On This Day In Music – 8th December

1925 Sammy Davis Jr born in New York City, New York. US Singer/Actor/Dancer/Mimic. (1972 US No.1 single ‘The Candy Man’). Died of throat cancer on 16th May 1990. 
1939 James Galway born in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Irish musician, (1978 UK No.3 single ‘Annie’s Song’,) 
1939 Jerry Butler born in Sunflower County, Mississippi. US Singer/Songwriter. Vocals, The Impressions, (1965 US No.7 single ‘Lilies Of The Field’, solo 1969 US No.4 single ‘Only The Strong Survive’). 
1942 Bobby Elliott born in Burnley, Lancashire, England. UK Drummer he joined the Hollies in 1963(over 25 top 40 hits since 1963, 1972 US No.2 single ‘Long Cool Woman In A Black Dress’, 1988 UK No.1 single ‘He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother’, first released in 1969). 
1943 Jim Morrison born in Melbourne, Florida. Lead Vocalist with The Doors, (1967 US No.1 & UK No.49 single ‘Light My Fire’ & 1971 single ‘Riders On The Storm’). Died of heart failure in a bathtub in a Paris hotel room on 3rd July 1971. 
1944 George Baker (Johannes Bouwens) born in Volendam, Holland. Dutch Songwriter/Singer with the George Baker Selection. 
1944 Mike Botts born in Sacramento, California. Drummer with Bread, (1970 US No.1 & UK No.5 single ‘Make It With You’). Botts died in Burbank, California, one day after his 61st birthday, having suffered from colon cancer
1946 Graham Knight born in Glasgow, Scotland . UK Bassist with Marmalade from 65-66 
1947 Gregg Allman born in Nashville, Tennessee. Keyboards/Guitar/Vocals with the Allman Brothers Band, (1973 US No.12 single ‘Ramblin Man’). He was once married to Cher. They had a son Elijah Blue. 
1947 Geoff Daking, The Blue Magoos, (1967 US No.5 single, ‘We Ain’t Got Nothin’ Yet’). 
1949 Ray Shulman born in Norristown, Pennsylvania. UK Bassist/Violinist/Trumpeter with Simon Dupree And The Big Sound, (1967 UK No.9 single ‘Kites’). Gentle Giant. 
1950 Dan Hartman born in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. US Singer – He also wrote & produced ‘Living In America’ for James Brown. He died from a Brain Tumor aged 43 March 22nd 1994. 
1953 Colin Routh born in Yorkshire, England. Black Lace, (1984 UK No.2 single ‘Agadoo’). 
1956 Johnnie Ray went to No.1 on the Australian Singles Chart with ‘Walking In The Rain’. It stayed at No.1 for 9wks. 
1956 Warren Cuccurullo, guitarist. Worked with Frank Zappa, Duran Duran and Missing Persons. After posing naked with an erection in Brazilian gay magazine, G, in 2000, the guitarist marketed an eight-inch dildo modeled on his own penis, called the Rock Rod. 
1957 Phil Collen born in Hackney, London, England. UK Guitarist/Songwriter. He joined Def Leppard in 1982. (1987 UK No.6 single ‘Animal’ and 1987 worldwide No.1 album ‘Hysteria’, 1988 US No.1 single ‘Love Bites’). 
1959 Paul Rutherford born in Liverpool, England. UK Singer/Songwriter.with Frankie Goes To Hollywood, (1984 UK No.1 & US No.10 single ‘Relax’). 
1961 The Beach Boys first single ‘Surfin’ was released on Candix Records, a small label based in Los Angeles. On the strength of the song’s performance in the Southern California market, Capitol Records signed the group. Other surfing songs would follow: ‘Surfin’ Safari,’ ‘Surfin’ U.S.A.,’and ‘Surfer Girl.’ 
