1955, Elvis Presley (with Scotty Moore and Bill Black) played the first of three nights at the Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi, Mississippi. The local paper ran a preview which read; ‘A good looking youngster who has become a juke-box favorite with his That’s Alright, Mama, and Blue Moon of Kentucky. Presley is expected to repeat some of his hit tunes at the Airmen’s Club show in addition to mixing up a few country tunes with some “bop” and novelty numbers.’
1961, Gary U.S. Bonds started a two-week run at No.1 on the US charts with ‘Quarter To Three’, a No.7 hit in the UK. Before Bonds recorded this, it was an instrumental by The Church Street Five called ‘A Night With Daddy G.’ Bond’s manager added lyrics to it and had him record it. This is often covered by Bruce Springsteen who is a big fan. In 1981, Springsteen produced a successful comeback album for Bonds.
1964, During a world tour, The Beatles played two shows at Town Hall, Dunedin, South Island, New Zealand. The flight from Auckland to Dunedin was tense due the receipt of an anonymous threat that a “germ bomb” had been placed on board the aircraft.
1965, The Byrds went to No.1 on the US singles chart with their version of Bob Dylan’s ‘Mr Tambourine Man’. Only Roger McGuinn from the band played on the song, the drummer Hal Blaine who played on the track also played on ‘Bridge Over Troubled Water’.
1966, During a North American tour, The Rolling Stones played two shows, a matinee show at The Coliseum in Washington DC and an evening show at The Baltimore Civic Centre in Maryland. The McCoys and The Standells were the support acts.
1972, During sessions at Olympic Studios, London, England, David Bowie recorded ‘John, I’m Only Dancing’, with Mick Ronson on lead guitar and Lou Reed on rhythm guitar. The track which was released and became a hit single in the UK in September of this year was not released in America, being judged too risqué by RCA Records. The original video directed by Mick Rock, featuring androgynous dancers from Lindsay Kemp’s mime troupe, was banned by British music show Top Of The Pops.
1973, Rolling Stone Keith Richards and his girlfriend Anita Pallenberg were arrested at their home in Chelsea, London on drugs and gun charges.
1974, Cher divorced Sonny Bono after 10 years of marriage. Four days later, Cher married guitarist Gregg Allman, the couple split 10 days after that, got back together and split again. They did stay married for three years, producing Elijah Blue Allman.
1976, TV talent show winners from Liverpool The Real Thing were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘You To Me Are Everything’, the group’s only No.1 hit. It was the first single by a Black British band to top the UK charts.
1977, Elvis Presley made his last ever live stage appearance when he appeared at the Market Square Arena in Indianapolis. Presley would die less than two months later. The last two songs he performed were ‘Hurt’ and ‘Bridge Over Troubled Water.’ Before the show Elvis was presented with a plaque commemorating the 2 billionth record to come out of RCA’s pressing plant.
1982, American singer and One Hit Wonder Charlene was at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘I’ve Never Been To Me’. The song was recorded in
1976 and was reissued by Motown records in 1982 by which time Charlene had moved to England and was working in a sweet shop in Ilford, east London.
1988, Bros were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘I Owe You Nothing’. It was the only No.1 for the Boy band comprising of twins Luke & Matt Goss and Craig Logan.
1993, Gabrielle started a three-week run at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘Dreams’. The single entered the British charts at No.2 which was the highest chart entry for a debut act. Jamiroquai started a three-week run at No.1 on the UK album chart with ‘Emergency On Planet Earth’.
2000, Britney Spears hometown of Kentwood, Louisiana announced that a new museum, due to open early next year, would include a section including fan mail, platinum records and genuine items of the singers clothing.
2001, The Archbishop of Canterbury George Carey caused uproar among theologians after rejecting an application from a rock star for a degree course on religious grounds. Former Cockney Rebel member Andrew Brown who was now a minister of the Unitarian church wanted to complete a MA in theology but Carey had rejected his application because Brown did not belong to a mainstream church.
2005, Tickets for a forthcoming Rolling Stones gig at the Hollywood Bowl were set to become the most expensive in rock ‘n’ roll history. Fans would have to pay up to £249 for a seat – £2 per minute to watch the Stones.
2008, Total Guitar magazine voted Celine Dion’s rendition of the AC/DC track ‘You Shook Me All Night Long’ as the world’s worst cover version ever. In the best cover versions list, Jimi Hendrix was voted into first place with his version of the Bob Dylan song ‘All Along the Watchtower,’ The Beatles rendition of ‘Twist and Shout’, (first recorded by the Top Notes), was in second place, followed by the Guns N’ Roses version of the Wings song ‘Live and Let Die’.
2012, Hundreds of fans were set to miss The Stone Roses’ reunion concerts in Manchester this weekend, after websites took their money, but failed to deliver tickets. Two sites, Aossatickets.com and theticketwebsite.net, who had sold tickets had since disappeared. Several major tours had been targeted by ticket fraudsters in recent years, with fans of Take That, Bruce Springsteen, Rihanna and Michael Buble among those who found themselves out of pocket.
2016, An electric guitar owned by Prince and a lock of David Bowie’s hair sold at auction in the US for a total of more than $150,000. The Yellow Cloud guitar, said to be one of Prince’s favourites, was bought for $137,500. Bowie’s hair, which sold for $18,750, came from a former employee of Madame Tussauds in London who had used it to recreate the music icon’s 1983 hairdo.
2017, Former N-Dubz rapper Dappy was given a suspended jail sentence for arming himself with a butcher’s knife during a row with his partner. The star, whose real name is Costas Contostavlos, admitted having the knife outside the home he shared with Imani Campbell. He was given nine months in jail suspended for two years.
