November 24th

 

Musical birthdays today include Pete Best (84), Incredible String Band co-founder Robin Williamson (82), former ELO drummer Bev Bevan (81), ex-Caravan keyboardist Dave Sinclair (80), Blondie drummer Clem Burke (70), session upright bassist Edgar Meyer (65), ex-Stone Roses guitarist John Squire (63), Godsmack guitarist Tony Rombola (61), ex-Danzig bassist Rob Nicholson (56), and pop/rock singer Julieta Venegas (55), and singer-songwriter Tom Odell (34). 

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for Scott Joplin, born on this day in 1867... for jazz pianist Teddy Wilson, born in 1912... for Booker T. and the M.G.s bassist Donald 'Duck' Dunn, who would have been 83 today... for R&B singer Big Joe Turner, who died in 1985... for Freddie Mercury, who died in 1991... for bluesman Albert Collins, who passed away in 1993... and for producer and manager Chris Stamp, who left us today in 2016.  

Also on November 24: Leonard Bernstein conducts the NY Philharmonic in a performance of Mahler's 2nd Symphony as a tribute to slain president John F. Kennedy. The concert is broadcast nationwide on the CBS network (1963)... The Who play the Marquee Club in London, the first of 29 appearances that they will make at the venue during the 1960s (1964)... The Beatles reunite for the first time since their return at the end of August from their summer tour of the United States, ready to make a new album. The first song selected for recording is John's 'Strawberry Fields Forever', which would end up not on the album, but as the band's next single. This day's session will be devoted entirely to work on the track (1966)...  Diana Ross and The Supremes are at the top of the US singles chart with 'Love Child', their 11th American № 1. The song is also notable for finally knocking The Beatles' massive hit 'Hey Jude' out of the top spot (1968)... Ringo Starr goes to № 1 in the US with 'Photograph'. Written by Starr and George Harrison, the promotional film shot for the single shows Starr walking around his new house at the time, Tittenhurst Park, which had been previously the home of John Lennon and Yoko Ono, [and where the 'Imagine' video was shot] (1973)... Mötley Crüe drummer Tommy Lee marries his girlfriend, nude model Candice [neé Elaine Margaret Starchuk). The marriage will last one month. Lee has also been married to actress Heather Locklear and the former Playboy Playmate Pamela Anderson (1984)... 'Agadoo' by Black Lace is named the worst song of all time by a panel of 100 British music writers. The song, which peaked at № 2 on the UK charts in 1984, spent 30 weeks in the top 75 and went on to become the country's eighth best-selling single in 1984. Black Lace themselves recorded an X-rated version of the song entitled 'Have a Screw', which was released on the B-side of the 12-inch vinyl EP 'Gang Bang' (2003)... Bob Geldof calls for fair trade at an awards event in Rome that recognises his antipoverty efforts. "Africa must be allowed to trade itself out of poverty," he says after receiving the Man of Peace award from former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev (2005)...  Snaresbrook [NE London] Crown Court hears how Boy George chained a male escort to his bedroom wall and beat him with a fireplace poker after accusing him of hacking into his laptop. The singer had made contact with Mr Audun Carlsen, 29, on the social networking website Gaydar. Mr Carlsen told the court that he was dragged along the floor towards the bed and that a handcuff was put on his right hand. The manacle was attached to a hook drilled into the wall by the bed. The police later photographed welts on Mr Carlsen's arm where the handcuffs had been. The fire brigade had to be called to cut the cuffs off (2008).

November 23rd

 

Musical birthdays today include Manhattan Transfer vocalist Alan Paul (76), Brotherhood of Man vocalist Sandra Stevens (76), French singer-songwriter Francis Cabrel (72), Bruce Hornsby (71), popular tenor Russell Watson (58), Lamb of God drummer Chris Adler (51), The Kills lead singer Alison Mosshart (46), and Miley Cyrus (33). 

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for songwriter & film score composer Johnny Mandel, born in 1925... for bluesman R.L. Burnside, born in 1926... for jazz singer Gloria Lynne, born in 1931... for composer Krzysztof Penderecki, born in 1933... for soul singer Betty Everett, who would have been 86... for choral composer Thomas Tallis, who died on this date in 1585... for Judee Sill, who died of a drug overdose today in 1979 at the age of 35... for country legend Roy Acuff, who died in 1992... for Junior Walker, who passed away today in 1995... and for jazz singer Anita O'Day, who left us in 2006. 