1963 Frank Sinatra Jr was kidnapped at gunpoint from a hotel in Lake Tahoe. He was released two days later after his father paid out the $240,000 ransom demanded by the kidnappers, who were later captured, and sentenced to long prison terms. In order to communicate with the kidnappers via a payphone the senior Sinatra carried a roll of dimes with him throughout this ordeal, which became a lifetime habit, he is said to have been buried with a roll of dimes. 
1964 James Blundell born in Stanthorpe, Queensland. Australian Country Singer. 
1965 The Spencer Davis Group kicked off a 9-date UK tour at The Top Rank, Southampton. 
1966 Sinead O’Connor born in Dublin, Ireland. Irish Singer. She had a No.1 hit in Australian in 1990 with the Prince composition ‘Nothing copmpares To U. 
1966 Working at Abbey Road in London, Paul McCartney overdubbed his lead vocal for ‘When I’m Sixty-Four’. Then The Beatles set about remaking a new John Lennon song ‘Strawberry Fields Forever.’ 
1968 Singer and guitarist Graham Nash left The Hollies and started work with David Crosby and Stephen Stills who went on to form Crosby Stills and Nash. 
1969 Appearing at Friars, Aylesbury, England, Mott The Hoople. 
1969 Mick Jagger was quoted saying ‘I don’t really like singing very much, I enjoy playing the guitar more than I enjoy singing and I can’t play the guitar either’. 
1969 On trial in Canada on drug possession charges, Jimi Hendrix told a Toronto court that he had only smoked pot four times in his life, snorted cocaine twice and took LSD no more than five times. Telling the jury that he had now ‘outgrown’ drugs. They found the guitarist not guilty. 
1971 This weeks Top selling 8-Track cartridges chart: No.5, Frank Sinatra’s Greatest Hits Vol 2, No.4, Carole King, Tapestry, No.3, Simon and Garfunkel, Bridge Over Troubled Water, No.2, Motown Chartbusters Vol 6 and No.1, John Lennon, Imagine. 
1973 Judith Pronk, Alice Deejay, 1999 UK No. 2 single ‘Better Off Alone’). 
1973 Corey Taylor, lead singer with Slipknot, (sometimes known by the number 8), who had the 2001 UK #1 album Iowa, also a founding member of Stone Sour. 
1973 Roxy Music had their first UK No.1 album when ‘Stranded’ went to the top for one week. The sleeve featured Playboy’s Playmate of The Year, model Marilyn Cole, (who was the magazines’s first full-frontal nude centerfold). 
1974 Nick Zinner, guitarist, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, (2006 UK No. 18 single ‘Gold Lion’). 
1975 AC/DC released the single ‘It’s A Long Way to The Top (If You Wanna Rock’n’Roll). 
1976 Appearing at The Affair, Swindon, England, XTC. 
1976 Chicago went to No.1 on the Australian Singles Chart with ‘If You Leave Me Now’, it was at No.1 for 9 weeks. 
1977 Bobby McFerrin went to No.1 in the Australian Singles Chart with ‘Don’t Worry Be Happy’, it was only at No.1 for one week
1977 Four people were arrested after a riot broke out when Blondie didn’t arrive for a gig in Brisbane. Over 1,000 Australian fans had waited over an hour for the group to appear on stage, but the gig was cancelled due to singer Debbie Harry being unwell. 
1979 Rod Stewart scored his seventh UK No.1 album when his ‘Greatest Hits’ started a five-week run at the top. 
1979 Styx went to No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘Babe’, the group’s only US No.1, a No.6 hit in the UK. 
1980 John Lennon was shot five times by 25 year old Mark Chapman outside the Dakota building in New York City where John and Yoko lived. Chapman had been stalking Lennon for days outside the Dakota apartments and asked for an autograph as Lennon walked through the courtyard. As he signed a piece of paper Chapman fired. Lennon was pronounced dead from a massive loss of blood at 11.30pm. 
1982 Chrisette Michele, American R&B and soul singer?songwriter, 2009 US No.1 album ‘Epiphany’. 
1982 American country singer, songwriter Marty Robbins died aged 57 of complications following cardiac surgery. Had the first No.1 of the 60’s in the US with ‘El Paso’, (winning him a Grammy Award). Robbins later portrayed a musician in the 1982 Clint Eastwood film Honkytonk Man. 
