27 December – Today in Music History

1931 Scotty Moore born in Gadsden, Tennessee. Guitarist, whose first group was Doug Poindexter & the Starlite Wranglers. He played on the first Sun Studios session with Elvis Presley and went on to a lengthy career with Presley, playing on many of his most famous recordings including ‘Baby Let’s Play House’, ‘Heartbreak Hotel’, ‘MysteryTrain’, ‘That’s All Right’, ‘Hound Dog’ and ‘Jailhouse Rock’. Moore died on June 28, 2016, in Nashville, Tennessee, at the age of 84
1941 Les Maguire (born Leslie Charles Maguire) in Wallasey, Cheshire. UK pianist with Gerry And The Pacemakers (1963 UK No.1 single ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ 1965 US No.6 single, ‘Ferry Across The Mersey’). 
1941 Mike Pinder born in Erdington, Birmingham. A founding member and original keyboard player of the British rock group the The Moody Blues. He left the group following the recording of the band’s album, Octave, in 1978.(1965 UK No.1 single ‘Go Now’ and 1968 UK No.19 & 1972 US No.2 single ‘Nights In White Satin’). 
1944 Mick Jones born (Michael Leslie Jones ) in Portsmouth, Hampshire. Guitar, Foreigner, (1985 UK & US No.1 single ‘I Want To Know What Love Is’) 
1948 Larry Byrom, guitar, Steppenwolf, (1969 UK No.30 single ‘Born To Be Wild’). 
1950 Terry Bozzio – US Drummer/Singer & Songwriter with Missing Persons. 
1952 David Knopfler, Dire Straits, left in early 1980, (1979 UK No.8 single ‘Sultans Of Swing’). 
1960 The Beatles appeared at Litherland Town Hall Ballroom in Liverpool. Added to the bill at the last minute, The Beatles were not advertised to appear, so banners had been pasted onto advertising posters, saying “Direct From Hamburg, The Beatles!” Since The Beatles were playing in an area they’d only played in once before, most of the audience assumes they were a German group. 
1961 Youth, Killing Joke, (1985 UK No.16 single ‘Love Like Blood’), producer, worked with U2. 
1963 The music critics from the UK newspaper The Times, named John Lennon and Paul McCartney as The Outstanding Composers of 1963. Two days later, the Sunday Times’ music critic Richard Buckle proclaims the same two songwriters “the greatest composers since Beethoven.” 
1964 The Who appeared at the Ealing Club, Ealing Broadway, London, England. 
1967 The Doors appeared on the Jonathon Winters Show CBS TV show from Los Angeles, California. 
1967 After establishing his career as a poet and writer, Leonard Cohen releases his first album, Songs of Leonard Cohen, on Columbia Records. The album doesn’t sell particularly well at first, peaking at #83 on the Billboard charts, but Cohen’s powerful voice and lyrics in oft-covered tracks like “Suzanne” and “So Long, Marianne” become highly influential
1969 Led Zeppelin II was at No.1 on the US album charts, it went on to sell over six million copies in the US. 
1969 Diana Ross and the Supremes went to No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘Someday We’ll Be Together’, the group’s 12th US No.1. A No.13 hit in the UK. 
1972 Matt Slocum – US Lead Guitarist and principal songwriter with Sixpence None The Richer, (1999 UK No.4 single, ‘Kiss Me’, 1999 US No.8 single ‘There She Goes’). 
1975 Queen started a two-week run at No.1 on the UK chart with ‘A Night At The Opera’ the group’s first No.1 album. 
1975 The Faces split became official. Rod Stewart had severed all connections with the group to work as a solo artist, Ron Wood was on permanent loan to the Stones, Ronnie Lane went on to form Slim Chance and drummer Kenny Jones joined The Who. 
1975 The Staple Singers went to No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘Let’s Do It Again’ the group’s second US No.1. 
1975 Future Smiths singer Steve Morrissey had a letter published in this week’s music magazine the NME, complaining about the lack of media coverage for the New York Dolls. 
1976 Blues guitarist Freddie King died of heart trouble and ulcers aged 42. Eric Clapton covered his ‘Have You Ever Loved A Woman’ on his Layla album. Major influence on British and American blues-rock musicians such as Jimmy Vaughan, Ronnie Earl, Peter Green and Eric Clapton. 
1978 Bob Luman – US Rockabily singer. Died after having pneumonia aged 41.
1980 John and Yoko’s ‘Double Fantasy’ album started an eight-week run at No.1 on the US chart. ‘Just Like Starting Over’ started a five-week stay at No.1 on the singles chart. 
