7th March Today in Music History Events

1941 Danyel Gerard (Gerard Daniel Kherlakian) born in France. French Singer best know for his 1971 single ‘Butterfly’. 
1942 Hamilton bohannon born in Newnan, Georgia. US Singer/songwriter & Drummer with one hit in 1975 ‘Disco Stomp”. 
1943 Leon Frank Sylvers born in Memphis, Tennessee. Vocalist and oldest of The Sylvers. 
1945 Arthur Lee born inMemphis, Tennessee. American singer-songwriter who rose to fame as the frontman of the Los Angeles rock band Love. 1966 US No.33 single ‘7 And 7 Is’, 1968 UK No.24 album ‘Forever Changes’). Lee underwent several months of treatment for leukemia, including chemotherapy and an experimental stem cell transplant using stem cells from an umbilical cord blood donor. His condition continued to worsen, and he died from complications of the disease in Memphis, Tennessee, at the age of 61.
1945 Hans Poulsen born in Chelsea, Victoria. Australian Singer/songwriter. He had his biggest hit in 1970 with ‘Boom-Sha-La-La-lo, which he co-wrote with Seeker Bruce Woodley. He also wrote the 70’s hits Monty & Me (Zoot) & Rose Coloured Glasses/Jamie (John Farnham. 
1945 Chris White (Christopher Taylor White) born in Barnet, Herts, England. UK Bass Player with The Zombies, (1964 US No.2 & UK No.12 single ‘She’s Not There’). 
1946 Matthew Fisher – UK Pianist/Organist/Songwriter with Procol Harum from 1968/1969. (1967 UK No.1 & US No.5 single ‘A Whiter Shade Of Pale’). 
1946 Peter Wolf (Peter Blankfield) born in the Bronx, New York. Lead Vocalist with the J Geils band. , vocals, The J Geils Band, (1982 US No.1 & UK No.3 single ‘Centrefold’ and once married to actress Faye Dunaway). 
1952 Ernie Isley, The Isley Brothers who had the 1968 UK No.3 single ‘This Old Heart Of Mine’ and the 1969 US No.2 single ‘It’s Your Thing’. 
1953 Guy Mitchell was at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘She Wears Red Feathers’. The song details a bizarre story of an English banker’s love for a hula-hula girl. 
1954 Mattthew Frenette born in Calgary, Canada. Drummer with Loverboy. 
1960 “He’ll Have To Go” by Jim Reeves peaked at #2 on the US singles chart.
1962 Taylor Dane (Leslie Wonderman) born in Long Island, New York. US Singer
1964 For the first time ever the UK Top Ten Singles Chart was composed entirely of British acts. Cilla Black held the No.1 position with ‘Anyone Who Had A Heart.’ 
1966 Mike Millward guitarist from The Fourmost died in in Bromborough, Cheshire, Hospital in England, aged 23 from leukemia . (Born May 9, 1942 in Bromborough, Cheshire, England)
1966 Beach Boys Brian Wilson released ‘Caroline No’ the first solo single by a Beach Boy. 
1966 Tina Turner recorded her vocal on the Phil Spector produced ‘River Deep Mountain High’. It went on to make No.3 in the UK but only No.88 on the US chart.
1966 Paul Davis, keyboards with Manchester group Happy Mondays who had the 1990 UK No.5 single ‘Step On’. 
1970 Lee Marvin was at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘Wand’rin Star’, taken from the film ‘Paint Your Wagon.’ 
1970 Simon and Garfunkels album ‘Bridge Over Troubled Water’ started a ten week stay at No.1 on the US chart. The duo had split by the time of release. Also Including ‘El Condor Pasa’, ‘Cecilia’, ‘Keeping The Customer Satisfied’, ‘The Boxer’ & ‘Baby Driver’.
1970 “Rainy Night In Georgia” by Brook Benton peaked at #4 on the US singles chart.
1970 “Travelin’ Band” by Credence Clearwater Revival peaked at #2 on the US singles chart. “Who’ll Stop The Rain” was the “B” side that peaked at #10.
1973 S’bastien Izambard, singer with Il Divo who had the 2004 UK No.1 self-titled album which was also number one in 13 countries around the world. 
1973 “Baby, Don’t Get Hooked On Me” album by Mac Davis was certified Gold by the RIAA
1973 Loggins & Messina receive a Gold Record for “Your Mama Don’t Dance.”
1973 One of the rare instrumentals to go gold this decade is “Dueling Banjos,” performed by Eric Weissberg and Steve Mandel.
