Births
1917 Rufus Thomas, singer, (1963 US No.10 single with ‘Walking The Dog’ and a 1970 UK No.18 & US No.28 single with ‘Do The Funky Chicken’). Thomas died on December 15th 2001.
1944 Diana Ross, (Diane Earle), singer, The Supremes, singer, (1964 UK & US No.1 single 'Baby Love' plus over 20 other US & UK Top 40 hits). Solo (1980 US No.1 single 'Upside Down, 1986 UK No.1 single 'Chain Reaction').
1948 Richard Tandy, keyboards, vocals, Electric Light Orchestra, (1979 UK No.3 & US No. 4 single 'Don't Bring Me Down' plus 26 other top 40 UK hits).
1948 Steven Tyler, vocals, Aerosmith, (1989 UK No.13 single 'Love In An Elevator', 1989 album 'Pump' spent 53 weeks on the US charts, 1993 US No.1 & UK No.2 album 'Get A Grip', 1998 US No.1 & UK No.4 single 'I Don't Want To Miss A Thing').
1949 Fran Sheehan, bass, Boston, (1977 UK No.22 single 'More Than A Feeling', 1986 US No.1 single 'Amanda').
1950 Teddy Pendergrass, soul singer, (1978 US No.25 single 'Close The Door', 1994 UK No.35 single 'The More I Get The More I Want'). One time member of Harold Melvin and the Bluenotes.
1953 William Lyall, keyboards, Pilot, (1975 UK No.1 single 'January'). Also worked with Sheena Easton and The Bay City Rollers. Lyall died in 1989.
1955 Martin Price, 808 State, (1989 UK No.10 single 'Pacific State').
1956 Stephanie Mills, singer, (1980 UK No.4 & US No.6 single, 'Never Knew Love Like This Before').
1957 Paul Morley, Art Of Noise, (1988 UK No.5 single with Tom Jones, 'Kiss'), music journalist.
1968 James Jonas Iha, guitar, Smashing Pumpkins, (1995 US No.1 album 'Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness', 1996 UK No.7 single 'Tonight Tonight').
1968 Kenny Chesney, US country singer, songwriter, (2002 US No.1 album ‘No Shoes, No Shirt’, 2005 US No.1 album 'Be As You Are'). Married Bridget Jones and Chicago actress Renee Zellweger in May 2005.
1971 John Hendy, East 17, (1994 UK No.1 single 'Stay Another Day', plus over 15 other UK Top 40 singles).
Deaths
1968 US blue artist Little Willie John died in prison after being convicted of manslaughter. Co- wrote and was the first to record, 'Fever' and 'Need Your Love So Bad' Covered by Fleetwood Mac.
1971 Session sax and flute player Harold McNair died of lung cancer. Worked with Donovan, Melanie and Ginger Baker's Air Force.
1976 One-man blues band Duster Bennett was killed in a car accident. 1970 album 'Smiling Like I'm Happy.' Worked with Alexis Korner, John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, Fleetwood Mac and B.B. King.
1980 Jon Paulus (Buckinghams) died of a drug overdose at the age of 32.
1995 Rapper Eazy-E died of AIDS at the age of 31.
2002 Randy Castillo drummer with the Ozzy Osbourne band died of cancer.
2004 Jan Berry of Jan and Dean, died after being in poor health from the lingering effects of brain damage from a 1966 car crash. (1963 US No.1 & UK No.26 single 'Surf City', co written by Beach Boy Brian Wilson).
2005 former Crowded House drummer Paul Hester died aged 46, after he "attempted suicide" and died from strangulation after being found hanged in a park in Melbourne.
Events
1957 Ricky Nelson recorded his first songs.
1965 Mick Jagger, Brian Jones and Bill Wyman all received electric shocks from a faulty microphone on stage in Denmark, Bill Wyman was knocked unconscious for several minutes.
1965 The Walker Brothers made their UK TV debut on 'Ready Steady Go!'.
1965 It was announced that Jeff Beck would take Eric Clapton's place in the Yardbirds.
1969 Marvin Gaye was at No.1 on the UK singles chart, with 'I Heard It Through The Grapevine'. The song had also been a million seller in 1967 for Gladys Knight & The Pips.
1975 The film "Tommy" premiered in London. The movie was based on the rock opera by The Who.
1977 Hall and Oates started a 3 week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Rich Girl', the duo's first US No.1, not a hit in the UK.
1977 The first single by Elvis Costello, "Less Than Zero", was released.
1980 The Police became the first Western pop group to play in Bombay, India for over ten years when they played a one off gig in the city.
1983 Duran Duran had their 1st UK No.1 with their 8th single release 'Is There Something I Should Know'.
1983 Tears For Fears scored their first UK No.1 album with 'The Hurting'.
1985 Radio stations in South Africa banned all of Stevie Wonders records after he dedicated the Oscar he had won the night before at The Academy Awards to Nelson Mandela.
1986 Guns N' Roses was signed to Geffen Records.
1988 Aswad were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Don't Turn Around'.
1988 Michael Jackson started a 2 week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Man In The Mirror', a No.21 hit in the No.UK.
1988 Morrissey went to No.1 on the UK album chart with his debut solo LP 'Viva Hate'.
1989 New Order and Happy Mondays appeared at the Birmingham NEC.
1994 Soundgarden entered the US album chart at No.1 with 'Superunknown'.
2000 Phil Collins won an Oscar at the Academy Awards for Best Original Song with 'You'll Be In My Heart' from the Disney animated feature 'Tarzan.'
2000 Santana started a two-week run at No.1 on the UK album chart with 'Supernatural.'
2001 the toy figure of Eminem was facing a ban from UK shops. Woolworth's and Hamleys were refusing to stock the dolls. Psychologists warned parents who buy the dolls for children will be inadvertently giving their approval to bad language.
2006 readers of Total Guitar magazine voted the guitar solo by Jimmy Page in Led Zeppelin’s 'Stairway To Heaven' as the greatest guitar solo of all time. The 1971 track was voted ahead of tracks by Van Halen, Queen, Jimi Hendrix and The Eagles by its UK readers
2006 U2's The Edge donated his favourite guitar a 1975 Gibson Les Paul to a charity he co-founded to replace instruments lost or destroyed when Hurricane Katrina hit the US.
2006 Journey South went to No.1 on the UK album chart with their self-titled album. Journey South were made up of brothers Carl and Andy Pemberton who were the third place runners up on the 2005 X Factor TV show.