Also on November 23: The first jukebox goes into operation at the Palais Royale Saloon in San Francisco (1889)... Enrico Caruso makes his American debut at the Metropolitan Opera House in NYC in Rigoletto (1903)... Gale by Ethel Leginska is premiered by the Chicago City Opera Company. It is the first performance of an opera in the United States composed and conducted by a woman (1935)... Robert Johnson has his first recording session, in a room in the Gunter Hotel in San Antonio TX with Don Law producing (1936)... A Toledo, OH sheet metal worker named Louis Balint is arrested after punching Elvis Presley at a local hotel. Balint claims that his wife's obsession with the singer caused his marriage to break up. He is fined $19.60 but ends up being jailed because he is unable to pay the amount (1956)... The Beatles travel to St. James' Church Hall, London, for a ten-minute audition with BBC Television. The opportunity came about when Beatles fan David Smith of Preston, Lancashire wrote to the BBC asking for the group to be featured on BBC Television. Assuming that Smith was The Beatles' manager, the BBC wrote back to him, offering the band an audition. Smith brought his letter to NEMS Enterprises, and Clive Epstein [Brian's brother] arranged for audition to take place. Four days later, Brian Epstein receives a polite letter of rejection (1962)... Cat Stevens releases Tea for the Tillerman (1970)... One hit wonder Billy Swan starts a two week run at № 1 on the US singles chart with 'I Can Help'... On the album chart, the Rolling Stones go to the top with It's Only Rock 'N Roll, their final outing with guitarist Mick Taylor (1974)... Queen launch a nine-week run at № 1 on the UK singles chart with 'Bohemian Rhapsody.' The promotional clip that accompanied the song is often acknowledged as the first modern rock video and only cost £5,000 to produce (1975)... Ten hours after being released on bail following his arrest in Florida, Jerry Lee Lewis is in handcuffs again after brandishing a derringer outside Elvis Presley's Graceland's home in Memphis, demanding to see the King. When police arrive they find Lewis sitting in a car with the loaded pistol resting on his knee (1976)... Keith Richard's girlfriend Anita Pallenberg is cleared by a court of shooting a man found dead at her home. 17-year-old Scott Cantrell shot himself in the head with a gun owned by Richard while in Pallenberg's bed, at the South Salem, NY house shared by her and the Stones guitarist. Cantrell had been employed as a part-time groundskeeper at the estate and was involved in a sexual relationship with Pallenberg (1979)... During a 104-date world tour, Paul McCartney plays the first of five nights at the L.A. Forum, his first stateside appearances since the Wings over America campaign of 1976 (1989)... Michael Jackson is at № 1 on both sides of the Atlantic with the single 'Black or White', featuring Slash on guitar (1991)... Otis Redding's widow files a lawsuit against the author of a biography written in 2001 about the R&B legend, claiming the book was filled with untruths. The lawsuit, filed in Atlanta's Fulton County, seeks $15 million in damages and claims that the book proffers unsubstantiated rumours about the singer's drug use and extramarital affairs, causing 'harm to the plaintiff'. It also cites a story alleging that Otis' manager had plotted with the Mafia to kill his client by causing his plane to crash in order to claim $1 million in life insurance (2002)... Geffen Records releases Guns N' Roses sixth, and to date last, studio album, Chinese Democracy. 8 years in production, with costs running over $13 million, it is the most expensive rock album ever made.

 

November 22nd

 Musical birthdays today include Youngbloods founder Jesse Colin Young (84), former Bob Marley & the Wailers bassist Aston Barrett (79), E Street band guitarist Steven van Zandt (75), ex-Talking Heads bassist Tina Weymouth (75), Styx lead singer Larence Gown (68), singer-songwriter Horse (66), Carter USM singer & guitarist Jim Bob (65), Hello Saferide frontwoman Annika Norlin (48), Yeah Yeah Yeahs lead singer Karen O (47), Napster inventor & entrepreneur Shawn Fanning (45), singer-songwriter & former a1  member Ben Adams (44), and Trivium guitarist Corey Beaulieu (42). 

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for songwriter Hoagy Carmichael, born 0n this day in 1899... for composer Benjamin Britten, born today in 1913... for composer, pianist & musicologist Dika Newlin, born in 1923... for organist and composer Peter Hurford, born in 1930... for country singer Terry Stafford, who would have been 83... for composer Arthur Sullivan, who died today in 1900... for former INXS frontman Michael Hutchence, who took his own life at the age of 37 on this day in 1997... and for rapper MC Breed, who left us today in 2008. 

