On This Day 26th May In Music History

Hello and welcome back to this weeks edition of On This Day. This week features the usual suspects including John Lennon, The Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd and David Bowie. This week we kick things off in 1933.

1933

🎼American country singer Jimmie Rodgers who was among the first country music superstar’s and pioneers, died from a pulmonary hemorrhage while staying at the Taft Hotel; he was only 35 years old.

1962

🎼Acker Bilk went to No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘Stranger On The Shore’, It became a million seller in the UK making No.2 on the charts.

1964

🎼Marianne Faithful recorded the Mick Jagger and Keith Richards song ‘As Tears Go By’, accompanied by future Led Zeppelin members Jimmy Page on guitar and John Paul Jones on bass.

1966

🎼The Rolling Stones were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘Paint It, Black’, their sixth UK No.1 single. It was originally titled ‘Paint It Black’ without the comma. Keith Richards had stated that the comma was added by the record label, Decca. It was the first No.1 single to feature a sitar on the recording.

🎼The Beatles recorded ‘Yellow Submarine’ at Abbey Road studios in London. Recovering from a case of food poisoning, producer George Martin missed this recording, EMI engineer Geoff Emerick worked on the session. The track features John Lennon blowing bubbles in a bucket of water, shouting “Full speed ahead Mister Captain!”

1968

🎼US blues artist Little Willie John died in prison after being convicted of manslaughter. He co-wrote and was the first to record a ‘Fever'(covered by Peggy Lee in 1985), and ‘Need Your Love So Bad’ covered by Fleetwood Mac. James Brown recorded a tribute album ‘Thinking Of Little Willie John…. And A Few Other Nice Things’.

🎼Pink Floyd, Blonde On Blonde and The Pretty Things all appeared at the OZ magazine benefit at the Middle Earth Club, Covent Garden, London, England. OZ was a satirical humour magazine, founded by Richard Neville and based in Sydney, Australia from 1963. In its second and better-known incarnation it became a counter-culture magazine, based in London from 1967 – 1973.

1969

🎼John Lennon and Yoko Ono began an eight-day ‘bed in’, in room 1742 of The Hotel La Reine Elizabeth, Montreal, Canada, to promote world peace. They recorded ‘Give Peace a Chance’ in the hotel room (Petula Clark can be heard on the chorus). The song was credited to Lennon & McCartney, even though Paul had nothing to do with the record.

1972

🎼At the point of the band splitting up David Bowie offered Mott The Hoople two of his songs, ‘Suffragette City’, which they turned down and ‘All The Young Dudes’, which they recorded. The song gave the group a No.3 UK and US Top 40 hit.

🎼The first day of the four-day UK festival ‘The Great Western Express’ near Lincoln featuring; The Faces, Joe Cocker, Humble Pie, Slade, The Grounghogs, Ry Cooder, Don McLean, Brewers Droop plus a special appearance by Monty Python.

1973

🎼The Edgar Winter Group went to No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘Frankenstein’, the bands only US No.1, it reached No.18 in the UK. The group featured ex McCoys guitarist Rick Derringer. In live performances of the song, Edgar Winter further pioneered the advancement of the synthesizer as a lead instrument by becoming the first person ever to strap a keyboard instrument around this neck.

1974

🎼Tragedy struck at a David Cassidy concert at London’s White City when over 1,000 fans had to be treated by first aid workers due to the frenzied excitement. One fan Bernadette Whelan died from heart failure four days later.

1977

🎼Billy Powell singer with The O’Jays died of cancer. (1972, hit ‘Back Stabbers’, 1973 US No.1 & UK No.9 single ‘Love Train’). Originally known as The Triumphs, and then The Mascots, they took the name “The O’Jays”, in tribute to radio disc jockey Eddie O’Jay.

1978

🎼On Irish television today; at 4.00 ‘Top Cat’, 4.30 ‘Skippy’ and at 5.30 a program called ‘Youngline’ a series for young people highlighting their interest. On today’s show a feature on a new pop group, The Hype (U2).

1979

🎼’Sunday Girl’ gave Blondie their second UK No.1 hit single. The track was taken from the group’s ‘Parallel Lines’, which went on to become the biggest selling album of 1979.

🎼The first day of the two-day Loch Lomond Festival with The Stranglers, Dr Feelgood, Skids, Third World, The Dickies. Day two featured The AWB, Buzzcocks, Rockpile and The Boomtown Rats woh played ‘I Don’t Like Mondays’ live for the first time.

1984

🎼Former backing singer with Stevie Wonder, Deniece Williams started a two-week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘Let’s Hear It For The Boy’, taken from the film ‘footloose’, a No.2 hit in the UK.

1990

🎼For the first time ever the Top five positions on the US singles chart were held by female artists; Madonna was at No.1 with ‘Vogue’, Heart were at No.2, Sinead O’Connor No.3, Wilson Phillips at No.4 and Janet Jackson was at No.5

1994

🎼Michael Jackson married Lisa Marie Presley, daughter of Elvis Presley. The couple divorced in 1995. They had first met when the seven-year-old Presley attended several of Jackson’s concerts in Las Vegas.

1995

🎼The Rolling Stones played two semi-acoustic concerts at the Paradiso Amsterdam over two days. Keith Richards later said that the Paradiso concerts were the best live shows the Stones ever did. The venue is housed in a converted former church building that dates from the nineteenth century, subsequently squatted in 1967 by hippies who wanted to convert the church into an entertainment club. Artists who have recorded concerts at the Paradiso include Joy Division, Willie Nelson, Phish, Nirvana, The Cure, Lenny Kravitz, Nick Cave, Dave Mathews and Amy Winehouse.

1996

🎼A fire at the home of Eric Clapton caused over one and a half million pounds worth of damage; Firemen arrived on the scene to find Clapton braving the blaze to save his collection of guitars.

2000

🎼Drummer Tommy Lee was jailed for five days for drinking alcohol. Lee appeared in front of a LA court charged with violating his probation by consuming alcohol, an act that directly contravenes the terms of his parole.

2002

🎼The first episode of At Home With The Osbournes was shown on MTV in the UK. Already becoming a hit in the US, the show focused on the madman and his family (his wife Sharon, and two of their three children). Oblivious to the camera, they bicker, squabble, curse and hang out backstage at Ozzy’s shows.

2009

🎼A US judge ended a bitter two-year battle over the late soul singer James Brown’s estate. Judge Jack Early ruled half of his assets will go to a charitable trust, a quarter to his wife and young son, and the rest to his six adult children. Brown’s family and wife Tomi Rae Hynie Brown, had fought over his fortune since he died of heart failure in 2006.

2015

🎼US authorities were investigating the death of blues legend B.B. King after two of his daughters claimed he was poisoned. Karen Williams and Patty King said the musician had been given a “foreign substances to induce his premature death” by his business manager Laverne Toney. King died in his sleep at his Las Vegas home on 14 May of this year, aged 89.

Well my friends that brings us to the end of the weeks OTD, don’t forget to check out the OTD Spotify Playlist for this week. Have a great weekend all see you next week. 

On This Day 19th May

Welcome back to this weeks edition of OTD, this week features Stevie Wonder, Paul Simon, Abba, Madona just to name a few.

1960

🎼 American DJ Alan Freed was indicted along with seven others for excepting $30,650 in payola from six record companies. Two years later, he was convicted and given a suspended sentence and a $300.00 fine.

1967

🎼 The Beatles held a press party at manager’s Brian Epstein’s house in London for the launch of the Sgt. Pepper’s album. Linda Eastman was hired as the press photographer.

1973

🎼 Stevie Wonder went to No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘You Are The Sunshine Of My Life’. His third US No. 1, won Stevie a Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance. This song was the second single released from the album ‘Talking Book’

🎼 Wizzard were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘See My Baby Jive’, Roy Wood’s (from The Move), latest group spent four weeks at the top of the charts.

🎼 Paul Simon released the single ‘Kodachrome’ named after the Kodak 35mm film Kodachrome which became a No.2 hit in the US. It was not released as a single in Britain, because the BBC would not play a trademarked name.

1974

🎼 The Rubettes were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘Sugar Baby Love’, the group’s only UK No.1.

1976

🎼 Rolling Stone Keith Richards crashed his carnear Newport Pagnell, Bucks, after falling asleep at the wheel; marijuana and cocaine were found by the police resulting in another fine for the guitarist.

