1885 Chichester Bell and Charles Tainter applied for a patent on their invention the gramophone.
1925 Doc Pomus (Jerome Felder) born in Brooklyn, New York. US songwriter. Wrote many early 60’s hits with Mort Shuman including, ‘Sweets For My Sweet’, ‘Teenager In Love’, ‘Save The Last Dance For Me’, ‘His Latest Flame’, ‘Viva Las Vegas’, ‘Suspicion”, “Litle Sister’. Pomus was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a non-performer in 1992,the Songwriters Hall of Fame (1992),[3] and the Blues Hall of Fame (2012). He died on March 14, 1991 from lung cancer, at the age of 65 at NYU medical center in Manhattan.
1944 Frank Mills born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Canadian Musician. He had a hit in 1979 with the instrumental ‘Music Box Dancer’.
1944 Bruce Johnston (Billy Baldwin) born in Chicago, IIIinois. He formed the Rip Chords with Terry Melcher, son of Doris Day. He joined the Beach Boys in 1965 when Brian stopped touring. He left in 1972 but rejoined them in 1978. He wrote the Barry Manilow hit ‘I Write The Songs’.
1951 Gilson Lavis born in Bedord, England. Drumer with UK Squeeze, (1979 UK No.2 single ‘Up The Junction’).
1954 David Whitfield featuring Mantovani were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘Cara Mia’. The song spent ten weeks at No.1.
1956 At Master Recorders in Hollywood, Fats Domino records “Blueberry Hill,” a song popularized by Gene Autry in 1940. Domino’s version, with his famous piano intro, becomes his biggest hit and the definitive version of the song.
1958 Lisa Germano born in Mishawaka, Indiana. American singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, 1994 album ‘Geek the Girl.’ Also worked with John Mellencamp, Simple Minds, David Bowie, Neil Finn, Sheryl Crow, Iggy Pop, Jewel and Eels.
1959 Country singer Lorrie Morgan is born Loretta Lynn Morgan in Nashville, Tennessee. Her dad is country singer George Morgan.
1960 Connie Francis started a two-week run at No.1 on the US chart with ‘Everybody’s Fool’, a No.5 hit in the UK.
1962 Michael Ball born in Bromsgrove, Worcestershire. UK singer, (1989 UK No.2 single ‘Love Changes Everything’).
1964 Peter and Gordon went to No.1 on the US singles chart with the Lennon & McCartney song ‘A World Without Love’, also a No.1 in the UK. Peter Asher went on to become James Taylor and Linda Ronstadt’s manager.
1964 Jan & Dean’s hit ‘Little Old Lady From Pasadena’ was released.
1966 Eve Von Bibra born in Melbourne, Victoria. Vocalist with the Australian Band The Chantoozies.
1967 Mick Jagger was found guilty of illegal possession of two drugs found in his jacket at a party given by Keith Richards. He was remanded overnight at Lewes jail, England (prison number 7856). Jagger requested books on Tibet and modern art and two packs of Benson & Hedges cigarettes.
1967 The Doors appeared at The Paramount Theatre Brooklyn, New York. The Brooklyn Paramount became an early home of rock ‘n’ roll, with Alan Freed’s rock ‘n’ roll shows playing at the theater. It also helped introduce Brooklyn to jazz, with artists like Dizzy Gillespie, Ella Fitzgerald, Miles Davis and Duke Ellington.
1968 Elvis Presley appeared on an NBC TV show that was billed as his “comeback special”. The show featured the king performing on a small, square stage, surrounded by a mostly female audience. Presley was outfitted in black leather and performed many of his early hits.
1968 Working at Abbey Road studios in London The Beatles recorded seven takes of ‘Everybody’s Got Something to Hide Except Me and My Monkey’ for their forthcoming White album.
1969 The Moody Blues, Colosseum, Bob Kerr’s Whoopee Band and Orange Bicycle all appeared at Exeter University Summer Ball, in Exeter, England
1970 Laurence Colbert – Drummer with Ride, (1992 UK No.9 single ‘Leave Them All Behind’).
1970 “The Wonder Of You” by Elvis Presley peaked at #9 on the US singles chart.
