On This Day In Music 30th March
1913 Frankie Laine (Frank Lo Vecchio) born in Chicago, IIIinois. US Singer, (1953 UK No.1 single ‘I Believe’, plus over 25 other UK Top 20 singles, 1956 US No.3 single ‘Moonlight Gambler’). Laine died of heart failure on February 6, 2007, at Scripps Mercy Hospital in San Diego.
1930 Rolf Harris born in Perth, WA. Australian Entertainer/Singer/Artist/TV presenter, (1963 US No.3 single ‘Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport’, 1969 UK No.1 single ‘Two Little Boys’ and 1993 UK No.7 ‘Stairway To Heaven’). Harris’s career ended when he was convicted and imprisoned for sexual offences. In 2014, at the age of 84, he was jailed on twelve counts of indecent assault on four teenage female victims during the 1970s and 1980s. He was sentenced to 5 years and 9 months in jail.
1941 Graeme Edge born in Staffordshire, England. Drummer with the UK band The Moody Blues, (1965 UK No.1 single ‘Go Now’ & 1968 UK No.19 & 1972 US No.2 single ‘Nights In White Satin’).
1943 American singer Jay Traynor. He was the third lead vocalist of the Mystics, singing falsetto on ‘The White Cliffs of Dover’, and lead on ‘Somewhere Over The Rainbow’ and ‘Blue Star’. Later, he started Jay and the Americans with Kenny Vance and Sandy Yaguda, and was the original lead singer. He sang lead on the group’s first 1962 hit, ‘She Cried’. Traynor died on January 2 2014 age 70.
1943 American bassist Ken Forssi. In 1965 he met Arthur Lee, who then had a band called Grass Roots and was greatly impressed. Lee hired Forssi as bassist, and soon officially formed Love. Love scored the 1966 US No.33 single ‘7 And 7 Is’, 1968 UK No.24 album Forever Changes.
1945 Eric Clapton (Eric Clapp) born in Surrey. British Guitarist/Singer/Songwriter, The Roosters, Casey Jones and the Engineers, John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers, Cream, (1967 UK No.11 single ‘I Feel Free’), Derek and the Dominoes
1948 Jim “Dandy” Mangrum born in Benton Harbor, Michigan. the lead singer and frontman for the American Southern rock band Black Oak Arkansas. (70’s US No.1 radio hit single ‘Jim Dandy To The Rescue’).
1950 Dave Ball born in Handsworth, Birmingham, England. In 1971 he joined Procol Harum UK Guitarist who joined Procol Harum in 1971. Ball died of bowel cancer in April 2015 at the age of 65
1950 Re Styles born Shirley Marie MacLeod. Guitarist/Vocalist with American band The Tubes known for their 1977 hit single ‘White Punks On Dope’ and the 1983 US No.10 single ‘She’s A Beauty’.
1952 Sammuel McFadin – US Guitarist/LeadSinger with Flash Cadillac & The Continental Kids.
1954 Lena Lovich born in Detroit, Michigan. US singer, (1979 UK No.3 single ‘Lucky Number’).
1955 Randy VanWarmer (Randall Vanwormer) born in Denver, Colarado. US Singer (1979 US No.4 & UK No.8 single ‘Just When I Needed You Most’). He died of leukaemia on January 12th 2004.
1955 FATS DOMINO RECORDS “BLUE MONDAY” At J&M/COSIMO studios in New Orleans.
1956 Johnny Cash recorded ‘I Walk The Line’ on Sun Records. It soon became his first hit.
1957 Buddy Knox became the first artist in the Rock ‘n’ Roll era to write his own number one hit when ‘Party Doll’ topped the US singles chart. Knox would go on to score four more US Top 40 hits between 1957 and 1961.
1957 Debra Byrne born in Melbourne, Victoria. Australian Singer & Actress. She was a member of the Young Talent Time Team from 170-1974.
1957 “Butterfly” by Andy Williams peaked at #1 on the US singles chart.
1957 Buddy Knox became the first artist in the Rock ‘n’ Roll era to write his own number one hit when ‘Party Doll’ topped the US singles chart. Knox would go on to score four more US Top 40 hits between 1957 and 1961.
1962 MC Hammer (Stanley Burrell) born in Oakland, California. US Rap Singer. 1990 US No.1 album ‘Please Hammer Don’t Hurt Em’, record-breaking 21 weeks at the Top of the chart. 1990 UK No.3 single ‘U Can’t Touch This’.