1978

🎼 Dire Straits released their first major lable single ‘Sultans Of Swing’, recorded on a £120 budget. The song was first as a demo at Pathway Studios, North London, in July 1977, and quickly acquired a following after it was put on rotation at Radio London.

1979

🎼 ABBA started a four-week run at No.1 on the UK album chart with ‘Voulez-Vous’ the group’s forth No.1 album.

🎼 Supertramp went to No.1 on the US album chart with ‘Breakfast In America’, the group’s only US No.1. It featured three US Billboard hit singles: ‘ The logical Song’, ‘Goodbye Stranger’ and ‘Take the Long Way Home’.

1980

🎼 Ringo Starr and his future wife were involved in a car crash less than half a mile from where Marc Bolan was killed, the car was a write-off but Starr and Bach were not seriously injured.

1981

🎼 Sting was named songwriter of the year at the 26th Ivor Novello Awards.

1984

🎼 Bob Marley and the Wailers started a twelve-week run at No.1 on tge UK album chart with the compilation album ‘Legend’, released to commemorate the third anniversary of Marley’s death.

1988

🎼 James Brown was arrested for the fifth time in 12 months, following a car chase near his home, he was charged with assault, resisting arrest and being in charge of illegal weapons, he was given a 6 year jail sentence.

1990

🎼 Madonna started a three-week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘Vogue’. Originally planned as a B-side, it became the singers eighth US No.1 and seventh UK No.1 hit.

2001

🎼 Mike Sammes founder of The Mike Sammes Singers died aged 73. He workedwith Tom Jones, Cliff Richard and featured on The Beatles, ‘I Am Walrus’, and ‘The Long And Winding Road’.

2002

🎼 Liberty X went to No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘Just A Little’. They were the five runners-up from the TV talent show “Pop Stars”, who failed to become part of the winning group Hear’Say.

2007

🎼 Lawyers for Michael Jackson dropped an effort to block an auction of the star’s personal belongings and other Jackson family items. An agreement was reached with representatives of an auctioneer, who was the current owner of the materials, and a New Jersey man who claimed to own a warehouse full of Jackson memorabilia after a failed business venture wound up in bankruptcy court.

2010

🎼 ‘Stairway To Heaven’ was named the UK’s favorite rock song in a survey by listeners to radio station Absolute Classic Rock. Led Zeppelin had two other tracks in the top 10; ‘Whole Lotta Love’ was voted at No.4 and ‘Rock ‘n’ Roll’, from the group’s forth album, was at No.7.

2013

🎼 A guitar played by John Lennon and George Harrison sold for $408,000 (£269,000) at auction. The custom-made instrument, built in 1966 by VOX was bought by an unidentified US buyer in New York. Harrison played ‘I Am the Walrus’, on the guitar in a scene from Magical Mystery Tour in 1967. Lennon used it in a video for ‘Hello, Goodbye’ later that year. After playing the guitar, Lennon gave it as a 25th birthday present to Alexis “Magic Alex” Mardas, a member of The Beatles’ inner circle in the 1960s.

2015

🎼 Lee Ryan became the forth and final member of Blue to declare himself bankrupt. Lee became the last member of the chart-topping boyband – who earned more than £80million after selling in excess of 15million records worldwide – to file for bankruptcy, following in the financial footsteps of his band mates Simon Webbe, Antony Costa and Duncan James.

Well guys that’s it for this weeks edition of On This Day hope you have enjoyed reading it, as much as I have enjoyed writing it.  Below its this weeks playlist of OTD so enjoy that some great somg on their this week. See you next week and remember if you can’t be good, then be good at it. 

On This Day In Music History 12th May 2016

Welcome back to this weeks edition of On This Day, where we take a look at what happened through the years in the music history. This week features The Everly Brothers, The Beach Boys, Bob Dylan, Sex Pistols and many more, this week kick of in 1958.

1950

🎼 The Everly Brothers started a four-week run at No.1 in the US with ‘All I Have To Do Is Dream’. Written by the husband and wife songwriting team Felice and Boudleaux Bryant, the track was recorded in just two takes.

1961

🎼 The Beatles were in Hamburg, West Germany, to sign a recording contract with producer Bert Kaempfert. That evening they played at The Top Ten Club, Reeperbahn, Hamburg.

1962

🎼 Billboard Magazine reported that last year’s most-played jukebox record was ‘Big Bad John’ by Jimmy Dean. The second most-played was Chubby Checker’s ‘The Twist’.

1963

🎼 Bob Dylan walked out of rehearsals for the US TV Ed Sullivan show after being told he couldn’t perform his song Talking John Birch Paranoid Blues due to it mocking the US military and segregation. CBS officials asked Dylan to substitute it for another song, but the singer reportedly said; ‘No, this is what I want to do. If you can’t play my song, I’d rather not appear on the show’.

1964

🎼 The Beach Boys started a four-week run at No.1 on the US album chart with ‘Beach Boys Concert’, it was the group’s first No.1.

1965

🎼 The Rolling Stones recorded ‘(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction’ at RCA Hollywood studios. Keith Richards had come up with the guitar riff in the middle of the night a week earlier. It gave the band their first No.1 single in the US.

1967

🎼 Pink Floyd appeared at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, London, giving a special a special concert Games For May – Space Age Relaxation For The Climate Of Spring. This was reportedly the first show to include loudspeakers placed at the back of the hall to give a ‘sound in the round’, ie quadraphonic, effect. The sound system, developed by EMI technicians, was stolen after the show and not recovered for several years.

🎼 ‘Are You Experienced’, the debut album by The Jimi Hendrix Experience was released in the UK. Hendrix also played a gig at the Bluesville Club, Manor House in London on this day.

1968

🎼 Jimi Hendrix was arrested by police on his way to Toronto for possession of hashish and heroin. Hendrix claimed the drugs had been planted on him.

🎼 Brian Jones made his final live appearance with The Rolling Stones when they appeared at the New Musical Express Poll Winners Concert at the Empire Pool, Wembley, England. Jones drowned while under the influence of drugs and alcohol after taking a midnight swim in his pool, on the 3rd July 1969 aged 27.

1971

🎼 Rolling Stone Mick Jagger married Bianca Macias at St Tropez Town Hall. The guest list included the other members of the Rolling Stones, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Eric Clapton and Stephen Stills. The couple separated in 1977.

1973

🎼 Led Zeppelin started a three-week run at No.1 on the US album chart with their fifth album Houses Of The Holy. The group’s third US No.1 album went on to spend 39 weeks on the US chart. Houses Of The Holy has now been certified 11 times Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for US sales in excess of 11 million copies.

1975

🎼 Jefferson Starship gave a free concert in New York’s Central Park in front of 60,000 fans. The band and concert sponsor, WNEW-FM, were forced to pay $14,000 for cleaning up and damage done to the park after the event.

1977

🎼 After being dropped by both EMI and A&M records in less than 6 months, Virgin records announced they had signed the Sex Pistols.

🎼 Led Zeppelin received the outstanding contribution to British music at the second Ivor Novello Awards held at the Grosvenor Hotel London.

1981

🎼 Meat Loaf filed for bankruptcy with debts of over $1 million.

🎼 Van Halen kicked off their 82 date North America Fair Warning Tour at the Halifax Metro Center in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

1984

🎼 Lionel Richie started a two-week run at No. 1 on the US singles chart with ‘Hello’ his second US solo No.1, also a No.1 in the UK.

1985

🎼 Phil Collins kicked off the North American leg on his ‘No Jacket Required ‘ World Tour at the Centrum, Worcester, Massachusetts.

1986

🎼 Joe Strummer of The Clash was banned from driving after being convicted of drink driving.

1990

🎼 Adamski started a four-week run at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘Killer’. The single featured Seal who remade the song under his own name, reaching the Top 10, the following year.

1996

🎼 17-year-old Bernadette O’Brien died the day after being injured ‘body surfing’ at a Smashing Pumpkins gig at The Point, Dublin.

2000

🎼 Thieves stole the gates to Strawberry Fields the Merseyside landmark immortalised by The Beatles song. The 10′ high iron gates were later found at a local scrap metal dealers in Liverpool.

2001

🎼 American singer and TV presenter Perry Como died aged 88. He scored fourteen US No.1 singles, from 150 US chart hits and over 25 UK chart hits, including the single ‘Magic Moments’ and ‘Catch A Falling Star’. Como was once the highest-paid performer in the history of television.

