December 22 – Today in Music History

1940 Brian locking born in Coventry, England. Bass Guitarist with The Shadows, between 1962 and 1963.
1944 Barry Jenkins born in Leicester, England. UK Drummer/Songwriter with the Nasville Teens, he left them in 1966 to Join The The Animals, Eric Burdon & The Animals. 
1946 Rick Nielsen born in Rockford, Illinois). US Singer/Guitarist with Cheap Trick, (1979 UK No.29 & US No.17 single ‘I Want You To Want Me’, 1988 US No.1 single ‘The Flame’) 
1949 Robin and Maurice Gibb born on the Isle Of Man, UK. Singers/Songwriters/Producers, Robin was the eldest by 1 hour. (1967 UK No.1 single ‘Massachusetts’, 1978 UK & US No.1 single ‘Night Fever’, over 30 UK Top 40 hits and 9 US No.1’s over 4 decades). Maurice died on 12th January 2003 of a heart attack. Robin died of cancer aged 62 on 20 May 2012.
1950 Alan Williams born in Welwyn Garden City, England.UKGuitarist/Flautist/Pianist with The Rubettes, (1974 UK No.1 single ‘Sugar Baby Love’). 
1962 The Tornadoes started a three week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘Telstar’. Produced and written by Joe Meek, it was the first major hit from a UK act on the American chart. The record was named after the AT&T communications satellite Telstar, which went into orbit in July 1962. 
1962 During his first visit to the UK Bob Dylan performed at the Singers Club in London, the singer songwriter’s second UK gig. 
1962 Acker Bilk’s ‘Stranger On The Shore’ finally dropped off the UK charts after 55 weeks. That record would stand until 1968 when Engelbert Humperdinck’s ‘Release Me’ stayed for 56. The current record is held by Frank Sinatra’s ‘My Way’, which charted for 75 non-consecutive weeks. 
1963 The Dave Clark Five scored their only US No.1 single with ‘Over And Over’, a No.5 in the UK. 
1963 The Seekers went to No.1 on the Australian Singles Chart with ‘The Carnvial Is Over’. Staying at No.1 for 2wks. 
1963 The Beatles appeared at the Empire Theatre in Liverpool. This appearance was the second concert-only preview of their ‘The Beatles’ Christmas Show’, which would open in London in two days. 
1966 Danny Saber Los Angeles, California. musician, audio engineer, record producer, and remixer. A former member of Black Grape and Agent Provocateur, Saber plays guitar, bass, organ, and keyboards, and is also a prominent Los Angeles DJ. (1995 UK No.8 single ‘In The Name Of The Father’). 
1967 The Jimi Hendrix Experience, Pink Floyd, The Who, Keith West and Tomorrow, Eric Burdon & The Animals, 1984 (featuring future Queen guitarist Brian May) and Soft Machine all appeared at The Olympia, London at an all night festival ‘Christmas On Earth Continued’. The DJ was John Peel plus the venue featured a paddling pool, light shows and a movie theatre, tickets £1. 
1968 Richard James Edwards, guitar, vocals with Welsh group Manic Street Preachers who had the 1992 UK No.17 single ‘Theme From Mash’. Edwards disappeared on 1st February 1995, after leaving his car at a service station by The Severn Bridge, near Bristol, England. 
1972 Vanessa Paradie, French singer, actress, (1988 UK No.3 single with ‘Joe Le Taxi’). 
1972 Little Jimmy Osmond was at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘Long Haired Lover From Liverpool.’ At nine years eight months of age it made him the youngest person to have a No.1 record, also the biggest seller of 1972. 
1973 Elton John started a two-week run at No.1 on the UK album chart with ‘Goodbye Yellow Brick Road’, it also had a eight week run at No.1 on the US chart. The album contains the Marilyn Monroe tribute, ‘Candle in the Wind’, as well as three successful singles: ‘Bennie and the Jets’, ‘Goodbye Yellow Brick Road’, and ‘Saturday Night’s Alright for Fighting’. 
1976 Isaac Hayes filed for bankruptcy. Five Years Ealier the US black singer/songwriter had a huge hit with the Theme From Shaft. 
1978 Faces’ drummer Kenney Jones joins The Who, replacing Keith Moon, who had died from an accidental overdose of anti-alcoholic medications two months earlier. 
1979 Rupert Holmes started a two week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘Escape, (The Pina Colada Song). His only US No.1 solo hit, a No.23 hit in the UK. 
1979 Appearing at the Marquee Club, London, The Pretenders, tickets £1.25. 
1979 The Concerts For The People Of Kampuchea benefit premieres at London’s Hammersmith Odeon, featuring organizer Paul McCartney, The Who, Queen, and an all-star “Rockestra.” 
1980 Stiff Records released an album in the UK called ‘The Wit and Wisdom of Ronald Reagan.’ The entire disc contained 40 minutes of silence. 
1981 Suggs from Madness married his girlfriend Bette. 
1981 At a rock & roll memorabilia auction in London, a stage suit worn by John Lennon sold for £2,300, a letter from Paul McCartney to a fan sold for £2,200 and a Perspex sculpture of John & Yoko was bought by singer Kate Bush for £4,200. 
1984 Madonna started a six-week run at No.1 in the US charts with ‘Like A Virgin’, her first US No.1. Produced by Nile Rodgers, family groups sought to ban the song as they believed that the song promoted sex without marriage. 
