Births
1935 Johnny O'Keefe, singer known as "Australia's King of rock 'n' roll". He co-wrote and had the 1958 Australian hit with, 'Real Wild Child', which was covered by Iggy Pop in 1986. Other hits included 'Shout!', 'Don't You Know Pretty Baby' and 'She's My Baby.' O'Keefe died on October 6th 1978.
1939 Phil Everly, singer, songwriter, The Everly Brothers, (1958 UK & US No.1 single 'All I Have To Do Is Dream' plus over 25 other Top 40 hits).
1942 Michael Crawford, UK actor, singer, (1987 UK No.7 single 'The Music Of The Night').
1943 Janis Joplin, US singer who had a 1971 US No.1 single with 'Me And Bobby McGee' and a 1971 US No.1 album with Pearl. She died on October 4th 1970 after an accidental heroin overdose.
1943 Joe Butler, The Lovin Spoonful, (1966 US No.1 & UK No.8 single 'Summer In The City').
1944 Laurie London, actor, singer. At the age of 13 had the 1958 US No.1 & UK No. 12 single 'He's Got The Whole World In His Hands'.
1946 Dolly Parton, US singer, songwriter, actress, (1976 UK No.7 single 'Jolene', 1981 US No.1 single '9 to 5'). Parton wrote 'I Will Always Love You' which was a US Country No.1 for her in 1974 and became a UK & US No.1 for Whitney Houston in 1992.
1947 Rod Evans, early Deep Purple, US No.14 single 'Hush'.
1948 Harvey Hinsley, Hot Chocolate, (1977 UK NO.1 & US No.3 single 'So You Win Again', plus over 25 other Top 40 hits).
1949 Robert Palmer, singer, songwriter, member of Vinegar Joe and solo artist, (1986 US No.1 & UK No.5 single 'Addicted To Love'). Palmer died on 26th Sept 2003 aged 54.
1950 Francis Buchholz, The Scorpions, (1991 UK No.2 single 'Wind Of Change').
1951 Dewey Bunell, America, (1972 US No.1 & UK No.3 single 'Horse With No Name').
1957 Mickey Virtue, keyboards, UB40, (1983 UK No.1 & 1988 US No.1 single 'Red Red Wine' and over 30 other UK Top 40 hits).
1963 Caron Wheeler, vocals, Soul II Soul, (1989 UK No.1 single 'Back To Life').
1969 Trey Lorenz, US singer, sang on Mariah Carey's 1992 UK No.2 & US No 1 version of the Jackson Five hit 'I'll Be There'.
1978 John Parker, double bass, human beatbox, vocals, Nizlopi, (2005 UK No.1 single 'JCB Song').
Deaths
1990 Singer Mel Appleby died of Pneumonia aged 23. Had been one half of the duo Mel and Kim.
1998 Carl Perkins died aged 65 after suffering two strokes. He wrote the classic rock & roll song 'Blue Suede Shoes'.
2006 American soul singer, Wilson Pickett died of a heart attack aged 64, recorded soul classics 'Mustang Sally' and 'In The Midnight Hour' plus he scored 15 other US Top 40 singles.
2007 Former Mamas and the Papas singer Denny Doherty died at the age of 66. He died at his home near Toronto, Canada after a short illness. The group scored the 1966 US No.1 & UK No.2 single 'Monday Monday.'
2008 Singer songwriter John Stewart, who wrote the Monkees hit Daydream Believer died aged 68 after he suffered a massive stroke or brain aneurysm in San Diego. Stewart was a member of folk group The Kingston Trio and went on to record more than 45 solo albums with his biggest solo success being a US top five single, Gold, in 1979. He also wrote The Monkees hit 'Daydream Believer'.
Events
1957 Johnny Cash made his first network TV appearance, on CBS' "Jackie Gleason Show."
1957 Pat Boone sang at Dwight Eisenhower's presidential inauguration ball.
1959 The Platters 'Smoke Gets In Your Eyes', started a three week run at No.1 on the US singles chart.
1963 The Beatles made their first national TV appearance in the UK on 'Thank Your Lucky Stars' performing 'Please Please Me'.