🎼 Travis played a gig at singer’s Fran Healy’s local primary school at Weston Park, Crouch End, London. The 150 crowd paid a £ 1 entry fee to the summer fete.

2002

🎼 Ronan Keating scored his third UK No.1 single with a song written by American country artist Garth Brooks ‘If Tomorrow Never Comes’.

2004

🎼 Barry and Robin Gibb from The Bee Gees were both presented with honorary degrees from Manchester University. They also picked up a posthumous award for their brother Barry. The brothers had once lived in Manchester, England.

2008

🎼 Singer-songwriter Neil Young had a spider named after him. US university biologist Jason Bond discovered a new species of trapdoor spider and decided to name it after his favorite musician. Myrmekiaphila neilyoungi was found in Jefferson County, Alabama in 2007.

2013

🎼 Thieves stole more than one million rand (£70,000) in takings after a Justin Bieber concert at Johannesburg’s Soccer City stadium. The gang, armed with ropes, hammers and chisels, broke into a strong room where the takings from the Justin Bieber concert and a gig the previous evening by Bon Jovi.

That concludes this weeks edition of OTD. Be sure to check back Thursday for the new edition of On This Day. Thanks for joining me and enjoy this weeks OTD’s spotify playlist. See you next week same time same place. 

On This Day 5th May 2016

Welcome to this weeks edition of On This Day in music history, this week includes Elvis Presley, Manfred Mann, The Kinks, David Bowie just to name a few. So let’s get this week started at 1956.

1956

🎼 Elvis Presley scored his first US No.1 single and album when ‘Heartbreak Hotel’ went to the top of the charts. ‘Heartbreak Hotel’ became his first million-seller, and was the best-selling single of 1956. The lyrics were based on a newspaper article about the suicide of a lonely man who jumped from a hotel window.

1962

🎼 The soundtrack to West Side Story went to No. 1 on the US album chart. It went on to spend a total of 54 weeks at the No.1 position.

1963

🎼 On a recommendation by George Harrison, Dick Rowe Head of A&R at Decca Records, (and the man who turned down The Beatles) went to see The Rolling Stones play at the Crawdaddy Club, London. The band was signed to the label within a week.

1966

🎼 Manfred Mann were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘Pretty Flamingo’. The recording features future Cream bassist Jack Bruce, who briefly joined the band in 1965. On their Top Of The Pops appearance, singer Paul Jones performed whilst standing on one leg.

1967

🎼 The Kinks released ‘Waterloo Sunset’ as single which went on to peak at No.2 on the UK chart. songwriter and Kinks singer Ray Davies, later stated that the song was originally entitled ‘Liverpool Sunset’, after his love for Liverpool and Merseybeat.

1968

🎼 Buffalo Springfield split up. Richie Furay formed Poco and Steven Stills teamed up with David Crosby and Graham Nash in Crosby Stills & Nash.

1969

🎼 The Beatles single ‘Get Back’ was released in the US. John Lennon claimed in 1980 that “There’s some underlying thing about Yoko in there”, claiming that Paul McCartney looked at Yoko Ono in the studio every time he sang “Get Back to where you once belonged”.

1972

🎼 Blind blues guitarist Reverend Gary Davis died of a heart attack aged 76. His unique finger-picking style influenced many other artists.

🎼 The first day of the three-day Bickershaw Festival, Wigan, England, with the Grateful Dead, Dr John, Donovan, The Kinks, Captain Beefheart, Hawkwind, America, Family, Country Joe MacDonald, Wishbone Ash, New Rides Of The Purple Sage, Brinsley Schwarz and the Flamin Groovies all played

1973

🎼 David Bowie scored his first UK No.1 album when ‘Aladdin Sane” started a five-week run at the top, featuring the single ‘Drive In Saturday ‘. The follow-up to his breakthrough The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, the name of the album is a pun on “A Lad Insane”.

🎼 Elvis Presley went to No.1 on the US album chart with ‘Aloha from Hawaii via Satellite’

1974

🎼 Television appeared at CBGB’s in New York City, supported by the Stillettoes (Later to become Blondie who were playing their first show at CBGB).

1978

🎼 The Buzzcocks, The Slits and Penetration all appeared at Liverpool University, Liverpool, England.

1979

🎼 Peaches and Herb started a four-week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘Reunited’, it made No.4 in the UK

1983

🎼 The Stranglers ‘Golden Brown’ was named most performed work of 1982 at the 28th Ivor Novello Awards. The single had become a UK hit after the comparatively conservative BBC Radio Two made it “single of the week”, a surprising step considering the band were almost as notorious as Sex Pistols only a few short years before.

1984

🎼 Simple Minds singer Jim Kerr married Pretenders singer Chrissy Hynde in a horse-drawn carriage in Central Park, New York City.

🎼 Duran Duran were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘The Reflex’, the group’s second and last No.1. The song which was taken from their third album Seven and the Ragged Tiger was also a US No.1.

1990

🎼 The John Lennon tribute concert was held at the Pier Head Arena in Merseyside, featuring Lenny Kravitz, Al Green, Joe Cocker, The Christians, Kylie Minogue, Ringo Starr, Jeff Lynne, Tom Petty, Deacon Blue, Lou Reed, Joe Walsh and Wet Wet Wet.

🎼 During a North American tour Nirvana appeared at the Einstein-A-Go-Go in Jacksonville Beach, Florida.

1992

🎼 Radiohead released ‘The Drill EP’, their firat record in the UK. The band was still called”On a Friday” when the songs for this EP were recorded; they changed their name to Radiohead the following month.

1995

🎼 Former Guns’N’Roses drummer Steven Adler was arrested on a felony count of possession of heroin, as well as two misdemeanor drug charges.

1996

🎼 Cranberries singer Dolores O’Riordan received both a public apology and a donation of £7,500 ($12,750) to the Warchild charity from The Sport newspaper after they ran a story claiming she had performed a gig in Hamburg without wearing any underwear.

🎼 Rage Against The Machine went to No.1 on the US album chart with ‘Evil Empire’. The album’s title is taken from the phrase “evil empire”, which was used by former US President Ronald Reagan and many conservatives in describing the former Soviet Union. The album won the 1996 Grammy award for Best Metal Performance.

1997

🎼 Management company Ignition sent emails to over 100 Oasis unofficial websites threatening legal action over their alleged unlawful breach of copyright over Oasis music featured on the sites.

2000

🎼 Rod Stewart had a one-hour throat operation at Cedar Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles to remove a growth on his thyroid. The growth turned out to be benign.

2002

🎼 Australian actress & singer Holly Valance went to No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘Kiss Kiss’. The third “Neighbors” TV star to score a UK No.1.

🎼 Two disc jockeys from Denver’s KRFX-FM, Rick Lewis and Michael Floorwax, stopped a live radio interview with Detroit rocker Ted Nugent after he used derogatory racial terms for Asians and Blacks. The station received dozens of complaints.

2003

🎼 UK Holiday camp operator Butlins introduced a new system of rhyming slang at bingo halls in an attempt to bring the game up-to-date. Pop stars Jennifer Lopez and Gareth Gates became new catchphrases for the callers, ‘Gareth Gates’ (8) and ‘J-Lo’s bum’ (71). Other additions include ‘stroppy teen’ (15) and ‘feng shui’ (53).

2005

🎼 Justin Timberlake underwent an operation at Los Angeles’ Cedars Sinai Hospital to remove nodules from his throat.

2015

🎼 American rock bassist Craig Gruber died of prostate cancer in Florida aged 63. He is best known as the original bassist in Rainbow and also played in Elf with vocalist Ronnie James Dio and worked with guitarist Gary Moore.

That’s On This Day for another week, be sure to check back next Thursday for the next edition. Who knows where it will lead us next week. If you’re enjoying OTD drop me a line and let me know. 

On This Day 5th May 2016 Spotify Playlist 

 

On This Day 28th April 2016

Welcome back to this weeks edition of On This Day, this week features, The Beatles, Alan Freed’s Big Beat Show, Pink Floyd, T Rex, U2 and many more. This week we start in 1958 and conclude in 2015 so without further ado lets kick off this weeks OTD….

