October 15th, 2018

1955, Buddy & Bob (Buddy Holly) opened for Elvis Presley at the ‘Big D Jamboree’, held at Lubbock’s Cotton Club, Texas. Nashville talent scout Eddie Crandall was in audience and arranged for Holly to audition and record demos for the Decca US label.

1960, The Beatles (minus Pete Best) and two members of Rory Storm’s Hurricanes (Ringo Starr and Lou Walters) recorded a version of George Gershwin’s ‘Summertime’ in a Hamburg recording studio. The track which was cut onto a 78-rpm disc marked the first session that included John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo together.

1965, Jimi Hendrix signed his first recording contract in the UK, where he would received $1 and a 1% Royalty on all of his recordings.

1966, Pink Floyd (who were paid £15 for the gig), The Move, Denny Laine, Soft Machine, Yoko Ono and a West Indian steel band all appeared at the launch for the International Times (which became the first and longest running British hippy paper), at London’s Roundhouse. Beatle Paul McCartney attended the event in Arabian dress. The flyers for the evening stated: ‘Bring your own poison, bring flowers & gass (sic), filled balloons’. Admission was 10 shillings (50p) on the door.

1966, The Four Tops started a two week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘Reach Out And I’ll Be There’. The group’s second US No.1 and their first No.1 in the UK, (and becoming Motown’s second UK chart-topper after The Supremes No. 1 hit ‘Baby Love’ in late 1964).

1972, Lieutenant Pigeon were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘Mouldy Old Dough.’ Keyboard player Rob Woodward had his mum play piano on the single, making them the only mother and son act to score a UK No.1. The song was recorded in the front room of their semi-detached house.

1973, Keith Richards was found guilty of trafficking cannabis by a Court in Nice, France. The Rolling Stone was given a one-year suspended sentence and a 5,000 franc fine. He was also banned from entering France for two years.

1977, Debby Boone started a 10 week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘You Light Up My Life’, the longest stay at the top since Guy Mitchell’s ‘Singing The Blues. A No.48 hit in the UK.

1988, Bon Jovi started a four-week run at No.1 on the US album chart with their fourth release, ‘New Jersey.’ The album produced five Billboard Hot 100 Top 10 singles, the most top ten hits to date for a hard rock album.

1988, UB40 went to No.1 on the US singles chart with their version of the Neil Diamond song ‘Red Red Wine’, also a No.1 hit in the UK.

1995, Paul and Linda McCartney were the guest voices on Fox-TV’s The Simpsons in an episode called “Lisa the Vegetarian”. Macca’s stipulation for appearing was that Lisa’s decision to become a vegetarian would be a permanent character change, to which producer David Mirkin agreed.

1996, Motley Crue drummer Tommy Lee was charged with assault for attacking a cameraman who was trying to take pictures of Lee and his wife Pamela Anderson Lee outside an L.A. club. After pleading no contest, Lee was sentenced to four months in prison.

1997, Michael Jackson played the last date on the HIStory Tour at King’s Park Rugby Stadium, Durban, South Africa. During the tour, Jackson performed 82 concerts in 58 cities to over 4.5 million fans, visiting 5 continents and 35 countries.

2000, Radiohead went to No.1 on the US album chart with ‘Kid A’, the group’s fourth album became the first Radiohead release to debut at No.1 in the US.

2000, U2 went to No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘Beautiful Day’, the group’s fourth UK No.1 single and taken from their album ‘All That You Can’t Leave Behind’.

2003, Mike Smith, the former lead singer of The Dave Clark Five suffered a fall at his home in Spain that left him paralyzed from the waist down. Smith died of pneumonia on February 28th, 2008, less than two weeks before the band was to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

2004, Bill Eyden, the session drummer hired to play on Procol Harum’s ‘A Whiter Shade Of Pale’, died after a lengthy illness at the age of 74. Eyden also worked with Georgie Fame and the Blue Flames, Charlie Watts and was a member of the resident trio, led by Stan Tracey, at Ronnie Scott’s club in London, England until the late 60s.

2006, The Sugababes were the most successful UK all-female act of the 21st century, according to new figures. Since their chart debut in 2000, they had scored 16 hits, beating the likes of Madonna and Britney Spears. The trio first made UK chart history in 2002 when, with ‘Freak Like Me’, made them the youngest female group to top the chart.

2007, Britney Spears visited a Los Angeles police station to be photographed and fingerprinted ahead of her hit-and-run court case. The 25-year-old singer spent about 30 minutes at the station after a judge ordered her to submit to the procedures. Ms Spears was charged last month for allegedly crashing into a parked car while driving without a valid licence.

2008, Jon Bon Jovi became the latest musician to disapprove of the use of his songs in John McCain’s US presidential campaign. The Bon Jovi song, ‘Who Says You Can’t Go Home’, was used during rallies held by Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin. Foo Fighters, Heart and Jackson Browne had all asked Mr McCain to stop using their tracks in his presidential bid. Bon Jovi, a Democrat supporter, threw a $30,000 per person, fund-raising dinner for Democratic candidate Barack Obama at his New Jersey home in September.

2013, Madonna was banned from a US cinema chain after being accused of texting during a film. Attending the New York Film Festival screening of 12 Years a Slave, the 55-year-old was reportedly asked to stop texting by an audience member. Tim League, CEO of the Alamo Drafthouse chain, tweeted: “Until she apologizes to movie fans, Madonna is banned from watching movies at Alamo.”

2014, U2 frontman Bono said he was sorry after their latest album was automatically added to the libraries of all iTunes users around the world, saying the move was a “drop of megalomania, a touch of generosity”. iTunes users complained that the 11-track Songs of Innocence had been added to their music library without permission and that it was not clear how to delete it.

(This Day in Music)