1955, The Everly Brothers made their first studio recordings cutting four tracks in 22 minutes, at Nashville’s Old Tulane Hotel studios. Family friend Chet Atkins engineered a chance for The Everly Brothers to record for Columbia Records in early 1956. However, their first and only single for the label, ‘Keep A’ Lovin’ Me’, was a flop, and they were quickly dropped from Columbia.
1958, Elvis Presley’s ‘Hound Dog’, exceeded three million copies sold in the USA, becoming only the third single to do so. Bing Crosby’s ‘White Christmas’ & ‘Rudolph The Red Nose Reindeer’ by Gene Autry being the other two.
1961, Brian Epstein saw The Beatles playing live for the first time during a lunchtime session at The Cavern Liverpool. Epstein went on to be the group’s manager. That night they appeared at Litherland Town Hall in Liverpool.
1966, John Lennon met Yoko Ono for the first time when he visited her art exhibition ‘Unfinished Paintings and Objects’ at the Indica Gallery in London.
1967, The first issue of Rolling Stone Magazine was published in San Francisco. It featured a photo of John Lennon on the cover, dressed in army fatigues while acting in his recent film, How I Won the War and the first issue had a free roach clip to hold a marijuana joint. The name of the magazine was compiled from three significant sources: the Muddy Waters song, the first rock ‘n’ roll record by Bob Dylan and The Rolling Stones.
1968, Led Zeppelin played their first ever London show when they appeared at The Roundhouse, Chalk Farm on the same bill as John Lee Hooker, Deviants, John James and Tyres. Zeppelin singer Robert Plant married his girlfriend Maureen in London on this day and held the reception at the gig.
1969, Simon and Garfunkel record what would become their signature tune, ‘Bridge Over Troubled Water’ with future member of Bread, Larry Knechtel on piano. Art wanted Paul to sing the song, but Paul insisted that Art’s voice was better suited for it. It was a decision that Paul would later say he regretted. The song won five awards at the 13th Annual Grammy Awards in 1971, including Grammy Award for Record of the Year and Song of the Year.
1974, Bachman Turner Overdrive went to No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘You Ain’t Seen Nothin’ Yet’. Randy Bachman stuttered through the lyrics of the demo recording as a private joke about his brother Gary, who had a speech impediment. The record company liked that take better than the non-stammering version and released it.
1985, Jan Hammer went to No.1 on the US singles chart with the ‘Miami Vice Theme’, a No.5 hit in the UK.
1990, The internal revenue seized all of US country singers Willie Nelson’s bank accounts and real estate holdings in connection with a $16million tax debt.
1991, Prince and the New Power Generation started a two week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘Cream’, a No.15 hit in the UK.
1991, Richard Marx played in five cities in 1 day during a ‘Rush-n Rush Out, Street Tour’. Marx appeared in Baltimore, New York City, Cleveland, Chicago and Burbank Airport.
1993, The Dave Matthews Band released their first album, ‘Remember Two Things’ on the Bama Rags label.
1996, Oasis singer Liam Gallagher was arrested after being stopped by police in London’s Oxford Street and charged with possession of a class A controlled substance.
1997, Paul Weller was arrested and spent the night in a French jail after smashing up his hotel room. His record company paid £4,000 to cover the damage; Weller was released the following day.
1999, American producer, songwriter and co-founder of Atlantic records. Herb Abramson died. He produced Tommy Tucker’s 1964 hit ‘High Heeled Sneakers.’ He was the owner of A-1 Sound studios and clients included Barry Manilow, Bette Midler, The Supremes, Patti Smith, and Muddy Waters.
2002, Viewers of the UK music channel VH1 voted ‘I Will Always Love You’ by Whitney Houston as the number 1 most romantic song ever. In second place Elvis Presley ‘You Were Always On My Mind’ and third place went to ‘My Heart Will Go On’ by Celine Dion.
2002, It was announced that Madonna’s latest movie ‘Swept Away’ would not be released in the UK because it had been such a box office flop in the US. The Washington Post said the film was “as awful as you’ve heard and as bad as you’ve imagined.”
2004, A Dutch man was jailed for nine months for harassing former Spice Girl Melanie Chisholm. The unnamed 39-year-old sent the singer parcels, letters and tapes during 2001. Dutch police searched the man’s home after he tried to hand-deliver a parcel to Ms Chisholm’s London home.
2008, Miriam Makeba, the South African singer who reached No.12 on the Billboard chart in 1967 with ‘Pata Pata’, suffered a fatal heart attack at the age of 76. Among her many notable achievements was becoming the first African woman to win a Grammy, for Best Folk Recording in 1966 with Harry Belafonte for ‘An Evening With Belafonte / Makeba’.
2014, Cheryl Fernandez-Versini become the first British female solo artist to have five No.1 singles in the UK after her latest song, ‘I Don’t Care’, entered the Official Charts in pole position. The 31-year-old overtook Spice Girl Geri Halliwell and Rita Ora, who both had four chart-toppers.
2014, One Direction were the big winners at the 2014 MTV Europe Music Awards, held in Glasgow, Scotland, picking up three awards including best pop act. They also won best live and biggest fans. Ariana Grande picked up her first EMA’s for best female and best song for ‘Problem’. 5 Seconds Of Summer won the Best New Act award.
2015, Scottish session drummer Andy White died aged 82. He was affectionately christened “the fifth Beatle” as he was best known for replacing Ringo Starr on drums on the The Beatles’ first single, ‘Love Me Do’. White was featured on the American 7″ single release of the song, which also appeared on the band’s debut British album, Please Please Me. He also played on ‘P.S. I Love You’, which was the B-side of ‘Love Me Do’. White also worked with Chuck Berry, Billy Fury, Herman’s Hermits and Tom Jones.
2016, David Bowie’s retrospective show at the Victoria & Albert Museum had enjoyed so much foot traffic it was now officially the most successful touring exhibition in the cultural institution’s 164-year history. According to the V&A’s over half a million people had visited David Bowie Is in sites across the globe, including the 312,000 visitors who saw the exhibition in London back in 2013.