1958

🎵. Alan Freed’s Big Beat Show played 2 shows at the Central High School Auditorium in Kalamazoo, Michigan. The tour featured; Jerry Lee Lewis, Chuck Berry, Frank Lymon, Buddy Holly, The Diamonds, Billy Ford, Danny & The Juniors, The Chantels, Larry Williams, Screaming Jay Hawkins and The Pastels. Man! What a cracking line up!

1964

🎵. The Beatles recorded the TV special ‘Around The Beatles’ at Wembely studios England. As well as performing songs they played Act V Scene 1 of Shakespeare’s ‘A Midsummer Nights Dream’ with John playing the female role of Thisbe, Paul as Pyramus, George as Moonshine and Ringo as Lion. Paul later named his cat Thisbe.

1968

🎵. The Broadway musical ‘Hair’ opened at the Biltmore Theatre in New York. The show featured the following songs, ‘Aquarius’, ‘Let the Sunshine In’, ‘Good Morning Starshine’ and the title song. The production ran for 1,729 performances, finally closing on July 1st, 1972. Wow that’s a staggering amount of performances, definitely deserving of 👏👏👏

1973

🎵. Pink Floyd’s The Dark Side of The Moon went to No. 1 in the US. The album went on to enjoy a record-breaking 741 discontinuous weeks on the Billboard chart and has now sold over 45 million copies world-wide. After moving to the Billboard Top Pop Catalog Chart, the album notched up a further 759 weeks there, and had reached a total of over 1,500 weeks on the combined charts by May 2006. Well done boys! Well deserved that’s for sure!

1980

🎵. Marshall Tucker Band’s bass player Tommy Caldwell died of injuries from a car accident, in his hometown of Spartanburg, South Carolina, he was 30-year-old. He was the original frontman for the Marshall Tucker Band between 1973 and 1980.

1981

🎵. Former member of T Rex, Steve Currie was killed in a car crash returning to his home near Vale de Parra, Algarve, Portugal, he was 33 years old. He joined T. Rex (renamed from Tyrannosaurus Rex) as bass guitarist in late 1970, he also worked as a session player. He played on ‘Motobikin’ by Chris Spedding.

1982

🎵. The California State Assembly consumer-protection-committee heard testimony from “experts” who claimed that when ‘Stairway To Heaven’ was played backward, it contained the words: “I sing because I live with Satan, the Lord turns me off, there’s no escaping it. Here’s to my sweet Satan, whose power is Satan. He will give you 666. I live for Satan”.

1983

🎵. During the second leg of their ‘War’ North American tour, U2 appeared at the Rochester Institute Of Technology Ice Rink, Rochester, New York.

1990

🎵. Guns’N’Roses leader Axl Rose married Erin Everly, daughter of The Everly Brothers Don at Cupid’s Wedding Chapel in Las Vegas. The divorced in January 1991 after a stormy nine months of marriage.

🎵. Sinead O’Connor started a six-week run at No.1 on the US album chart with ‘I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got’.

1997

🎵. Mark Morrison was fined £750 after admitting threatening behavior during an incident in Leicester city centre, when he believed someone had kicked his car.

1999

🎵. The tour bus carrying The Clint Boon Experience was involved in a near fatal accident, when it was involved in a crash outside Glasgow. Members of the band had to be airlifted to hospital.

🎵. Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

2000

🎵. A blaze swept through James Brown Enterprises, the office that co-ordinates the superstar’s tours. Nobody was injured, but memorabilia and live tapes were destroyed in the blaze. An employee was later arrested and charged with arson.

🎵. Paul Atkinson was jailed for three years after being found guilty of stealing more than £25,000 from Rolling Stone Charlie Watts. Atkinson had been the manager of an Arabian stud farm owned by Watts.

2002

🎵. Sugarbabes scored their first UK No. 1 single with ‘Freak Like Me’. The song was originally by American Adina Howard (1995) and was mixed with the synth line from Gary Numan’s 1979 hit ‘Are Friends Electric?’.

2006

🎵. ABBA star Bjorn Ulvaeus was accused of avoiding paying 87m Swedish kronor (£6.5m) in taxes on the band’s hit songs and musicals. The Swedish government was demanding he repaid the money. ABBA sold over 370 million records and he also co-wrote the musical Mamma Mia.

2007

🎵. Scott Weiland singer with The Stone Temple Pilots was sentenced to 192 hours in county jail for his November 2007 drink driving offence. He was also fined $2000, required to complete an 18-month alcohol program and was placed on probation for four years.

2009

🎵. A TV commercial for insurance featuring Iggy Pop was ruled as misleading by the Advertising Standard Authority. In the advert, the singer was seen exclaiming that he had an insurance policy with Swiftcover but the company did not cover musicians at the time of the ad being shown. Swiftcover had since started to offer policies to musicians, and started that Mr Pop would continue to endorse the company.

2013

🎵. Emeli Sande set a new record for the most consecutive weeks on the UK’s Official Album Chart top 10 of any debut album. ‘Our Version Of Events’ was released in February 2012 and went on to become the biggest selling album that year. The album hadn’t dropped out of the top 10 since its release and had been in the UK’s Official Album Chart for 63 weeks. The 26-year-old singer had overtaken The Beatles who previously held the record.

2014

🎵. Scorpions drummer James Kottak was sentenced to one month in jail in Dubai for offensive behavior after an incident at Dubai Airport on 3rd April. He was convicted of insulting Islam, raising his middle finger and being under the influence of alcohol.

🎵. Paul Simon and his wife Edie Brickell appeared in court after being arrested over a domestic dispute. The arrest came after a caller from the singers’ home phoned the emergency services and then hung up. Simon told a Superior Court Judge in Norwalk, Connecticut, he had a rare argument with his wife on Saturday night at their home and they were now fine.

2015

🎵.  Jack Ely died at the age of 71 after a long illness. The Kingman singer’s hit ‘Louie Louie’ reached the top of the charts in 1963 and sparked a FBI investigation into whether or not its lyrics were obscene.
Well guys that concludes this weeks edition, below you will find this weeks Spotify playlist for OTD 28th April 2016. So sit back and enjoy the tunes. Be sure to check back the same time next week. Untill then, be good, if you can’t be good, then be good at it 😉

On This Day 21st April 2016

Hey and welcome back to this weeks edition of On This Day, this week kicks off in 1958 through to 2015, so we have a bit to get through so lets get it started.

1958,
US country music singer Marvin Rainwater was at No. 1 on the UK singles chart with ‘Whole Lotta Woman’. Rainwater was a full-blooded Cherokee Indian, known for wearing Native American-themed outfits on stage.

1962,
Elvis Presley started a two-week run at No. 1 on the US singles chart with ‘Good Luck Charm’, his fifth US No. 1 of the 60’s. Also an UK No. 1 hit.

1967,
Working at Abbey Road studios in London, The Beatles completed the sessions for Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. The final recordings were a short section gibberish and noise which would follow ‘A Day in the Life’, in the run-out groove. They recorded assorted noises and voices, which engineer Geoff Emerick then cut-up and randomly re-assembled and edits backwards. At John Lennon’s suggestion, they also added a high-pitch 15 kilocycle whistle audible only by dogs. These were omitted from the American version of the album. How very odd!!

1969,
Janis Joplin appeared at The Royal Albert Hall, London, which was her first London appearance. The opening act was Yes.

1970,
Tyrannosaurus Rex, Spooky Tooth, Jackie Lomax, Elton John who made his solo concert debut and Heavy Jelly all appeared at The Roundhouse, London, tickets cost 25 shillings.

1973,
Tony Orlando & Dawn started a four-week run at No. 1 on the US singles chart with ‘Tie A Yellow Ribbon Round The Old Oak Tree’, it bacame the biggest seller of 1973, selling over 6 million copies. The song was based on a true story of prisoner who wrote to his wife asking her to tie a yellow ribbon around an oak tree in the town square in White Oak, Georgia, if she still loved him.

1976,
Women Against Violence Against Women called for a boycott of all Warner Communications albums because of the promotional campaign for The Rolling Stones’ new album Black and Blue. The album was being promoted with a controversial advertising campaign that depicted the model Anita Russell, bruised and bound, under the phrase ‘ I’m Black and Blue from the Rolling Stones – and I love it!’

