1967 – The Monkees second album ‘More Of The Monkees’, went to No.1 on the UK charts. In 1967 only four albums reached No.1; ‘The Sound Of Music’ which spent 17 weeks at No.1, The Beatles Sgt. Pepper, 25 weeks at No.1 and The Monkees first and second albums spent 9 weeks at No.1.
1967 – The Supremes scored their 10th US No.1 single with ‘The Happening’; it made No.6 in the UK. It was the last single to be released as the Supremes, from now on they were known as Diana Ross and the Supremes.
1969 – Led Zeppelin became one of the first major British rock group to appear in Hawaii, when they appeared at The Civic Auditorium, Honolulu. A review in the Honolulu Advertiser stated: ‘The showmanship exceeded any rock performance here to date. I wondered before the concert if Led Zeppelin could sound as good as their Atlantic album – they sounded better’.
1970 – The world premiere of The Beatles film ‘Let It Be’ took place in New York City. The film which was originally planned as a television documentary features an unannounced rooftop concert by the group, their last performance in public. Released just after the album, it was the final original Beatles release.
1971 – On his twenty-first birthday Stevie Wonder received all his childhood earnings. Despite having earned $30 million so far, he received only $1 million.
1974 – Forty-three people were arrested and more than fifty were injured after youths started throwing bottles outside a Jackson Five concert at RFK stadium in Washington DC.
1978 – Boney M were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘Rivers of Babylon’. The single which stayed at the top of the charts for five weeks was originally by the Jamaican reggae group The Melodians, whose version of the song appeared in the sound track to the 1972 movie The Harder They Come.
1985 – Bruce Springsteen married Julianne Phillips at Lake Oswego, Oregon. Julianne filed for divorce on Aug 30th 1988.
1988 – Scottish band Fairground Attraction were at No.1 on the UK singles with ‘Perfect’. The group featured Eddi Reader who had previously worked as a backing singer with the Eurythmics and Sandie Shaw. ‘Perfect’ won the award for Best Single at the 1989 BRIT Awards.
1989 – Kylie Minogue was at No.1 on the UK singles chart with her second solo No.1 ‘Hand On Your Heart.’ The song was written and produced by Stock, Aitken & Waterman.
1989 – Simple Minds went to No.1 on the UK album chart with ‘Street Fighting Years’, their fourth No.1 album. The album featured ‘Mandela Day’, ‘Belfast Child’ and ‘Biko’.
1996 – Oasis became the fastest selling group in UK history after all 330,000 tickets for their summer shows sold out in just nine hours, the tickets for shows at Knebworth and Loch Lomand were priced at £22.50.
2000 – Shaun Ryder’s Volkswagen Corrado was found abandoned after being used as the getaway car. The former Happy Mondays singer’s car, was used in an armed robbery on Harry Ramsden’s fish and chip restaurant in Manchester. £7,000 cash was taken in the robbery.
2002 – Dionne Warwick was arrested at Miami International Airport for possession of marijuana after authorities found 11 joints in a lipstick case in the singer’s hand luggage. The charges were dropped after she completed a drug program and made a contribution to charity.
2003 – Michael Jackson launched a court case suing Motown Records. Jacko filed the lawsuit in LA, saying he hadn’t been paid royalties due for the music he did with the Jackson Five in the 60s and 70s. The singer also claimed his music has been used in TV ads without his permission.
2007 – Brian May was under 24-hour security watch after a deranged man announced he was setting off to murder him – then disappeared. Police were hunting for a schizophrenic who left a letter behind at his home blaming the Queen guitarist for his illness. In it the man – said May was an “impostor” and that HE was the real rock star. He signed the letter “Brian May.”
2008 – The US Postal Service issued a 42-cent postage stamp in honour of Frank Sinatra. The design showed a 1950s-vintage image of Sinatra, wearing a hat.
2011 – ‘Like A Rolling Stone’ was voted as Bob Dylan’s best-ever song by Rolling Stone Magazine, who had asked the opinions of a panel of writers, academics and musicians to compile a poll to mark Dylan’s 70th birthday on 24th May. ‘Like A Rolling Stone’, was described by U2’s Bono as ‘a black eye of a pop song’, while Mick Jagger praised the simplicity of Desolation Row. Keith Richards argued that the original 1963 solo version of Girl From The North Country, ranked 30th, was superior to Dylan’s 1969 duet of the same song with Johnny Cash.
2012 – Donald Dunn, bassist with Booker T and the MG’s died in his sleep after playing a show at the Blue Note night club in Tokyo the night before. He had been in the country as part of an ongoing tour with Steve Cropper and Eddie Floyd. Booker T and the MG’s scored the 1962 US No.3 single ‘Green Onions’, and the 1969 UK No.4 single ‘Time Is Tight’.