1970 The Jackson Five started a two week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘The Love You Save’, the group’s third No.1 of the year, it made No.7 in the UK.
1970 “El Condor Pasa” by Simon And Garfunkel peaked at #1 on the U.K. pop singles chart.
1970 “Hitchin’ A Ride” by Vanity Fare peaked at #5 on the US singles chart.
1970 “Ball Of Confusion (That’s What The World Is Today)” by Temptations peaked at #3 on the US singles chart.
1970 The 3-day Bath Festival of Blues and Progressive Music in Bath, England took place. The line-up included, Santana, The Flock, Led Zeppelin (headlining act), Hot Tuna, Country Joe McDonald, Colosseum, Jefferson Airplane (set aborted), The Byrds (acoustic set), Dr. John, Frank Zappa & the Mothers of Invention, Canned Heat, It’s a Beautiful Day, Steppenwolf, Johnny Winter, John Mayall with Peter Green, Pink Floyd, (who premiered their new suite, “Atom Heart Mother”, which at that time was announced as the “Amazing Pudding”), Pentangle, Fairport Convention, and Keef Hartley.
1970 During a North American tour Jimi Hendrix appeared at Boston Garden, Boston, Massachusetts.
1970 The Trans-Continental Pop Festival (better known as the Festival Express) set off. The tour was unique in that rather than flying to each city, most of the acts travelled on a chartered CN train. The Grateful Dead, Janis Joplin, The Band, The Flying Burrito Brothers and Buddy Guy Blues Band all travelled together on the train playing shows in Toronto, Winnipeg, Saskatoon and Calgary.
1970 Freddie Mercury made his live debut with Smile (guitarist Brian May and drummer Roger Taylors’ group) at Truro City Hall, Cornwall, England.
1971 New York City’s Fillmore East concert hall closes. The Allman Brothers Band, Edgar Winter, Country Joe McDonald and the Fish and The Beach Boys are on the bill for the last show
1975 Fandango becomes ZZ Top’s second gold album
1976 Leigh Nash born in New Braunfels, Texas. Lead Singer with Sixpence None The Richer, (1999 UK No.4 single, ‘Kiss Me’, 1999 US No.8 single ‘There She Goes’).
1976 John Lennon receives his “green card” from the US Department of Naturalization.
1978 Bonnie Tyler’s voice on “It’s a Heartache” is compared and sometimes mistaken to be Rod Stewart’s. The hubub helps turn the single into a hit!!
1980 Three songs into Led Zeppelin’s concert in Nuremberg, drummer John Bonham collapses while beating out the rhythm to “Black Dog” and is rushed to the hospital, abruptly ending the show. Robert Plant jokes that he ate too many bananas before the show, but alcohol is the likely culprit. In September, Bonham dies after a night of drinking.
1981 Michael Jackson had his first solo UK No.1 with ‘One Day In Your Life’ a song recorded by Jackson for his 1975 album, Forever, Michael.
1981 The album, “Hi Fidelity”, by REO Speedwagon was replaced at number one this day by the LP, “Mistaken Identity”, by singer, Kim Carnes including ‘Bette Davis Eyes’ & ‘Draw Of The Cards’. “Hi Fidelity” had been number one on the album charts for 14 weeks.It included ‘Take It On The Run’ & ‘Keep On Loving You’.
1981 “Bette Davis Eyes” by Kim Carnes returned to the #1 slot on the pop singles chart to complete her nine-week stay.
1981 Motorhead scored their only UK No.1 album with ‘No Sleep Til Hammersmith’. The live album was recorded at Leeds and Newcastle shows during their Short, Sharp Pain In The Neck tour in 1981. The name of the tour was a reference to the injury sustained by Phil Taylor when he was dropped on his head during some after-show horseplay. Despite the title of the album, the London venue the Hammersmith Odeon was not played on the tour.
1983 Evan David Taubenfeld born in Baltimore, Maryland. Guitarist and Singer with Avril Lavigne and The Black List Club.
1983 “Let’s Dance” album by David Bowie was certified Platinum by the RIAA. Including ‘Modern Love’, ‘China Girl’, ‘Under Pressure’, & ‘Cat People’.
