Births
1918 Composer, pianist, conductor, Leonard Bernstein. Composed music for 1957 'West Side Story', 'On The Waterfront', conducted the New York Philharmonic aged 25. Died on 14th October 1990.
1933 Wayne Shorter, saxophonist, Miles Davis, Weather Report, (1976 single 'Birdland', 1977 album Heavy Weather').
1942 Walter Williams, The O'Jays, (1973 US No.1 & UK No.9 single 'Love Train').
1949 Gene Simmons bass, vocals, Kiss, (1974 US No.5 single 'On And On', 1976 US No 11 album 'Rock and Roll Over', spent 26 weeks on the chart. 1987 UK No.4 single 'Crazy Crazy Nights').
1950 Willy DeVille, Mink DeVille, (1977 UK No.20 single 'Spanish Stroll').
1951 James Warren, The Korgis, (1980 UK No.5 single 'Everybody's Got To Learn Sometime').
1951 Rob Halford, Judas Priest, (1980 UK No.12 single 'Living After Midnight', 1980 UK No.4 album 'British Steel').
1955 Elvis Costello, (Declan McManus), singer, songwriter, 1979 UK No.2 single with The Attractions 'Olivers Army'. 1979 UK No.2 album Armed Forces spent 28 weeks on the chart, plus over 15 other UK Top 40 hits and 13 US Top 40 albums.
1961 Billy Ray Cyrus, US singer, (1992 UK No.3 single 'Achy Breaky Heart', 17 week run at No.1 on the US album chart in 1992 with 'Some Gave All').
1962 Vivian Campbell, Guitarist, Dio, Whitesnake, Def Leppard.
1963 Candida Doyle, Pulp, (1995 UK No.2 single 'Common People').
1965 Erik Dahlgren, drummer, The Wannadies, (1996 UK No. 18 single, 'You And Me Song').
1966 Norman Rogers, Public Enemy, (1988 UK No.18 single 'Don't Believe The Hype').
1969 Luke Scott, Babybird, (1996 UK No.3 single 'You're Gorgeous', 1996 UK No. 9 album 'Ugly Beautiful').
1987 Amy MacDonald, Scottish singer/songwriter. (2008 UK No.1 with her debut album 'This Is the Life').
1988 Ray Quinn, English actor and singer, runner-up to Leona Lewis in the third series of ITV talent show The X Factor, (2007 UK No.1 album 'Doing It My Way').
Deaths
1987 Hip hop star Scott la Rock was shot dead in New York, the latest victim in the Brooklyn / Bronx street war.
1993 22-year-old Philip Woldemariam was shot in Los Angeles and Snoop Doggy Dogg was charged with first-degree murder as an accomplice. Dogg's bodyguard, McKinley Lee, was charged with first-degree murder. Lee and Dogg said the shooting was in self-defense after Woldemariam pulled a gun.
1995 Dwayne Goettel (Skinny Puppy) was found dead of an apparent heroine overdose at the home of his parents in Canada.
1995 Bass player Doug Stegmeyer shot himself dead. Worked with Billy Joel Hall and Oates and The Carpenters.
1999 Robert Fisher from Climie Fisher died of cancer. They scored the 1988 UK No.2 single 'Love Changes Everything' and wrote songs for Rod Stewart, Milli Vanilli, Fleetwood Mac and Jermaine Jackson.
2000 Producer Jack Nitzche died of a heart attack. Produced The Rolling Stones Neil Young and The Walker Brothers. Co-wrote, 'Up Where We Belong' and 'Needles And Pins.'
2001 In the Bahamas, Aaliyah and eight others were killed when their plane crashed in Marsh Harbor, in the Abacos islands of the northern Bahamas. The cause appeared to be engine failure due to the plane being overloaded.
Events
1941 Skinnay Ennis and his orchestra recorded the tune, "Don't Let Julia Fool Ya."
1957 Paul Anka was at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Diana' his only UK No.1 as an artist.
1960 The Shadows had their first UK No.1 single with 'Apache'.
1961 After playing a lunchtime gig at The Cavern Liverpool, The Beatles played aboard the Merseyside riverboat M.V.Royal Iris' supporting Acker Bilk and his Paramount Jazz Band. Tickets cost 8/6.
