Births
1925 Jimmy Reed, blues singer, guitarist, 1964 UK No.45 single 'Shame Shame, Shame'. Wrote 'Big Boss Man', Bright Light's Big City'. Major influence on The Rolling Stones. Elvis Presley covered 'Baby What You Want Me To Do'. Reed died on 29th August 1976.
1940 Jackie Trent, singer, 1965 UK No.1 single 'Where Are You Now (My Love).
1942 Dave Bargerdon, Blood Sweat & Tears, (1969 US No.12 & UK No.35 single 'You've Made Me So Very Happy').
1944 Roger Waters, bass, vocals, Pink Floyd. Quit the band in 1985. (1973 US No.1 & UK No.2 album 'Dark Side Of The Moon' spent a record- breaking 741 weeks on the US chart. 1979 UK and US No.1 single 'Another Brick In The Wall, (part 2)'. Pink Floyd have sold over 200 million albums worldwide). Waters released four solo albums between 1984-1992.
1947 Sylvester James, singer, (1978 US No.36 & UK No. 8 single 'You Make Me Feel Mighty Real'). Died on 16th December 1988.
1948 Claydes Smith, Kool & The Gang, (1981 US No.1 & UK No.7 single 'Celebration', 1984 UK No.2 single 'Joanna', plus over 15 other Top 40 hits).
1954 Stella Barker, The Belle Stars, (1983 UK No.3 single 'Sign Of The Times).
1958 Buster Bloodvessel, Singer, Bad Manners (1981 UK No.3 single 'Can Can').
1961 Pal Waaktaam, A-Ha, (1985 US No.1 single 'Take On Me', 1986 UK No.1 single 'The Sun Always Shines On TV'). The first Norwegian group to score a UK and US No.1.
1961 Colin Ferrguson, H2o, (1983 UK No. 17 single 'Dream To Sleep').
1965 Terry Bickers, lead guitarist, House Of Love, (1990 UK No.20 single 'Shine On').
1967 William DuVall, singer, guitarist, songwriter, Comes With The Fall, Alice in Chains.
1969 Ce Ce Peniston, US singer, (1992 UK No.2 single 'Finally').
1969 Marc Anthony, US singer, songwriter, (2000 US No.2 single 'You Sang To Me').
1969 Paddy Boom, (Patrick Seacor), drums, Scissor Sisters, (2004 UK No.1 self-titled album, 2004 UK No. 12 single 'Laura').
1970 Cheyne Coates, Australian singer, Madison Avenue, (1999 Australian No.1 and 2000 UK No.1 single 'Don't Call Me Baby').
1971 Delores O'Riordan, singer, The Cranberries, (1994 UK No.14 single with 'Linger'). The bands 1993 album 'Everybody Else Is Doing It So Why Can't We' spent 86 weeks on the UK chart.
1973 Anika Noni Rose, Tony Award-winning American singer and actress. Appeared in the 2006 motion picture musical Dreamgirls.
1974 Nina Persson, vocals, The Cardigans, (1997 UK No.2 single 'Lovefool').
1980 Kerry Katona, singer, Atomic Kitten, (2000 UK No.1 single 'Whole Again'). Left the group in 2001.
Deaths
1978 Record producer Tom Wilson died. He worked with various US acts including Bob Dylan and Simon and Garfunkel.
1990 Tom Fogerty guitarist with Creedence Clearwater Revival died aged 49, due to complications from AIDS acquired during a blood transfusion.
1994 Session piano player Nicky Hopkins died. Worked with The Rolling Stones, Jeff Beck, The Beatles, The Who, Small Faces and Screaming Lord Sutch.
Events
1937 Benny Goodman and his orchestra recorded "Sugar Foot Stomp."
1953 Guy Mitchell was at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Look At That Girl'. Mitchell's second No.1 that year.
1957 The first flexi-disc record was produced and used in a promotion for a Nestle chocolate bar.
1958 Georgia Gibbs sang "The Hula-Hoop Song" on "The Ed Sullivan Show."
1961 Bob Dylan debuted at the Gaslight Cafe in New York City.
1963 Jerry Lee Lewis' contract with Sun Records expired.
1963 Cilla Black signed a management contract with Beatles manager Brian Epstein. Cilla changed her name to Black, (it was white), after a misprint in the music paper 'Mersey Beat.
