1877 With his new invention, the phonograph, Thomas Edison records “Mary Had A Little Lamb,” what was believed for over a century to be the first known recording of the human voice. In February 2008, an earlier recording of “Au Claire De La Lune” came to light.
1896 Ira Gershwin is born in New York City. With his younger brother George, he writes music for many popular songs, including “Summertime.”With George he wrote more than a dozen Broadway shows, featuring songs such as “I Got Rhythm”, “Embraceable You”, “The Man I Love” and “Someone to Watch Over Me”. He was also responsible, along with DuBose Heyward, for the libretto to George’s opera Porgy and Bess. He died in Beverly Hills, California, on 17 August 1983 at the age of 86.
1916 Hugo Peretti born in New York, NY. Songwriter/Producer. Wrote many classic hits including, ‘Twistin’ The Night Away’, ‘Shout’, ‘You Make Me Feel Brand New.’ Died on 1st May 1986 aged 69.
1920 Dave Brubeck (David Warren) born in Concord, California. , jazz pianist, (1962 UK No.12 album ‘Time Further Out’). Brubeck died of heart failure on December 5, 2012, in Norwalk, Connecticut, one day before his 92nd birthday. He was on his way to a cardiology appointment, accompanied by his son Darius.
1939 60s teen idol Steve Alaimo, who becomes host of Dick Clark’s Where the Action Is, is born in Omaha, Nebraska. He had nine singles to chart in the Billboard Hot 100 without once reaching the Top 40 in his career, the most by any artist.
1941 Country singer Helen Cornelius, known for a string of popular duets with Jim Ed Brown (“I Don’t Want To Have To Marry You,” 1976), is born in Monroe City, Missouri.
1943 Keith West, (Keith Hopkins) born in Dagenham, Essex. UK lead singer of Tomorrow, a 1960s psychedelic rock band. (1967 UK No.2 single ‘Excerpt From A Teenage Opera’).
1943 Mike Smith born in Edmonton, North London. English singer, songwriter and music producer. In the 1960s, Smith was the lead vocalist and keyboard player for the Dave Clark Five. The band was a leading unit in the British Invasion of the United States, and were the Beatles’ main British rivals before the emergence of the Rolling Stones. Smith died on 28 February 2008 at Stoke Mandeville Hospital in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, at the age of 64, of pneumonia. He died only 11 days before he was to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the Dave Clark Five.
1944 Jonathan King (Kenneth King) born in London, England, UK pop mogul, singer, producer, TV presenter. King first came to prominence in 1965 when “Everyone’s Gone to the Moon”, a song which he wrote and sang whilst he was still an undergraduate, had chart success in Britain and the United States.[2] The Guardian reported in 2002 that he had sold over 40 million records as a singer, many under different names.[3] As an independent producer, he discovered and named Genesis in 1967, and produced their first album From Genesis to Revelation. He founded his own label, UK Records in 1972. He released and produced songs for 10cc and the Bay City Rollers. In the 1970s King became known for a string of hits that he performed and produced under different names, including “Johnny Reggae”, “Loop di Love”, “Hooked On A Feeling” and “Una Paloma Blanca”; between September 1971 and 1972 alone he produced 10 top 30 singles in the UK. In September 2001, King was convicted of child sexual abuse and sentenced to seven years in prison, for having sexually assaulted five boys, aged 14 and 15, in the 1980s. In November 2001 he was acquitted of 22 similar charges. He was released on parole in March 2005 .A further trial for sexual offences against teenage boys resulted in several not guilty verdicts and the trial being abandoned in June 2018
1947 Miroslav Vitous born in Prague, Czechoslovakia. Czech jazz bassist and founding member of Weather Report in 1970, he left in 1973.
1947 Fritz Fryer born in Oldham, Lancashire. Lead Guitarist with The Four Pennies, (1964 UK No.1 single ‘Juliet’). Fryer died in Lisbon on September 2, 2007.
1947 Kim Simmonds (Savoy Brown frontman) is born in Newbridge, Caerphilly, Wales.
1948 The CBS television show Arthur Godfrey’s Talent Scouts debuts. Plenty of up-and-coming talents appear on the variety program, including Patsy Cline and Tony Bennett.
1949 US blues artist, Leadbelly died of of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) at age 60. Wrote ‘Goodnight Irene’, ‘The Rock Island Line’, ‘The Midnight Special’. Once jailed for shooting a man dead during an argument over a woman.