Also on November 22: Ravel's Bolero premieres in Paris (1928)... Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel make their US television debut, in their incarnation as Tom and Jerry on ABC-TV's American Bandstand. They perform their hit 'Hey Schoolgirl' (1957)... The Beatles release their second UK album, With The Beatles (1963)... Bob Dylan and Sara Lowndes are married in a small civil ceremony at the Nassau County, NY courthouse (1965)... Singer-songwriter [and later Dylanologist] Long John Baldry is at  on the UK singles chart with 'Let the Heartaches Begin... George Harrison goes into the studio to begin recording the soundtrack to the film Wonderwall, his first solo effort (1967)... The double LP officially entitled The Beatles and more commonly known as The White Album is released (1968)... Bruce Springsteen's band Steel Mill opens for Iron Butterfly at Randolph-Macon College in Ashland, VA (1969)... Jerry Lee Lewis was arrested for drunk driving after being found unconscious in his Rolls Royce in a ditch outside Pensacola, FL (1976)... Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble kick off a 149-date North American & European tour at the Towson Center in Towson, MD (1986)...  Bill Wyman announces that his 17-month marriage to model Mandy Smith is over. With the consent of her mother, Smith started dating the 47-year-old Rolling Stones bassist when she was 13 (1990)...  Supporting his new album Rhythm of the Saints, Paul Simon opens his first South American tour in Rio de Janeiro (1992)... Pearl Jam release their third studio album Vitalogy, which first comes out on vinyl. It becomes the first vinyl LP to appear on the US charts since 1981, when the domination of the compact disc format began (1994)... Surviving members of The Doors Ray Manzarek and Robby Krieger announce that they will record and tour again with a new line up including ex-Cult singer Ian Astbury and former Police drummer Stewart Copeland. Original drummer John Densmore is unable to take part because he is suffering from severe tinnitus (2002)... U2 shoot the video for 'All Because Of You' from a moving flat bed truck on the streets of Brooklyn. Later in the day, they perform a brief concert under the Brooklyn Bridge which is taped by MTV for later broadcast (2004)... Poems written by Bob Dylan in his college days sell for $78,000 (£45,000) at a New York auction. The 16 pages of verses are the first known use by Robert Zimmerman of the pseudonym to which he will legally change his name in 1962, and date from his enrollment at the University of Minnesota.

November 21st

 

Musical birthdays today include Lebanese singer Fairuz (90),  War founding member Lonnie Jordan (77), Boston guitarist Gary Pihl (75), Livingston Taylor (75), ex-Violent Femmes bassist Brian Ritchie (75), Björk (60), Blur bassist Alex James (57), Teenage Fanclub drummer Francis McDonald (55), Edguy lead singer Tobias Sammet (45), and Carly Rae Jepsen (40). 

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for jazz legend Coleman Hawkins, born on this day in 1904... for Dr. John, who would have been 83... for jazz drummer Alphonse Mouzon, who would have been 76... for composer Henry Purcell, who died in 1695... and for former Led Zeppelin manager Peter Grant, who left us today in 1995. 