1967 Engelbert Humperdinck was at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'The Last Waltz'.
1968 Eric Clapton recorded his guitar solo on The Beatles' "While My Guitar Gently Weeps."
1968 Working at Abbey Road studio's in London, The Beatles recoded overdubs onto the new George Harrison song 'While My Guitar Gently Weeps'. Eric Clapton added the guitar solo and became the first outside musician to play on a Beatles recording and George recorded his lead vocal.
1969 After a show in the Memphis Mid-Southern Coliseum, James Brown announced his retirement from live performance after July 4, 1970.
1970 Jimi Hendrix made his final live appearance when he appeared at the Isle Of Fehmarn in Germany. The guitarist died on 18th Sept this year after choking on his own vomit.
1972 John and Yoko appeared on Jerry Lewis' Muscular Dystrophy Telethon.
1974 "The Place I Love" by Splinter was released on the Dark Horse label. It was the first release the George Harrison label.
1974 The 101 All Stars (featuring Joe Strummer), made their debut at The Telegraph, Brixton Hill, London.
1975 Glen Campbell started a two week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Rhinestone Cowboy', his first No.1 after 13 Top 40 hits. It made No.4 in the UK.
1975 Jefferson Starship went to No.1 on the US album chart with 'Red Octopus'.
1980 U2 kicked off the first leg of their 29 date UK 'Boy tour' at the General Woolfe in Coventry, England.
1980 The Jam were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Start', the groups second UK No.1.
1982 Paul McCartney released "Tug Of War."
1983 Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark kicked off a 5-date UK tour at Nottingham's Rock City.
1985 'Desperately Seeking Susan' went on general release in the UK, the movie featured Madonna and Rosanna Arquette.
1986 All girl group Bananarama went to No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Venus', the song had also been a No.1 for Dutch group Shocking Blue in 1970.
1988 2,000 items of Elton John's personal memorabilia including his boa feathers, 'Pinball Wizard' boots and hundreds of pairs of spectacles were auctioned at Sotheby's in London.
1989 The Pittsburgh Steelers were banned from practicing on their own field, Three Rivers Stadium, because The Rolling Stones were rehearsing for their upcoming concert.
1993 Don Henley, Jimmy Buffett, Elton John, Sting and Aerosmith performed at a benefit concert in Boston for Walden Woods.
1995 Bruce Hornsby and Branford Marsalis performed the National Anthem in Baltimore's Camden Yards before Cal Ripken Jr. set baseball's all-time consecutive games played record.
1997 Elton John recorded a new version of 'Candle In The Wind' after performing the song live at Diana Princess of Wales funeral. A record 31.5 million across the UK watched Elton play the special tribute to Diana. The track went on to become the biggest selling single of all-time.
2000 U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff ruled that MP3.com had willfully violated copyrights and awarded Universal Music $118-250 million in damages.
2001 Earth Wind and Fire announced that ****** would sponsor their forthcoming 30th anniversary American tour.
2004 Jamiroquai singer Jay Kay was banned for six months and fined L750 after being clocked driving at more than 100mph. His lawyers had argued at Perth Sheriff Court that he needed his licence so he could have "respite" from his busy professional life. But Sheriff Robert McCreadie said his conduct was "entirely unacceptable". Jay Kay admitted driving a four-wheel-drive vehicle at 105mph on the A9 in Perthshire in February while overtaking.
2005 Sir Bob Geldof was awarded the freedom of his native Dublin after the City Council voted in favour of giving him the accolade in honour of his campaign against world poverty and alleviating debt in Africa.
2006 Victor Willis, who performed as the policeman in The Village People was given three years probation for drugs offences after pleading no contest to the charges, dating from March 2006. Willis co-wrote some of the group's biggest hits - including 'YMCA' and 'In The Navy.'
2006 A man named Paul van Valkenburgh from Florida died of lung cancer. An obituary published in a local paper was picked up by the Associated Press, which ran a short obituary of the dead man but giving him the wrong name. The real Paul Vance, who was alive and well and living in Coral Springs, Florida, contacted local media after viewing a report of his death on local TV. He announced that he was still alive and was able to prove this with a stack of royalty cheques from ASCAP from his biggest hit 'Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny Yellow Polka-Dot Bikini.' He told a reporter for the New York Times that his relatives and friends, shocked by the AP report, had called to check on him after the media reports.