1950 Jeff Grob – US Drummer with Looking Glass.
1952 The Mills Brothers’ “The Glow-Worm” hits #1.
1955 Edward Tudor-Pole born in Lambeth, London, England. UK Singer/Songwriter/Actor with Tenpole Tudor, (1981 UK No.6 single ‘Swords Of A Thousand Men’), appeared in the film ‘Absolute Beginners’, presenter of TV’s Crystal Maze.
1955 Rick Buckler born in Woking, Surrey, England. Drummer with The Jam, (1980 UK No.1 single ‘Going Underground’ plus 14 other UK Top 40 singles).
1956 Peter Buck born in Berkeley, California. Lead Guitarist with R.E.M. (1991 UK No.6 & US No.10 single ‘Shiny Happy People’, plus over 20 Top 40 UK singles, 1992 UK No.1 & US No.2 album ‘Automatic For The People’).
1956 Randy Rhoads (Quiet Riot guitarist) is born in Santa Monica, California. A devoted student of classical guitar, Rhoads combined his classical music influences with his own heavy metal style. He died in a plane accident while on tour with Osbourne in Florida in 1982.
1957 Elvis Presley visits radio station WDIA in Memphis and meets two of his idols, Little Junior Parker and Bobby Bland.
1957 The Diamonds release “The Stroll.”
1959 Gene Vincent made his UK live debut at The Tooting Granada, London, when he was a guest on The Marty Wilde Show.
1961 David Lovering born in Burlington, Massachusetts. Drummer with The Pixies, (1990 UK No.28 single ‘Velouria’).
1962 Ben Watt born in Marylebone, London, England. UK Musician. Ben & Vocalist Tracey make up the duo Everything But The Girl, (1995 UK No.3 & 1996 US No.2 single ‘Missing’).
1964 The film ‘Ferry Cross The Mersey’ premiered in London. Featuring Gerry And The Pacemakers, Cilla Black and other Liverpool acts. It was written by Tony Warren, creator of the UK’s longest running TV soap ‘Coronation Street’.
1965 the Beatles’s “Rubber Soul” album was released in the U.S.
1965 The Beatles release “We Can Work It Out,” with “Day Tripper” on the flip side.
1965 The Rolling Stones record ’19th Nervous Breakdown’ and ‘Mother’s Little Helper’ at RCA’s Hollywood Studios in Los Angeles.
1965 Smokey Robinson and the Miracles release “Going To A Go-Go.”
1966 The Beatles recorded “When I’m Sixty-Four” during one of the first sessions for the as-yet-unnamed album that became Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. There were multiple overdub sessions, including the lead vocal by McCartney on 8 December and backing vocals by McCartney, Lennon, and George Harrison on 20 December. The clarinets were recorded on 21 December.
1967 Cliff Richard was confirmed into membership of The Church Of England at St. Paul’s Church, Finchley, London.
1967 The Beatles started a 7-week run at No.1 in the UK with ‘Hello Goodbye’ their 13th No.1 single.
1967 “Release Me” album by Engelbert Humperdinck was certified Gold by the RIAA. Also including ‘Ten Guitars’ & ‘There Goes My Everything’.
1967 “Their Satanic Majesty’s Request” album by The Rolling Stones was certified Gold by the RIAA
1967 “Hello Goodbye” by The Beatles peaked at #1 on the U.K. pop singles chart and stayed there for seven weeks.
1968 James Taylor’s first album was released. It was on the Beatles Apple record label. The best known song off his first release was ‘Carolina In My Mind’. Paul McCartney played bass guitar on some of the tracks.
1968 “The Beatles” (aka The White) album by The Beatles was certified Gold by the RIAA
1968 President Richard Nixon sends out 66,000 signed letters to potential administrative office holders, including Elvis Presley.
1968 The Rolling Stones release Beggars Banquet.
1969 Mark Gardener, Ride, (1992 UK No.9 single ‘Leave Them All Behind’).
1969 Led Zeppelin made their debut on the US singles chart with ‘Whole Lotta Love’, it went on to make No.4 on the chart and was the first of six Top 40 singles for the group in the US. During the bands career, Zeppelin never released any singles in the UK.
1969 One hit wonders Steam started a two week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye’. The song was actually recorded by Gary De Carlo, who intended it to be the “B” side of his first single. Gary didn’t like the song and when record executives wanted to issue it as the “A” side, he insisted it be released under an assumed name. The song became a UK No.5 single for girl group Bananarama in 83.
1969 The Rolling Stones played a free festival at Altamont in California, along with Jefferson Airplane, Santana, The Flying Burrito Brothers and Crosby Stills Nash & Young. Rolling Stones fan Meredith Hunter was stabbed to death as the group played by Hell’s Angels who’d been hired to police the event. It’s claimed Hunter was waving a revolver. One other man drowned, two men were killed by in a hit-and run accident and two babies were born.
