Births
1924 Henry Mancini, US composer and conductor, died 14th June 1994, (1964 UK No.10 single 'How Soon', 1969 US No.1 single 'Love Theme From Romeo and Juliet').
1924 Rudy Pompilli, saxophonist with Bill Haley and his Comets, (1955 UK & US No.1 single with ‘Rock Around The Clock’). Pompilli died on February 5th 1976.
1929 US singer Roy Hamilton, had the 1955 US No.6 single 'Unchained Melody.' Died of a stroke on 29th July 1969.
1935 Bobby Vinton, (1963 US No.1 single & 1990 UK No.2 single 'Blue Velvet', plus 29 other US Top 40 hits).
1939 Dusty Springfield, UK singer who had her first UK hit single in 1963 with ‘I Only Want To Be With You’, which reached No.4, a 1966 UK No.1 & US No.4 single with 'You Don’t Have To Say You Love Me’ plus over 15 other UK Top 40 singles. She died on March 3rd 1999.
1947 Gerry Rafferty, UK singer songwriter, Stealers Wheel, (1973 US No.3 & UK No.8 single 'Stuck In The Middle With You', The song was used in Quentin Tarantino's 1992 movie Reservoir Dogs, during the famous "ear" scene.). Solo, (1978 UK No.3 and US No.2 single 'Baker Street.' Member of late 1960's group The Humblebums with Billy Connolly).
1949 Boll 'Sputnick' Spooner, guitar, The Tubes, (1977 UK No.28 single 'White Punks On Dope'. 1983 US No.10 single 'She's A Beauty').
1951 John Bentley, bass, Squeeze, (1979 UK No.2 single 'Up The Junction').
1956 Paul Buchanan, The Blue Nile, (1991 UK No.50 single 'Saturday Night', 1989 UK No.12 album, 'Hats', had songs covered by Annie Lennox and Rod Stewart.
1959 Stephen Singleton, ABC, (1982 UK No.4 and US No.18 single 'The Look Of Love', plus nine other UK Top 40 singles).
1963 Little Jimmy Osmond, (1972 UK No.1 and US No.38 single 'Long Haired Lover From Liverpool').
1963 Nick Berry, singer, actor, (1986 UK No.1 single 'Every Loser Wins').
1964 Dave Pirner, vocals, guitar, Soul Asylum, (1993 US No.5 and UK No.7 single 'Runaway Train').
1969 Sean Cook, bass, Spiritualized, (1995 UK No.30 single 'Let It Flow').
1971 Selena Quintanilla-Pérez, best known as Selena, Mexican American singer "the queen of Tejano music.” Her album Selena Live! won a Grammy Award for Best Mexican-American Album at the 36th Grammy Awards. Yolanda Saldívar the president of her fan club, murdered her on March 31, 1995. Warner Brothers made a film based on her life starring Jennifer Lopez in 1997.
1976 Sean Maguire, singer, (1994 UK No.14 single 'Someone To Love').
Deaths
1999 Skip Spence, an original member of Jefferson Airplane and founding member of Moby Grape, died of lung cancer in a San Francisco hospital aged 52. He had battled schizophrenia and alcoholism.
Events
1954 Roy Orbison attended an Elvis Presley show in Dallas, TX.
1956 ABC premiered the TV show "Rhythm on Parade."
1956 Buddy Holly released his first single, "Blue Days, Black Nights."
1964 The Rolling Stones first album was released in the UK, it went to No.1 two weeks later.
1965 The Hollies opened their first tour of the U.S. at the Brooklyn Paramount theater in New York.
1967 Cream appeared at the 'Daily Express Record Star Show' at The Empire Pool, Wembley, England.
1969 Desmond Dekker and the Aces were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'The Israelites', making Dekker the first Jamaican artist to have an UK No.1 single.
1972 The Electric Light Orchestra played their first live show in England.
1973 Paul McCartney starred in his first TV special, "James Paul McCartney."
1974 Queen held its first U.S. concert at Regis College in Denver, CO.
1977 Actor from TV's 'Starsky & Hutch' David Soul went to No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Don't Give Up On Us', his only US hit. Also No.1 in the UK.
1983 Echo And The Bunnymen's Ian McCulloch married Lorraine Fox.
1983 Bonnie Tyler went to No.1 on the UK chart with her debut album and only chart topper 'Faster Than The Speed Of Night.'
1990 Over 72,000 people gathered at London's Wembley Stadium for an anti-apartheid concert honoring Nelson Mandela. Mandela had recently been released from prison.
1990 Nirvana appeared at Lee’s Palace in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
1993 Billy Burnette announced that he was leaving Fleetwood Mac to concentrate on recording country music.
1993 David Lee Roth was arrested in New York's Washington Square Park for allegedly buying a $10 bag of marijuana.
1993 Paul McCartney headlined a concert at the Hollywood Bowl to celebrate 'Earth Day' along with Ringo Starr, Don Henley and Steve Miller. McCartney had last performed there as a member of the Beatles in 1965.
1994 Harry Connick Jr. married Jill Goodacre.
1994 Bonnie Raitt went to No.1 on the US album chart with 'Longing In Their Hearts.'
1994 On his 37th single release Prince had his first UK No.1 with 'The Most Beautiful Girl In The World.'
1996 KISS announced a reunion tour with makeup.
1996 Catatonia appearing at The Zap Club, Brighton, England.
1997 Mark Morrison was convicted with threatening a police officer with an illegal 23,000-volt electric stun gun. The singer left Maryebone Magistrates' Court in tears after being warned he was likely to be sent to prison.
1999 Shania Twain became the first woman to be named as songwriter/artist of the year by the Nashville Songwriters Association International.
2002 Sony Music Entertainment filed a complaint against the Dixie Chicks for breach of contract.
2003 52 year-old soul singer Luther Vandross was admitted to a New York hospital after suffering a stroke.
2003 Jerry Lee Lewis filed for divorce from his sixth wife, Kerrie McCarver Lewis. The 67-year-old singer married Kerrie in 1984 who was the president of Lewis Enterprises Inc. fan club.
2005 OK Computer by Radiohead was voted the best album of all time in a poll by UK TV station Channel 4. U2 were in second place with The Joshua Tree and Nirvana in third with Nevermind.
2006 The Streets went to No.1 on the UK album chart with 'The Hardest Way To Make An Easy Living.'