1978,
UK folk singer Sandy Denny died aged 31. While on holiday with her parents in Cornwall, England, Danny was injured in a fall down a staircase. A month after the fall she collapsed at a friend’s home; four days later she died in hospital, her death was ruled to be the result of a traumatic mid-brain hemorrhage. She was a member of Fairport Convention and a solo artist. Her 1967 song ‘Who Knows Where the Times Goes’, was covered by Judy Collins. Denny sang on the Led Zeppelin track ‘Battle Of Evermore’ on the bands fourth album, she was the only guest vocalist on a Led Zeppelin album. Now that’s an honor to be the only person to do guest vocals for one of the greatest bands on earth!

1979,
Amii Stewart went to No. 1 on the US singles chart with ‘Knock On Wood’, it made No. 6 in the UK the same year and No. 7 when re-issued in 1985.

1982,
Clash front man Joe Strummer disappeared for three weeks, which resulted in the group cancelling a tour. The singer was found living rough in Paris France. What the?? It must of been a hell of a party or trip or possibly both to be found living rough in Paris.

1984,
Phil Collins started a three-week run at No. 1 in the US singles chart with the theme from ‘Against All Odds’. It was Phil’s first US No. 1, a No. 2 in the UK.

1990,
The Beatles played in front of 184,000 fans at the Maracana Stadium in Rio de Jnaeiro, creating a new world record for the largest crowd attending a rock concert.

Sinead O’Connor started a four-week run at No. 1 on the US singles chart with her version of the Prince song ‘Nothing Compares To You’. The track was also a No. 1 hit in 18 other countries. The video was shot in Paris, and consists almost solely of a close-up on O’Connor’s face as she sings the lyrics. Towards the end of the video, two tears roll down her face. The clip won Best Video at the 1990 MTV Video Music Awards – the first video by a female artist to win in this category.

1993,
Former Rolling Stone Bill Wyman married for the third time when he tied the knot with 33-year-old fashion designer Suzanne Accosta in medieval French village of Saint-Paul-de-Vence.

2000,
Neal Matthews of The Jordanaires died of a heart attack. He sang on Presley’s ‘Don’t Be Cruel’ and ‘Hound Dog’, he also worked with Ricky Nelson, Patsy Cline, Red Foley, Johnny Horton, Jim Reeves, George Jones, Marie Osmond, Tom Jones and Merle Haggard.

2001,
R.E.M guitarist Peter Buck was charged by police at Heathrow airport with being drunk on an aircraft and assaulting British Airways crew. Buck was taken into custody after landing on a flight from Seattle and questioned by police for 12 hours.

2002,
Oasis went to No.1 on the UK singls chart with ‘Hindu Times’, the bands sixth UK No. 1 and the first single to be released from their fifth album Heathen Chemistry.

2004,
Former Pogues frontman Shane MacGowan was attacked in a London pub. The singer was assaulted at the Joiner’s Arms pub in central London and suffered a fractured cheekbone after being kicked, punched and hit with a metal bar. Two men, aged 20 and 21, were arrested and later released on bail.

2006,
The Soul2Soul II Tour 2006 a co-headlining tour between country music singers, and husband and wife, Tim McGraw and Faith Hill kicked off at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus ending after 73 shows on September 3, 2006 in Las Vegas. CThe tour became the highest grossing country music tour ever with a gross of $90 million.

2007,
Doris Richards died of cancer. The 91-year-old mother of Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards brought her son his first guitar for this 15th birthday. He learned some chords from her father, Gus Dupree, a musician who instilled him with an early passion for music.

2008,
American soul singer and songwriter Al Wilson died of kidney failure at the age of 68. Wilson had a number of US hits, including The ‘Snake’ in 1968 and ‘Show and Tell’ in 1974.

2013,
Calvin Harris made chart history by becoming the first artist to have eight top 10 hits from one studio album. His tracks ‘I Need Your Love’, featuring Ellie Goulding, climbed to No. 7 on the Official UK Chart. The DJ and producer from Dumfries, Scotland had overtaken Michael Jackson, who previously held the record with seven top 10 hits from both his 1987 album Bad and his 1991 record Dangerous.

2014,
Robin Thicke’s controversial hit single Blurred Lines was named the UK’s most-download song of all time. The song had sold 1.54 million copies since it was released in May 2013, despite criticism of its explicit lyrics. About 20 university student unions banned the track, saying it promoted “date rape culture”, an accusation Thicke consistently denied.

2015,
Phil Rudd, drummer of AC/DC, changed his plea to guilty on a charge of a threat to kill, in a court in Tauranga, New Zealand. The court heard Rudd was unhappy about his album’s launch party and asked for a former employee to be “taken out”. He had previously denied the charge. He also pleaded guilty to cannabis and methamphetamine possession. The court heard that he had fired a number of employees last August after the launch of his solo album, Head Job.

Well thats a wrap for this week, make sure you check back for next weeks addition of On This Day. Below are some of the songs that feature in this weeks OTD 21st April 2016 so enjoy!

On This Day in Music History – ‘ 14th April 2016 ‘

Howdy guys and welco19me to this weeks edition of on this day so lets see where the music industry takes us this week. This week we kick off in 1953 and we finish in 2015, so with out further ado….

On This Day 14th April……

1953

In 1953, Lita Roza was at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘(How Much) Is That Doggie In The Window’. ‘The 27 year old singer was the NME readers’ Top Female artist of 1953 and with this single became the first British singer to top the UK singles chart, (and the first Liverpudlian to do so). For a woman and artist to achieve that in 1953 is definitely a feat, it seems now day’s you don’t need much talent to break into the charts.

1963

In 1963, The Rolling Stones played at The Crawdaddy Club, Richmond and all four members of The Beatles were in the audience. The Crawdaddy Club name is derived from Bo Diddley’s 1960 song ‘Doing The Craw-Daddy’, which The Rolling Stones regularly preformed as part of their set. In turn the club went on to inspire the name of the American music magazine Crawdaddy!

1964

In 1964, The King Bees, (featuring a young David Bowie then David Jones), played at a wedding reception at the Jack Of Clubs in London. The world will never be the same without Bowie… Rest Easy Sir

1966

In 1966, The Spencer Davis Group were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘Somebody Help Me’, it was the group’s second UK No.1

1967

In 1967, David Bowie’s novelty record ‘The Laughing Gnome’ was released in the UK. The track consisted of the singer meeting conversing with the creature of the title, whose sped-up voice (created by Bowie and studio engineer Gus Dudgeon) delivered several puns on the word “gnome”. The song became a hit when reissued in 1973, despite it being radically different to his material at the time, the single made No. 6 in the UK charts. He was forever pushing the envelope in the music industry.
In 1967, A riot broke out at Warsaw’s Palace Of Culture as The Rolling Stones made their first appearance in an Iron Curtain Country; Police used tear gas in a battle with 2,000 fans.

Also in 1976, Polydor Records released The Bee Gees ‘New York Mining Disaster 1941’, It was released with a promotional slogan announcing “The most significant talent since The Beatles”. The record became a Top 20 hit in the UK and US. Well I have to say I love me a bit of The Bee Gees, its great drinking, housework and everything else in between music.

1968

In 1968, Phil Spector married Ronettes singer Veronica Bennett. The couple later divorced in 1973 with Bennett citing several instances of alleged cruelty. There is something seriously wrong with that bloke, she is lucky to get out when she did.

1969

In 1969, The recording of ‘The Ballad Of John and Yoko’ took place with just two Beatles, Paul McCartney and John Lennon. Paul played bass, drums and piano with John on guitars and lead vocals. The song was banned from many radio stations as being blasphemous. On some stations, the word ‘christ’ was edited in backwards to avoid the ban.

1970

In 1970, Creedance Clearwater Revival made their live UK debut when they played the first of two nights at The Royal Albert Hall, London.

1971

In 1971, The Illinois Crime Commission issued a list of ‘drug-oriented records’ including ‘White Rabbit’ by Jefferson Airplane, ‘A Whiter Shade Of Pale’ by Procol Harum and The Beatles ‘Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds’. Can you imagine how long the list would be if it was relevant now?

1972

In 1972, David Bowie released ‘Starman’ as a single in the UK, which became his first hit since 1969’s ‘Space Oddity’ three years before. The lyrics describe Ziggy Stardust bringing a message of hope to Earth’s youth through the radio, salvation by an alien ‘Starman’.

1973

In 1973, Led Zeppelin started a two-week run at No. 1 on the UK album chart with Houses Of The Holy also a No. 1 in the US. The young girl featured on the cover of the album climbing naked up Giants Causeway in Northern Ireland is Samantha Gates who was 6 years old at the time of the shoot.

