Births
1931 Brook Benton, US singer, (1959 UK No.28 single 'Endlessly', 1979 US No.4 single 'Rainy Night In Georgia'). He died on 9th April 1998.
1934 Brian Epstein, Beatles manager and manager of other Liverpool acts. Died of an accidental overdose of brandy and barbiturates on 27th August 1967.
1935 Nick Massi, The Four Seasons, (1976 UK & US No.1 single 'December 1963, Oh What A Night'). Massi died on 24th December 2000.
1940 Bill Medley, The Righteous Brothers, (1965 UK & US No.1 single 'You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin').
1940 Paul Williams, US songwriter. Wrote The Carpenters hits 'We've Only Just Begun' & 'Rainy Day's and Mondays.'
1941 Lee Dorman, Iron Butterfly (1968 US No.14 single 'In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida').
1943 Cass Elliott, singer, Mamas and the Papas, (1966 US No.1 & UK No.3 single 'Monday Monday'. Died from a heart attack on 29th July 1974 while staying at Harry Nilsson's London flat.
1945 Freda Payne, US soul singer, (1970 US No.3 & UK No.1 single 'Band Of Gold').
1945 David Bromberg, US guitarist, fiddle, mandolin player worked with Bob Dylan
1946 John Coghlan drums, Status Quo, (left in 1982), 1977 UK No.3 single 'Rockin' All Over The World' plus 50 other UK Top 75 singles since 1968).
1947 Lol Creme, vocals. guitar, 10CC, (1975 UK No.1 & US No.2 single 'I'm Not In Love', plus 10 other UK Top 30 hits including 2 No.1's). Godley And Creme (1981 UK No.3 single 'Under Your Thumb'). Now a video producer.
1949 Twiggy, (Lesley Hornby), 60's model, singer, 1976 UK No.17 single 'Here I Go Again').
1951 Daniel Lanois, producer, singer. Produced Peter Gabriel album, 'So', along with albums by Brian Eno, U2, (Joshua Tree), Robbie Robertson, & Bob Dylan. Lanois 1990 solo album 'Acadie'.
1952 Nile Rodgers, Chic, (1978 US No.1 & UK No.7 single 'Le Freak'), Produced Diana Ross, Sister Sledge, David Bowie, (Let's Dance album.)
1957 Rusty Egan, The Rich Kids, (1978 UK No.24 single 'Rich Kids'), Visage, (1981 UK No.8 single 'Fade To Grey').
1958 Lita Ford, The Runaways, solo, (1989 UK No.47 single with Ozzy Osbourne 'Close My Eyes Forever').
1963 Jarvis Cocker, singer, Pulp, (1995 UK No.2 single 'Common People', 1995 UK No.1 album 'Different Class').
1964 Trisha Yearwood, country singer. Sang backing vocals on Garth Brooks first album.
1969 saxophonist, Candy Dulfer, (1990 UK No. 6 single 'Lily Was Here' with David A Stewart).
1971 Paul Winterhart, (1996 UK No.2 single 'Hey Dude').
1973 Alan Jay "A. Jay" Popoff, pop punk band Lit.
1977 Ryan Dusick drums, Maroon 5, (2004 UK No.1 album 'Songs About Jane', 2004 US No.1 & UK No.4 single 'She Will Be Loved').
Deaths
1973 Gram Parsons of the Byrds died of a drug overdose.
1997 Rich Mullins died in a car accident in LaSalle County, IL.
1998 Country music star Red Foley died aged 58.
2003 Australian country music singer-songwriter David Gordon "Slim Dusty" Kirkpatrick died aged 76. He sold more than five million albums and singles in Australia.
Events
1928 "The Singing Fool," with Al Jolson, was released.
1936 "Indian Love Call" was recorded by Nelson Eddy and Jeanette MacDonald.
1953 Gisele MacKenzie took over as host on NBC-TV's "Your Hit Parade."
1955 Eva Marie Saint, Frank Sinatra and Paul Newman starred in the "Producer's Showcase" presentation of "Our Town" on NBC-TV.
1957 16 year-old UK singer Cliff Richard, still known by his real name, Harry Webb, joined the Dick Teague Skiffle Group.
1958 Elvis Presley left a Brooklyn naval base to sail to Germany to be with his army unit.
1960 Former chicken plucker Chubby Checker went to No.1 on the US singles chart with 'The Twist'. It made No.14 in the UK in 1962, version with The Fat Boys made No.2 in the UK in 1988.
1960 Hank Ballard and The Midnighters had the honour of being the first group to have three songs in the US Top 100 at the same time. 'Finger Poppin' Time,' 'Let's Go Let's Go Let's Go' and 'The Twist' all made the Top 30. Ballard refused to perform 'The Twist' on a highly rated US TV show, so Chubby Checker picked it up at the insistence of Dick Clark, and Checker's version of the song was number 1 this week in 1960.
1961 The Beatles played a lunchtime gig at the Cavern Club in Liverpool.
1968 Steppenwolf won its first gold record for "Born to be Wild."
1969 Creedence Clearwater Revival scored their only UK No.1 single with 'Bad Moon Rising'. Also on this day the group started a four-week run at No.1 on the US album chart with 'Green River.'
