On This Day In Music 15th July

1940 Johnny Sea born in Gulfport, Mississippi. US Country Singer/Guitarist. In 1966 he had a hit with ‘Day For Decision’, the answer. He died May 14, 2016, when his single-engine plane clipped a cell telephone tower wire and crashed near West, Texas.
1944 Millie Jackson is born in Thompson, Ga. She works as a professional model in New York City and makes her singing debut at Club Zanzibar in Hoboken, N.J., in 1964. Her biggest hits are “Ask Me What You Want” and “Hurts So Good.” Both reach the top five
1945 Peter Lewis born in Los Angeles,California. Moby Grape, (1967 US No.124 album ‘Moby Grape’). 
1946 Linda Ronstadt born in Tucson, Arizona. US singer, songwriter, She began as lead singer of the Stone Poneys. (1975 US No.1 single ‘You’re No Good’, 1989 UK No.2 single with Aaron Neville, ‘Don’t Know Much’ plus over 15 other US Top 40 hits). She retired in 2011 and was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in December 2012, which left her unable to sing.
1947 Peter Bank. He was the original guitarist of the progressive rock band Yes.(1968-70), and Flash. After playing with bassist Chris Squire in the Syn, Banks and Squire helped form Yes in 1968. Banks died of heart failure on 7 March 2013 at his home in Barnet, London. He was reportedly found after failing to show up for a scheduled recording session. He was 65.
1948 Artimus Pyle – US Drummer with Lynyrd Skynyrd and Atlanta Rhythm Section. (1974 US No. 8 single, ‘Sweet Home Alabama’, 1982 UK No.21 single ‘Freebird’). 
1948 Ian McCredie born in Partick, Glasgow. UK Guitarist & Flutist with Middle Of The Road. 
1949 Trevor Horn born in Durham, England. English Musician & Producer. He was one half of the duo The Buggles. (1979 UK No.1 single ‘Video Killed The Radio Star’), Yes, (1980-81), produced three UK No.1’s for Frankie Goes To Hollywood, ‘Relax’, ‘Two Tribes’, & ‘The Power Of Love’. 
1952 Jeff Carlisli – guitarist with 38 Special, (1982 US No.10 single ‘Caught Up In You’). 
1952 Johnny Thunders (John Genzale)born in Queens, New York. American rock and roll/punk rock guitarist, singer and songwriter. He came to prominence in the early 1970s as a member of the New York Dolls. He later played with The Heartbreakers and as a solo artist., 1973 album ‘New York Dolls’. Many rumors surround Thunders’ death at the St. Peter House in New Orleans, Louisiana, in April 1991. He apparently died of drug-related causes, but it has been speculated that it was the result of foul play. According to the autobiography Lobotomy: Surviving The Ramones, Dee Dee Ramone took a call in New York the next day from Stevie Klasson, Johnny’s rhythm guitar player. “They told me that Johnny had gotten mixed up with some bastards… who ripped him off for his methadone supply. They had given him LSD and then murdered him. He had gotten a pretty large supply of methadone in England, so he could travel and stay away from those creeps – the drug dealers, Thunders imitators, and losers like that.”
1953 Alicia Bridges born in Atlanta, Georgia. US singer, (1978 US No.5 & UK No. 32 single ‘I Love The Night Life’). 
1956 Ian Curtis born in Stretford, Lancashire. Vocalist with UK Group Joy Division, (1980 UK No.13 single ‘Love Will Tear Us Apart’).Curtis hanged himself in the kitchen of his house in Macclesfield, England on 18th May 1980 at the age of 23. Curtis had the Iggy Pop album ‘The Idiot’, playing on his stereo and left a note that said, ‘At this very moment, I wish I were dead. I Just can’t cope anymore.’
1956 The Teenagers featuring Frankie Lymon were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘Why Do Fools Fall In Love’. A No.6 hit in the US. At 13, Lymon was the youngest performer to make No.1. 
1958 John Lennon’s mother Julia was killed by a car driven by an off-duty drunken police officer named Eric Clague (Clague was later acquitted of the offence). John was 17 at the time. 