1975

In 1975, After rumors that Jimmy Page, Steve Marriott, Jeff Beck or Chris Spedding variously would replace Mick Taylor as guitarist in The Rolling Stones, a press release confirmed that Ronnie Wood would be joining the band for their forthcoming American tour.

Also in 1975, Art Garfunkel started a six-week run at No. 1 in the UK with the theme from the film “Watership Down”, ‘Bright Eyes’ which went on to become the biggest selling single of the year. The song was written by the man behind The Wombles, Mike Batt.

1976

In 1976, Eric Faulkner of The Bay City Rollers reportedly came close to death after taking a drug overdose at their manager’s house while in a state of exhaustion.
Also in 1976, Motown Records and Stevie Wonder announced the largest contract renewal to date, worth $13 million.

1978

In 1978, Joy Division played at the ‘Stiff Test – Chiswick Challenge’, at Raffters in Manchester, England. Future managers Rob Gretton and then journalist Tony Wilson saw the band for the first time.

1979

In 1979, The Doobie Brothers went to No. 1 on the US singles chart with ‘What A Fool Believes’, the group’s second US No. 1, it made No. 31 in the UK.

1980

In 1980, Gary Numan released ‘The Touring Principal’, the first long-form rock video to be made commercially available in the UK.

1983

In 1983, The Pretenders bass player Peter Farndon died from a drug overdose. He was sacked from the group on June 14th 1982, (two days before Pretenders guitarist James Honeyman-Scott was found dead of heart failure). Farndon was in the midst of forming a new band with former Clash drummer Topper Headon when he died.

1990

In 1990, Madonna scored her seventh UK No. 1 single with ‘Vogue’, also a  US No. 1 hit. Taken from her soundtrack album I’m Breathless (Music from and inspired by the film Dick Tracy).

1994

In 1994, Kurt Cobain was cremated at the Bleitz Funeral Home, Seattle. The death certificate listed Cobain’s occupation as Poet/Musician and his type of business as Punk Rock. Yet another life that was taken far to soon.

1995

In 1995, American actor, writer and folk singer Burl Ives died of cancer aged 85, He had hits with ‘Funny Way Of Laughing’, ‘The Blue Tail Fly’ and ‘Little Bitty Tear’, he won an Academy Award for “Best Supporting Actor” for his role in the 1958 film “The Big Country”.

1998

In 1998, Welsh singer Dorothy Squires died of lung cancer aged 83, in Llwynypia Hospital, Rhondda, Wales. In 1953 she had a No. 12 single ‘I’m Walking Behind You’, she was also one married to English actor Roger Moore. I’m sure there were plenty of ladies wishing they were in her shoes being married to the ever-so handsome Roger Moore!

1999

In 1999, UK singer, songwriter and actor Anthony Newley died of cancer. He scored 12 UK Top 40 singles from 1959-1962 including the No. 1 single ‘Why’. He won the 1963 Grammy Award for “Song Of The Year” with ‘What Kind of Fool Am I?’, He was also married to actress Joan Collins from 1963 to 1971.

2001

In 2001, Sean Puffy Combs, (P. Diddy), was arrested in Miami for riding a scooter in South Beach on a suspended driver’s license. He was released 20 minutes later after signing a promise to appear in court.

2002

In 2002, Ashanti started a ten week run at No. 1 on the US singles chart with ‘Foolish’ and on the same started a three-week run at No. 1 on the US album chart with her self-titled album.

2003

In 2003, A man was arrested and accused of making up a Bjork concert then selling tickets. Alex Conate allegedly sold tickets worth $14,000 at $40 each after persuading a San Diego nightclub owner that Bjork had agreed to play there. He was accused of taking the money and moving to Hawaii, where he was arrested.

2009

In 2009, A planned auction of nearly 1,400 items from the former home of Michael Jackson was cancelled. A public preview of the collection had already begun in Los Angeles and the exhibition of Jackson’s possessions would stay open untill the end of the next week. A last-minute settlement meant Jackson’s belongings would now be returned to him. In response, he had dropped a lawsuit against Juliens Auctions.

Also in 2009, Former Beatles George Harrison was honoured with a posthumous star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Los Angeles. Sir Paul McCartney attended the unveiling outside the landmark Capitol Records building, joining Harrison’s widow Olivia and son Dhani. Eric Idel, Oscar-winning actor Tom Hanks and musician Top Petty also attended the ceremony.

2013

In 2013, Justin Bieber caused outrage after writing a message in a guestbook at the Ann Frank Museum, which stated he hoped the holocaust victim would have been a fan. The 19-year-old wrote: “Truly inspiring to be able to come here. Anne was a great girl. Hopefully she would have been a belieber”. It provoked fierce online criticism of the Canadian singer, who was in Amsterdam as part of a tour. He has no respect for anyone and I’m sorry but I really don’t understand what people see in his music Or him? But I’m a 35-year-old that had the pleasure of growing up with “Real” music. 😉

2015

In 2015, American R&B and soul singer Percy Sledge died of liver cancer at his home in Baton Rouge aged 73. The inspiration behind his 1966 US No. 1 hit ‘When a Man Loves a Woman’, came when Sledge’s girlfriend left him for a modelling career after he was laid off from a construction job in late 1965.
Well friends that is it for this week, if you’re enjoying On This Day then leave me some love and let me know what you think or if you have any imput that would be great too. Be sure to check back this time next week as we uncover some of music’s history. I’m going to leave you with David Bowie fore-mentioned novelty track ‘The Laughing Gnome’ enjoy…. I know enjoyed it immensely!

On This Day 7th April 2016

Welcome to On this Day for the 7th April lets kick it off with….

1956, when the CBS Radio Network premiered the first regularly scheduled national broadcast rock & roll show, Alan Freed’s ‘ Rock ‘n’ Roll Dance Party.

1958, The Alan Freed’s Big Beat Show played two shows at the Memorial Hall in Canton, Ohio, featuring, Jerry Lee Lewis, Chuck Berry, Frankie Lymon, The Diamond’s, Bill Ford, Danny & The Juniors, The Chantels, Larry Williams, Screaming Jay Hawkins, The Pastels and Buddy Holly and the Crickets.

1962, while at Ealing Jazz Club, in Ealing, West Londo, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards met Brian Jones for tge first time. Jones was calling himself Elmo Lewis and was playing guitar with singer Paul Jones, who was preforming under his real name of P. P. Pond.
Also in 1962, The Beatles played at the Casbah Coffee Club, Liverpool without George Harrison who was ill. This was the group’s last performance before leaving for their third extended engagement in Hamburg, West Germany.

1966, working at Abbey Road studios in London, The Beatles recorded overdubs on the new John Lennon song ‘Tomorrow Never Knows’ and the new Paul McCartney song ‘Got to Get You Into My Life’ for the forthcoming Revolver album.

In 1970, On this week’s US Top 5 singles chart;
No.5, ‘Bridge Over Trouble Water’ – Simon & Garfunkel.
No.4, ‘Spirit In The Sky’- Norman Greenbaum
No.3, ‘Instant Karma!’ – John Lennon
No.2, ‘ABC’ – The Jackson Five
No.1, ‘Let It Be’ – The Beatles

1973, Diana Ross started a two-week run at No.1 on the US album chart with ‘Lady Sings The Blues’.

1979, Aerosmith, VanHalen, Cheap Trick, The Boomtown Rats and Ted Nugent all appeared at the California Music Festival. Siouxsie and The Banshees played a charity gig for MENCAP, but after crowd trouble were later faced with a £2,000 bill for seat damage. The Doobie Brothers went No.1 on the US album chart with ‘Minute By Minute’, the group’s only US chart topper.

1981, producer and manager, Kit Lambert died of a cerebral hemorrhage after falling down a flight of stairs at his mother’s home in London, England. Lambert managed The Who from 1964- 1967 and produced the ‘Tommy’ album. Also produced Arthur Brown’s 1968 hit ‘Fire’.
Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band kicked off their firts full-scale tour in Hamburg, Germany. This was Springsteen’s first tour outside North America, which would take in 10 countries.

1985, Wham! became the first western pop group to preform live in China, whenthey played at the workers gymnasium in Beijing.

1988, During a European tour, Alice Cooper accidentally hung himself in a rehearsal when the safety rope snapped; he dangled for several seconds before a roadie saved him.

