Births
1904 Fats Waller, US blues singer, died 15th December 1943.
1941 Ronald Isley, The Isley Brothers, (1968 UK No.3 single 'This Old Heart Of Mine', 1969 US No.2 single 'It's Your Thing').
1943 Hilton Valentine, guitar, The Animals, (1964 UK & US No.1 single 'House Of The Rising Sun').
1943 John Dalton, The Kinks, (1964 UK No.1 & US No.7 'You Really Got Me', 1967 UK No.2 single 'Waterloo Sunset' plus 19 other UK Top 40 singles).
1943 Vincent Crane, keyboards, The Crazy world of Arthur Brown, (1968 UK No.1 and US No.12 single 'Fire'), Atomic Rooster, (1971 UK No.4 single 'The Devil's Answer'). He died on 14th February 1989.
1948 Leo Sayer, (1977 UK & US No.1 single 'When I Need You', the Chrysalis record label's first No.1, plus 13 other UK Top 40 singles).
1955 Stan Lynch, drums, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers,(1977 single 'American Girl', 1989 UK No.28 single 'I Won't Back Down', 1991 UK No.3 album 'Into The Great Wide Open').
1958 Mike Barson, keyboards, Madness, (1982 UK No.1 single 'House Of Fun' & over 20 other Top 40 UK hit singles).
1963 Kevin Shields, My Bloody Valentine, (1991 UK No.29 single 'To Here Knows When').
1963 Tim Lever, Dead Or Alive, (1985 UK No.1 single 'You Spin Me Round (Like A Record').
1964 Martin Blunt, bass, The Charlatans, (1990 UK No.9 single 'The Only One I Know', 1996 UK No.3 single 'One To Another', plus 3 UK No.1 albums).
1972 The Notorious B.I.G. (aka Biggie Smalls, aka Christopher G. Wallace). Gunned down on the streets of Los Angeles on 9th March 1997 aged 24. (1995 UK No.34 single 'One More Chance', 1997 US No.1 single 'Hypnotize').
1975 Lee Gaze, guitarist, Lostprophets, (2004 UK No.8 single ‘Last Train Home’, 2006 UK No.1 album ‘Liberation Transmission’).
1978 Adam Wade Gontier, lead singer and guitarist of Three Days Grace.
1985 Mutya Buena, singer, Sugababes, (2002 UK No.1 single, 'Round Round', 2002 UK No.2 album 'Angels With Dirty Faces'). Quit the group in Dec 2005.
Deaths
2001 Producer and arranger Tommy Eyre died of cancer aged 51. Worked with George Harrison, Wham! Dusty Springfield, Joe Cocker and BB King.
Events
1955 Eddie Calvert was at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White.' Also a No.1 for Perez Prado in the same year.
1964 The Four Pennies were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Juliet'. The groups only UK No.1.
1966 The Mamas And The Papas went to No.1 on the US album chart with 'If You Can Believe Your Eyes And Ears.'
1968 Rolling Stone Brian Jones appeared at Great Marlborough Street Magistrates court, London on a charge of possession of marijuana and was released on ?200 bail.
1968 Brian Jones (Rolling Stones) was arrested for a second time for possession of cannabis in his London apartment.
1968 Pete Townshend of The Who married dress designer Karen Astley.
1969 John Lennon and Yoko Ono began a ten-day "bed-in" in Montreal's Queen Elizabeth Hotel.
1970 Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young recorded "Ohio."
1971 Paul McCartney released "Ram."
1971 UK rock group Free announced they were splitting up.
1974 Two would-be concert promoters were arrested by police in America on fraud charges in connection with selling mail order tickets for a forthcoming Elten John show. (Elten with an E and not an O). Police took away over $12,000 in cheques.
1977 Rod Stewart has his 4th UK No.1 single with the double a side 'I Don't Want To Talk About It / First Cut Is The Deepest'.
1977 Stevie Wonder started a 3 week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with his tribute to Duke Ellington, 'Sir Duke', his 6th US No.1, it made No.2 in the UK.
1979 Elton John started a tour of Russia, the first Western star ever to do so.
1980 Five Jimi Hendrix Gold discs were stolen from The Electric Ladyland Studios, California.
1980 Joe Strummer of The Clash was arrested at a much troubled gig in Hamburg, Germany, after smashing his guitar over the head of a member of the audience, he was released after an alcohol test proved negative.
1981 Appearing at The Rainbow, London, England, The Undertones.
1982 The world famous Hacienda Club was opened in Manchester. Home to the Madchester scene in the late 80's, it closed in 1997.
1983 David Bowie went to No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Let's Dance', his 2nd US No.1, also a No.1 in the UK.
1983 Michael Jacksons album 'Thriller' went Back to No.1 for the third time on the UK charts and stayed at the top for another 5 weeks.
1985 Marvin Gaye's "Dream of a Lifetime" was released. It was his last album.
1988 Prince scored his first UK No.1 album with 'Lovesexy'.
1988 Wet Wet Wet and Billy Bragg had a No.1 with two Beatles songs, recorded for the Child Line charity, 'With A Little Help From My Friends' and 'She's Leaving Home'.
1991 Wedding Present kicked off a 6-date UK tour at Nottingham Marcus Garvey Centre, with support band Buffalo Tom.
1994 Robert Reynolds of The Mavericks married country singer Trish Yearwood.
1994 All-4-One started a 11 week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'I Swear', a No.2 hit in the UK. The song had been a No.1 country hit for John Montgomery in 1994.
1994 Manchester United Football Club scored a UK No.1 single with 'Come On You Reds'.
1994 The Wonder Stuff announced that they were splitting up, the bands Phoenix Festival show in July would be their last.
1994 Tim McGraw started a two-week run at No.1 on the US album chart with 'Not A Moment Too Soon.'
2000 Billie Piper went to No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Day & Night.'
2000 Whitney Houston started a two-week run at No.1 on the UK album chart with 'The Greatest Hits.'
2003 Mariah Carey hit back at Eminem's threats to sample the slushy voicemail messages she left on his mobile. Carey described the rapper as "a little girl" saying it's "like dealing with a girlfriend in 7th grade, and he shouldn't do it because it'll get him in a bit of trouble with her lawyers."
2003 Soul singer James Brown was pardoned for his past crimes in the US state of South Carolina. Brown had served a two-and-a-half-year prison term after an arrest on drug and assault charges in 1988 was granted a pardon by the State Department of Probation, Parole and Pardon Services. Brown, who appeared before the board, sang 'God Bless America' after the decision.
2005 Former East 17 singer Brian Harvey was rushed to hospital following his second suicide bid in a month. The singer battled wit police outside his house after taking an overdose of sleeping pills.
2007 Former singer with Creed, Scott Stapp was arrested at his Florida home and charged with assault. The 33-year-old was held without bail following the charges, which related to a domestic assault.