1981 American composer, pianist, singer, actor, and bandleader Hoagy Carmichael died aged 82. Composer of ‘Georgia On My Mind’, (covered by many acts including Ray Charles), ‘Star Dust’ and ‘Lazy River’. 
1983 Walter Scott lead singer of Bob Kuban & The In-Men, who scored a 1966 US hit with ‘The Cheater’, was seen alive for the last time. On April 10th, 1987, his badly decomposed, bound body was found floating face down in a cistern, he’d been shot in the back. Scott’s second wife, Jo Ann Calceterra, pleaded guilty to hindering prosecution in his murder and received a five-year sentence. Her boyfriend (whom she married in 1986), James H. Williams Sr. was found guilty of two counts of capital murder in the deaths of Walter Scott as well as his previous wife, Sharon Williams. James Williams received two life terms. 
1983 The Police played the first of four sold-out nights at Wembley Arena in London, England, on their Synchronicity world tour. 
1984 Frankie Goes To Hollywood, Madness, Nik Kershaw, Gloria Gaynor, Spandau Ballet, The Flying Pickets and Helen Terry all appeared on the Granada TV music show Brighton Rock. 
1984 Spectacular Blue Smith, singer, Pretty Ricky, (2007 US No.1 album ‘Late Night Special’). 
1985 Duran Duran singer Simon Le Bon married model Yasmin Parvanah. 
1985 The Krush Groove Christmas party becomes the first rap show held at Madison Square Garden. A tie-in with the movie Krush Groove, the concert features performances by LL Cool J, Run-DMC, Whodini and other acts who appeared in the film. The event makes headlines for the violence that follows, as 14 people are arrested for various crimes. 
1986 Jackie Wilson had the UK Christmas No.1 single with ‘Reet Petite’ two years after Wilson’s death, following its use in a commercial for Levi’s. Written in 1957 by Berry Gordy and Tyran Carlo, the success of the song helped Gordy fund the launch of Motown Records. 
1988 Hayley Williams, singer, Paramore, 2009 UK No.1 album ‘Brand New Eyes’ and their 2013 self-titled fourth studio album hit No.1 on the US chart. 
1989 A former chef at the Chuck Berry owned restaurant Southern Air started court proceedings against Berry alleging that the singer had installed secret video cameras in the ladies toilets. A further 200 other women also took action claiming that the recordings were used for improper sexual fetishes. 
1992 Harry Connick Jr was arrested at Kennedy Airport, New York after police discovered a 9mm pistol in his hand luggage. 
1997 The Spice Girls went to No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘Too Much’. The group set another new world record as their first six singles all made No.1. 
1999 Sean ‘Puff Daddy’ Combs and his girlfriend Jennifer Lopez were arrested after a gun was found in their car as they left a Manhattan nightclub. Police were investigating a shooting in the club. 
2001 Steps announced they were splitting up. The group had notched up 13 Top 5 UK singles and had become Britain’s biggest live act. 
2004 Mario was at No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘Let Me Love You.’ 
2005 It was announced that ‘Crazy Frog’ by Axel F was the best selling UK ringtone of 2005. ‘Tweet Tweet’ by Sweetie Chick was the second and ‘(Is This The Way To) Amarillo’ by Tony Christie and Peter Kay was the third biggest seller. The UK ringtone market was now worth more than double the value of the CD singles sales. 
2008 Thieves broke into a house belonging to Allman Brothers Band singer and keyboardist Gregg Allman in Georgia and stole a coin collection, knives and unreleased concert recordings. Two men where charged with the burglary two days later. 
2008 Singer, songwriter, guitarist, Delaney Bramlett died in Los Angeles from complications after gall bladder surgery. Was a member of Delaney, Bonnie & Friends and worked with George Harrison, The Everly Brothers, John Lennon, Janis Joplin, J.J. Cale, and Eric Clapton. 
2008 Taylor Swift started a seven-week run at No.1 on the US album charts with ‘Fearless’. As of 2013, Swift had sold over 26 million albums and 75 million digital single downloads worldwide. Forbes estimates that she is worth over $220 million. 
2015 Singer Stevie Wright died aged 68. During 1964–69 he was lead singer of Sydney-based band the Easybeats, who had the 1966 world-wide hit ‘Friday on My Mind’. The Easybeats were widely regarded as the greatest Australian pop band of the 1960s.