1990, Motley Crue’s Tommy Lee was injured when performing a stunt during a concert, falling 20 feet from a lighting rig. Taylor Dayne went to No.1 on the US singles chart with the Diane Warren song ‘Love Will Lead You Back’, a No.69 hit in the UK. The Carpenters started a rwo-week run at No.1 on the UK album chart with ‘Only Yesterday’; The LP went back to the top at the end of April 1990 for a further five weeks.

1994, Lee Brilleaux singer, harmonica player and founding member of Dr Feelgood died of throat cancer aged 41. They had the 1979 UK No.9 single ‘Milk And Alcohol’ and the 1976 UK No.1 live album ‘Stupidity’. In 1976, Brilleaux helped fund Stiff Records one of the driving forces of the ‘New Waves’ of the mid-to-late 1970s, with a loan from singer-songwriter John Hiatt.
Courtnet Love was arrested on drugs and theft charges after a reported overdose. At this time, Love was unaware that her husband Kurt Cobain was dead at their home, (his body wasn’t discovered untill April 8, by an electrician who had arrived to install a security system at their house).
US soul singer Percy Sledge pleaded guilty to tax evasion after he failed to report $260,000 in income earned between 1987 and 1989. He was sentenced to serve six months in a halfway house.

1997, Oasis singer Liam Gallagher married actress Patsy Kensit at Marylebone Registry office, London. They divorced three years later.

1998, George Michael was arrested at The Will Rogers Memorial Park for committing a sex act in a public toilet. He was arrested by undercover Beverly Hills police officer Marcelo Rodriguez. Michael later said; “I was followed into the restroom and this cop – well, I didn’t know her was a cop at the time obviously started playing this game. I think it’s called – I’ll show you mine, you show me yours, and then when you show me yours, I’m going to nick you!” The singer was later fined $810 (£500) after being convicted of a “Lewd act.”

2000, Heinz base player and singer with The Tornadoes died age 57. The group had the Joe Meek produced 1962 UK & US No.1 single ‘Telstar’, making them the first UK group to score a US No.1 single. Heinz had the 1963 solo hit ‘Just Like Eddie’, a tribute to Eddie Cochran, ( which featured future Deep Purple guitarist Ritchie Blackmore).

2001, Paul McCartney brought the four-bedroom Beverly Hills home of Courtney Love for $3.995m. The gated 1930’s house had its own swimming pool and 1.5 acres of land.

2002, UK pop ldol runner-up Gareth Gates was at No.1 on the UK singles chart with his version of ‘Unchained Melody’. Making Gates the seventh act to have a Top 40 hit with the song. Jennifer Lopez was at No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘Ain’t It Funny’. And Celine Dion had the UK & US No.1 album ‘A New Day Has Come’.

2003, Avril Lavigne dominated Canada’s national music awards the Junos, winning four prizes including best single, album and new artist. Shania Twain who hosted the show won three awards. Best group went to Sum 41.

2008, Feist won five prizes, including album of the year at the Junos, Canada’s top music awards. The Canadian singer-songwriter won single of the year for ‘1234’, album and pop album for The Reminder, as well as artist and songwriter of the year.

2013, Andy Johns, the veteran producer and engineer who worked on classic albums by Led Zeppelin, (Led Zeppelin II and all albums through to physical Graffiti), the Rolling Stones, Sticky Fingers, Exile On Main Street, Jimi Hendrix, Van Halen and many others, he died at the age of 61.

2015, The original manuscript of Don McLean’s American Pie sold for $1.2m (£806,000) at a New York auction. The 16-page draft had been expected to fetch as much as 1.5m (£1m) at the Christie’s sale. McLean said writing the song was “a mystical trip into his past”.
Well thats a wrap for this week’s ‘On This Day’ be sure to check back same time next week.

On This Day In Music 31st March 2016

Hey guys, hope the week is treating you well so far? if not don’t fear the weekend is near. It’s that time again when we look at what happened on this day in music history so lets kick it off with 1949.

RCA Victor in 1949, introduced the 45rpm single record which had been in development since 1940. The 7-inch disc was designed to compete with long-playing record introduced by Columbia a year earlier.

In 1957, Billed as the nation’s only atomic powered singer, Elvis Presley played two shows (2pm and 6pm), at the Olympia in Detroit, Michigan in front of 24,000 fans.

Chuck Berry’s rock ‘n’ roll classic ‘Johnny B. Goode’ single was released in 1958, it entered the US charts six weeks later and peaked at No.8 on the chart. Did you know that the song’s original lyrics referred to Johnny as a “colored boy” but Berry later acknowledged that he changed it to “country boy” to ensure radio play.

1960, Lonnie Donegan was at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘My Old Man’s A Dustman’, his third No.1. Donegan became the first British artist to enter the UK chart at No.1, the only other artist to achieve this feat at this time was Elvis Presley. The song which was recorded live at the Bristol Hippodrome was a music hall novelty song.

In 1962, the Beatles played their first gig in the South of England when they appeared at The Subscription Rooms, Stroud, on the same bill as The Rebel Rousers, tickets cost 5 shillings, that’s a whopping ($0.70).

Filming took place for A Hard Day’s Night in 1964, The Beatles played a “live television performance” in front of a studio of screaming fans (one of those fans was Phill Collins). The four songs used in the film were ‘Tell Me Why’, ‘I Should Have Known Better’, ‘And I Love Her’, and ‘She Loves You’.

Jimi Hendrix set fire to his guitar live on stage for the first time in 1967, when he was appearing at the Astoria in London, England. It was the first night of a 24-date tour with The Walker Brothers, Cat Stevens and Engelbert Humperdink. The Fender Stratocaster burned on stage by Hendrix sold for £280,000 at a 2008 London auction of rock memorabilia.
The official fan club of The Beatles closed in 1972, The Beatles Monthly magazine had ceased three years previously.

In 1973 Donny Osmond was at No.1 on the UK singles chart with his version of ‘The Twelfth Of Never’ a hit single for Johnny Mathis in 1957.

The Brotherhood Of Man were at No.1 in 1976, on the UK singles chart with the winning song of Eurovision Song Contest 1976, ‘Save Your Kisses For Me’. The group’s first of three UK No.1’s. Also in 1976, Led Zeppelin released Presence, their seventh studio album on their own Swan Song Records in the UK. Presence has now been certified 3 times Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for US sales in excess of 3 million copies.

1984, Kenny Loggins started a 3 week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘Footloose’, the theme from the film with the same name, a No.6 hit in the UK.

In 1990, German and Italian production team Snap! had their first UK No.1 single with ‘The Power’. The track has been featured in many films including Coyote Ugly, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, Bruce Almighty soundtrack and The Fisher King.

1992, Def Leppard released their fifth studio album ‘Adrenalize’, the first by the band following the 1991 death of guitarist Steve Clark. Former Dio and Whitesnake guitarist Vivian Campbell, was brought in as the newest member in April 1992. He appeared in all promotional videos for the album’s singles (except ‘Let’s Get Rocked’), despite not playing on the album.

Madonna appeared on The Late Show With David Letterman from New York City in 1994. The network had to delete 13 offending words from the interview before the show aired. Madonna also handed Letterman a pair of her panties and told him to sniff them, he declined and stuffed them into his desk drawer.

1995, Jimmy Page escaped being knifed when a fan rushed the stage at a Page and Plant gig at Auburn Hills, Michigan. The fan was stopped by two security guards, who he knifes instead. After his arrest, he told police that he wanted to kill Jimmy Page because of the Satanic music he was playing. Also in 1995, Mexican American singer Selena was murdered aged 23 by the president of her fan club Yolanda Sald’var. Warner Brothers made a film based on her life starring Jennifer Lopez in 1997.

In 2001, Whitney Houston and husband Bobby Brown were banned for life from Hollywood’s Bel Air hotel after wrecking their room. Hotel workers said a TV was smashed, two doors were ripped off their hinges and the walls and carpets were stained by alcohol. It was reported that Whitney called her lawyer to plead with the hotel management not to call the police. The suite was so badly damaged it had to be shut for five days for repairs.

2002, Bee Gee Barry Gibb bought his childhood home in Keppel Road, Chorlton, Manchester. Gib b said he was going to clean the house up, rent it out and put a plaque on the wall.

