Births
1940 Bernie Dwyer, Freddie and the Dreamers, (1963 UK No.3 single 'You Were Made For Me', 1965 US No.1 single 'I'm Telling You Now').
1943 Mickey Hart, The Grateful Dead, (1970 UK No.69 and US No.127 album 'Workingmans Dead').
1946 Dennis Tufano, The Buckinghams, (1967 US No.1 single 'Kind Of A Drag).
1947 Richard Jaeger, percussionist, Worked with Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Crosby Stills Nash & Young, The Pointer Sisters. He died on 27th August 2000.
1953 Tommy Shaw, guitar, Styx, (1979 US No.1 & 1980 UK No.6 single 'Babe').
1957 Jon Moss, drums, Culture Club, (1983 UK No.1 & 1984 US No.1 single 'Karma Chameleon' plus seven other UK top 10 singles).
1958 Mick Talbot, Keyboards, Style Council, (1983 UK No.3 single 'Long Hot Summer' plus 14 other UK Top 40 singles). Merton Parkers, (1979 UK No.40 single 'You Need Wheels).
1959 Rory Lyons, King Kurt, (1983 UK No.36 single 'Destination Zululand').
1965 Moby, (Richard Hall), producer, vocalist, 1991 UK No.10 single 'Go'. His album 'Play' was the biggest selling UK indie album of 2000, spending 81 weeks on the chart and going platinum in over 20 countries. Moby is a descendent of 'Moby Dick' author Herman Melville.
1966 Gregory Kane, Hue and Cry, (1987 UK No.6 single 'Labour Of Love'). 2000 UK No.1 album 'Play').
1967 Harry Connick Jr, singer, actor, (1991 UK No.32 single 'It Had To Be You, Recipe For Love').
1971 Richard Ashcroft, guitar, vocals, The Verve, (1997 UK No.1 single 'The Drugs Don't Work', 1997 UK No.1 album Urban Hymns' spent over 100 weeks on the UK chart). Solo, (2000 UK No.3 single 'A Song For The Lovers', 2000 UK No.1 album 'Alone With Everybody').
1977 Jonny Buckland, guitar, Coldplay, (2000 UK No.4 single 'Yellow', 2000 UK No.1 album Parachutes' and the 2005 worldwide No.1 album 'X&Y').
1977 Ludacris, (Chris Bridges), 2001 UK No.10 single with Missy Elliott, 'One Minute Man', 2002 US No.3 album 'Word Of Mouf'.
Deaths
1987 Peter Tosh was shot and killed by robbers in his home in Jamaica.
2004 Lyricist Fred Ebb died of a heart attack. Co-wrote, 'New York, New York' and 'Chicago.'
2005 Grammy-award winning guitarist and singer Clarence 'Gatemouth' Brown died in Texas at the age of 81. He had recorded with Eric Clapton, Ry Cooder and Frank Zappa during a career that spanned 50 years.
Events
1847 "Oh, Susannah" was sung in public for the first time. Stephen Foster sold the rights to the song for a bottle of whiskey.
1945 Ernest Tubb recorded "It Just Doesn't Matter Now" and "Love Turns to Hate."
1952 Ahmet Ertegun began recording his newest signing, 21 year old Ray Charles at Atlantic Records on West 56th St in New York City. Ertegun had purchased the singers contract from the Swingtime label for $2,500.
1956 Police were called to break up a crowd of rowdy teenagers following the showing of the film Rock Around The Clock at the Trocadero Cinema in London, England. The following day, The Times printed a reader's letter that said: "The hypnotic rhythm and the wild gestures have a maddening effect on a rhythm loving age group and the result of its impact is the relaxing of all self control." The film was quickly banned in several English cities.
1960 Nancy Sinatra married American teen idol Tommy Sands.
1961 Judy Garland started a 13-week run at No.1 on the US album chart with 'Judy At Carnegie Hall'.
1961 after George Martin insisted that session drummer Andy White took Ringo Starr's place, The Beatles returned to EMI Studios in London for a third attempt at recording their first single. 'Love Me Do' was selected to be The Beatles' first A-side, with "P.S. I Love You" on the flip side (a reversal of the original plan). The single that was released on October 5th featured a version of 'Love Me Do' with Ringo on drums, but the album 'Please Please Me' included a version with Andy White on drums.
1962 George Martin had the Beatles return to EMI's Abbey Road to re-record "Love Me Do." They also recorded "P.S. I Love You" and an early version of "Please Please Me."
1963 "The Great White Wonder" first appears in a record store in Los Angeles, CA. The "bootleg" of Bob Dylan songs is believed to be the first bootleg album.
1964 George Harrison formed Harrissongs, his own song publishing company.
1964 A 16-year-old youth won a Mick Jagger impersonation contest at The Town Hall Greenwich. The winner turned out to be Mick's younger brother Chris Jagger.
1965 The Beatles started a nine-week run at No.1 on the US album chart with 'Help!', the groups sixth US chart topper.
1967 "All You Need Is Love" by the Beatles was certified as a million seller.
