1958, Buddy Holly played the first of 25 dates on his only UK tour at the Trocadero, Elephant & Castle, London. Also on the bill was Gary Miller, The Tanner Sisters, Des O’Connor, The Montanas, Ronnie Keene & His Orchestra.
1961, Elvis Presley signed a five-year movie deal with producer Hal Wallis. During his career, Elvis made over feature films
1967, Working at Abbey Road studios, London, The Beatles started recording a new John Lennon song ‘Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds’. The song was inspired by a drawing his 3 year-old son Julian returned home from school with one day. The picture, which was of a little girl with lots of stars, was his classmate – Lucy O’Donnell, who also lived in Weybridge, and attended the same school as Julian.
1968, Elton John’s first single ‘I’ve Been Loving You’ was released on the Phillips label, with lyrics credited to Bernie Taupin (although John later admitted that he wrote the song by himself, giving Taupin credit as an effort to earn Taupin his first publishing royalties). The song didn’t chart.
1969, Jim Morrison of The Doors was charged with lewd and lascivious behaviour after showing his penis to the audience during a show in Miami. He was found guilty and sentenced to eight months hard labour. Morrison died in Paris while the sentence was on appeal.
1974, Chris Difford placed an advert in a shop window saying: ‘lyricist seeks musician for co-writing’. Glen Tillbrook answered the ad and the pair went on to form Squeeze and had hits with ‘Cool for Cats’, ‘Up the Junction’, ‘Tempted’, ‘Labelled With Love’, and ‘Pulling Mussels (From the Shell)’.
1975, The Eagles went to No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘Best Of My Love’, the first of five US No.1’s for the band. The song was included on their 1974 album On the Border and was released as the third single from the album. According to Don Henley, the lyrics were written while in a booth in Dan Tana’s Restaurant close to the Troubadour in West Hollywood.
1979, Joy Division appeared at The Hope & Anchor, Islington, London, England. Admission was 75p ($1.28).
1980, Blondie were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘Atomic’ the group’s third UK No.1 single from their album ‘Eat To The Beat’.
1986, Mr Mister started a two week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘Kyrie’, the group’s second US No.1, a No.11 hit in the UK. Also the group’s album ‘Welcome To The Real World’ went to No.1 on the US album chart.
1990, Janet Jackson played the first night on her 120-date Rhythm Nation world tour at the Miami Arena in Florida. As part of the show Jackson’s had a live panther on-stage, but after concerns were raised over safety of the crowds and several incidents of the panther urinating on the stage Jackson axed the cat from the show in the summer leg of the tour.
1991, Frank Smith from Air Supply died of pneumonia in Melbourne, Australia. (1980 UK No.11 single ‘All Out Of Love’, 1981 US No.1 single ‘The One That You Love’).
1994, Nirvana played their final ever concert when they appeared at The Terminal Einz in Munich, Germany. The 3,000 capacity venue was a small Airport Hanger. The power went off during the show so they played an impromptu acoustic set including a version of The Cars ‘My Best Friend’s Girl.’
1995, Bruce Springsteen’s Streets of Philadelphia won three Grammys for Song of the Year, Best Male Vocal Performance and Best Rock Song.
1995, During a gig at the Patinoire Auditorium in Lausanne, Switzerland, R.E.M. drummer Bill Berry collapsed on stage from a ruptured brain aneurysm. He recovered and later re-joined the band.
1997, A Motley Crue fan who claimed his hearing had been irreparably damaged after a show in New Jersey had his lawsuit thrown out of court. The judge told Clifford Goldberg who had sat near the front of the stage, knew the risk he was taking.
1997, ‘Bowie Bonds’ were issued on the US Stock Exchange. Linked to David Bowie’s back catalogue albums with money earned on the bonds via interest from royalties, investors could expect to make an 8% profit in about 10 years.
2001, Sean ‘Puffy’ Combs became the star witness of his own defence in a New York court claiming he didn’t have a gun during a shooting in a New York club. The singer claimed he thought he was being shot at.
2004, Michael Jackson unveiled a new website, www.mjjsource.com. The site featured a celebration of his music career plus news on his current criminal trial, including short biographies of his attorneys and a calendar listing upcoming court dates.
2009, Kelly Clarkson went to No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘My Life Would Suck Without You’. US singer Clarkson won American Idol in 2000 and became the only American Idol contestant to have topped the UK charts.
2016, 76-year-old Ginger Baker posted on his blog that he had cancelled all of his scheduled shows for the year and was going into immediate retirement. The former drummer for Cream and Blind Faith revealed that his doctor had just diagnosed him with serious heart problems, causing him to announce “No more gigs for this old drummer.”