Also on November 21: Thomas Edison announces his new invention called the phonograph, a device that records and plays back sound (1877)... RCA Records purchased Elvis Presley's recording contract from Sam Phillips at Sun Records for an unprecedented sum of $35,000 (1955)... Maurice Williams and The Zodiacs go to № 1 on the Billboard chart with 'Stay', the shortest ever US  № 1 single at one minute 37 seconds... In Germany, the Beatles play at the Kaiserkeller Club in Hamburg without George Harrison. Harrison was deported earlier in the day for being underage (he is 17) and therefore not legally allowed to remain in a nightclub after midnight (1960)... The Partridge Family start a three week run at  № 1 on the US singles chart with 'I Think I Love You'. The song was featured in the first episode of the TV series named for the band and produced by the same company that created The Monkees... In Britain,  Jimi Hendrix is at № 1 on the singles chart two months after his death with 'Voodoo Child (Slight Return)' the closing track on Electric Ladyland, the third and final album by The Jimi Hendrix Experience. This would be the guitarist's only UK  № 1. Hendrix's solo on the track was named the 11th greatest solo of all-time in Guitar World's 100 Greatest Guitar Solos in 2000 (1970)... Wilson Pickett is arrested in NYC for possession of a dangerous weapon after he pulls a gun during an argument in a Lower East Side bar (1974)... Queen release A Night at the Opera (1975)... The Stranglers supported by Chelsea appear at The Nashville, London. This is Billy Idol's last gig with the opening act before leaving for greater fame with Generation X (1976)... French pop star Dalida makes her Carnegie Hall debut (1978)... Steely Dan release Gaucho, their last album for another 20 years (1980)...  Olivia Newton John starts a ten week run at № 1 on the Billboard chart with 'Physical', which will be the biggest-selling single of the '80s in the US (1981)... Michael Jackson's 14-minute video for 'Thriller' premieres in Los Angeles. Directed by John Landis and co-starring former Playboy centerfold Ola Ray, the video (like the song) contains a spoken word performance by horror film veteran Vincent Price. The clip was filmed at the Palace Theater in downtown L.A., the zombie dance sequence at the junction of Union Pacific Avenue and South Calzona St. in East L.A., and the final house scene in the Angeleno Heights neighborhood at 1345 Carroll Avenue... Duran Duran release their third studio album, Seven and the Ragged Tiger (1983)... Jimmy Page sets out on his first ever-solo tour at The Hummingbird, Birmingham, England, appearing with bassist John Miles and the son of Zeppelin drummer John Bonham, Jason (1988)...  Mick Jagger marries Jerry Hall in Bali. The marriage will be declared 'null and void' on 13th August 1999 after a judge rules that the six-hour ceremony on the Indonesian island was never registered (1990)... The Beatles Anthology 1 is released in the US, featuring 60 tracks including the track 'Free As A Bird', a song originally composed and recorded in 1977 as a home demo by John Lennon. A studio version of the recording, incorporating contributions from Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr, is simultaneously released as a single, the first new release under the group's name since 1970... On the same day, Bruce Springsteen launches his Ghost of Tom Joad solo acoustic tour with a show at the State Theater in New Brunswick, NJ to coincide with the album's release (1995)... Phil Spector appears before a Los Angeles court and is formally charged with murder. B-movie actress Lana Clarkson was found at his mansion in February of this year with a fatal gunshot wound to the head. Spector pleads not guilty to her murder during a brief hearing and is released on $1 million bail (2003).

November 20th

 Musical birthdays today include singer-songwriter Norman Greenbaum (83), Meredith Monk (83), producer Mike Vernon (81), former Poco drummer George Grantham (78), Joe Walsh (78), operatic soprano Barbara Hendricks (77), Beastie Boys rapper Mike D (60), Cypress Hill rapper Sen Dog (60), AFI lead singer Davey Havok (50), In Flames drummer Daniel Svensson (48), ex-Girls Aloud vocalist Kimberley Walsh (44), and Bring Me the Horizon lead singer Oliver Sykes (39). 

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for stage singer Kaye Ballard, born on this day in 1925... classical pianist Ruth Laredo, who would have been 88 today... for Duane Allman, who would have been 79... for producer and multi-instrumentalist Kevin Gilbert, who would have been 58... for pianist and composer Anton Rubenstein, who died on this date in 1894... for Section 25 lead singer Jenny Ross, who passed away in 2004... and for blues & rock guitarist Chris Whitley, who left us today in 2005. 