1983 Dolly Parton & Kenny Rodgers went to No.1 on the Australian Singles Chart with ‘Islands In The Stream’ & stayed there for 5wks. 
1984 Frankie Goes To Hollywood were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘The Power Of Love’. The group’s third No.1 of the year and final UK No.1. This made them the first group since Gerry And The Pacemakers to have a UK No.1 with their first three singles. 
1984 Hall and Oates Hall and Oates started a two week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘Out Of Touch’, the duo’s 6th US No.1, it made No.48 in the UK. 
1984 Madonna went to No.1 on the Australian Singles chart with ‘Like A Virgin’, it stayed there for 2wks. 
1984 One time Coasters manager Patrick Cavanaugh was convicted of first degree murder of group member Buster Wilson whose dismembered body was discovered in Modesto, California, in 1980. 
1984 Vince Neil from Motley Crue was involved in a car accident in Redondo Beach, Ca, which killed Nick Dingley from Hanoi Rocks and injured two other passengers. Neil was jailed for 20 days and paid $2.6 million in compensation. 
1990 Stevie B started a four week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘Because I Love You, (The Postman Song)’, a No.6 hit in the UK. 
1993 The Verve, Acetone and Oasis started a UK tour at Wulfren Hall, Wolverhampton. 
1995 Courtney Love appeared on the ABC TV show ’10 Most Fascinating People’, telling the presenter that she wished she had done ‘eight thousand million things differently’ to have prevented the death of her husband Kurt Cobain. 
1999 1960’s singer Heinz was given a formal caution by magistrates in Southampton for playing music to loud in his flat. The singer who scored 4 Top 40 singles in the 60’s is now wheelchair bound. 
2000 A plaque to commemorate the 20th anniversary of John Lennon’s death was unveiled outside his childhood home in Liverpool. 
2000 Sting joined the ranks of Tinseltown’s greatest when his star was unveiled on the celebrated Walk Of Fame in Hollywood. 
2003 Eminem scored his fourth UK No.1 single with ‘Loose Yourself.’ 
2003 Guy Sebastian’s debut album ‘Just As I Am’ was released. Made No.1 in Australia in its first week of release. 
2003 BPI figures showed that the UK sales of seven-inch singles had increased by 84% on the previous year. The report claimed that bands such as The Darkness, The Strokes and The White Stripes had boosted sales by releasing special limited edition seven-inch records. 
2003 Cuban pianist Ruben Gonzalez died aged 84. Worked with Buena Vista Social Club. 
2004 Former Pantera guitarist Dimebag Darrell was one of five people killed after a man stormed the stage during a Damageplan show at the Alrosa Villa Club in Columbus. Nathan Gale, aged 25, began firing at the band and crowd, was then shot and killed by a police officer who arrived shortly after the first shots were fired. 
2013 The electric guitar played by Bob Dylan at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival has been sold at auction in New York for a record $965,000 (£591,000). The Fender Stratocaster had been in the possession of a New Jersey family for 48 years after he left it on a plane. The festival in Newport, Rhode Island, is often cited as the performance where Dylan “went electric”. 
2013 Metallica played a gig inside a dome at the Argentine Antarctic Base Carlini, thus becoming the first band ever to play on all seven continents. During the concert audio was transmitted to an audience made up of competition winning fans from Latin America through headphones. Staged in conjunction with Coca Cola Zero, it was only the second ever gig to take place on the continent, following a performance in 2007 from a group of musical scientists, called Nunatak, at British Antarctic Survey’s Rothera Research Station as part of the Live Earth climate change awareness concerts. 
2016 Sir Mick Jagger became a father again at the age of 73, after his 29-year-old girlfriend, American ballerina Melanie Hamrick, gave birth to a boy in New York City. The singer already had seven children, whose ages range from 17 to 45 and he became a great-grandfather in 2014.