2005, Rap record company boss Marion “Suge” Knight was ordered to pay $107m (£57m) to a woman who claimed she helped found Death Row label in 1989, one of hip-hop’s top labels with artists including Tupac Shakur, Dr Dre and Snoop Dogg. Lydia Harris said she invested in Death Row but was pushed out by Mr Knight.

A new world record for the longest non-stop concert was set by hundreds of musicians in Japan in 2007. The performance began on the evening of March 23rd in the city of Omi, with musicians aged between six and ninety-six taking turns with over 2,000 tunes being performed over 182 hours. Organisers praised the musicians, one of whom carried on despite a major earthquake during her piano piece. The previous world record was set in Canada in 2001 with 181 hours.

In 2010, Cher’s first child, Chaz Bono, asked a judge to formally change his nane and gender following the sex change surgery he had last year. The 41-year-old, who was born Chastity Sun Bono, now wanted to be known as Chaz Salvatore according to a petition filed in Los Angeles. Salvatore was his father Sonny Bono’s real first name.

Australian band Men at Work in 2011 lost an appeal  against a ruling which found their 1983 hit single ‘Down Under’ was partly copied from a folk song. Australia’s Federal Court upheld the decision which stated part of the song’s melody came from the tune Kookaburra Sits in the Old Gum Tree. Record label EMI argued the writers  did not plagiarise because the inclusion of two bars from the tune was a tribute.

2013, TV hosts Ant and Dec scored their first British No.1 single, with their 1994 hit ‘Let’s Get Ready to Rumble’. The song made it to No.1 after the duo performed the track on their ITV1 show Saturday Night Takeaway the previous weekend, prompting fans to download it. The duo were also giving all the money they made from sales to the ChildLine charity.

And finally in 2015, Joni Mitchell was rushed to hospital after being found unconscious at her Los Angeles home. The singer songwriter was admitted to intensive care where she underwent tests. Los Angeles fire officials said paramedics had answered a 911 call in Bel Air, where Mitchell lives, and had taken a patient whom they did not identify to hospital.

Well that’s it for this week guys, check back same time next week for more interesting music history.

On This Day – 24th March 2016

G’day guys, hope this week so far has been kind to you all, the weekend is close and so is the Easter bunny I’m told. Lets get started, quite a lot has happened on this throughout the years so without further ado….

Today we’re starting at 1945, when Billboard published the first US LP chart. Nat King Cole was at No.1 with ‘A Collection Of Favorites’.

On to 1956, and Les Baxter started a four-week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘Poor People Of Paris’ (a UK No.1 for Winifred Atwell). Baxter also had the UK No.10 hit in 1955 with ‘Unchained Melody’.

At 6.35 am in 1958, Elvis Presley reported to the Memphis draft board. From there Elvis and twelve other recruits were taken by bus to Kennedy Veterans Memorial Hospital, where the singer was assigned his army serial number 53310761.

In 1962, The Beatles appeared at The Barnston Women’s Institute, and admission was seven shillings and a six pence, which is $1.05. Now that’s a bargain! Now days your lucky if concert tickets are under $100.

We stay with The Beatles and in 1965, the continued filming ‘Help!’ at Twickenham Studios, England. The shot the interior temple scenes, including the one where they “drive through a hollow sacrificial altar and into water”. Then that scene was cut to the swimming pool scene filmed in the Bahamas on February 23.

Simon and Garfunkel made their UK singles chart debut with ‘Homeward Bound’ in 1966. Simon is said to have written the song at Farnworth railway station, Widnes, England, while stranded overnight waiting for a train. Did you know that an actual plaque is displayed in the station to commemorate this, however it has been stolen many time by memorabilia hunters. ‘Homeward Bound’ describes his longing to return home, both to his then girlfriend, Kathy Chitty in Brentwood, Essex, England, and to return to the Us. ‘Homewood Bound’ was a No.5 hit in the US.

The awesome geniuses that are Pink Floyd played the first of two nights at the Ricky Tick Club in Hounslow, England in 1967.

On this day in 1973 was quite busy, starting with Alice Cooper, who went to No.1 on the UK album chart with ‘Billion Dollar Babies’. Which was all so was No.1 in the US. Also in 1973 During a Lou Reed show in Buffalo, New York, a fan jumped on stage and bit Lou on his rear end, the man was thrown out of the theater and Reed continued the show. That’s just all sorts of wrong!
The O’Jays went to No.1 in 1973, on the US singles chart with ‘Love Train’. The song’s lyrics of unity mention a number of countries, including England, Russia, China, Egypt and Israel, as well as the continent of Africa.

In 1976, Transvestite singer Wayne County appeared in court charged with assault after an incident at New York club CBGB’S. County had attacked Dictators singer Handsome Dick Manitoba with a mike stand which fractured his collarbone.

The Bee Gees started a two-week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘Tragedy’ in 1979, the group’s eighth Us No.1 and also No.1 in the UK.

In 1984, the former lead singer of the Commodore’s Lionel Richie, started a six-week run at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘Hello”. Also a No.1 hit in the US.

‘Easy Lover’ by Philip Bailey and Phil Collins was at No.1 on the UK singles chart in 1985. Bailey a former vocalist with Earth Wind and Fire. Phil Collins produced, drummed and sang on the track. Don’t know about you guys, but I love me a bit of Phil Collins.

Canadian singer Alannah Myles started a two-week run at No.1 in 1990, on the US singles chart with ‘Black Velvet’, it was No.2 hit in the UK. Such a classic 90’s hit. Also in 1990, Sinead O’Connor went to No.1 on the UK album chart with ‘ I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got’ it featured the single ‘Nothing Compares To You’. Also No.1 in 13 other countries and six weeks at No.1 in the US.

In 1991, The Black Crowes were dropped as the support act on ZZ Top’s tour after repeatedly criticising the tour sponsor Miller Beer.

1992, A Chicago court settled the Milli Vanilli class action suit by approving cash rebates of up to $3 (£1.76) to anyone proving they brought the group’s music before November 27 1990, the date the lip synching scandal broke. Milli Vanilli won the 1989 best new artist Grammy after hits like ‘Blame it on the Rain’ and ‘Girl You Know It’s True’, selling 30 million singles and 14 million albums. But in late 1990, the performers were stripped of the award after it was revealed that neither actually sang on the Milli Vanilli album. It was such a big scandal back then.

UK singer Mark Morrison was Jailed for a year in 1998, after he trying to con his way out of community service. He sent his minder Gabriel Mafereka who wore sunglasses and hid his hair under a hat so he looked like the star.

A film company paid £635,000, ($1,079,500) in 2000, for over nine hours of film shot during the 70’s by Yoko Ono. The film contained shots of Lennon smoking hash and talking about his political beliefs. Also in 2000, Sir Elton John’s Aida opened on Broadway. It took Elton 21 days to write the music and five years to make the production.

In 2002, Gareth Gates became the youngest male solo artist to score a UK No.1 with his debut release ‘Unchained Melody’ Gates was 17 years and 255 days old and had won second place on TV’s ‘Pop Idol’ show. This was the fourth time that the song had been at No.1 in the UK.

During a North American tour in 2008, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band played at the Schottenstein Center in Columbus, Ohio.

Motown drummer Uriel Jones died age 74 in 2009, after suffering complications from a heart attack. Jones played on many Motown classics including ‘I Heard It Through the Grapevine’ by Marvin Gaye, ‘Cloud Nine’ by the Temptations, ‘I Second That Emotion’ by Smokey Robinson & the Miracles and ‘For Once In My Life’ by Stevie Wonder.
Also in 2009, The prosecutor in the Phil Spector murder retrial told the jury he was a “demonic maniac” when he drinks and “a very dangerous man” around women. Deputy District Attorney Truc Do urged jurors to find the music producer guilty of murdering Hollywood actress Lana Clarkson in 2003. During her closing argument, she also accused Mr Spector of demonstrating a “conscious disregard for human life”.

In 2013, Pictures of The Beatles 1965 Shea Stadium concert, taken by an amateur photographer who bluffed his way backstage, sold for £30,000 at auction. Marc Weinstein used a fake press pass to get next to the stage for the historic New York show. His 61 black and white im,ages with copyright fetched £30,680, the successful bidder was a South American gentleman currently living in Washington who is a huge collector of Beatles memorabilia.

Well that brings us to the end, hope you have enjoyed this weeks ‘On This Day’ check back same time next week, untill then take care and Happy Easter!

Presh.