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On This Day In Music 24th March

1922 Dave Appell born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. American musician, musical arranger and record producer and lead of the Apple Jacks – “Mexican Hat Rock” in 1958. Appell passed away on November 18, 2014. Cause of death is unknown. 
1937 Billy Stewart born in Washington, D.C., USA. US Singer/Compser/Pianist. Died January 17, 1970 (automobile plunged into North Carolina’s Neuse River, killing him and 3 other bandmembers who were in the same car). 
1945 Billboard published the first US LP chart. Nat King Cole was at No.1 with ‘A Collection Of Favourites.’ 
1946 Colin Peterson born inKingaroy, Queensland. Australian Drummer with The Bee Gees from 1967 – 1969. 
1946 Lee Oskar born in Copenhagen, Denmark. Harmonica, War, (1973 US No.2 single ‘The Cisco Kid’, 1976 UK No.12 single ‘Low Rider’). 
1949 Nick Lowe born in Woodchurch, Suffolk, England. English Singer/Songwriter/Record Producer with Brinsley Schwarz, Rockpile,(1978 UK No.7 single ‘I Love The Sound Of Breaking Glass’ and 1979 UK No.12 single ‘Cruel To Be Kind’)
1951 Dougie Thompson Glasgow, Scotland. Bass Player with Supertramp, (1979 US No.6 & UK No.7 single ‘The Logical Song’). 
1956 Les Baxter started a four week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘Poor People Of Paris’ (a UK No.1 for Winifred Atwell). Baxter had the UK No.10 hit in 1955 with ‘Unchained Melody’. 
1958 At 6.35am, Elvis Presley reported to the Memphis draft board. From there Elvis and twelve other recruits were taken by bus to Kennedy Veterans Memorial Hospital where the singer was assigned army serial number 53310761. 
1960 Nena (Gabriele Kerner) born in Hagen, West Germany.German Singer (1984 UK No.1 & US No.2 single ’99 Red Balloons’). 
1962 Dion went to No.1 on the Australian Singles Chart with ‘The Wanderer’. Staying at the top spot for 3wks. 
1962 The Beatles appeared at The Barnston Women’s Institute, admission was seven shillings and six pence, ($1.05). 
1965 The Beatles continued filming ‘Help!’ at Twickenham Studios, England. They shot the interior temple scenes, including the one where they “dive through a hollow sacrificial altar and into water”. That scene was then cut to the swimming pool scene filmed in the Bahamas on February 23. 
1966 Simon and Garfunkel made their UK singles chart debut with ‘Homeward Bound.’ Simon is said to have written the song at Farnworth railway station, Widnes, England, while stranded overnight waiting for a train. A plaque is displayed in the station to commemorate this, although memorabilia hunters have stolen it many times. The song describes his longing to return home, both to his then girlfriend, Kathy Chitty in Brentwood, Essex, England, and to return to the United States. The song was also a No.5 hit in the US. 
1967 Pink Floyd played the first of two nights at the Ricky Tick Club in Hounslow, England. 
1970 Sharon Corr born in Dundalk, Ireland. Vocalist/Violinist with The Corrs, (1998 UK No.3 single ‘What Can I Do’. ‘Talk On Corners’ was the best selling UK album of 1998). 
1970 Pasemaster Mace, De La Soul, (1990 UK No.7 single ‘The Magic Number’). 
1972 Soul singer, Linda Jones, died aged 26 in New York after collapsing into a diabetic coma following a performance at Harlem’s Apollo Thetare. (1967 US No.21 single ‘Hypnotized’). 
1973 Alice Cooper went to No.1 on the UK album chart with ‘Billion Dollar Babies.’ Also a No.1 in the US. 
1973 The O’Jays went to No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘Love Train.’ The song’s lyrics of unity mention a number of countries, including England, Russia, China, Egypt and Israel, as well as the continent of Africa. 
1973 Pink Floyd’s album ‘Dark Side Of The Moon’ was released worldwide. 
1973 During a Lou Reed show in Buffalo, New York, a fan jumped on stage and bit Lou on the bottom. The man was thrown out of the theatre and Reed completed the show. 
1976 Transvestite singer Wayne County appeared in court charged with assault after an incident at New York club CBGB’s. County had attacked Dictators singer Handsome Dick Manitobe with a mike stand fracturing his collarbone. 
1979 The Bee Gees started a two week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘Tragedy’, the group’s eighth US No.1. Also No.1 in the UK. 
