1955, Elvis Presley attended the fourth Country Music Disc Jockey Convention in Nashville Tennessee. Back at his hotel Mae Boren Axton played him a demo of a new song she had written with Tommy Durden called ‘Heartbreak Hotel’. Presley released the track as a single on January 27, 1956, his first on his new record label RCA Victor. The song gave him his his first No.1 one pop record.
1967, The Beatles filmed three promotional films for their new single ‘Hello Goodbye’ at the Saville Theatre in London. Each of the three film clips featured different costumes and Beatle antics. In the first film they wear their Sgt. Pepper uniforms, for the second The Beatles are wearing everyday clothes, the third film clip features shots from the first two films, plus additional shots of The Beatles (especially John) doing the twist. A Musician’s Union ban on lip-sync broadcasts prevented the film being used on British television.
1973, Elton John started a eight week run at No.1 on the US album chart with ‘Goodbye Yellow Brick Road’, the singers third US No.1. The album which had the working titles of Vodka and Tonics and Silent Movies, Talking Pictures, is his best selling studio album with worldwide sales of over 15 million copies. Recorded at the Château d’Hérouville, the album contains the Marilyn Monroe tribute, ‘Candle in the Wind’, as well as three successful singles: ‘Bennie and the Jets’, ‘Saturday Night’s Alright for Fighting’ and the title track.
1975, David Bowie was at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘Space Oddity’ the track was first released in 1969 to tie in with the Apollo 11 moon landing. Rick Wakeman (former keyboard player with Yes) provided synthesizer backing. Bowie would later revisit his Major Tom character in the songs ‘Ashes to Ashes’, ‘Hallo Spaceboy’ and ‘Blackstar’.
1979, Fleetwood Mac scored their second UK No.1 album with the double set ‘Tusk’, the 12th album by the British/American rock band.
1979, The Eagles went to No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘Heartache Tonight’, the group’s 5th and final US No.1. It made No.40 in the UK.
1984, After setting a new record for advanced orders, 1,099,500 copies, Frankie Goes To Hollywood went to No.1 on the UK album chart with their debut LP ‘Welcome To The Pleasure Dome.’ Also on this day Frankie Goes To Hollywood made their debut TV appearance on Saturday Night Live performing ‘Two Tribes’ and ‘Born To Run’.
1984, Former Rufus singer Chaka Khan was at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘I Feel For You.’ Written by Prince, the song featured Stevie Wonder on harmonica and the Rap was by Grandmaster Melle Mel. The repetition of Khan’s name by rapper Melle Mel at the beginning of the song was originally a mistake made by producer Arif Mardin, who then decided to keep it.
1990, Vanilla Ice started a 16-week run at No.1 on the US album chart with ‘To The Extreme.’
1997, American session guitarist Tommy Tedesco died of lung cancer aged 67. Described by “Guitar Player” magazine as the most recorded guitarist in history recording with The Beach Boys, Everly Brothers, The Supremes, The Monkees, The Association, Barbra Streisand, Elvis Presley, Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Zappa, Sam Cooke, Cher, and Nancy and Frank Sinatra. And played on many TV themes including Bonanza, The Twilight Zone, M*A*S*H and Batman.
1999, Eighties hit making team Stock, Aitken and Waterman went to court fighting over song rights. Stock and Aitken claimed Waterman owed them hundreds of thousands of pounds as musicians and songwriters.
2002, American Keyboard player Johnny Griffith died of a heart attack aged 66. He had been a member of the Motown records in-house Funk Brothers studio band and played on Marvin Gaye’s ‘Heard It Through The Grapevine’, ‘I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch)’ by Four Tops, and ‘Stop! In the Name of Love’ by The Supremes.
2006, Grammy-nominated R&B star Gerald Levert died of a heart attack aged 40. The singer who was the son of O’Jays vocalist Eddie Levert, first found fame with the R&B trio LeVert, and scored a UK top 10 single with Casanova in 1987.
2008, Coldplay were declared the biggest-selling act of 2008 at the World Music Awards held in Monaco. The band picked up the prize ‘ along with the Rock Act Of The Year award ‘ after their current album ‘Viva La Vida Or Death And All His Friends’ topped charts around the globe. Other winners at the awards included Leona Lewis for Best Pop Female ‘ and Best New Artist, Amy Winehouse was the winner in the Female Pop/Rock award, while Alicia Keys was named best in the R&B category. Lil’ Wayne bagged the Hip-Hop/Rap Artist award, while Akon was declared the Biggest Internet Artist Of The Year.
2008, After the anti-child-abuse group Kidscape filed a complaint, the British exam board recalled a high school music test that included convicted child molester Gary Glitter’s 1973 hit “I’m the Leader of the Gang” in its “suggested listening” section. Group head Michele Elliott said “The role model is morally decrepit. It’s just inappropriate.”
2014, Cranberries singer Dolores O’Riordan was arrested following an alleged air rage incident on a flight from the United States. Ms O’Riordan was detained after a stewardess was reportedly attacked in the business section on an Aer Lingus flight from New York to Shannon, County Clare.
2014, The Rolling Stones faced a battle to win a $12.7m insurance claim for concerts they postponed when Mick Jagger’s girlfriend died. L’Wren Scott took her own life in March, prompting the Stones to postpone a tour of Australia and New Zealand. The group had taken out a policy to be paid in the event shows were cancelled due to the death of family members or others, including Scott. But underwriters said Scott’s death may not be covered by the policy.
2015, Allen Toussaint the American musician, songwriter/composer, record producer, and influential figure in New Orleans R&B died aged 77 while on tour in Madrid, Spain. Many artists recorded his songs Tincluding; ‘Mother-in-Law’, ‘Fortune Teller’, ‘Ride Your Pony’, ‘Working in the Coal Mine’, ‘Here Come the Girls’, ‘Yes We Can Can’ and ‘Southern Nights’. Alison Krauss and Robert Plant covered ‘Fortune Teller’ on their 2007 album Raising Sand.
