Births
1933 Zeke Carey, The Flamingos (1959 US No.11 single 'I Only Have Eyes For You'. 1975 UK No.1 hit for Art Garfunkel). Died on 24th December 1999.
1941 Aaron Neville, vocals, The Neville Brothers, (1966 US No.2 single 'Tell It Like It Is', 1989 UK No.2 single with Linda Ronstadt' Don't Know Much').
1941 Neil Diamond, singer, songwriter, (1970 US No.1 & UK No.3 single 'Cracklin' Rose' plus over 30 US & 10 UK Top 40 singles. Wrote 'I'm A Believer', No.1 for The Monkees. Many acts from Elvis Presley, Lulu and Deep Purple have all covered his songs.
1941 Ray Stevens, singer, songwriter, (1970 US No.1 & UK No.6 single 'Everything Is Beautiful' 1974 US & UK No.1 single 'The Streak').
1945 Tammi Terrell, singer, who died of a brain tumour on March 16th 1970 after collapsing into Marvin Gaye's arms on stage during a duet of 'That's All You Need To Get By'. Terrall had undergone eight brain operations in 18 months. She had had hits with Marvin Gaye, including the 1967 US No.5 'Your Precious Love'.
1947 Warren Zevon, singer, songwriter. He had played piano with The Everly Brothers, recorded over 15 solo albums and had the 1978 US No.21 single 'Werewolves Of London'). He died on September 7th 2003.
1949 John Belushi, actor, singer who played Joliet 'Jake' Blues in The Blues Brothers, died of a drug overdose on 5th March 1982. Had the 1990 UK No.12 single 'Everybody Needs Somebody To Love'.
1955 Jools Holland, keyboards, Squeeze, Jools Holland Big Band, TV presenter on The Tube, Juke Box Dury and Later. (1979 UK No.2 single with Squeeze, 'Up The Junction').
1963 Keech Rainwater, drums, Lonestar, (2000 US No.1 & UK No. 21 single 'Amazed').
1974 Christopher River Hesse, drummer, Hoobastank, 2004 US No.2 hit 'The Reason.'
1975 Paul Marazzi, vocals, A1, (2000 UK No.1 single, 'Same Old Brand New You').
Deaths
1963 US songwriter Otto Harbach died aged 90. He co-wrote, 'Smoke Gets In Your Eyes', US & UK No.1 for The Platters in 1958.
1970 James "Shep" Sheppard of the The Heartbeats and Shep and the Limelites, was found murdered in his car on the Long Island Expressway.
1995 David Cole producer, keyboards, C & C Music Factory died of meningitis aged 32. (1991 UK No.4 single 'Things That Make You Go Hmmm...', 1991 US No.1 single 'Gonna Make You Sweat'. Produced Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston and Aretha Franklin.
2007 Record producer Dave Shayman (also known as Disco D) was found dead at his home in New York City. 26-year-old Shayman was famous for his production work on hip hop records and was a rising star in the business. His death was being treated as a potential suicide after he was recently diagnosed with manic depression.
Events
1936 Benny Goodman and his orchestra recorded "Stompin' at the Savoy."
1953 Eddie Fisher was at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Outside Is Heaven'.
1957 Elvis Presley recorded "Teddy Bear."
1958 Elvis Presley was at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Jailhouse Rock'. It became the first ever single to enter the chart at No.1 and was Presley's second UK No.1.
1962 Brian Epstein signed with the Beatles as their manager and began to direct their image away from leather jackets. He led them toward a smarter stage presentation, with matching suits and bows to the audience.
1968 Georgie Fame was at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'The Ballad Of Bonnie and Clyde'.
1969 Jethro Tull played its first U.S. concert in New York City as the opening act for Led Zeppelin.
1970 It was announced that John Lennon and Yoko Ono had shaven their heads to commemorate the start of Year One for Peace.
1976 Bob Dylan started a five-week run at No.1 on the US album chart with 'Desire' his third US No.1.
1976 Diana Ross went to No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Theme From Mahogany', the singers third US No.1, a No.5 hit in the UK.
1977 Appearing at the Roxy, London, England, The Buzzcocks supported by Chelsea. Also appearing at the venue over the last week, The Damned, The Boys, The Adverts, Slaughter And The Dogs and Squeeze.
1978 Workers at EMI's record pressing plant refused to press copies of The Buzzcocks forthcoming release 'What Do I Get' because of the title on the B-side 'Oh Shit.'
1979 The Clash released their first single in the US, 'I Fought The Law' (written by Sonny Curtis of Buddy Holly's Crickets).
1980 Appearing at The Blizt Club, London, England, Spandau Ballet.
1981 Adam And The Ants started a 10-week run at No.1 on the UK chart with their debut album 'Kings Of The Wild Frontier'.
1981 Steve Tyler of Aerosmith was hospitalised after being involved in a crash on his motorbike.
1982 Diana Ross sang the U.S. national anthem at Super Bowl XVI.
1987 Billy Vera and the Beaters started a two week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'At This Moment' not a hit in the UK.
1992 Nirvana played their first ever show in Australia at the Phoenician Club in Sydney. Also on the bill, Tumbleweed and The Meanies.
1992 Greg McPherson, a music professor at the University of Massachusetts, filed a $21 million lawsuit against New Kids on the Block manager Maurice Starr. It was alledged that he was not paid for his work on the group's "Hangin' Tough Live" album. McPherson also charged that the group only sang 20 percent of the album and lipsynched in concert.
1995 Van Halen released their "Balance" LP. It was the last album recorded with lead singer Sammy Hagar.
1998 Oasis went to No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'All Around The World'. The longest running-time for a number 1 with a total duration of 9 minutes 38 seconds.
1999 The Offspring went to No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Pretty Fly, For A White Guy'.
2002 Freddy Fender underwent a kidney transplant. He was released on January 30.
2003 Girls Aloud were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Sound Of The Underground' and Avril Laviagne had the UK No.1 album with 'Let Go.'
2008 Amy Winehouse was admitted into rehab in a battle to kick her addiction to drugs. A statement from her record company, Universal said she entered the facility "after talks with her record label, management, family and doctors to continue her ongoing recovery against drug addiction."