1983 Toto went to No.1 on the Australian Singles Chart with ‘Africa’. Staying at No.1 for 2wks. 
1984 Former Commodores singer Lionel Richie was at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘Hello.’ 
1985 Easy Lover’ by Philip Bailey and Phil Collins was at No.1 on the UK singles chart. Bailey was a former vocalist with Earth Wind & Fire. Phil Collins produced, drummed and sang on the track. 
1986 Lionel Richie’s “Say You Say Me,” the theme from the film “White Nights,” wins an Oscar for Best Original Song.
1990 Canadian singer Alannah Myles started a two week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘Black Velvet’, a No.2 hit in the UK. 
1990 Sinead O’Connor went to No.1 on the UK album chart with ‘I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got’, featuring the single ‘Nothing Compares To You. Also No.1 in 13 other countries and six weeks at No.1 in the US. 
1991 The Black Crowes were dropped as the support act on ZZ Top’s tour after repeatedly criticising the tour sponsor Miller Beer. 
1992 A Chicago court settled the Milli Vanilli class action suit by approving cash rebates of up to $3 (£1.76) to anyone proving they bought the group’s music before November 27 1990, the date the lip synching scandal broke. Milli Vanilli won the 1989 best new artist Grammy after hits like ‘Blame it on the Rain’ and ‘Girl, You Know It’s True,’ selling 30 million singles and 14 million albums. But in late 1990, the performers were stripped of the award after it was revealed that neither actually sang on the Milli Vanilli album. 
1997 Singer with Philly soul group Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes, Harold Melvin died aged 57. Had the 1972 US No.3 & 1974 UK No.9 single ‘If You Don’t Know Me By Know’ and 1973 hit ‘The Love I Lost.’ 
1998 UK singer Mark Morrison was jailed for a year after trying to con his way out of doing community service. He sent his minder Gabriel Mafereka who wore sunglasses and hid his hair under a hat so he looked like the star. 
2000 Sir Elton John’s Aida opened on Broadway. It took Elton 21 days to write the music and five years to make the production. 
2000 A film company paid £635,000, ($1,079,500) for over nine hours of film shot during the 70s by Yoko Ono. The film contained shots of Lennon smoking hash and talking about his political beliefs. 
2001 A stretch of road on Highway 19 in Macon, Georgia, was named Duane Allman Boulevard, near where the Allman Brothers guitarist died aged 24 in a motorcycle crash on October 29, 1971. 
2002 Gareth Gates became the youngest male solo artist to score a UK No.1 with his debut release ‘Unchained Melody’, Gates was 17 years and 255 days old and had won second place on TV’s ‘Pop Idol’ show. This was the fourth time that the song had been at No.1 in the UK. 
2003 Delta Goodrem’s debut album ‘Innocent Eyes’ was released in Australia. 
2008 During a North American tour, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band played at the Schottenstein Center in Columbus, Ohio. 
2009 Motown drummer Uriel Jones, died aged 74 after suffering complications from a heart attack. Jones played on many Motown classics including ‘I Heard It Through the Grapevine’, by Marvin Gaye, ‘Cloud Nine’ by the Temptations, ‘I Second That Emotion’ by Smokey Robinson & the Miracles and ‘For Once In My Life’ by Stevie Wonder. 
2009 The prosecutor in the Phil Spector murder retrial told the jury he was a “demonic maniac” when he drinks and “a very dangerous man” around women. Deputy District Attorney Truc Do urged jurors to find the music producer guilty of murdering Hollywood actress Lana Clarkson in 2003. During her closing argument, she also accused Mr Spector of demonstrating a “conscious disregard for human life”. 
2013 Pictures of The Beatles’ 1965 Shea Stadium concert, taken by an amateur photographer who bluffed his way backstage, sold for £30,000 at auction. Marc Weinstein used a fake press pass to get next to the stage for the historic New York show. His 61 black and white images with copyright fetched £30,680, the successful bidder was a South American gentleman currently living in Washington who is a huge collector of Beatles memorabilia. 
2013 American songwriter and record producer Deke Richards died of esophageal cancer aged 68. He is notable for being a member of both The Clan and The Corporation, the latter being a hitmaking production team that wrote and produced The Jackson 5’s early hits, including ‘I Want You Back’, ‘ABC’, and ‘The Love You Save’. He produced Diana Ross and the Supremes after Holland, Dozier and Holland left Motown in 1968 and co-wrote the US No.1 hit ‘Love Child’ for the Supremes, and was solely responsible for ‘I’m Still Waiting’, a UK No.1 hit, for Diana Ross.

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