1965 This weeks US Top three singles, No.3 The Byrds, ‘Mr Tambourine Man’, No.2 The Four Tops, ‘I Can’t Help Myself’ and at No.1 The Rolling Stones with (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction. 
1966 Jason Bonham, drummer and son of Led Zeppelin drummer, John Bonham. As well as playing with Led Zeppelin, (at Atlantic Records 40th Anniversary concert and the 02 concert), Jason has worked with Jimmy Page (on his Outrider album), UFO, Foreigner, Steel Dragon, Damnocracy, Airrace, Virginia Wolf, Black Country Communion and Paul Rodgers. 
1966 David Bowie & the Buzz appeared at the Loughton Youth Centre, Loughton, England. 
1967 This week’s Top 5 UK albums; No.5, Fiddler On The Roof, Original Soundtrack, No.4, Are You Experienced, Jimi Hendrix, No.3, Sound Of Music, Soundtrack, No.2, Headquarters, The Monkees and No.1 The Beatles, Sgt Pepper’s. 
1967 The Doors and The Jefferson Airplane both played an afternoon and evening show to over 8,000 fans at Anaheim Convention Center, Anaheim, California. 
1972 Elton John started a five week run at No.1 on the US album chart with ‘Honky Chateau’, his first US chart topper. 
1972 Roy Wood left Electric Light Orchestra to form Wizzard. 
1973 John Dolmayan born in Beirut, Lebanon. Drummer with System of a Down. (2001 US No.1 & UK No.13 album ‘Toxicity’, 2005 US No.1 & UK No.2 album ‘Mezmerize’). 
1973 The Edgar Winter Group, Sly & The Family Stone, Canned Heat, Lindisfarne and The Kinks all appear at The Great Western Express festival at White City, west London. With his wife having recently walked out of their marriage, taking their young children with her, Ray Davies of The Kinks announces from the stage that he is sick of the whole thing and is retiring. He then walks into a local hospital and collapses from an overdose of tranquillizers. 
1977 Ray Toro, lead guitar, My Chemical Romance, (2006 UK No.1 single ‘Welcome to the Black Parade’, 2006 US No.2 album ‘The Black Parade’). 
1978 The Rolling Stones started a two-week run at No.1 on the US album chart with ‘Some Girls’, the group’s seventh US No.1 album. The cover designed by Peter Corriston, featured The Rolling Stones in garish drag alongside select female celebrities and lingerie ads. The cover immediately ran into trouble when Lucille Ball, Farrah Fawcett, Liza Minnelli (representing her mother Judy Garland), Raquel Welch, and the estate of Marilyn Monroe who all threatened legal action. 
1978 Bob Dylan with special guest Eric Clapton, Joan Armatrading and Graham Parker all appeared at Blackbushe Aerodrome, Surrey, England. Reputedly this was the biggest ever UK audience for Bob Dylan, with over 200,000 fans attending. 
1982 Bill Justis- US Saxophonist (Died) Born 14th October, 1926. 
1985 Nude photos of Madonna taken in 1977 appeared in this months Playboy and Penthouse Magazines. 
1989 Simply Red scored their second US No.1 single with ‘If You Don’t Know Me By Now’, a 1973 UK hit for Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes. 
1989 Soul II Soul went to No.1 on the UK album chart with their debut release ‘Club Classics Volume One’. 
1989 Pink Floyd appeared in Canal di San Marco, Piazza San Marco, Venice, Italy on a floating stage. Over 200,000 people attended the gig (almost double the number authorities had planned for) causing damage to buildings and bridges. The cleaning of the area after the concert was said to be around £25,000 and the concert was broadcast live on TV to over 20 countries with an estimated audience of almost 100 million. Two Venice councillors were later ordered to stand trial for the costs incurred by the concert. 
