Births
1915 Muddy Waters, US blues singer, guitarist, died 30th April 1983. Recorded 'I Just Want To Make Love To You', 'I'm Your Hoochie Coochie Man', 'Got My Mojo Working.'
1939 Hugh Masekela, (1968 US No.1 single 'Grazing In The Grass').
1940 Sharon Sheeley, US songwriter. Hits include 'Poor Little Fool' US No.1 for Ricky Nelson in 1958 and 1959 hit for Eddie Cochran 'Somethin' Else'. Sheeley became Cochrn's girlfriend and survived the car crash that killed Cochran in 1960. She died on May 17th 2002 aged 62.
1941 Soul singer Major Lance, died of heart failure 9th March 1994. (1964 US No. 5 & UK No.40 single 'Um, Um, Um, Um, Um, Um').
1945 Knox Carnochan, The Vibrators, (1978 UK No.35 single 'Automatic Lover').
1948 Berry Oakley, bass, Allman Brothers Band, (1973, US No.12 single 'Ramblin Man'). He was killed in a motorcycle accident 11th November 1972.
1948 Pick Withers, Dire Straits, (1985 US No.1 single 'Money For Nothing', 1986 UK No.2 single 'Walk Of Life').
1952 Dave Hill, guitarist, Slade, (1971 UK No.1 single 'Coz I Luv You' plus 5 other UK No.1 and 18 top 40 singles).
1952 Gary Moore, guitar, vocals, Skid Row, Thin Lizzy, (1973 UK No.6 single 'Whisky In The Jar'), solo, (1979 UK No.8 single 'Parisian Walkways').
1952 Pete Haycock, Climax Blues Band, (1976 UK No.10 & 1977 US No.3 single 'Couldn't Get It Right').
1957 Graeme Kelling, Deacon Blue, (1988 UK No.8 single 'Real Gone Kid', plus over 15 other UK Top 40 singles).
1962 Craig Adams, The Mission, (1988 UK No.12 single 'Tower Of Strength').
1963 David Gavurin, The Sundays, (1997 UK No.15 single 'Summertime').
1968 Mark Yates, guitar, Terrorvision, (1999 UK No.2 single 'Tequila').
1972 Magnus Sveningsson, bass, The Cardigans, (1997 UK No.2 single 'Lovefool').
1975 Phil A. Jimenez, percussion, vocals, Wheatus, (2001 UK No 2 single 'Teenage Dirtbag').
1978 Lemar Obika, UK singer, appeared on BBC TV talent show Fame Academy, 2003 UK No.2 single ‘Dance (With You)’.
1980 Johnny Borrell guitar, vocals, Razorlight, (2005, UK No.2 single ‘Somewhere Else’, 2006 UK No.1 album ‘Razorlight’).
Events
1938 After seven years of singing on the radio, Kate Smith began a new noontime talk show.
1939 Glenn Miller recorded his theme song, "Moonlight Serenade."
1953 The Stargazers were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Broken Wings.' With 'Broken Wings' they became the first British act to score a US No.1 single.
1954 Maestro Arturo Toscanini conducted his last concert with the NBC Symphony Orchestra at Carnegie Hall in New York City ending a 17-year association with the orchestra.
1959 Buddy Holly's "It Doesn't Matter Anymore" hit #13. It was his first posthumous hit.
1960 Elvis Presley recorded "Are You Lonesome Tonight."
1964 The Beatles made music history by holding the top five places in the singles charts with: "Can't Buy Me Love," "Twist and Shout," "She Loves You," "I Want to Hold Your Hand" and "Please Please Me."
1967 Jimi Hendrix was the special guest on the first edition of the UK BBC-TV's 'Dee Time', along with Kiki Dee and Cat Stevens.
1968 James Brown made a national TV appeal for calm following the assassination of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.
1968 Jimi Hendrix, B.B. King, Buddy Guy, Joni Mitchell, Al Kooper and Ted Nugent met up for an all night blues, folk and rock session at The New Generation Club, New York after hearing the news of Martin Luther King's assassination.
