On This Day In Music 7th April

1908 Percy Faith born in Toronto, Ontario. Canadian Orchestra Leader, Pianist & Composer. Faith died of cancer in Encino, California, February 9, 1976.
1915 Billie Holiday, (Elinore Harris born in Baltimore, Maryland. The greatest female jazz singer of all time. Made over 100 records, worked with Count Basie, Duke Ellington, numerous arrests for drugs possession. Died on 17/7/59 from liver failure, aged 44. 
1937 Charley Thomas born in Charley Thomas . US Singer with The Drifters from 1958- 1967. Charlie Thomas was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988 and was given a Pioneer Award by the Rhythm and Blues Foundation in 1999. 
1935 Bobby Bare (Robert Joseph Bare) born in Ironton, Ohio. US Guitarist, Singer & Songwriter. (Grammy Award-winning country singer)
1943 Spencer Dryden born in New York, NY, drums, Jefferson Airplane until 1971 (1967 US No.18 single ‘White Rabbit’). Died of cancer 10/1/05 in Petaluma, California. 
1943 Alan Buck born in Brierfield, Lancashire, England. UK Drummer with The Four Pennies, (1964 UK No.1 single ‘Juliet’). He died 15 March 1994, Ealing, West London from a heart attack.
1943 Mick Abrahams born in Luton, Bedfordshire, England. UK Guitarist with Blodwyn Pig, Jethro Tull, (1969 UK No.3 single and 1972 US No.11 single ‘Living In The Past’). 
1947 Alison MacCallum born in New Zealand. NZ Singer & Former Vocalist for Freshwater. 
1947 Florian Schneider born in Öhningen, Germany. German Computer Musician with Kraftwerk, (1975 US No.25 single ‘Autobahn’, 1982 UK No.1 single ‘Computer Love’, ‘The Model’). 
1947 Patricia Bennett born in New York, NY. US Vocalist with The Chiffons.
1948 Carol Douglas born in Brooklyn, New York City. US Singer she began in early 70’s with The Chantels, (1958 US No.24 single ‘Maybe’). Solo hit ‘Doctor’s Orders’ – 1974. 
1949 John Oates born in New York City, New York. US Singer with Daryl Hall & John Oates. 
1950 Steve Ellis born in Edgware, Middlesex. UK Singer/Songwriter & leader of Love Affair, (1968 UK No.1 single ‘Everlasting Love’). 
1951 Janis Ian born in New York, NY. US singer songwriter.
1952 Bruce Gary born in Burbank, California. US Drummer with The Knack. 
1956 The CBS Radio Network premiered the first regularly scheduled national broadcast rock & roll show, Alan Freed’s ‘Rock ‘n’ Roll Dance Party.’ 
1958 The Alan Freed’s Big Beat Show played two shows at the Memorial Hall in Canton, Ohio, featuring, Jerry Lee Lewis, Chuck Berry, Frankie Lymon, The Diamonds, Billy Ford, Danny & The Juniors, The Chantels, Larry Williams, Screaming Jay Hawkins, The Pastels and Buddy Holly and the Crickets. 
1959 Marty Robbins recorded “El Paso”
1960 Simon Climie born in Fulham, London, England. English Singer, Songwriter & Producer. He formed the group Climie Fisher with his partner Rob Fisher. They had a hit with “Love Changes Everything” in 1988. He also wrote ” I Knew You Were Waiting” – Aretha Franklin & George Michael & “Invin
1962 “Johnny Angel” by Shelley Fabares peaked at #1 on the US singles chart. Somehow, the name Johnny sounds demented in any song ever since Julie Brown used it in her homecoming queen song. (I did it for Johnny, answer me, Debbie, who’s Johnny?) I dunno. Ask
1962 While at Ealing Jazz Club, in Ealing, West London, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards met Brian Jones for the first time. Jones was calling himself Elmo Lewis and was playing guitar with singer Paul Jones, who was performing under his real name of P. P. Pond. 
1962 The Beatles played at the Casbah Coffee Club, Liverpool without George Harrison who was ill. This was the group’s last performance before leaving for their third extended engagement in Hamburg, West Germany. 
1966 Working at Abbey Road studios in London, The Beatles recorded overdubs on the new John Lennon song ‘Tomorrow Never Knows’ and the new Paul McCartney song ‘Got to Get You Into My Life’ for the forthcoming Revolver album. 
1970 On this week’s US Top 5 singles chart; No.5, ‘Bridge Over Trouble Water’ by Simon and Garfunkel, No.4, ‘Spirit In The Sky’, Norman Greenbaum’, No.3, ‘Instant Karma’ by John Lennon, No.2, ‘ABC’ The Jackson Five and at No.1, ‘Let It Be’, The Beatles. 
1973 Diana Ross started a two-week run at No.1 on the US album chart with ‘Lady Sings The Blues.’ 
1973 Vicki Lawrence started a two week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘The Night The Lights Went Out In Georgia.’ 
1973 “Space Oddity” by David Bowie peaked at #15 on the US singles chart.
1973 “Get Down” by Gilbert O’Sullivan peaked at #1 on the U.K. pop singles chart. 
1975 Guitarist Ritchie Blackmore quit Deep Purple to form his own band Rainbow. Tommy Bolin replaced Blackmore. 
1975 Skyhooks released the hit single ‘Ego Is Not A Dirty Word’. 
1979 Duncan James – English singer, actor and television presenter. He is best known as a member of the boy band Blue from 2000 to 2005 and again from 2009 following their reformation. He is also known for playing Ryan Knight in Hollyoaks.