1990 Olly Alexander, actor and lead singer of Years & Years who scored the 2015 UK No.1 single ‘King’, 
1990 Troy Dixon from Heavy D and The Boyz died in an accidental fall. 
1990 Buster Noble, Australian Entertainer, died aged 77. 
1990 Singer and bandleader Bobby Day dies of cancer at the age of 60. His recordings included “Rockin’ Robin” and “Little Bitty Pretty One.”. Born July 1st, 1932.
1990 Olly Alexander, actor and lead singer of Years & Years who scored the 2015 UK No.1 single ‘King’, 
1994 Wet Wet Wet were enjoying their sixth week at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘Love Is All Around’. It went on to spend a total of 15 weeks at No.1. 
1997 Ary Groenhuijzen, keyboard player with US 50’s group The Teddy Bears died. (1958 US No.1 single ‘To Know Him, Is To Love Him’). 
1998 Aerosmith were forced to cancel a forthcoming US tour after Joey Kramer was involved in a freak accident. The drummer’s car set on fire and was completely destroyed as he was filling up with petrol. He was admitted to hospital with second-degree burns. 
2000 An Oasis fan was killed when he tried to walk home along the M61 motorway in Manchester, England after Oasis had played a sold-out gig at The Reebok stadium. 
2000 A Manchester judge reprimanded Happy Mondays singer Shaun Ryder after he turned up a day late in court to give evidence. Ryder told the court he had been on ‘a bender’. A man was cleared of dangerous driving and assaulting Ryder. 
2001 Usher went to No.1 on the UK album chart with ‘8701’. 
2002 Sir Paul McCartney was named the highest-earning music star of the year so far after selling tickets worth £33.9m during his recent US tour. 
2004 U2 called in police after thieves nicked a copy of the bands latest album ‘Vertigo’. The CD was stolen during a photo shoot with the band in the south of France. javascript:void(0)
2005 Victor Edward Willis, the original policeman in the Village People, was arrested after police found a gun and drugs in his convertible in Daly City, south of San Francisco. Willis also had an outstanding $15,000 felony warrant for possession of narcotics. javascript:void(0)
2007 The UK music industry reacted angrily at a decision to give away ‘Planet Earth’ the new album by Prince as a ‘covermount’ with the Mail on Sunday newspaper. The 10-track CD was not due to be released in stores until 24 July. Stephen Miron, the newspaper’s managing director, said: “No one has done this before. We have always given away CDs and DVDs, but this is just setting a new level.”
2007 Over 10,000 people applied for a job with P Diddy after the rapper posted an advert on Youtube looking to find a new personal assistant. He warned applicants that the job would be far from easy and would involve everything from getting him ready for the red carpet to aiding in billion dollar deals to helping him jump out of planes in movies.
2007 The Enemy went to No.1 on the UK album chart with their debut album ‘We’ll Live And Die In These Towns.’
2012 Queen were crowned top of the patriotic pops in a survey of 100,000 music fans. The band’s anthem We Are The Champions was named number one by fans who were asked what song made them proud to be British. The track, which got to number two in 1977, picked up 13,000 votes in the survey carried out among users of the Lucky Voice website. It was followed by the Oasis hit Wonderwall which was nominated by 11,000 karaoke singers and then Let It Be by The Beatles which got 10,000 votes. Elton John’s Candle In The Wind and London Calling by The Clash rounded off the top five. 
2015 A judge trimmed more than $1m (£639,000) from the damages Pharrell Williams was ordered to pay after the Blurred Lines copyright trial. The case revolved around the question of whether Williams and his co-writer Robin Thicke had copied Marvin Gaye’s 1977 hit ‘Got To Give It Up’. The judge also gave Gaye’s family a 50% cut of future earnings from the song. 
2015 The Los Angeles home of US singer Chris Brown was raided and ransacked by three masked men who locked his aunt in a closet. Officials said the suspects, who were armed with handguns, got away from the Tarzana property with an unknown amount of money and some personal items. 
2015 Robbie Williams made a surprise appearance at an auction selling some of his memorabilia for charity. The singer took control of the gavel as 150 items, including handwritten lyrics and bespoke suits, went under the hammer for a Staffordshire hospice. The auction raised over £120,000, ($177,300).