1956 – Buddy Holly’s first single ‘Blue Days, Black Nights’, was released. The track was later featured on That’ll Be The Day the third album from Buddy Holly. Decca, Holly’s first major record label, after failing to produce a hit single from Holly’s early recordings, packaged these 1956 tunes after he had some success with recordings from the Brunswick and Coral labels.
1964 – The Rolling Stones first album was released in the UK, it went to No.1 two weeks later and stayed on the chart for 40 weeks, with 11 weeks at No.1. The American edition of the LP, with a slightly different track list, came out on London Records on 30 May 1964, subtitled England’s Newest Hit Makers, which later became its official title.
1964 – The Beatles filmed the ‘chase scenes’ for A Hard Day’s Night with actors dressed as policemen in the Notting Hill Gate area of London. In the evening they recorded the title track for the film, ‘A Hard Day’s Night’ at Abbey Road. John and Paul had the title first, and had to write a song to order, completing the track in nine takes.
1969 – Desmond Dekker and the Aces were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘The Israelites’, making Dekker the first Jamaican artist to have an UK No.1 single.
1969 – Elektra Records dropped Detroit’s MC5 from their label after the band took out an advertisement in a local paper that included the company logo and said; “Fuck Hudsons.” The band were protesting at the Michigan department store’s refusal to stock their albums.
1970 – The Led Zeppelin single ‘Whole Lotta Love’ was certified Gold in the US after selling over a million copies. The single had peaked at No. 4 on the US singles chart. In the UK Atlantic Records had expected to issue the edited version themselves, and pressed initial copies for release on 5th December 1969. However, band manager Peter Grant was adamant that the band maintain a ‘no-singles’ approach to marketing their recorded music in the UK, and he halted the release.
1972 – The Electric Light Orchestra made their debut at The Fox and Greyhound in Croydon, London. ELO were formed to accommodate former Move members Roy Wood and Jeff Lynne’s desire to create modern rock and pop songs with classical overtones. Wood departed following the band’s debut record, Lynne wrote and arranged all of the group’s original compositions and produced every album.
1972 – Pink Floyd appeared at the Township Auditorium, Columbia, South Carolina, USA. A typical set list on this The Dark Side of The Moon tour was: The Dark Side of the Moon (entire album), One of These Days, Careful with that Axe Eugene, Echoes, Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun.
1973 – Paul McCartney’s first television special, James Paul McCartney, was aired in America on the ABC network. The show, which includes performances by McCartney and Wings, would be broadcast in the UK on May 10th.
1977 – David Soul one half of TV cop show “Starsky & Hutch”, went to No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘Don’t Give Up On Us’, his only US hit. Also No.1 in the UK.
1993 – David Lee Roth was arrested in New York’s Washington Square Park for allegedly buying a $10 bag of marijuana.
1993 – Paul McCartney headlined a concert at the Hollywood Bowl to celebrate ‘Earth Day’ along with Ringo Starr, Don Henley and Steve Miller. McCartney had last performed there as a member of The Beatles in 1965.
1994 – Prince had his first UK No.1 with ‘The Most Beautiful Girl In The World’, (his 37th single release). It was his first release since changing his stage name to an unpronounceable symbol.
1996 – KISS appeared in full make-up at the 38th Grammy Awards, where they announced a reunion tour. It would mark the first time all four members had appeared together in over fifteen years.
1997 – Mark Morrison was convicted with threatening a police officer with an illegal 23,000-volt electric stun gun. The singer left Maryebone Magistrates’ Court in tears after being warned he was likely to be sent to prison.
1999 – Skip Spence, an original member of Jefferson Airplane and founding member of Moby Grape, died of lung cancer in a San Francisco hospital aged 52. He had battled schizophrenia and alcoholism.
2003 – Jerry Lee Lewis filed for divorce from his sixth wife, Kerrie McCarver Lewis. The 67-year-old singer married Kerrie in 1984 who was the president of Lewis Enterprises Inc. fan club.
2005 – U2 were in second place with The Joshua Tree and Nirvana in third with Nevermind.
2013 – Edwin Shirley the co-founded Edwin Shirley Trucking, which became one of the largest music transport companies in Europe died of cancer. Brian May noted Shirley’s importance to their touring operation: “Edwin was at the head of Queen’s vehicle convoy for so many years I can’t begin to remember how many… He was a great pal of Gerry Stickells, our illustrious Tour Manager and the two of them wrote the book on how to party on tour.”
2015 – An auction of part of the model railway collection owned by record producer Pete Waterman raised more than £600,000. Waterman said he was selling the collection, which included 56 Gauge 1 steam models, to fund apprenticeships at the heritage trust he runs.
