1965, John Lennon’s second book of poetry and drawings, ‘A Spaniard In The Works’, was published. The book consisted of nonsensical stories and drawings similar to the style of his 1964 book ‘In His Own Write’.
1965, The Hollies were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘I’m Alive’, the group’s first of two UK No.1’s and over 25 other Top 40 singles. The Hollies originally passed the song over to another Manchester band, the Toggery Five, before changing their mind and recording the song, which was written for them by the US songwriter Clint Ballard, Jr.
1966, After holding a press conference aboard a yacht in New York City, The Rolling Stones kicked off their fifth North American tour at the Manning Bowl, Lynn, Massachusetts, with support acts The McCoys and The Standells.
1967, Procol Harum’s ‘A Whiter Shade Of Pale’ entered the Billboard chart, where it would peak at No 5. The song was written by the band around a melody composed by the group’s organist, Matthew Fisher, who was inspired by the chord progression of Johann Sebastian Bach’s ‘Orchestral Suite in D’, composed between 1725 and 1739.
1969, Led Zeppelin recorded ‘Whole Lotta Love’, ‘What Is And What Should Never Be’, ‘Travelling Riverside Blues’ and ‘Communication Breakdown’ for BBC Radio 1 at Maida Vale Studios, London. The session was broadcast on 29th June 1969.
1977, The Jacksons were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘Show You The Way To Go.’ The Jacksons were four members of the Jackson Five, including Michael.
1988, UB40 bass player Earl Falconer was sent to prison for six months, with a further 12 suspended, after admitting to causing his brothers death in a car accident.
1989, Paul McCartney scored his seventh UK No.1 solo album with ‘Flowers In The Dirt’, featuring the single ‘My Brave Face’.
1989, Soul II Soul featuring Caron Wheeler started a four-week run at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘Back To Life’. Their only UK No.1 peaked at No.4 on the US chart.
1990, New Kids On The Block’s Donnie Wahlberg spent two days in hospital after falling through an unlocked trapdoor mid-concert in Saratoga Springs, New York.
1991, Frank Zappa took part at the concert ‘Adieu Soviet Army’, organised in Prague, as the farewell to the last soldiers of Soviet Red Army, leaving free Czechoslovakia (the Red Army had occupied Czechoslovakia since the Prague spring). This was probably Zappa’s last rock appearance on the stage and it is recorded on the album Adieu C. A. (Soviet Army).
1999, Eric Clapton put 100 of his guitars up for auction at Christie’s in New York City to raise money for his drug rehab clinic, the Crossroads Centre in Antigua. His 1956 Fender Stratocaster named Brownie, which was used to record the electric version of ‘Layla’, sold for a record $497,500. The auction helped raise nearly $5 million for the clinic.
2003, A man who had been deported from Sweden for stalking ABBA singer Agnetha Faeltskog was arrested near the singer’s island retreat. Gert van der Graaf, 37, had been the singer’s boyfriend from 1997 to 1999, but had been issued a restraining order barring him from seeing or talking to her in 2000.
2004, A Fender Stratocaster that Eric Clapton nicknamed ‘Blackie’ sold at a Christie’s auction for $959,500 in New York, making it the most expensive guitar in the world. The proceeds of the sale went towards Clapton’s Crossroads addiction clinic, which he founded in 1998.
2007, The White Stripes went to No.1 on the UK album chart with ‘Icky Thump’ the duo’s sixth and final studio album. ‘Icky Thump’ won a Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album in 2008.
2010, A rare oversized two-part poster featuring Led Zeppelin, The New Barbarians and others at Knebworth Park on August 4th & 11th August, 1971, sold for £5,000 ($7,480) at a Christie’s Rock & Roll auction held in South Kensington, London. At the same auction, a print of Led Zeppelin backstage in front of blackboard taken at Tampa Stadium, June 3rd, 1977 sold for £1,500, ($2,244).
2012, The crypt in which Elvis Presley was first buried was withdrawn from a Los Angeles auction after protests it should be kept as a shrine. More than 10,000 fans signed a petition against the sale of the tomb at Forest Hill Cemetery in Memphis, Tennessee. Julien’s Auctions said it would not sell the crypt until the cemetery “finds a plan that best suits the interests of the fans while respecting and preserving the memory of Elvis”.
2012, Billboard.com named Olivia Newton-John’s 1982 hit, ‘Physical’ as The Sexiest Song Of All Time. Other classic Rock songs that made the top ten were Rod Stewart’s ‘Tonight’s The Night’, Marvin Gaye’s ‘Let’s Get It On’, Donna Summer’s ‘Hot Stuff’ and another Rod Stewart contribution, ‘Da Ya Think I’m Sexy’.
2013, Former Devo drummer Alan Myers died aged 58 in Los Angeles, California, following a long bout with cancer. Myers drummed for Devo between 1976 and 1986.
2014, A working draft of Bob Dylan’s ‘Like a Rolling Stone’, set a record at auction after selling for $2m at Sotheby’s. The manuscript, said to be the only known draft of the final lyrics, was written in pencil in 1965 by the 24 year-old Dylan.
2016, A US jury concluded that Led Zeppelin did not copy the opening chords of ‘Stairway To Heaven’ from the US band Spirit, saying the riff Led Zeppelin was accused of taking from Spirit’s 1967 song ‘Taurus’ “was not intrinsically similar” to Stairway’s opening. During the trial, defence lawyers argued the chord progression in question was very common and had been in use for more than 300 years.
2016, Drake has achieved a notable feat by having the longest-running UK number one single since legal music downloads began counting towards chart positions. The rapper topped the singles chart for an 11th straight week with One Dance, his collaboration with Wizkid and Kyla.