1977 Paul Cattermole, singer with UK pop group S Club 7 who had the 1999 UK No.1 single ‘Bring It All Back’. Their 2000 UK No.1 album ‘7’ spent over a year on the UK chart. 
1980 “Coward Of The County” single by Kenny Rogers was certified Gold by the RIAA
1981 “I Ain’t Gonna Stand For It” by Stevie Wonder peaked at #11 on the US singles chart.
1982 Kelli Young, singer, with UK group Liberty X who had the 2002 UK No.1 single ‘Just A Little’. 
1983 “Mickey” single by Toni Basil was certified Platinum by the RIAA
1983 “Word Of Mouth” album by Toni Basil was certified Gold by the RIAA
1983 “Get Nervous” album by Pat Benatar was certified Gold and Platinum by the RIAA. Also including ‘Shadows Of The Night’. 
1985 “Solid” album by Ashford & Simpson was certified Gold by the RIAA
1987 “Big Time” by Peter Gabriel peaked at #8 on the US singles chart.
1987 “Respect Yourself” by Bruce Willis peaked at #5 on the US singles chart.
1987 “Stand By Me” by Ben E. King and “When A Man Loves A Woman” by Percy Sledge hit #1 and #2 on the U.K. pop chart respectively, thanks to snippet coverage in ITV commercials 
1987 “You Got It All” by The Jets peaked at #3 on the US singles chart.
1988 Female impersonator Divine died aged 42 of asphvxiation. Born Glenn Milstead, he often dressed in drag and appeared in B-Grade movies such as Lust In the dust and shampoo. Had the 1984 UK No. 16 single ‘You think You’re a Man.’ 
1988 Pedal steel guitar player Gordon Huntley died of cancer. Worked with Matthews Southern Comfort. 
1995 “Sukiyaki” single by 4 P.m. was certified Gold by the RIAA
1997 Josh Dewhurst, English guitarist of the indie pop band Blossoms. Their the self-titled debut studio album peaked at No.1 on the UK chart in Aug 2016.
1998 Madonna went to No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘Frozen.’ 
1999 Boyzone scored their fifth UK No. 1 single with ‘When The Going Gets Tough’. It was recorded for the Comic Relief charity and had been a No.1 single for Billy Ocean in 1986. 
2001 The man who discovered Blur, David Balfe won a high court battle to earn £250,000 in back royalties. Balfe had waged a legal battle for over two years to regain the royalties after selling his Food Records label to EMI in 1994. 
2002 Former Visage singer Steve Strange was attacked and robbed when on his way to a party in West London. He was robbed of a bracelet given to him by Kylie Minogue and hit over the head resulting in him needing 18 stitches. 
2004 The Smiths song ‘I Know It’s Over’ topped a poll of tunes, which people turn to when they are miserable in ‘The Songs That Saved Your Life’ poll by BBC radio station 6 Music. REM’s ‘Everybody Hurts’ and Radiohead’s ‘Fake Plastic Trees’ also made the Top 10. 
2004 Britney Spears scored her fourth UK No.1 single with ‘Toxic’, won a Grammy Award for Best Dance Recording. 
2007 Rhett Hutchence the brother of INXS singer Michael Hutchence defended his decision to sell some of the late star’s belongings online saying he needed money to set up home with his new girlfriend. Items in the auction included lyrics, T-shirts and a fax his brother had sent to his then girlfriend Kylie Minogue. 
2009 Rapper Coolio was charged with drug possession after being arrested at Los Angeles International Airport. The 45-year-old, whose real name is Artis Leon Ivey Jr, was later released on $10,000 (£7,000) bail. 
2012 Sales of albums by The Monkees soared following the death of singer Davy Jones. ‘Best Of The Monkees’ re-entered the Billboard album chart at No.20 with sales of over 17,000 units. 
2013 Claude King died suddenly at his home in Shreveport, at the age of ninety. He was an American country music singer and songwriter, best known for his million selling 1962 hit, “Wolverton Mountain”.
2017 Darren Salter, senior coroner for Oxfordshire confirmed that George Michael died as a result of heart and liver disease. Michael was suffering from dilated cardiomyopathy with myocarditis and fatty liver. The singer died aged 53 on Christmas Day 2016 at his home in Goring-on-Thames, Oxfordshire.