Also on November 20: Beethoven's only opera, Fidelio premieres in Vienna (1805)... The rock era in Britain officially begins as 'Rock around the Clock' by Bill Haley & His Comets goes to № 1 on the national chart... In America, Bo Diddley appears on The Ed Sullivan Show. The producers requested that he sing his version of ‘Sixteen Tons’, but when he appears on stage, he sings his own song ‘Bo Diddley’, resulting in his being banned from further appearances on the program (1955)... Bob Dylan enters Columbia Studios in NYC for the first time. Over the next two days, he records his eponymous debut album for a cost of $471 (1961)... The Yardbirds release Having a Rave-Up (1965)... Camelot opens on Broadway (1966)... Strawberry Alarm Clock hit № 1 on the Billboard singles chart with 'Incense and Peppermints' (1967)... The Monkees film 'Head' opens in six US cities. Reviews are harsh and the picture will be a box office flop (1968)...  Sly and the Family Stone release There's a Riot Goin' on, while Isaac Hayes starts a two week run at № 1 on the US singles chart with 'Theme From Shaft' (1971)... Keith Moon collapses during a concert by the Who at the Cow Palace in San Francisco after downing a pre-show drink spiked with horse tranquilizer. 19 year-old audience member Scott Halpin volunteers to replace him on drums for the remaining three numbers (1973)... Paul Simon hosts NBC's Saturday Night Live, and performs live with George Harrison on ‘Here Comes The Sun’ and ‘Homeward Bound’. John Lennon and Paul McCartney, watching the show from the former's apartment in the Dakota on Central Park West, briefly discuss the idea of taking a taxi to NBC Studios to try to crash the telecast, but think better of the idea (1976)... Barbra Streisand and Donna Summer top the American singles chart with their duet 'No More Tears (Enough Is Enough) (1979)...  Prince kicks off his 56-date North American ‘Controversy’ tour with a show at the Stanley Theater in Pittsburgh (1981)... Eurythmic Dave Stewart begins recording tracks with Bob Dylan that will be released on the latter's album Knocked Out Loaded (1985)... The Rolling Stones announced that they have signed a £20 million deal with Virgin Records to make 3 albums over the next 6 years (1991)... A study comparing noise levels of rock music finds that older people rate the music much higher on a loudness scale than younger people. The research carried out at Ohio State University tested people age 18 to 21 and people ranging in age from 51 to 58. The study asked participants to rate the loudness of rock music played at nine intensities, ranging from 10 decibels to 90 decibels. Participants listened to ‘Heartbreaker’ by Led Zeppelin for 10 seconds at different intensities. At each intensity, the older subjects gave the music higher numerical ratings based on loudness than the younger subjects (1998)...  Spice Girl Mel C announces she is quitting the group during an interview on ITV's Frank Skinner Show (2000)... Madonna's childhood home in Oakland County Michigan, sells at an auction in just 12 minutes. The house, along with a few items of Rock memorabilia goes for $331,000 (2001)...  Michael Jackson flies to Santa Barbara to surrender himself for arrest. He is seen being taken into the police station in handcuffs. The singer has his mug shot and fingerprints taken before being freed on $3 million bail (2003)... Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke admits that he was among the thousands of people who paid nothing to download the band's latest album In Rainbows. Speaking to BBC 6 Music's Steve Lamacq, Yorke said: "There wasn't any point. I just move some money from one pocket to the other". According to one survey, three in five people paid nothing at all for it. Yorke added that no one was allowed to have copies of the master recording in case it was leaked beforehand (2007).

November 19th

 

Musical birthdays include Blood, Sweat & Tears saxophonist Fred Lipsius (82), former Guns 'N Roses drummer Matt Sorum (65), Tool bassist Justin Chancellor (55), The Old Ceremony frontman Django Haskins (51), and rapper Tyga [né Michael Nguyen-Stevenson] (35). 

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for bandleader Tommy Dorsey, born on this day in 1905... for composer Slavko Avsenik, born in 1929... for Mothers of Invention vocalist and Frank Zappa collaborator Ray Collins, who would have been 89... for Israeli singer Ofra Haza, who would have been 67... for composer Franz Schubert, who died on this date in 1828... for ex-Badfinger guitarist and songwriter Tom Evans, who hanged himself at the age of 36 in 1983... for Byrds producer Terry Melcher, who died in 2004... and for Quiet Riot lead singer Kevin DuBrow, who left us today in 2005. 

Also on November 19: J.S. Bach is named court composer by Polish King Augustus III (1736)... On the 50th anniversary of the union of the cities Buda and Pest, Bartok's Five Dances receive their first public performance in the Hungarian capital (1923)...  Carl Perkins records 'Blue Suede Shoes' at Sun Studios (1955)... The Supremes become the first all-female group to have a UK № 1, when 'Baby Love' tops the charts (1964)... Emerson, Lake & Palmer release Brain Salad Surgery (1973)... The British music weekly 'Sounds' names the Sex Pistols' debut single 'Anarchy in the UK' its Single of the Week... George Harrison releases the album Thirty-Three & 1/3 (1976)... Led Zeppelin release their final studio album Coda (1982)... Tina Turner makes her first American chart appearance in twelve years with her version of the Al Green hit 'Let's Stay Together' (1983)... Milli Vanilli are stripped of their Grammy after it is revealed that the duo did not sing at all on their Girl You Know It's True album (1990)... U2 release Achtung Baby (1991)... David Crosby undergoes a successful liver transplant operation at Dumont-UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles. Crosby's liver was deteriorated from years of alcohol and drug abuse, as well as hepatitis-C (1994)... The Beatles start an eleven-week run at № 1 on the UK album chart with The Beatles 1. The album features every number-one single released by the band from 1962 to 1970. Issued on the 30th anniversary of the their break-up, it was their first compilation available on one CD. The world's best-selling album of the 21st century, 1 has sold over 31 million copies worldwide to date (2000)... Michael Jackson is widely criticized after dangling his baby from the third-floor balcony of a Berlin hotel. The singer is in the German capital for an awards ceremony and was showing off his nine-month old baby to fans outside the hotel (2003)... Former glam rock star Gary Glitter is arrested in Vietnam after being detained at Ho Chi Minh airport as he tries to board a plane to Bangkok. Police say Glitter is being held under suspicion of committing lewd acts with two girls under the age of 18 (2005).