1979 The Doobie Brothers went to No.1 on the US album chart with ‘Minute By Minute’, the group’s only US chart topper. 
1979 “Lady” by Little River Band peaked at #10 on the US singles chart.
1979 Aerosmith, Van Halen, Cheap Trick, The Boomtown Rats and Ted Nugent all appeared at the California Music Festival. 
1979 Siouxsie And The Banshees played a charity gig for MENCAP, but after crowd trouble were latter faced with a £2,000 bill for seat damage. 
1981 Producer and manager, Kit Lambert died of a cerebral hemorrhage after falling down a flight of stairs at his mother’s home in London, England. Lambert managed The Who from 1964-1967 and produced the ‘Tommy’ album. Also produced Arthur Brown’s 1968 hit ‘Fire’. 
1981 Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band kicked off their first full-scale tour in Hamburg, Germany. This was Springsteen’s first tour outside North America, which would take in 10 countries. 
1985 Wham! became the first western pop group to perform live in China, when they played at the workers gymnasium in Beijing. 
1988 During a European tour, Alice Cooper accidentally hung himself in a rehearsal when a safety rope snapped; he dangled for several seconds before a roadie saved him. 
1990 Taylor Dayne went to No.1 on the US singles chart with the Diane Warren song ‘Love Will Lead You Back’, a No.69 hit in the UK. 
1990 Motley Crue’s Tommy Lee was injured when performing a stunt during a concert, falling 20 feet from a lighting rig. 
1990 The Carpenters started a two-week run at No.1 on the UK album chart with ‘Only Yesterday’; The LP went back to the top at the end of April 1990 for a further five weeks. 
1991 British singer and songwriter Anne-Marie. She scored the 2016 UK No.1 single ‘Rockabye’, with Clean Bandit featuring Sean Paul. 
1994 Lee Brilleaux singer, harmonica player and founding member of Dr Feelgood died of throat cancer aged 41. They had the 1979 UK No.9 single ‘Milk And Alcohol’ and the 1976 UK No.1 live album, ‘Stupidity’. In 1976, Brilleaux helped found Stiff Records, one of the driving forces of the “New Wave” of the mid- to late-1970s, with a loan from singer-songwriter John Hiatt 
1994 Courtney Love was arrested on drugs and theft charges after a reported overdose. At this time, Love was unaware that her husband Kurt Cobain was dead at their home, (his body wasn’t discovered until April 8, by an electrician who had arrived to install a security system at their house). 
1994 US soul singer Percy Sledge pleaded guilty to tax evasion after he failed to report $260,000 in income earned between 1987 and 1989. He was sentenced to serve six months in a halfway house. 
1997 Oasis singer Liam Gallagher married actress Patsy Kensit at Marylebone Registry office, London. They divorced three years later. 
1998 George Michael was arrested at The Will Rogers Memorial Park for committing a sex act in a public toilet. He was arrested by undercover Beverly Hills police officer Marcelo Rodriguez. Michael later said; “I was followed into the restroom and this cop – well, I didn’t know he was a cop at the time obviously started playing this game. I think it’s called – I’ll show you mine, you show me yours, and then when you show me yours, I’m gonna nick you!” The singer was later fined $810 (£500) after being convicted of a “lewd act.” 
2000 Heinz, bass player and singer with The Tornadoes died aged 57. The group had the Joe Meek produced 1962 UK & US No.1 single ‘Telstar’, making them the first UK group to score a US No.1 single. Heinz had the 1963 solo hit ‘Just Like Eddie’, a tribute to Eddie Cochran, (which featured future Deep Purple guitarist Ritchie Blackmore). 
2001 Paul McCartney bought the four-bedroom Beverly Hills home of Courtney Love for $3.995m. The gated 1930’s house had its own swimming pool and 1.5 acres of land. 
2002 UK Pop Idol runner-up Gareth Gates was at No.1 on the UK singles chart with his version of ‘Unchained Melody.’ Making Gates the seventh act to have a Top 40 hit with the song. Jennifer Lopez was at No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘Ain’t It Funny.’ And Celine Dion had the UK & US No.1 album ‘A New Day Has Come. 
2003 Avril Lavigne dominated Canada’s national music awards the Junos, winning four prizes including best single, album and new artist. Shania Twain who hosted the show won three awards. Best group went to Sum 41. 
2008 Feist won five prizes, including album of the year at the Junos, Canada’s top music awards. The Canadian singer-songwriter won single of the year for ‘1234’, album and pop album for The Reminder, as well as artist and songwriter of the year. 
2013 Andy Johns, the veteran producer and engineer who worked on classic albums by Led Zeppelin, (Led Zeppelin II and all albums through to Physical Graffiti), the Rolling Stones, (Sticky Fingers, Exile On Main Street), Jimi Hendrix, Van Halen and many others, died at the age of 61. 
2015 The original manuscript of Don McLean’s American Pie sold for $1.2m (£806,000) at a New York auction. The 16-page draft had been expected to fetch as much as $1.5m (£1m) at the Christie’s sale. McLean said writing the song was “a mystical trip into his past”. 
2016 American singer, songwriter, and guitarist Jimmie Van Zant died in a hospice in Florida after several years of treatment for liver cancer. He began playing guitar and piano as a child, mentored by his cousin Ronnie Van Zant, but largely gave up music until the 1977 plane crash in which Ronnie, the founder and lead singer of Lynyrd Skynyrd, was killed. He then then took up a career playing Southern rock music. 
2016 Bruce Springsteen cancelled a concert in North Carolina, joining business groups in condemning a state law that rolled back protection for gay and transgender people. In a statement Springsteen said, “Some things are more important than a rock show and this fight against prejudice and bigotry which is happening as I write is one of them.”