1962 “Can’t Help Falling In Love” single by Elvis Presley was certified Gold by the RIAA
1963 The Chiffons started a four week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘He’s So Fine’, which was a No.16 UK hit. In 1971 George Harrison was taken to court accused of copying the song on his 1970 ‘My Sweet Lord’ and ordered to pay $587,000 (£345,000) to the writers.
1963 16 year-old Lesley Gore recorded her breakthrough hit, ‘It’s My Party’. The song produced by Quincy Jones went on to be a US No.1.
1963 “In Dreams” by Roy Orbison peaked at #7 on the US singles chart.
1963 “He’s So Fine” by The Chiffons peaked at #1 on the US singles chart. It was a song later determined that George Harrison ripped off. Jonathan King did a song “He’s so Fine” singing the song to the musical arrangement of “My Sweet Lord”. The Chiffons did just the reverse doing “My Sweet Lord” with their own musical arrangement of “He’s so Fine”.
1963 “IT’S MY PARTY” RECORDED Lesley Gore’s soon-to-be #1 smash is recorded on this date, with Quincy Jones producing, at BELL SOUND STUDIOS in New York
1963 The Chiffons started a four week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘He’s So Fine’, which was a No.16 UK hit. In 1971 George Harrison was taken to court accused of copying the song on his 1970 ‘My Sweet Lord’ and ordered to pay $587,000 (£345,000) to the writers.
1963 16 year-old Lesley Gore recorded her breakthrough hit, ‘It’s My Party’. The song produced by Quincy Jones went on to be a US No.1.
1964 Tracy Chapman born in Ohio. US Singer/Songwriter, (1988 UK No.5 & US No.6 single ‘Fast Car’, 1988 US & UK No.1 self titled debut album).
1965 Tim Dorney born in Ascot, Berkshire. Keyboards/Piano/Programing with Republica, (1997 UK No.7 single ‘Drop Dead Gorgeous’).
1966 Joey Castillo, American drummer best known for his ten-year tenure in Queens of the Stone Age, from 2002 to 2012.
1967 During an appearance by Jimi Hendrix on ‘Top Of The Pops’, a technician put on the backing track of Alan Price’s ‘Simon Smith and His Amazing Dancing Bear’, to which Hendrix responded ‘I don’t know the words to this one man.’
1967 Martin ‘Ace’, Kent, guitarist with British rock band Skunk Anansie who had the 1996 UK No.20 single ‘Weak’. The band have spent a total of 141 weeks on both the singles and album charts.
1967 The photo session took place at Chelsea Manor studios in London with Michael Cooper for the cover of The Beatles ‘Sgt Pepper’s’ album. After the shoot The Beatles resumed work at Abbey Road studios on ‘With a Little Help From My Friends’ adding guitars, bass, tambourine, and backing vocals. The session began at 11:00 pm and ends at 7:30 am.
1968 Celine Dion born in Canada. French-Canadian Singer. (1994 US No.1 single ‘The Power Of Love’, 1998 UK No.1 single ‘My Heart Will Go On’, plus over 10 other UK Top 40 singles, won the Eurovision Song Contest for Switzerland,
1968 “Valleri” by The Monkees peaked at #3 on the US singles chart
1968 “(Sweet Sweet Baby) Since You’ve Been Gone” by Aretha Franklin peaked at #5 on the US singles chart.
1971 The Bee Gees received a gold record certified by the RIAA for the single, “Lonely Days”.
1973 Adam Goldstein, DJ AM. Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Worked with Crazy Town, Blink 182, Madonna and Will Smith. Died on 28th Aug 2009 of an accidental drug overdose.
1974 “Jet” by Paul McCartney & Wings peaked at #7 on the US singles chart.
1974 John Denver went to No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘Sunshine On My Shoulders’, the singers first of four US No.1’s. Denver was killed in a plane crash on 12th October 1997.
1974 The #1 SELLING ALBUM was “JOHN DENVER’S GREATEST HITS”
1976 The Sex Pistols played their first show at The 100 club, London, they begin a weekly residency at the club in June.
1977 “John Denver’s Greatest Hits, Volume II” album by John Denver was certified Gold by the RIAA
1978 Paul Simonon and Nicky Headon were arrested in Camden Town, London after shooting down racing pigeons with air guns from the roof of Chalk Farm Studios. Four police cars and a helicopter were required to make the arrest. Their fines totalled £800 ($1,360).
1978 “London Town” album by Paul McCartney & Wings was certified Platinum by the RIAA. Including ‘With A Little Luck’.
1979 Norah Jones born in New York City, New York. US singer, (2002 US & UK Grammy award winning No.1 album ‘Come Away With Me’).
