavy He’s My Brother’ after the song was used on a UK TV beer commercial, the song was originally a hit in 1969 and featured a young Elton John on piano.
1990, AC/DC released ‘The Razors Edge’ their 11th internationally released studio album. The only studio album to feature drummer Chris Slade, reached No.2 on the US chart and #4 in the UK.
1991, Nirvana’s album Nevermind was released in America, entering the chart at No. 144 on its first week. The album which peaked at No. 1 in January 1992 has now sold over 30m copies world wide. The idea for the now iconic front cover shot of the baby swimming came after Kurt Cobain and drummer Dave Grohl saw a TV documentary on water babies.
1995, The Charlatans were arrested by 24-armed police after a flight to New York. The band were accused of trying to disrupt the planes flight path, passengers complained of the group being drunk, spitting and interfering with in flight TV sets.
1997, Barry Loukaitis was convicted of shooting and killing two pupils and a teacher at a school in Washington. His defence team claimed he had copied scenes from Pearl Jam’s video ‘Jeremy’.
2000, Madonna started a two-week run at No.1 on the UK album chart with ‘Music’, the singers seventh UK No.1 album.
2003, Singer-songwriter Matthew Jay died aged 24 after falling from a seventh-storey window in London. Released the 2001 album ‘Draw’ and toured with The Doves, Stereophonics, Dido and Starsailor.
2003, The Dave Matthews Band played at Central Park in New York City, in front of almost 100,000, the band’s largest audience to date. The Central Park Concert was later released as an album.
2004, The Strat Pack: Live in Concert was held at Wembley Arena in London marking the 50th Anniversary of the Fender Stratocaster guitar. The concert featured Ronnie Wood, Joe Walsh, Gary Moore, Brian May, David Gilmour, Albert Lee, Andy Fairweather-Low, Hank Marvin and many more.
2006, Scissor Sisters topped the UK album and singles charts. The New Yorkers’ second album, ‘Ta-Dah’, entered in the top spot, while the single ‘I Don’t Feel Like Dancin’ spent a third week at number one.
2012, Mumford & Sons released their second studio album ‘Babel’ which debuted at number one on both the UK Albums Chart and the US Billboard 200. It became the fastest selling album of 2012 in the UK and was nominated in the category of “Album of the Year” for both a Brit Award and Grammy Award, winning the latter.