1962 Little Eva went to No.1 on the US singles chart with 'The Loco-motion'. The Carole King and Gerry Goffin song was offered to Dee Dee Sharp, (Mashed Potatoes), who turned it down. The writers had their baby-sitter record it who took it to No.1.
1967 Bobbie Gentry started a four week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Ode To Billy Joe', a No.13 hit in the UK.
1970 Emerson, Lake and Palmer made their world debut at Plymouth Guild Hall in Plymouth, England.
1970 Elton John made his first live appearance in the U.S. He opened for David Ackles at "The Troubadour" in Los Angeles, CA.
1970 A party was held to celebrate the official opening of 'Electric Ladyland Studios' in New York.
1973 The Allman Brothers' "Ramblin' Man" was released.
1973 Butch Trucks (Allman Brothers) broke a leg in a car crash in Macon, GA.
1973 Donny Osmond had his final UK No.1 single with 'Young Love'.
1973 One hit wonders Stories started a two week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Brother Louie'. The song was written by Hot Chocolate who had a No.7 hit with the song in the UK.
1975 Bruce Springsteen's album "Born to Run" was released.
1976 Boston released its self-titled debut album.
1979 Gary Numan released "Cars."
1979 25 years after his first UK No.1 single, Cliff Richard had his 10th chart topper with 'We Don't Talk Anymore'.
1979 The Knack started a five week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'My Sharona', the groups only US chart topper, it made No.6 in the UK.
1980 The Broadway musical "42nd Street" opened.
1982 The Time's second album "What Time Is It?" was released.
1984 The start of a two day festival at East Kilbride Country Park, Scotland featuring The Armoury Show, Fiction Factory, Nazareth and H20.
1984 'Thriller' the new video from Michael Jackson was aired for the first time on UK TV.
1986 Paul Simon's "Graceland" was released.
1989 Appearing at the three day Reading Festival in England, The Sugercubes, New Order, The Pogues, The Mission and The Wonder Stuff.
1990 'Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny Yellow Polka Dot Bikini' by Bombalurina was the UK No.1 single.
1994 A New York judge formally dissolved the marriage between Billy Joel and Christie Brinkley.
1994 Jimmy Buffett's plane flipped after taking off in Nantucket, MA. He swam to safety.
1994 Robert Plant and Jimmy Page reunited in a London studio to record their MTV "Unplugged" show. The show was called "Unledded."
1994 Take That kicked off a 36 date sold out UK tour with 3 nights at the SEC Glasgow. During the tour the group played 9 sold out nights at London's Wembley Arena.
1997 Various artists recorded "Make a Miracle" to help the children of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.
1997 A deranged man who had escaped from a mental institution near Helsinki Finland was arrested. The man had planned to set fire to the stage that Michael Jackson was performing from was arrested before he was able to light the gasoline he had put on the stage.
1998 Dolly Parton released the album "Hungry Again."
1999 Oasis bass player Paul McGuigan announced he had quit the band just a few days after guitarist Bonehead had also quit.
2000 It was announced that the Franklin Sullivan III (Survivor) would be asking a federal court in Chicago, IL, for a preliminary injunction against CBS Corp. and TVT Records LLC concerning the soon-to-be-released soundtrack from the CBS TV series "Survivor."
2002 Blazin Squad went to No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Crossroads.'
2002 Eva Cassidy went to No.1 on the UK album chart with 'Imagine', the singers second UK No.1 album.
2005 Two former members of Guns N' Roses were suing singer Axl Rose for allegedly naming himself sole administrator of the US rock band's copyrights. Slash and Duff - otherwise known as Saul Hudson and Michael McKagan, accused Rose of "arrogance and ego". The legal action claimed the singer "was no longer willing to acknowledge the contributions of his former partners".
2006 Aerosmith bassist Tom Hamilton was undergoing treatment for throat cancer causing him to sit out the first half of the band's Route of All Evil Tour, the first time he would miss any shows in the band's history. Longtime band friend David Hull filled in for Hamilton until his return.
