1955, R&B group The Famous Flames, lead by singer James Brown, cut their first demo of ‘Please, Please, Please’ at a radio station in Macon Georgia. It would lead to their signing with King Records.
1956, Elvis Presley bought a new Harley Davidson motorbike and spent the day riding round Memphis on his new bike with actress Natalie Wood.
1963, The Beatles kicked off a UK tour performing two shows at the Odeon Cinema in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire. Their repertoire for the tour was ‘I Saw Her Standing There’, ‘From Me to You’, ‘All My Loving’, ‘You Really Got a Hold On Me’, ‘Roll Over Beethoven’, ‘Boys’, ‘Till There Was You’, ‘She Loves You’, ‘Money’, and ‘Twist and Shout’. Supporting The Beatles were The Rhythm & Blues Quartet, The Vernons Girls, Frank Berry, The Brook Brothers, Peter Jay & the Jaywalkers, and The Kestrels.
1966, The Doors played the first night of a month long residency at the Ondine Discotheque, Midtown Manhattan, New York City.
1968, George Harrison released his first solo album, ‘Wonderwall Music’ on the Apple label. The songs which were mostly Harrison instrumentals, featured Eric Clapton, Ringo Starr and an unaccredited banjo contribution by Peter Tork of The Monkees.
1969, Elvis Presley went to No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘Suspicious Minds’, his 18th US No.1 single. A No.2 hit in the UK.
1969, The Beatles scored their 13th US No.1 album with Abbey Road. The final studio recordings from the group featured two Harrison songs; ‘Something’ & ‘Here Comes The Sun’. The cover supposedly contained clues adding to the ‘Paul Is Dead’ phenomenon: Paul is barefoot and the car number plate ‘LMW 281F’ supposedly referred to the fact that McCartney would be 28 if he was still alive. ‘LMW’ was said to stand for ‘Linda McCartney Weeps.’ And the four Beatles, represent; the priest (John, dressed in white), the Undertaker (Ringo, black suit), the Corpse (Paul, barefoot), and the Gravedigger (George, in jeans and a denim shirt).
1970, Matthews Southern Comfort were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with their version of the Joni Mitchell song ‘Woodstock’. The group’s only UK No.1 hit.
1975, Elton John started a three week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘Island Girl’, his 5th US No.1, a No.14 hit in the UK.
1980, Bruce Springsteen scored his first No.1 US album with ‘The River’, featuring the US No.5 & UK No.44 single ‘Hungry Heart.’
1990, American session musician and arranger Ray Pohlman died of heart failure at the age of 60. He is credited with being the first electric bass player in Los Angeles studios in the 1950s. He was a member of The Wrecking Crew, who recorded with Phil Spector and The Beach Boys. He was the musical director of the house band, The Shindogs, on the 1960s television show Shindig!
1997, Scandinavian dance-pop act Aqua started a four-week run at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘Barbie Girl.’ A massive world-wide hit, the single sold more than 8 million copies.
2000, All Saints came top of a poll to find the sexiest female act. 12,000 UK television viewers voted for the group, The Spice Girls came second and Atomic Kitten third. The 50s group The Beverley Sisters were voted into 11th place beating TLC.
2000, Robbie Williams offered to donate his bone marrow to save a fan’s life after meeting leukaemia suffer Johanna MacVicar. Williams asked his fans to sign up as potential donors after being told of the desperate shortage of male donors.
2003, Organisers of the MTV Europe Awards 2003 recruited 500 ‘screamers’ to attend this year’s event. The music lovers were selected at an audition held in Edinburgh’s Princes Street Gardens. About 1,500 pop-mad teenagers and adults screamed themselves hoarse in a bid to get their hands on a ticket to the exclusive event.
2004, 61-year old Terry Knight, the former manager of Grand Funk Railroad, was murdered at his home in Killeen, Texas. Knight was defending his daughter during a domestic disturbance, when he was stabbed by her boyfriend, 26 year old Donald Alan Fair. Knight began his music career by leading a Michigan band called Terry Knight and the Pack, who scored a Billboard top 50 hit with ‘I, Who Have Nothing’.
2004, A man who allegedly stalked Australian pop star Natalie Imbruglia, was deemed too mentally ill to be interviewed by police. The 44-year-old fan was arrested after turning up on the doorstep of the singer’s £2m home in Berkshire after flying to London from Australia.
2007, Winners at this year’s MTV Europe Music Awards held in Munich, Germany included Avril Lavigne who was named best solo artist, and her song Girlfriend was voted most addictive track. Muse won two awards for best UK and Ireland act and best headline act, Linkin Park won the award for best band of 2007, and German band Tokio Hotel took the prize for best international act. Amy Winehouse won the Artist Choice prize, an award chosen by her fellow musicians and The ultimate urban prize went to R&B star Rihanna.
2008, US drummer and singer Jimmy Carl Black died. Was a member of The Keys, The Soul Giants, The Mothers Of Invention and Jimmy Carl Black And The Mannish Boys. Also worked with Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, The Doors, Joe Cocker, Grateful Dead and The Turtles.
2008, Shakir Stewart shot himself dead in the bathroom of his home in Atlanta. Worked as a music promoter and was a vice-president of Def Jam Music Group, he signed Rick Ross, Karina Pasian, Ciara and Young Jeezy and worked with LL Cool J and Nas.
2012, Metal Hammer magazine published a list of the “Top ten rock and heavy metal moustaches…Ever”. The list which included moustaches worn by the likes of Frank Zappa, all the members of Black Sabbath, (except Ozzy Osbourne). James Hetfield, and Lemmy placed Freddie Mercury at the top of the list.
2015, Taylor Swift was being sued for $42m for allegedly stealing the lyrics to her hit 2014 song ‘Shake It Off’, which topped music charts around the world. R&B singer Jesse Braham claimed in legal papers Swift stole the words from a song he wrote in 2013 called ‘Haters Gone Hate’.
2016, Bap Kennedy, singer, songwriter from Belfast, Northern Ireland, died in Belfast in hospice care from pancreatic and bowel cancer. He is noted for his collaborations with Steve Earle, Van Morrison, Shane MacGowan and Mark Knopfler, as well as for writing the song ‘Moonlight Kiss’ which was on the soundtrack for the film Serendipity. Kennedy was also in the rock band Energy Orchard.