1987 Whitney Houston became the first women in US history to enter the album chart at No.1 with ‘Whitney’ she also became the first woman to top the singles chart with four consecutive releases when ‘I Wanna Dance With Somebody’ hit No.1.
1987 Madonna played the first date on the North American leg of her Who’s That Girl World Tour at the Miami Orange Bowl, Miami, Florida. The 39 date tour supported her third studio album, True Blue (1986), as well as the soundtrack Who’s That Girl.
1987 Whitney Houston became the first women in US history to enter the album chart at No.1 with ‘Whitney’ she also became the first woman to top the singles chart with four consecutive releases when ‘I Wanna Dance With Somebody’ hit No.1.
1987 “Lessons In Love” by Level 42 peaked at #12 on the US singles chart.
1987 “In Too Deep” by Genesis peaked at #3 on the US singles chart.
1987 “Endless Nights” by Eddie Money peaked at #21 on the US singles chart.
1987 “Sweet Sixteen” by Billy Idol peaked at #20 on the US singles chart.
1988 The Fat Boys filed a $5 million (£2.94 million) lawsuit against The Miller Beer Company following a TV commercial featuring three overweight rappers clad in Fat Boys-style Davy Crockett hats.
1989 Tom Jones was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame.
1989 “Spike” album by Elvis Costello was certified Gold by the RIAA. It included the hit single ‘Veronica’.
1991 Carlos Santana was arrested at Houston Airport when officials found Cannabis in his luggage.
1992 “Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover” by Sophie B. Hawkins peaked at #5 on the US singles chart.
1992 “Hold On To My Heart” by Genesis peaked at #12 on the US singles chart.
1992 “Do It To Me” by Lionel Richie peaked at #21 on the US singles chart.
1992 Michael Jackson played the first night on his Dangerous World tour at the Olympic Stadium in Munich, Germany. The tour consisted of 69 concerts to approximately 3.9 million fans across three continents. All profits made from the tour were donated to various charities including the Heal the World Foundation, Jackson’s main reason for conducting the tour.
1993 Singer Lyle Lovett marries actress Julia Roberts in Marion, Ind. They announce a divorce almost two years later. Lovett and Roberts met while filming the 1992 movie “The Player.”
1994 Aerosmith became the first major band to let fans download a full new track free from the internet.
1996 Fugees headline the “Hoodshock” festival in Harlem, which the group organized as a free event to encourage voter registration. The Notorious B.I.G., Sean “Puffy” Combs and Wu-Tang Clan also perform, but the event makes headlines for a panic set off at the end of the festival when a man fires gunshots into the air. In the chaos, about 30 people are injured.
1997 Radiohead, Cast, The Bluetones, Manson, The Chemical Brothers, Ash, The Seahorses, Smashing Pumpkins, The Prodigy, Beck, Sheryl Crow, Sting, Dodgy, Travis, Ray Davies, Kula Shaker, Steve Winwood all appeared at the 3-day Glastonbury Festival.
1998 After spending 30 weeks on the UK album chart The Corrs went to No.1 with ‘Talk On Corners’. It went on to be the best selling UK album of 1998 spending 142 weeks on the chart.
1998 Anne Murray, Gordon Lightfoot and Bryan Adams each officially received a granite star on Canada’s Walk of Fame, on King Street in Toronto. They were the first three pop artists to be honoured into the newly recognized group of Canadian stars.
1998 After spending 30 weeks on the chart The Corrs went to No.1 on the UK album chart with ‘Talk On Corners’.
1999 Brian O’Hara, singer and guitarist with The Fourmost hung himself aged 56. The Liverpool group who were managed by Brian Epstein had the 1964 UK No.6 single ‘A Little Loving’.
2000 Following months of speculation, ex-Take That star Gary Barlow was dropped by his record label. A RCA spokesperson said the decision was made by ‘mutual consent’.
