1953, The Stargazers were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘Broken Wings.’ The first record by any British group to reach No.1. Stargazers’ member Fred Dachtler is the father of Clark Datchler of 80’s group Johnny Hates Jazz.
1956, Elvis Presley played the first of two nights in San Diego Arena in San Diego, California. The local Police chief issued a statement saying if Elvis ever returned to the city and performed like he did, he would be arrested for disorderly conduct.
1960, RCA Victor Records announced that it would be release all Pop singles in mono and stereo simultaneously, the first record company to do so. Elvis Presley’s single, ‘Stuck on You’ was RCA’s first mono / stereo release.
1964, The Beatles held the top five places on the US singles chart, at No. 5 ‘Please Please Me’, No.4 ‘I Want To Hold Your Hand’, No.3, ‘Roll Over Beethoven’, No.2 ‘Love Me Do’ and at No.1 ‘Can’t Buy Me Love.’ They also had another nine singles on the chart, bringing their total to fourteen singles on the Hot 100.
1967, The Jimi Hendrix Experience, The Walker Brothers, Engelbert Humperdink and Cat Stevens played two shows at Bournemouth Winter Gardens, England. was the special guest on the first edition of the UK BBC-TV’s ‘Dee Time’, along with Kiki Dee and Cat Stevens.
1970, Brinsley Schwarz’s promotion company sent 133 UK journalists, by plane to New York to see the band supporting Van Morrison at the Fillmore East, at a cost of £120,000 ($204,000). The event turned into a disaster. The group planned to leave a few days before the show to rehearse, but were denied visas on a technicality. They were finally given visas on the morning of the show, and arrived hours before the concert. The plane carrying the journalists developed a mechanical fault, delaying the flight and when the journalists arrived In New York 18 hours later, they were all hung over. Brinsley Schwarz gave a underwhelming live performance, resulting in a flood of scathing reviews.
1970, Crosby Stills Nash & Young went to No.1 on the US album chart with Deja Vu. The first album which saw Neil Young joining Crosby, Stills and Nash featured three US Top 40 singles: ‘Teach Your Children’, ‘Our House’ and ‘Woodstock’.
1976, The Sex Pistols played the first night of a residency at the El Paradiso club in Soho, London, England.
1981, Bucks Fizz won the Eurovision Song Contest held in Dublin, Ireland with the UK entry ‘Making Your Mind Up’.
1982, ‘Layla’ was on the UK singles chart. The re-released track originally featured on the Derek and the Dominos, album Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs (November 1970). Inspired by Clapton’s then unrequited love for Pattie Boyd, the wife of his friend George Harrison, ‘Layla’ is considered one of rock music’s definitive love songs, and features an unmistakable guitar figure played by Eric Clapton and Duane Allman.
1987, Starship started a two week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘Nothin’s Gonna Stop Us’, taken from the film ‘Mannequin’, also a No.1 in the UK.
1987, U2 entered the US album chart at No.7 with The Joshua Tree making it the highest chart new entry in America for seven years.
1996, Take That made their final performance on The Ivo Niehe Show on Dutch TV, playing two songs in front of a 250 strong studio audience.
1999, The Corrs album ‘Talk On Corners’ went to No.1 on the UK album chart for the 10th time. They also had the No.2 position with ‘Forgiven, Not Forgotten.’ Both albums had spent over a year on the chart. Talk on Corners was the UK’s biggest selling album of 1998 and the 9th best selling album of 1999.
2003, 50 Cent became the best selling artist in the US so far this year when his latest album ‘Get Rich or Die Tryin’ sold more than four million copies in two months.
2007, A Swedish couple ran into trouble with authorities after trying to name their baby Metallica. Michael and Karolina Tomaro went to court with the country’s National Tax Authority about naming their daughter after the rock band. The six-month-old has been baptised Metallica, but tax officials said the name was “inappropriate”. Under Swedish law, both first names and surnames need to win the approval of authorities before they can be used.
2008, Beyonce Knowles married Jay-Z at his New York apartment. Coldplay frontman Chris Martin and wife Gwyneth Paltrow and Beyonces former bandmates in Destiny’s Child, Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams all attended the private ceremony.
2008, Procol Harum singer Gary Brooker won back full royalty rights to the band’s worldwide hit, ‘A Whiter Shade Of Pale’ at London’s Court of Appeal. The decision overturned a 2006 ruling that organist Matthew Fisher was entitled to a 40% portion of royalties on the 1967 hit after he argued he had written the song’s organ melody. The court ruled there was an “excessive delay” in the claim being made – nearly 40 years after the song was recorded.
2013, Former Rolling Stones bassist Bill Wyman turned himself in to British police after reports emerged suggesting he began a sexual relationship with his second wife, Mandy Smith, when she was 14 years old. After a brief meeting, the authorities decided not to pursue charges.
2016, It was reported that David Bowie had dominated the UK album charts for the first quarter of 2016. Bowie had the most entries to the chart with six albums in the top 40, after fans sought out his music in the wake of his death in January with his final album Blackstar becoming the second best selling album of the year so far, (behind Adele’s 25).