1984 Jonas Erik Altberg, (Basshunter), Swedish musician and DJ. (2008 UK No.1 ‘Now You’re Gone’). 
1987 Nikki Sixx from Motley Crue was pronounced ‘dead on arrival’ in an ambulance when his heart stopped beating for two minutes. Sixx was given two shots of adrenaline in his chest to revive him. Fellow band members were prematurely informed of his death. 
1988 The Smiths played their farewell gig at Wolverhampton Civic Hall, (without guitarist Johnny Marr). To gain entrance to the gig fans had to wear a Smiths or Morrissey T- shirt. 
1989 Jordin Brianna Sparks born in Phoenix, Arizona. American pop/R&B singer, songwriter. Winner of the sixth season of American Idol, at the age of 17, making her the youngest winner of American Idol. 2008 Australian No.1 single with Chris Brown ‘No Air.’ 
1989 Jon English became a nautralised Australian. 
1990 At the Moore Theatre in Seattle, Pearl Jam, still known as Mookie Blaylock, open for Alice in Chains. Chris Cornell comes on stage and puts Eddie Vedder on his shoulders at one point. 
1991 James Brown launched an unsuccessful lawsuit against the producers of the movie The Commitments, claiming one of the characters too closely resembled him. 
2000 Madonna married film director Guy Ritchie at Skibo Castle, Scotland. Celebrities attending the wedding included Jon Bon Jovi, Bryan Adams, Sting and fashion designers Donatella Versace, Jean Paul Gaultier and Stellla McCartney. The couple divorced in Nov 2008. 
2002 Former Clash singer and guitarist Joe Strummer (John Graham Mellor) died of a suspected heart attack aged 50. Scored the 1979 UK No. 11 single ‘London Calling’, 1982 US No. 8 single ‘Rock The Casbah, 1991 UK No.1 single ‘Should I Stay Or Should I Go’, first released 1982, plus 15 other UK Top 40 singles. The Clash’s London Calling album was voted best album of the 1980s by Rolling Stone magazine. Strummer was also a member of the The Mescaleros. 
2002 Pop Stars: The Rivals winners Girls Aloud started a four-week run at No.1 on the UK singles chart with their debut release ‘Sound Of The Underground.’ The song was originally recorded in 2001 by London girl group Orchid, who disbanded before gaining a record deal. 
2003 Dave Dudley died aged 75 of a heart attack at his Wisconsin home. 
2003 The annual list of all-time music greats by the Guinness book of hit singles was again topped by Elvis Presley. The list based on the number of weeks spent on the UK singles chart looked like this; 1. Elvis Presley (1193), 2. Cliff Richard (1152), 3. The Shadows (771), 4. Elton John (623), 5. Madonna (606), 6. Diana Ross (560), 7. Michael Jackson (509), 8. Rod Stewart (477), 9. Beatles (456) and 10. David Bowie (452).
2005 Janet Jackson was the most-searched name during 2005 according to Google, the singer topped a list of searches with people looking for pictures from her infamous ‘wardrobe malfunction’ at the 2004 Super Bowl when she exposed her right breast. 
2006 American songwriter Dennis Linde died aged 63 from a rare lung disease. Linde wrote one of Elvis Presley’s last major hits, ‘Burning Love’ and also wrote ‘Goodbye Earl’ for the Dixie Chicks, and ‘Callin’ Baton Rouge’ for Garth Brooks. 
2008 A cassette tape of a “drunk” John Lennon recording a cover version of a rock ‘n’ roll song sold at auction in Los Angeles for $30,000 (£20,200). The six-minute recording, made in autumn 1973, is of Lennon performing Lloyd Price’s Just Because. “Debauched lyrics” improvised by “a drunk Lennon” include “just a little cocaine will set me right”, and, “I wanna take all them new singers, Carol and the other one with the nipples, I wanna take ’em and hold ’em tight.” 
2009 The FBI released 333 pages of documents compiled about Michael Jackson between 1992 to 2005. The files revealed that they made several investigations into death threats against him made by obsessed fans, alleged inappropriate involvement between Jackson and an underage male, as well as fears that he may have become the target for terrorists. 
2010 The Abbey Road zebra crossing in north London, made famous after appearing on a Beatles album cover was given Grade II listed status. The crossing, the first of its kind to be listed, was being recognised for its “cultural and historical importance” following advice from English Heritage. The Beatles were photographed on Abbey Road in Ian Macmillan’s iconic cover shot for the 1969 album ‘Abbey Road’. 
2012 Marva Whitney, nicknamed by collaborator James Brown “Soul Sister Number 1”, died from complications from pneumonia. Whitney began her music career as a child, joining her family gospel group, the Manning Gospel Singers. She toured with James Brown in the late Sixties. 
2012 Joe Cocker died of lung cancer in Crawford, Colorado aged 70. The Sheffield-born singer had a career lasting more than 40 years, with hits including his cover of The Beatles ‘With A Little Help From My Friends’, ‘You Are So Beautiful’ and ‘Up Where We Belong’. He was made an OBE in 2011. 
2016 Beyonce’s politically charged visual album Lemonade was the music critics’ favourite album of the year. The record, which tackles themes of black empowerment and female identity, topped a “poll of polls” compiled by the BBC. It beat David Bowie’s elegiac swansong Blackstar, which was released two days before his death in January