2002 One day before the scheduled first show of The Who’s 2002 US tour, bass player John Entwistle, died aged 57 in his hotel room at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. Entwistle had gone to bed that night with a stripper, who woke at 10am to find Entwistle cold and unresponsive. The Las Vegas medical examiner determined that death was due to a heart attack induced by an undetermined amount of cocaine.
2003 R.E.M. David Gray, Suede, The Music, Mogwai, De La Soul, Echo and The Bunnymen, Inspiral Carpets and The Darkness all appeared at this years UK Glastonbury Festival.
2003 Rapper Mystikal pleaded guilty to charges that he forced his hairstylist to perform sex acts on him and two bodyguards. Mystikal, (real name Michael Tyler), had been charged with aggravated rape. He agreed to plead guilty and was sentenced to five years’ probation.
2004 Beastie Boys were at No.1 on the US album chart with ‘To The 5 Boroughs’ the rappers fourth US No.1. Mike Skinner scored his first UK No.1 album when The Streets album ‘A Grand Don’t Come For Free’ went to the top of the charts.
2006 Eileen Barton, known for her 1950 hit “If I Knew You Were Comin’ I’d’ve Baked A Cake,” dies of ovarian cancer at age 81.
2008 Kings of Leon, The Fratellis, Editors, The Gossip, The Feeling, KT Tunstall, Kate Nash, Jay Z, Amy Winehouse, The Raconteurs, James Blunt, Crowded House, Seasick Steve, Martha Wainwright, The Verve, Leonard Cohen, The Ting Tings, Goldfrapp, Neil Diamond, Pete Doherty, Scouting for Girls, Mark Ronson, Duffy, The Zutons, Groove Armada and John Mayer all appeared at this years 3 day UK Glastonbury Festival.
2009 Fayette Pinkey died of acute respiratory failure after a short and sudden illness at the age of 61.She was an American singer and one of the original members of musical group The Three Degrees.
2009 Black Eyed Peas went to No.1 on the US album charts with ‘The E.N.D.’ the group’s fifth studio album. The album’s lead single, ‘Boom Boom Pow’ topped the Billboard Hot 100 for 12 consecutive weeks, the second single, ‘I Gotta Feeling’ replaced ‘Boom’ and spent 14 weeks at No.1. giving the group 26 consecutive weeks at the top of the charts.
2009 Neil Young performs in London’s Hyde Park. He is joined on stage by Paul McCartney for a duet of “A Day In The Life.”
2009 Gale Storm, ’50s pop singer and actress who starred in the TV shows My Little Margie and The Gale Storm Show, dies at age 87.
2009 Canadian blues musician Jackie Washington dies at age 89.
2012 The chief medical officer of Russia said that The Beatles were to blame for the country’s drug problem. Yevgeny Bryun, the nation’s medical chief, said that the country’s youth first got introduced to the idea of drug-taking when The Beatles traveled to India to “expand their minds”. Bryun added that it was after this news entered public consciousness that people in Russia realised you could make money from the sale of drugs. When business then realised it was possible to make money from this, goods associated with pleasure, that was when the growth in the demand for drugs started.”
2012 Rihanna is very lucky to escape with her life after being among 300 people evacuated from a motel during a fire in an elevator shaft. It takes ten firefighters to put out the resulting blaze at the Corinthia Hotel in London, where Rihanna was performing at the Hackney Weekend concert.
2014 R&B/soul singer Bobby Womack dies of cancer at age 70.
2015 Chris Squire, the bass guitarist and co-founder of 1970s British progressive rock band Yes, died at the age of 67 after battling leukemia. He was the only member to appear on each of their 21 studio albums, released from 1969 to 2014.
2016 Mack Rice, the composer who wrote ‘Mustang Sally’ died in Detroit at the age of 82. Rice originally recorded ‘Mustang Sally’ himself in 1965, but the song was not initially a hit. It became a chart success two years later, after Rice’s former Falcons bandmate Wilson Pickett asked if he could record it. Rice was also known for co-writing one of the Staple Singers’ biggest hits, ‘Respect Yourself’.
2018 Barry Gibb of Bee Gees is knighted by Prince Charles at Buckingham Palace