Births
1920 Peggy Lee, singer, actress, (1958 US No. 8 & UK No.5 single 'Fever', worked with Benny Goodman, Randy Newman, Quincy Jones. She died on 21st January 2002.
1927 Ronnie Hilton, UK singer, (1956 UK No.1 single 'No Other Love' plus 21 other Top 40 hits). He died on 20th February 2001.
1939 Herbie Cox, leader of The Cleftones ("Heart & Soul") born.
1942 Colin Earl, Mungo Jerry, (1970 UK No.1 & US No.3 single 'In The Summertime').
1945 Bob Seger, US singer, songwriter, (1987 US No.1 single 'Shakedown', from the film 'Beverly Hills Cop II', 1995 UK No.22 single 'We've Got Tonight').
1948 Mary MacGregor, (1977 US No.1 and UK No.4 single 'Torn Between Two Lovers').
1950 Robbie McIntosh, Average White Band, (1975 US No.1 & UK No.6 single 'Pick Up The Pieces). He died on 23rd August 1974.
1950 Keith Lucas of 999 (he used the name Nick Cash).
1960 John Flansburgh, They Might Be Giants, (1990 UK No.6 single, 'Birdhouse In Your Soul').
1960 Larry Steinbachek, Bronski Beat, (1984 UK No.3 single 'Smalltown Boy').
1966 David Narcizo, drums, Throwing Muses, (1992 UK No.46 'Firepile EP').
1967 Mark Bryan, guitar, Hootie & The Blowfish, (1995 US No.1 album 'Cracked Rear View' sold over 15m copies. 1995 UK No.50 single 'Hold My Hand').
1968 Tony Wright, vocals, Terrorvision, (1999 UK No.2 single 'Tequila').
1971 Sarah Blackwood, Dubstar, (1996 UK No.15 single 'Stars').
1971 Chris Shiflett, guitar, Foo Fighters, (1995 UK No.5 single 'This Is A Call', US No.5 single 'All My Life').
Events
1965 Keith Richards began writing the Rolling Stones' "Satisfaction" in a Florida hotel room.
1965 Marianne Faithfull married artist John Dunbar at Cambridge register office.
1967 Appearing live at the Imperial Ballroom, Nelson, Lancashire, England, Jimi Hendrix, The Walker Brothers, Engelbert Humperdink and Cat Stevens.
1972 Elton John's "Rocket Man" was released.
1972 The Tyrannosaurus Rex double album 'Prophets, Seers And Sages And The Angels Of The Ages / My People Were Fair And Had Sky In Their Hair But Now Their Content To Wear Stars On Their Brows' went to No.1 in the UK. The longest title of an album ever at the time!
1973 In Boston, Paul Simon began his first tour without Art Garfunkel. Simon's tour of America and Europe was recorded and released as 'Live Rhymin'.
1977 Dolly Parton made her New York singing debut.
1977 Led Zeppelin set a new record for the largest audience at a single-act concert. 76,229 people were at a show in Pontiac, MI.
1977 The Boomtown Rats played their first gig in England when they appeared at Studio 51, London.
1978 The Bee Gees announced the launch of UNICEF benefit concerts.
1978 The soundtrack to Saturday Night Fever started an 18 week run at No.1 on the UK album chart, also No.1 in the US. The album, which features seven Bee Gee songs, went on to sell over 30 million copies worldwide.
1982 Former manager of The Bay City Rollers Tam Paton, was convicted on a charge of gross indecency with boys and was sentenced to three years in jail.
1982 Scottish group Altered Images kicked off a 19 date UK tour at The Mayfair, Newcastle Upon Tyne.
1984 Fictional band Spinal Tap, created for the film, take the stage for real at New York's CBGBs.
1989 Former Frankie goes To Hollywood singer Holly Johnson went to No.1 on the UK album chart with his debut solo album 'Blast'.
1991 Madonna's 'warts and all', documentary film 'Truth Or Dare in bed with Madonna', premiered in Los Angeles.
1994 In Los Angeles, Adam Horowitz of the Beastie Boys is found guilty of assaulting a Hard Copy camerman at River Phoenix's funeral. He's given 2 years probation and 200 hours of community service.
1994 Pearl Jam filed a complaint with the U.S. Justice Department against Ticketmaster. The charge was the company had a monopoly on the concert ticket business.
1995 James Taylor and Natalie Cole received honorary degrees at Berklee College of Music's 50th anniversary commencement.
1995 Oasis scored their first UK No.1 single when 'Some Might Say' went to the top of the UK charts.
1996 Metallica began two days of recording for the video "Until It Sleeps."
1996 Island Records announces a new joint venture with Geoff Travis and Jeanette Lee, called Trade 2 Records a follow up to the legendary Rough Trade Records.
1998 During a UK tour The Spice Girls played a sold-out night at the Birmingham NEC.
2001 Destiny's Child started a two-week run at No.1 on the UK album charts with 'Survivor'.
2001 Geri Halliwell scored her fourth UK No.1 single with her version of the Weather Girls 1984 hit 'It's Raining Men.'
2001 Janet Jackson went to No.1 on the US album chart with 'Janet'.
2002 'Bohemian Rhapsody' by Queen was voted the UK's favourite single of all time in a poll by the Guinness Hit Singles book. 'Imagine' by John Lennon was voted in at No.2 and 'Hey Jude', The Beatles No.3, 'Dancing Queen' by Abba was fourth and Madonna 'Like A Prayer' was in fifth place.
2003 Metallica was featured as an "mtvICON" in a 90-minute special.
2004 A sale at Christie's in London became the most successful pop auction in the company's history after Beatles memorabilia sold for a record 788,643 pounds. The auction included a leather collar worn by John Lennon which sold for 117,250 pounds. A signed copy of a management deal with The Beatles and manager Brian Epstein sold for 122,850 pounds. A Vox Kensington guitar used by Lennon and Harrison went for 100,000 pounds. Also sold - a coloured felt-pen drawing by Lennon (10,000 pounds), a letter with his signature (5,500 pounds), and a pen-and-ink drawing called Happy Fish (9,500 pounds).
2005 In Augusta, GA, a statue of James Brown was unveiled. The bronze lifesize statue was to commemorate Brown's musical accomplisments.
2005 US coffee shop chain Starbucks banned the sale of Bruce Springsteen's latest album Devils and Dust over concerns about its adult content. The retailer - which stocked CDs at its branches in the US - said it would be promoting other albums instead.
2006 The Go-Betweens singer, songwriter Grant McLennan died in his sleep at his home in Brisbane, Australia.