1979 Simon Webbe born in Moss Side, Manchester, England. UK Vocalist with Blue, (2002 UK No.1 single ‘If You Come Back’).
1984 David Gilmour appeared on the Tyne Tees TV show The Tube broadcast live from Newcastle upon-Tyne, England.
1985 Phil Collins started a two week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘One More Night’, his second US No.1, it made No.4 in the UK.
1985 “Just Another Night” by Mick Jagger peaked at #12 on the US singles chart.
1987 Berlin wins a Best Original Song Oscar for “Take My Breath Away” from Top Gun,
1991 Chesney Hawks started a five-week run at the UK No.1 position with his debut single ‘The One And Only. The song was featured in the film ‘Buddy’s Song’ in which he appeared with Roger Daltrey. The song was written by 80s singer Nik Kershaw.
1991 Gloria Estefan started a two week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘Coming Out Of The Dark’, a No.25 hit in the UK.
1991 The Eurythmics started a nine-week run at No.1 on the UK album chart with their ‘Greatest Hits’ LP.
1991 The Eurythmics’ “Greatest Hits” album outsold combined sales of the next six albums in the U.K. album chart.
1991 “I’ll Be By Your Side” by Stevie B peaked at #12 on the US singles chart.
1992 R.E.M. started recording sessions for their Automatic For The People album at Bearsville Studios, Woodstock, New York.
1993 “Pocket Full Of Kryptonite” album by Spin Doctors was certified Multi Platinum 2.00 by the RIAA. Including ‘Little Miss Can’t Be Wrong’ & ‘Two Princes’.
1996 The Beatles went to No.1 on the UK album chart with ‘Anthology 2.’
1996 The Prodigy started a three-week run at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘Firestarter’, the first single from the album The Fat of the Land. The wah-wah guitar riff in ‘Firestarter’ was sampled from The Breeders’ track ‘S.O.S.’
2000 Castle music was sold to the Sanctuary Music group for £40 million. Castle owned the rights to all The Kinks back catalogue.
2000 Rolling Stone Mick Jagger made a nostalgic visit to his old school. He opened the new arts centre that had been named after him at Dartford Grammar. The singer said he had spent the worst years of his life at the school.
2000 Mungo Jerry singer Ray Dorset was ordered to pay a former employee £620 ($1,054) in back wages after a tribunal heard he had harassed her after she left his company. Dorset told the court he had paid her double pay by mistake for ten months.
2001 LeAnn Rimes reached an out of court settlement with her father and her former manager. The country star filed a lawsuit claiming the pair had stolen £7 million ($12 million) from her.
2003 Room 5 & Oliver Cheatham started a four-week run at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘Make Luv.’ The track was used in TV ads for Lynx deodorant, and was a reworking of Oliver Cheatham’s 1983 hit ‘Get Down Saturday Night’.
2003 Linkin Park went to No.1 on the UK album chart with their third album ‘Meteora’. Also a US No.1.
2004 Timi Yuro – US Singer who charted with Hurt in 1961, died from cancer of the brain aged 62. Was just 18 years old when she reached No.4 on the US charts in 1961 with ‘Hurt.’
2007 A man was arrested by police and detained under the Mental Health Act after trying to force his way into Paul McCartney’s mansion, screaming: ‘I must get to him.’ The middle-aged man burst through security patrols into McCartney’s isolated Sussex estate; guards who feared an assassination attempt were scrambled to intercept him as he sped towards the front door. He was finally halted by trees and a fence just yards from Sir Paul’s six-bedroom home at Peasmarsh.
2009 Flo Rider feat KEI$HA went to No. on the Australian Singles Chart with ‘Right Round’. Staying at No.1 for one week.
2013 Music mogul Simon Fuller settled a copyright battle with TV network Fox over the US version of The X Factor. The British creator of Pop Idol and US version American Idol sued Fox and producers FremantleMedia, seeking a credit and fees from the US X Factor. The case followed a dispute between Fuller and Simon Cowell in 2004 over similarities between Fuller’s American Idol and Cowell’s UK show, The X Factor.
2013 US music producer and pioneer of digital recording, Phil Ramone, died aged 79. Ramone was regarded as one of the most successful producers in history, winning 14 Grammy awards and working with stars such as Ray Charles, Bob Dylan, Elton John and Paul McCartney. He produced the first major commercial release on CD, Billy Joel’s 1982 album 52nd Street. Ramone had been in hospital for several weeks, where he was being treated for an aortic aneurysm.