1970 Janis Joplin held a reunion concert with Big Brother & the Holding Company in San Francisco, CA.
1970 Brinsley Schwarz’s promotion company sent 133 UK journalists, by plane to New York to see the band supporting Van Morrison at the Fillmore East, at a cost of ?120,000 ($204,000). The event turned into a disaster. The group planned to leave a few days before the show to rehearse, but were denied visas on a technicality. They were finally given visas on the morning of the show, and arrived hours before the concert. The plane carrying the journalists developed a mechanical fault, delaying the flight and when the journalists arrived In New York 18 hours later, they were all hung over. Brinsley Schwarz gave a underwhelming live performance, resulting in a flood of scathing reviews.
1970 Crosby Stills Nash & Young went to No.1 on the US album chart with Deja Vu.
1973 The Supremes appeared at the Granada, Tooting, the last date on a 20 date UK tour. The group played two shows at every venue.
1976 The *** Pistols played the first night of a residency at the El Paradiso club in Soho, London, England.
1977 British CBS released the Clash's self-titled fist album.
1981 The documentary film "This is Elvis" premiered at the USA Film Festival in Dallas, TX.
1981 Bucks Fizz won the Eurovision Song Contest held in Dublin with the UK entry 'Making Your Mind Up'.
1981 Styx went to No.1 on the US album chart with 'Paradise Theatre'.
1985 The Smiths appearing at The Hippodrome, Bristol, England.
1987 Starship started a two week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Nothin's Gonna Stop Us', taken from the film 'Mannequin', also a No.1 in the UK.
1987 The charity record by Ferry Aid 'Let It Be' was at No.1 on the UK singles chart. The single was recorded in aid of the 1986 Zeebrugge Ferry disaster, which killed almost 200 people.
1987 U2 entered the US album chart at No.7 with 'The Joshua Tree' making it the highest chart new entry in America for seven years.
1990 Gloria Estefan left the hospital after being injured in a bus crash on March 20.
1992 Bruce Springsteen scored his third UK No.1 album with 'Human Touch.'
1992 The film soundtrack from 'Wayne's World' started a two-week run at No.1 on the US album chart.
1996 Wilson Pickett was arrested for cocaine possession while on probation.
1996 Take That made their final performance on The Ivo Niehe Show on Dutch TV, playing two songs in front of a 250 strong studio audience.
1998 K- Ci & Jojo started a three week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'All My Life.'
1998 Eric Clapton's first album of regular studio material since 1989 was released. The name was "Pilgrim."
1999 The Corrs album 'Talk On Corners' went to No.1 on the UK album chart for the 10th time. They also had the No.2 position with 'Forgiven, Not Forgotten.' Both albums had spent over a year on the chart.
2000 Diana Ross announced that she would reunite with the Supremes. The two members of the Supremes at the time had joined after Ross had left the trio.
2002 It was announced that the 19-year-old band Megadeth had broken up. The break up was due to an injury to Dave Mustaine's left arm and hand that had left him unable to play guitar.
2003 50 Cent became the best selling artist in the US so far this year when his latest album 'Get Rich or Die Tryin' sold more than four million copies in two months.
2004 Anastacia was at No.1 on the UK album chart with her self-titled album, ‘Anastasia’, the singers first UK No.1.
2004 Usher was at No.1 on the US album chart with ‘Confessions’ the singers second US No.1.
2004 British boy band McFly scored their first UK No.1 single with 'Five Colours In Her Hair.'
2007 a Swedish couple ran into trouble with authorities after trying to name their baby Metallica. Michael and Karolina Tomaro went to court with the country's National Tax Authority about naming their daughter after the rock band. The six-month-old has been baptised Metallica, but tax officials said the name was "inappropriate". Under Swedish law, both first names and surnames need to win the approval of authorities before they can be used.