1967 Pink Floyd and Marmalade played at The Marquee Club, London.
1967 The Monkees were at No.1 on the UK singles with 'I'm A Believer', the groups only UK No.1.
1967 The Beatles began recording 'A Day in the Life' at Abbey Road studio's London, recording four takes of the new song.
1967 Lesly Gore appeared on ABC-TV's "Batman" as Catwoman's sidekick, Pussycat.
1971 At the Charles Manson murder trial, the Beatles' "Helter Skelter" was played. At the scene of one of his gruesome murders, the words "helter skelter" were written on a mirror.
1971 The Beatles White Album was played in the courtroom at the Sharon Tate murder trial to find out if any songs could have influenced Charles Manson and his followers to commit murder.
1974 Al Wilson went to No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Show And Tell'.
1976 The Beatles turned down an offer of $30 million to play together again on the same stage. The offer was made by rock promoter Bill Sargent.
1977 Charlie Daniels and the Marshall Tucker Band played for Jimmy Carter's inauguration.
1977 Aretha Franklin sang "God Bless America" at a special inaugural concert for President-elect Jimmy Carter.
1978 Johnny Rotten was fired from The *** Pistols for 'not being weird enough anymore.'
1980 'Brass In Pocket' gave The Pretenders their first UK No.1 single. The bands self-titled debut album started a four-week run at No.1 on the UK chart also on this day.
1980 Pink Floyd's 'The Wall', started a 15-week run at No.1 on the US album chart. The groups third US No.1, it went on to sell over 8 million copies.
1985 Alison Moyet went to No.1 on the UK album chart with her debut solo album Alf.
1988 Bon Jovi's and Motley Crue manager Doc McGheep pleaded guilty to importing more than 40,000lb of marijuana into the US.
1988 Metallica began recording their fourth full-length release, "And Justice For All."
1991 Enigma went to No.1 for one week on the UK singles chart with 'Sadness Part One'.
1991 Janet Jackson went to No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Love Will Never Do', her 5th US No.1, a No.31 hit in the UK.
1993 Fleetwood Mac re-formed to perform at Bill Clinton's inauguration. The band's "Don't Stop" was used as the theme for his campaign.
1993 Tom Waits was allowed to keep the $2.5 million that a judge awarded him after he sued Frito-Lay for using a sound alike in a 1988 commercial. The U.S. Supreme Court supported the amount of the damages.
1997 Madonna won the Best Actress award for her role in Evita at the Golden Globe Awards.
1998 Joey Ramone from The Ramones was admitted to hospital in New York suffering from a blood related illness.
1998 Pat Boone was awarded the first annual Michael the Archangel Award by the National Assn. of Chiefs of Police.
1999 The U.S. Supreme Court without comment refused to hear a 1998 lawsuit brought by ticket buyers against Ticketmaster. The suit charged that the firm engaged in anticompetitive behaviour and price-fixing with promoters.
1999 Bizzy Bone (Bone Thugs-N-Harmony) went on trial in Columbus, Ohio, on charges that he dragged a student barber down a flight of stairs.
1999 Jean-Michel Jarre delivered a petition to the European Parliment signed by hundreds of leading European recording artists asking for better legal protection against music piracy on the internet.
2000 Tourism chiefs in Liverpool were banned from putting up motorway signs saying 'Liverpool, the Birthplace Of The Beatles', because the Highways Agency thought the signs would distract motorists.
2001 It was reported that Paul McCartney was set to become the world's first pop star billionaire. McCartney was said to be worth L725 million ($1,233) and was expected to become a billionaire after huge sales from The Beatles compilation hits album.
2002 Rapper C-Murder (Corey Miller, 30) was arrested in the shooting death of 16-year old Steve Thomas at a nightclub on January 12.
2003 UK TV's Fame Academy winner David Sneddon started a two-week run at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Stop Living The Lie'.
2003 Norah Jones started a three week run at No.1 on the US album chart with 'Come Away With Me', also a UK No.1.
