Births
1925 Marty Robbins, US Country singer, (1960 US No.1 & UK No.19 single 'El Paso'). He died on 8th December 1982.
1926 Julie London, US singer, (1956 US No. 9 & UK No. 22 single 'Cry Me A River'). She died on 18th October 2000.
1941 Joe Bauer, drummer, The Youngbloods, died of a brain tumour in 1982. (1969 US No.5 single 'Get Together').
1943 Georgie Fame, UK singer, keyboards, (1965 UK No.1 single 'Yeh Yeh'. 1968 UK No.1 single 'The Ballad Of Bonnie and Clyde').
1945 Bryan Ferry, singer, Roxy Music, (1972 UK No.4 single 'Virgina Plain', plus 15 other UK Top 40 singles, solo (1976 UK No.4 single, 'Let's Stick Together').
1947 Lynn Anderson, US singer, (1970 US No.3 & 1971 UK No.3 single 'Rose Garden').
1948 Olivia Newton-John, UK singer, actress, (1978 UK & US No.1 single with John Travolta, 'You're The One That I Want', 1981 US No.1 & UK solo No.7 single 'Physical').
1951 Stuart Tosh, Pilot, (1975 UK No.1 single 'January').
1954 Cesar Rosas, Los Lobos, (1987 UK & US No.1 single 'La Bamba').
1954 Craig Chaquico, Jefferson Starship, (1987 UK & US No.1 single 'Nothing's Gonna Stop Us').
1962 Tracey Thorn, vocals, Everything But The Girl, (1995 UK No.3 & 1996 US No.2 single 'Missing').
1965 Cindy Herron, vocals, En Vogue, (1992 US No.2 & UK No.4 single 'My Lovin').
1972 Paul Draper, Mansun, (1996 UK No.15 single 'Wide Open Space').
1972 Shawn Stockman, Boyz II Men, (1992 US & UK No.1 single 'End Of The Road').
1981 Christina Milian, US singer, (2002 UK No. 3 single 'AM To PM').
Deaths
1937 US blues singer Bessie Smith died aged 43 after being involved in a car accident.
2003 Singer, songwriter Robert Palmer died of a heart attack aged 54. He was a member of Vinegar Joe and as a solo artist had the 1986 US No.1 & UK No.5 single 'Addicted To Love.'
Events
1955 Debbie Reynolds and Eddie Fisher were married. In 1959 they were divorced.
1957 The musical "West Side Story" opened at the Winter Garden Theatre.
1960 Connie Francis started a two week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'My Heart Has A Mind Of It's Own'.
1961 Bob Dylan started as opening act for the Greenbriar Boys. He stayed two weeks.
1964 The Kinks released the song "You Really Got Me."
1964 Roy Orbison started a 3 week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Oh Pretty Woman'.
1965 The Beatles were decorated with the Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth.
1965 At the end of a European tour Roger Daltry knocked out Keith Moon and was sacked from The Who. The band were playing two shows in one night in Denmark, when an argument broke about between al four band members. Daltry was reinstated the following day.
1968 Brian Jones (Rolling Stones) was fined $150 for possession of marijuana.
1969 "Abby Road" was released by the Beatles. It was their 13th album in the U.K. It was also their last album together as a group.
1969 The Fillmore West opened in San Francisco, CA.
1968 Rolling Stone Brian Jones was fined Ł50 with 100 guineas cost after being found guilty of possession of cannabis.
1970 Tamla-Motown Records announced that the Jackson 5 had sold 10 million singles world wide in nine months.
1974 "Walls and Bridges" was released by John Lennon. He would not release any more new material for almost 6 years.
1975 "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" opened in theaters.
1979 The Clash released their first U.S. single. It was their remake of Bobby Fuller Four's "I Fought The Law."
1981 Bruce Dickinson joined UK rock band Iron Maiden, (Dickinson had been the vocalist with Samson).
1981 Genesis scored their second UK No.1 album with 'Adacab.'
1981 The Go-Go's started a six-week run at No.1 on the US album chart with 'Beauty And The Beat.'
1984 The Prince song "Purple Rain" was released.
1986 Mick Jagger's "Running Out Of Luck" was released by CBS-Fox Video.
1987 Michael Jackson started a six-week run at No.1 on the US album chart with 'Bad'.
1987 Whitney Houston started a two week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Didn't We Almost Have It All'.
1987 David Bowie had his last hit chart in this decade when 'Never Let Me Down' scrapped into the US charts at No.27, the single peaked at No.34 in the UK.
1988 "Talk Is Cheap" was released by Keith Richards. It was his first solo album.
1991 "It's Been A Long Time" was filmed by Southside Johnny at The Stone Pony in Asbury Park, NJ.
1992 Belinda Carlisle went to No.1 on the UK album chart with 'The Best Of Belinda volume 1'
1996 Police found drugs hidden in a Smarties tube when they raided the London home of Paula Yates and INXS singer Michael Hutchence. The couple were away in Australia at the time of the raid.
1996 Prince released "The Gold Experience."
1997 The initial 300,000-unit shipment of Elton John's "Candle In The Wind 1997" sold out in Japan on its first day of release.
1997 The Irish Independent Radio Commission placed a ban on radio stations playing any songs by Eurovision Song Contest winner Dana. It was seen to be giving her an unfair advantage during the current election campaign she was involved with.
1998 Melanie B featuring Missy Elliott went to No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'I Want You Back'.
1998 Prince slipped and pulled a ligament while onstage in Atlantic City, NJ. The remainder of the U.S. tour was postponed.
1998 MTV Russia debuted at midnight. The first video shown on the network was Mummy Troll's "Vladivostock 2000."
1999 Leftfield went to No.1 on the UK album chart with 'Rhythm And Stealth'.
1999 The Times published the most powerful people in the UK pop business, No.5 Jim Moir, controller Radio 2, No.4, The UK Top 40 chart, No.3 Paul Berger, chairman, Sony Music, No.2 Edger Bronfman, chairman. Seagram, No.1 Ken Berry, President EMI Music.
1999 The Dixie Chicks went to No.1 on the US album chart with 'Fly.'
2004 Green Day scored their first UK No.1 album with 'American Idiot' the bands seventh release.
2004 Nelly was at No.1 on the US album chart with 'Suit' his third US No.1 album.