1969 Steven Drozd, drums, Flaming Lips, (2002 UK No. 32 single ‘Do You Realize’).
1970 Ulf ‘Buddha’ Ekberg keyboards with Ace Of Base, (1993 UK No.1 single ‘All That She Wants’, 1994 US No.1 single ‘The Sign’).
1970 The Rolling Stones’ tour documentary Gimme Shelter, featuring footage of the infamous Altamont concert, opens in New York City.
1971 Crosby Stills & Nash played the first of two nights at London’s Festival Hall.
1973 “I Got A Name” album by Jim Croce was certified Gold by the RIAA. Also including ‘You Don’t Mess Around With Jim’.
1973 Steve Miller who’d been laying low for most of last year and this year, gets a gold record certified by the RIAA for “The Joker,” his most sucessful LP to date. The title track becomes Miller’s first chart-topping hit and gives cameo roles to some of his previous in-song personas, like “Maurice” and “The Gangster of Love.”
1975 Paul Simon went to No.1 on the US album chart with ‘Still Crazy After All These Years’, his first US No.1 solo album. Also inlcuding ’50 Ways To Leave Your Lover’.
1975 Rev Charles Boykin of Tallahassee, Florida organised the burning of Elton John and Rolling Stones records, claiming they were sinful. Boykin was reacting to the results from a survey that said, 984 of the 1,000 local unmarried mothers had sex when listening to rock music.
1975 “Sky High” by Jigsaw peaked at #3 on the US singles chart.
1976 Showaddywaddy were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘Under The Moon Of Love’, (originally a hit in 1961 for Curtis Lee). The rock ‘n’ roll revival group from Leicester, England had nine other Top 10 hits with remakes.
1976 “A New World Record” album by Electric Light Orchestra was certified Platinum by the RIAA. Including ‘So Fine’, ‘Rockaria’, ‘Livin’ Thing’ & ‘Telephone Line’.
1978 Appearing at The Kings Hall, Belle Vue, Manchester, Rod Stewart on his ‘Blondes Have More Fun’ tour, tickets £5.
1978 Sex Pistol Sid Vicious smashed a glass in the face of Patti Smith’s brother Todd Smith during a fight at New York City club Hurrah.
1979 AC/DC’s big breakthrough comes with their fifth U.S. album, “Highway to Hell.” It turns gold and happens to be the last album recorded with original vocalist Bon Scott, who dies two months later.
1980 John Lennon mixes Yoko Ono’s “Walking On Thin Ice.” It is the last time he would be in a studio.
1982 U2 appeared at The Hammersmith Palais, London.
1983 Appearing live at the Apollo, Manchester, England, Duran Duran.
1984 Frankie Goes To Hollywood were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘The Power Of Love’. The groups third No.1 of the year and final UK No.1. Made them the first group since Gerry And The Pacemakers to have a UK No.1 with their first three singles.
1986 Europe were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘The Final Countdown’. They became only the second Swedish act to score a UK No.1. The song reached No.1 in 25 countries and the song’s lyrics were inspired by David Bowie’s song ‘Space Oddity’.
1986 Peter Cetera and Amy Grant went to No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘The Next Time I Fall’, not a hit in the UK.
1986 “(Forever) Live And Die” by OMD peaked at #19 on the US singles chart.
1986 “Hip To Be Square” by Huey Lewis & The News peaked at #3 on the US singles chart.
1986 Ringo becomes the first Beatle to use his name in an advertisement, for Sun Country wine cooler.
1987 Appearing at the Ritz Ballroom, Manchester, England, Simply Red.
1988 American singer songwriter Roy Orbison died of a heart attack aged 52. Scored the 1964 UK & US No.1 single ‘Pretty Woman’, plus over 20 US & 30 UK Top 40 singles including ‘Only the Lonely’ and ‘Crying’. Formed his first band The Wink Westerners in 1949, was a member of The Traveling Wilburys (known as Lefty Wilbury) with Bob Dylan, George Harrison, Jeff Lynne and Tom Petty and had the 1988 UK No.21 single ‘Handle With Care’. Orbison endured a great deal of tragedy in his life. His first wife, Claudette died in a motorcycle accident in 1966 and two of his three sons, died in a house fire.
1988 “Out Of Order” album by Rod Stewart was certified Platinum by the RIAA. Including ‘Forever Young’ & ‘Lost In You’.
