1962 – Bruce Channel started a three week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘Hey! Baby’. The song features a prominent riff from well-known harmonica player Delbert McClinton who while touring the UK in 1962 met John Lennon and gave him some harmonica tips. Lennon put the lessons to use right away on ‘Love Me Do’ and later ‘Please Please Me’.
1963 – Cliff Richard and The Shadows were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘Summer Holiday.’ Taken from the film of the same name, it became Richards’ seventh UK No.1 single.
1964 – For the first time in British recording history, all Top Ten singles in the UK were by British acts. No.1 was ‘Anyone Who Had A Heart’ by Cilla Black, No.2 – ‘Bits and Pieces’ by The Dave Clark Five, No.3 – ‘Little Children’ by Billy J Kramer, No.4 – ‘Diane’ by The Bachelors, No.5 – ‘Not Fade Away’ by The Rolling Stones, No.6 – ‘Just One Look’ by The Hollies, No.7 – ‘Needles and Pins’ by The Searchers, No.8 – ‘I Think Of You’ by The Merseybeats, No.9 – ‘Boys Cry’ by Eden Kane, and No. 10 – ‘Let Me Go Lover’ by Kathy Kirby.
1968 – The promotional film for ‘Lady Madonna’ was broadcast in black and white on Top Of The Pops on UK television. The video portion of the film clip was shot while The Beatles were performing the song ‘Hey Bulldog’, but the ‘Lady Madonna’ audio track was paired with the video for the promo release.
1972 – Soul singer, Linda Jones, died aged 26 in New York after collapsing into a diabetic coma following a performance at Harlem’s Apollo Theatre in new York. Jones scored the 1967 US No.21 single ‘Hypnotized’.
1978 – Blondie were at No.2 on the UK chart with their version of the Randy & the Rainbows song ‘Denis’, kept off the No.1 position by Kate Bush’s ‘Wuthering Heights’.
1981 – Eric Clapton was hospitalised with bleeding ulcers causing a US tour to be cancelled. He was back in hospital five weeks later after being involved in a car crash.
1982 – Metallica made their live debut when they appeared at Radio City in Anaheim, California. Metallica formed in Los Angeles, California, in late 1981 when Danish-born drummer Lars Ulrich placed an advertisement in a Los Angeles newspaper, The Recycler, which read, “Drummer looking for other metal musicians to jam with Tygers of Pan Tang, Diamond Head and Iron Maiden.” Guitarists James Hetfield and Hugh Tanner of Leather Charm answered the advertisement.
1983 – Jon Bon Jovi, Richie Sambora and Alec John Such formed Bon Jovi. Their fourth album, New Jersey, released in 1988, is notable for producing five Billboard Hot 100 Top 10 singles, the most top ten hits to date from a hard rock album.
1985 – Dead Or Alive were kicked off the UK music television show The Tube after admitting they were incapable of playing ‘live.’ The group scored the 1985 UK No.1 single ‘You Spin Me Round, Like A Record’.
1987 – Boy George scored his first UK No.1 single as a solo artist with the David Gates song ‘Everything I Own’. Originally recorded by Gates’s band Bread for their 1972 album Baby, I’m a Want You, the song was also a UK No.1 for Ken Boothe in 1974.
1991 – American songwriter and Blues singer Doc Pomus died from lung cancer aged 65. He is best known as the lyricist of many rock and roll hits written with Mort Shuman including, ‘A Teenager in Love’, ‘Save The Last Dance For Me’, ‘Sweets For My Sweet’, ‘Can’t Get Used to Losing You’, ‘Little Sister’, ‘Suspicion’, ‘Surrender’ and ‘Viva Las Vegas.’
1991 – R.E.M. played the first of two nights at London’s Borderline Club under the name of ‘Bingo Hand Job.’
1995 – With the release of ‘Me Against the World’ Tupac Shakur became the first male solo artist to have a No.1 album on the Billboard chart while in prison.
1999 – Stereophonics went to No.1 on the UK album chart with ‘Performance And Cocktails’, becoming only the third Welsh band to score a No.1 album and the first No.1 album for Richard Branson’s V2 label.
2001 – Peter Blake, who designed The Beatles classic Sgt. Pepper album cover sued the group’s record company for more money. Blake was paid £200 ($340) for the famous figures in 1967, but was now ‘cheesed off’ that EMI had never offered to pay more money.
2005 – Michael Jackson was blasted by British Army veterans for wearing military badges while on trail for child abuse. The singer had appeared in court on most days with either an Army motif on his breast pocket or a cap badge tied around his neck.
2006 – U2 topped Rolling Stone magazine’s annual list of the year’s biggest money earners from 2005 with $154.2m. The Rolling Stones were listed second with $92.5m and The Eagles third with 63.2m. Paul McCartney was in fourth place with $56m and Elton John in fifth with $48.9m.
2008 – Peter MacBeth, a member of The Foundations who had the 1968 UK hit with ‘Build Me Up Buttercup’, was jailed for child sex offences. MacBeth sexually assaulted a young girl on four occasions over the course of six years and downloaded child porn from the internet. The 71-year-old was suffering from cancer and had had he a tracheotomy which meant he lost his voice. Doctors had said he had between three and five years to live.
2010 – Phil Blake of UK indie band Redtrack returned to his career as the bassist with the band after he underwent a pioneering operation to reattach his hand after it was hacked to the bone in a machete attack. Blake thought he would never play guitar again after a teenage robber hacked through his arm when he refused to hand over a mobile phone.
2011 – Ronnie Hammond, the lead singer of The Atlanta Rhythm Section, died of heart failure at the age of 60. He led the band to two Billboard Top Ten hits, ‘So Into You’ in 1977 and ‘Imaginary Lover’ in 1978.
2014 – American musician, Gary Burger died of pancreatic cancer on at the age of 71. He is best known as the guitarist and vocalist for the Garage rock band the Monks who formed in Gelnhausen, West Germany in 1964, by five American GIs stationed in the country. With their blend of shrill vocals, feedback, and guitarist David Day’s six-string banjo (which baffled audiences), music historians have since identified the Monks as a pioneering force in avant-garde music.
2016 – Sony ATV Music Publishing announced that it would buy out Michael Jackson’s share of a joint music publishing venture for $750m. The purchase gave Sony the rights to about three million songs, including works by The Beatles, Bob Dylan and Taylor Swift, but did not include Jackson’s master recordings.