November 18th

 Musical birthdays today include Graham Parker (75), Queensrÿche bassist Rudy Sarzo (75), John Parr (73), film score composer Carter Burwell (71), jazz & rock drummer Cindy Blackman (66), Kim Wilde (65), Metallica lead guitarist Kirk Hammett (63), Polyphonic Spree lead singer Tim DeLaughter (60), Duncan Sheik (56), country singer Jessi Alexander (49), Thrice frontman Dustin Kensrue (45), and Avenged Sevenfold bassist Johnny Christ (41). 

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for pianist and composer Jan Paderewski, born on this day in 1860... for violinist and conductor Eugene Ormandy, born in 1899... for Buena Vista Social Club guitarist Compay Segundo, born in 1907... for songwriter Johnny Mercer, born in 1909... for Hank Ballard and jazz singer Sheila Jordan, both born in 1928... for operatic soprano Gianna d'Angelo, born in 1929... for Don Cherry, who would have been 89... for Crazy Horse guitarist Danny Whitten, who died of a drug overdose at the age of 29 on this day in 1972... for Cab Calloway, who passed away in 1994... and for folk rock singer & guitarist Doug Sahm, who left us today in 1999. 

Also on November 18: Soprano Marie Selika Williams becomes the first black artist to perform at the White House (1878)... The Czech National Opera House in Prague opens with a production of Smetana's Libuše (1883)... The New York Philharmonic gives its first concert at Carnegie Hall (1892)... Fats Domino appears on the Ed Sullivan Show performing 'Blueberry Hill'. Before the song became a rock and roll standard it had been recorded by various artists including Louis Armstrong, The Glenn Miller Orchestra, Gene Autry and Jimmy Dorsey (1956)... The Beatles receive silver LP discs for 'Please Please Me' and 'With the Beatles' at a ceremony held at EMI House in London. They also receive a silver EP for 'Twist and Shout' and a silver single for 'She Loves You'. The band then attend a cocktail party and a formal lunch in the EMI boardroom with company executives and invited guests (1963)... Cat Stevens starts a three-week run at № 1 on the US album chart with Catch Bull At Four. The title was taken from one of the Ten Bulls of Zen, a series of short poems and accompanying pictures that are intended to illustrate the stages of a Buddhist practitioner's progression towards enlightenment (1972)... Genesis release The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway. The double album is the group's final LP with Peter Gabriel as lead singer (1974)... Bruce Springsteen makes his live debut in the UK at London's Hammersmith Odeon (1975)... The Jam release This Is the Modern World (1977)... R.E.M. make their first appearance outside the US when they are guests on the Channel 4 UK TV show 'The Tube'. The following night they make their live UK debut when they play at Dingwalls, London (1983)... Nirvana record their MTV Unplugged special at Sony Studios, New York. The band play a setlist composed of mainly lesser-known material and cover versions of songs by The Vaselines, David Bowie, Meat Puppets and Lead Belly. The album will win the Grammy for Best Alternative Music Album in 1996 (1993)... Britney Spears scores her third US No. 1 album with 'Britney.' The album's success makes her the first female artist in music history to have her first three studio albums debut at the No. 1 spot. This record however will later be broken by Spears herself with her 4th studio album In the Zone which charted in the same position (2001)... Following allegations of the sexual abuse of a 12-year old boy, police raid Michael Jackson's Neverland ranch. Jackson denies the allegations; the search comes on the day that his latest greatest hits album, Number Ones, was released in the US (2003)... The Johnny Cash biopic Walk the Line goes into general release in the US (2005).