1988 “Wild, Wild West” album by Escape Club was certified Gold by the RIAA
1988 Guitarist Bill Harris (of The Clovers) dies of pancreatic cancer in Washington, DC, at age 63.
1989 “Don’t Know Much” single by Linda Ronstadt was certified Gold by the RIAA
1990 Happy Mondays singer Shaun Ryder booked himself into the Priory Clinic Rehabilitation Detox facility in Manchester, England.
1994 “No Need To Argue” album by The Cranberries was certified Gold and Platinum by the RIAA. Including ‘Ode To My Family’, ‘I Can’t Be With You’ & ‘Zombie’.
1994 Tower Records released The Beatles’ ‘Live At The BBC’, a 69 track, double album of tunes recorded for BBC shows such as Top Gear, Easy Beat, Saturday Club and Pop Go The Beatles. The LP will rise straight to the top of the UK chart, selling over 600,000 copies by the end of the year and 2,000,000 in the US four weeks later.
1995 Michael Jackson collapsed and was treated for dehydration while rehearsing for the HBO special Michael Jackson: One Night Only at The Beacon Theater in New York.
1997 Counting Crows kicked off a 8 date UK tour at The Forum, London.
2000 Tina Turner wraps up her wildly successful Millennium 2000 Twenty Four Seven tour with a show in Anaheim, California. She claimed it would be her last stadium tour, but it is not – she hits the road again in 2008.
2002 Percussionist David Leon ‘Billy’ Knight, brother of Gladys Knight died a of a heart attack aged 55. (1973 US No.1 single ‘Midnight Train To Georgia’, 1975 UK No.4 single ‘The Way We Were’ plus 20 other UK Top 40 singles).
2003 Elvis Costello married jazz artist Diana Krall in a ceremony at Elton John’s UK mansion. About 150 guests, including Sir Paul McCartney, attended the wedding. It was Costello’s third marriage. Krall gave birth to twin sons, Dexter Henry Lorcan and Frank Harlan James, on 6 December 2006 in New York City.
2005 South African singer Danny Williams died of lung cancer, at the age of 63. He is best known for singing his UK number 1 version of “Moon River” in 1961 and his US top ten hit, “White on White”.
2005 A Jeep hit a patch of ice on Elvis Presley Boulevard and crashed through ‘the graffiti wall’ outside the Graceland mansion. No-one was hurt in the accident.
2005 Robbie Williams accepted substantial libel damages over claims that he was secretly homosexual. The People newspaper, Star and Hot Stars magazines in 2004 published stories alleging Mr Williams had engaged in casual homosexual sex. The publications’ owners, MGN Limited and Northern & Shell plc, now accepted the stories were untrue and had agreed undisclosed damages. Tom Shields QC, told the court: “Mr Williams is not, and has never been, homosexual.”
2008 Beyonce went to No.1 on the US album chart with ‘I Am’ Sasha Fierce’, the singers third studio album. It debuted at No.1, making Knowles the third female artist this decade after Britney Spears and Alicia Keys to have her first three albums debut in the top spot.
2009 President Obama greets honorees Bruce Springsteen and Robert DeNiro during the reception for the Kennedy Center Honors in the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC.
2011 American singer and songwriter Dobie Gray died from complications of cancer surgery in Nashville, Tennessee at the age of 71. His hit records included ‘The ‘In’ Crowd’ in 1965 and ‘Drift Away’, which was one of the biggest hits of 1973, and went on to sell over one million copies.
2011 Barbara Orbison, the second wife and widow of Roy Orbison, dies 23 years to the day after her husband.
2013 The electric guitar played by Bob Dylan at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival was sold at auction in New York for a record $965,000. The Fender Stratocaster had been in the possession of a New Jersey family for 48 years after Dylan left it on a private plane.
2013 After its authenticity is verified on the PBS series History Detectives, the Fender Stratocaster that Bob Dylan played in his historic performance at the Newport Folk Festival in 1965 is purchased at a 2013 auction for an astounding $965,000. It had spent the previous 48 years with the family of Dylan’s personal pilot, who received no reply when he told Dylan to retrieve the gear he left behind.
2015 Carole King is celebrated at the Kennedy Center Honors, where 73-year-old Aretha Franklin brings the audience to its feet with her rendition of “You Make Me Feel Like A Natural Woman,” one of many classic songs written by King.
2016 It was reported that more money had been spent on vinyl than downloaded albums for the first time. Vinyl sales made the record industry £2.4m, while downloads took in £2.1m, the Entertainment Retailers Association (ERA) said. It marked a big shift in music consumption. In the same week the previous year, vinyl albums made £1.2m while digital ones made £4.4m.