1970 "Get Yer Ya Ya's Out" was released by the Rolling Stones.
1970 The first UK Glastonbury Festival took place featuring Marc Bolan, Ian Anderson, Keith Christmas, Quintessence, Amazing Blondel and Sam Apple Pie.
1970 Diana Ross started a three week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Ain't No Mountain High Enough'. The singers first solo No.1 since leaving The Supremes, a No.6 in the UK.
1973 Country rock singer, songwriter 26-year-old Gram Parsons, formerly of The Byrds and The Flying Burrito Brothers, died under mysterious conditions in Joshua Tree, California. His death was attributed to heart failure but later was officially announced as a drug overdose. His coffin was stolen by two of his associates, manager Phil Kaufman and Michael Martin, a former roadie for The Byrds, and was taken to Cap Rock in the California desert, where it was set alight, in accordance to Parson's wishes. The two were later arrested by police.
1974 Max Weinberg made his debut as the drummer for Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band.
1974 Bad Company's debut album (self titled) goes gold.
1975 Eric Clapton got a gold record for "I Shot The Sheriff."
1975 Queen signed a management deal with Elton John's manager John Reid.
1978 "Living in the U.S.A." was released by Linda Ronstadt.
1979 The first MUSE concert took place. The Musicians United for Safe Energy was better known as "No-Nukes."
1979 The No Nukes concert was held at New York's Madison Square Garden. Performers included Stephen Stills, David Crosby, Jackson Browne, Bonnie Raitt, The Doobie Brothers, Poco, Tom Petty, Carly Simon, James Taylor and Bruce Springsteen.
1981 Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel recorded "The Concert in Central Park" for an HBO special. The material was recorded live in New York's Central Park.
1981 The Rolling Stones album 'Tattoo You' started a nine-week run at No.1 on the US chart, the band's ninth US No.1.
1985 A U.S. Senate committee heard testimony on labeling and rating of rock music, initiated by the Parents Music Resource Center.
1986 "Press To Play" was released by Paul McCartney.
1987 The Farm Aid concert took place at the University of Nebraska.
1987 "A Momentary Lapse of Reason" was released by Pink Floyd. It was the first release after Roger Waters departure.
1987 Michael Jackson and Siedah Garrett went to No.1 on the US singles chart with 'I Just Can't Stop Loving You', also a No.1 hit in the UK.
1987 Taja Seville released her self-titled debut album.
1988 Erasure's "A Little Respect" was released.
1990 Kylie Minogue's 'Better The Devil You Know' gave producers Stock, Aitken and Waterman their 100th UK chart entry.
1992 "The One" was released by Elton John.
1992 The Shamen started a four-week run at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Ebeneezer Goode'.
1995 P.M. Dawn's DJ JC Eternal was arrested on charges of sexual assault and child abuse after an alleged affair with his 14 year-old cousin. He was released on $10,000 bail.
1997 VH1 aired "Storytellers" live for the first time. The show was a 90 minute special featuring Elton John from the House of Blues in New Orleans, LA.
1999 Edward Cobb died of Leukaemia aged 61. Singer songwriter & producer, member of The Four Preps (1958 US No.3 & UK No. 2 single 'Big Man'), wrote 'Tainted Love' hit for Soft Cell.
1999 Charlatans singer Tim Burgess married his long-term girlfriend in LA.
1999 Italian group Eiffel 65 went to No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Blue (Da Ba Dee'). The single was also No.1 in Norway, Austria, Finland, Germany and Denmark
1999 Christina Aguilera was at No.1 on the US album chart with her self-titled debut album.
2000 Madonna's album "Music" was released.
2002 James Brown was being sued by his own daughters for more than Ł650,000 of song royalties they said they were owed. Deanna Brown Thomas and Dr Yamma Brown Lumar, a Texas physician, said Brown had withheld royalties on 25 co-written songs because of a family grudge. The lawsuit claimed that Brown had held a grudge against his daughters since 1998, when Ms Thomas had her father committed to a psychiatric hospital to be treated for addiction to painkillers.
2003 Police were investigating reports that Paul McCartney scuffled with a photographer when the singer went to see magician David Blaine, who was in a plastic box dangling over the River Thames. The London Evening Standard said one of its photographers had clashed with McCartney resulting in a scuffle.
2004 UK band Embrace went to No.1 on the UK album chart with 'Out Of Nothing' their second No.1 album.
2004 Eric Prydz started a three week run at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Call On Me.'
2004 Canadian singer Celine Dion extended her Las Vegas show for another year. Dion was reportedly being paid $100m (for the original three-year run of five 90-minute concerts a week.
2005 research published by Guinness World Records showed that Status Quo have had more hit singles than any other band in UK chart history. The band had scored 61 chart successes, dating from 'Pictures of Matchstick Men' in 1968 to 'You'll Come Around' in 2004. Queen came second with 52 hits, with the Rolling Stones and UB40 with 51 hits each.