1967 The Beatles' "Magical Mystery Tour" bus began cruising the English countryside.
1967 During a 10-date tour of Sweden, The Jimi Hendrix Experience played two shows at the Grona Lund in Stockholm.
1968 Larry Graham, of Sly and the Family Stone, was arrested for possession of cannabis. The groups TV appearance and hotel reservations were canceled as a result.
1971 The animated "The Jackson Five" TV series debuted on ABC.
1971 Donny Osmond started a three week run at No1 on the US singles chart with 'Go Away Little Girl'. The singers only US solo chart topper. The song had also been a No.1 for Steve Lawrence in 1963.
1975 Aerosmith's self-titled debut album was certified gold.
1976 KC and the Sunshine Band went to No.1 on the US singles chart with '(Shake Shake Shake), Shake Your Body', the groups third US No.1, a No.22 hit in the UK.
1977 Bernie Taupin made his television acting debut on ABC's "The Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew meet Dracula." He played the character Circus. Taupin was known for being Elton John's lyricist.
1977 David Bowie and Bing Crosby recorded a duet version of "The Little Drummer Boy." The song appeared on Crosby's "Merrie Olde Christmas" LP.
1979 The Who made their first U.S. concert appearance without Keith Moon. Kenny Jones replaced him on drums.
1982 Chicago started a two week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Hard To Say I'm Sorry', the groups second US No.1. Taken from the film 'Summer Lovers', a No.4 hit in the UK.
1982 John "Cougar" Mellencamp became the only male artist to have two singles in the US Top Ten as well as the No.1 album. 'Jack and Diane' was No.4, while 'Hurts So Good' was at No.8. His album 'American Fool' was at No.1 for the first of nine weeks.
1984 Bruce Springsteen broke the attendance record at Philadelphia's Spectrum. 16,800 fans attended the first of six sold-out shows.
1987 Geffen Records released Elton John's "Greatest Hits Volume 3."
1987 Prince's Paisley Park Studios officially opened.
1987 Peter Gabriel cleaned up at this year's MTV Awards, winning best video, best male video, best concept video, best special effects and five other awards for the track 'Sledgehammer'.
1987 Level 42's 'It's Over', became the first CD video single to go on sale in the UK. It contained twenty minutes of music and five minutes of video (which remained unseen until CDV players went on sale).
1988 Metallic began their first headlining tour of Europe in Budapest, Hungary.
1990 "Listen Without Prejudice" was released by George Michael. It was his second solo album.
1993 Mariah Carey started a eight week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Dreamlover'. Also on the same day her fourth album 'Music Box' went to No.1 in the UK.
1993 Smashing Pumpkins kicked off an 11-date UK tour at Wolverhampton Civic Hall.
1995 Janet Jackson's "Runaway" made history by becoming the first single by a woman to make its debut in the top 10 of Billboard's Hot 100.
1996 David Bowie's single "Telling Lies" was released exclusively on the Internet. It was the first time a new single by a major selling artist was released exclusively on the Internet.
1996 Michael Hutchence of INXS pled guilty to hitting a photographer and was fined $600. The picture was of Hutchence and Bob Geldof's estranged wife outside a hotel where they had spent the night.
1996 Noel Gallagher walked out on the rest of Oasis half way through an American tour after a fight with his brother Liam in a hotel in Charlotte North Carolina. Noel flew back to London the following day.
1997 John Lee Hooker received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
1999 TLC went to No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Unpretty'.
2001 Walking to work in New York (as an comic book illustrator) Gerard Way witnessed the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Centre. The day's events inspired him to start a band, which became My Chemical Romance with Way becoming their lead singer.
2001 Dream Theater released the album "Live Scenes From New York". The original artwork was recalled the same day due to the artwork portraying the New York skyline and World Trade Center towers engulfed in flames. The album was re-released with different artwork.
2001 Walking to work in New York (as an comic book illustrator) Gerard Way witnessed the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Centre. The day's events inspired him to start a band, which became My Chemical Romance with Way becoming their lead singer.
2003 Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck postponed their wedding blaming the media frenzy surrounding the event. The pair had tried to keep the precise location of their wedding secret but following a series of leaks the media had pinpointed a private estate in the Santa Barbara Hills just north of Los Angeles as the place of the wedding.
2003 Tommy Chong, one-half of the comedy team of Cheech and Chong, was sentenced to nine months in federal prison and fined $20,000 for selling drug paraphernalia over the Internet. The 65 year-old Chong pled guilty to the charges last May. He remained free until April, 2004, when he went to jail.
2004 Former Boyzone singer Brian McFadden was hailed a hero after tackling a mugger who snatched a German tourist's handbag in North London. McFadden ran after the mugger and wrestled him to the ground.
2005 Pussycat Dolls ft Busta Rhymes started a three week run at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Don't Cha'.
2006 A study from the University of Leicester found that more than a quarter of classical music fans had tried cannabis. Researchers were trying to find out what people's taste in music revealed about their lifestyles. The UK study also revealed that blues buffs are the most likely to have received a driving penalty. Hip hop and dance music fans were more likely to have multiple *** partners and were among the biggest drug-takers surveyed. More than 2,500 people were interviewed for the study, which was published in the scientific journal Psychology of Music.
