March 24th

Musical birthdays today include session guitarist Carol Kaye (91), harmonica player & designer Lee Oskar (78), former April Wine bassist Steve Lang (77), Nick Lowe (77), ex-Supertramp bassist Dougie Thomson (75), Gabriele Kerner AKA Nena (66), and Sharon Corr (56). 

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for hymn composer Fanny Crosby [best remembered for 'Blessed Assurance' and 'To God Be the Glory'], born on this day in 1820... for Russian popular singer Klavdiya Shulzhenko, born in 1906... for classical pianist Byron Janis, boirn in 1928... for scat singer & pianist Billy Stewart, who would have been 88 today... for Kraftwerk guitarist Klaus Dinger, who would have been 80... for jazz pianist & bandleader Jean Goldkette, who died on this date in 1962... for ex-Brooklyn Bridge lead singer Johnny Maestro, who passed away in 2010... and for Motown writer & producer Deke Richards, who left us today in 2013. 

Also on March 24th: J.S. Bach completes the last of a group of six chamber orchestra pieces and dedicates them to Christian Ludwig, Margrave of Brandenburg-Schwedt. The compositions have since become popularly known as the Brandenburg Concertos (1721)... Billboard Magazine publishes its first US LP chart ~ Nat King Cole is at №  1 with A Collection of Favorites (1945)...  Elvis Presley reports to the Memphis draft board for induction into the US Army. He and 12 other recruits are taken by bus to the Kennedy Veterans Memorial Hospital for their physical, after which the singer is assigned serial number 53310761 (1958)... The Beatles continue filming 'Help!' at Twickenham Studios near London. They shoot the interior temple scenes, including one in which they 'dive through a hollow sacrificial altar and into water'. That scene is then edited into the swimming pool sequence filmed in the Bahamas on February 23 (1965)... Simon and Garfunkel make their UK singles chart debut with 'Homeward Bound.' Simon is said to have written the song at Farnworth railway station in Widnes, Cheshire while stranded overnight waiting for a train. A plaque is displayed in the station to commemorate this, although memorabilia hunters have stolen it repeatedly. The song describes Simon's longing to return home, both to his then girlfriend Kathy Chitty in Brentwood, Essex, and to the United States (1966)... Alice Cooper has the №  1 album on both sides of the Atlantic with Billion Dollar Babies... During a Lou Reed concert in Buffalo, NY, a man jumps on stage and bites the singer on the left buttock. The attacker is thrown out of the theatre, and Reed completes the show before being examined at a local hospital (1973)... Lionel Richie tops the singles charts in both America and Britain with 'Hello' (1984)... The Black Crowes are fired as the opening act on ZZ Top's current US tour after repeatedly criticising tour sponsor Miller Beer (1991)...  A Chicago court settles the Milli Vanilli class action suit by approving cash rebates of up to $3 to anyone who can prove that they bought the group’s music before November 27 1990, the date the lip synching scandal broke. Milli Vanilli won the 1989 best new artist Grammy after hits like 'Blame it on the Rain' and 'Girl, You Know It's True,' sold 30 million singles and 14 million albums. But in late 1990, the performers were stripped of the award after it was revealed that neither actually sang on the Milli Vanilli album (1992)... Sir Elton John's latter-day version of Aida opens on Broadway (2000)... A stretch of road on Highway 19 in Macon, GA is named Duane Allman Boulevard, as it includes the spot where the Allman Brothers guitarist died aged 24 in a motorcycle crash on October 29, 1971 (2001)... The prosecutor in the Phil Spector murder retrial tells the jury that the defendant is a "demonic maniac" when he drinks and "a very dangerous man" around women. Deputy District Attorney Truc Do urges jurors to find the music producer guilty of murdering Hollywood actress Lana Clarkson in 2003. During her closing argument, she also accuses Mr Spector of demonstrating a "conscious disregard for human life" (2009)... Pictures of The Beatles' 1965 Shea Stadium concert taken by an amateur photographer who bluffed his way backstage sell at auction in London. Marc Weinstein used a fake press pass to get next to the stage for the historic New York show. His 61 black and white images with copyright fetch £30,680; the successful bidder is a South American businessman currently living in Washington, D.C. who is an avid collector of Beatles memorabilia (2013).

March 23rd

Musical birthdays today include Groundhogs frontman Tony McPhee (82), composer Michael Nyman (82), singer-songwriter David Olney (78), Chaka Khan (73), Wet Wet Wet lead singer Marti Pellow (61), Blur lead singer Damon Albarn (58), and Seether drummer John Humphrey (56). 

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for operatic bass-baritone Norman Bailey, born on this day in 1933... for Cars frontman Ric Ocasek, who would have been 82... for Mentors drummer Eldon 'El Duce' Hoke, who would have been 68 ... for English cabaret singer-songwriter Donald Swann, who died on this date in 1994... for longtime Beatles road manager and personal assistant Neil Aspinall, who passed away in 2008... and for David Eric Lowen of the songwriting team Lowen & Navarro [best remembered for the Pat Benatar hit 'We Belong'], who left us today in 2012. 

Also on March 23rd: 25-year-old Antonio Vivaldi is ordained as a priest in Venice (1703)... Bach's St. Mark Passion is performed for the first time in Leipzig at Good Friday Vespers (1731)... With King George II in attendance, Handel's Messiah has its London premiere. At the close of the Hallelujah Chorus, the King leaps to his feet, establishing a  tradition (1743)... RCA Records release Elvis Presley's eponymous debut album (1956)... John Lennon's book of verse and stream of consciousness prose 'In His Own Write' is published in the UK (1964)... The film of The Concert For Bangladesh featuring George Harrison, Bob Dylan and Eric Clapton premieres in New York. The event is the first benefit concert of this magnitude in rock history. The concert raised $243,418.51 for Bangladesh relief, which was administered by UNICEF. Sales of the album and DVD continue to benefit the George Harrison Fund for UNICEF (1972)... King Crimson release the LP Larks' Tongues in Aspic (1973)... Cher is at № 1 on the US singles chart with 'Dark Lady' (1974)... Elvis kicks off what will turn out to be his last tour ever with a show at Arizona State University in Tempe, AZ (1977)... The Smiths make their London debut with a show at The Rock Garden (1983)... Billy Joel marries Christie Brinkley on a yacht moored alongside the Statue of Liberty... Former CCR frontman John Fogerty goes to № 1 on the Billboard album chart with Centerfield (1985)... Janet Jackson signs a $16 million deal with Virgin Records (1992)... Pete Townshend tells Uncut magazine that he regrets ever forming The Who. "What would I have done differently? I would never have joined a band. Even though I am quite a good gang member and a good trooper on the road, I am bad at creative collaboration" (2011).

March 22nd

Musical birthdays today include Jeremy Cly singer James House (71), The Mighty Wah! frontman Pete Wylie (68), soul singer Beverley Knight (53), Limp Bizkit drummer John Otto (49), and Danity Kane vocalist Shannon Bex (46). 

lShoutout to the Great Beyond for Stephen Sondheim, born on this day in 1930... for Yardbirds lead singer Keith Relf, who would have been 83 today... for McCoys bassist Randy Jo Hobbs, who would have been 78... for composer Jean-Baptiste Lully, who died on this date in 1687... for banjo player & early Grand Ole Opry star Uncle Dave Macon, who died in 1952... for Kingston Trio founding member Dave Guard, who passed away in 1991... for former Bill Haley & the Comets guitarist Billy Williamson, who died in 1996... and for Foghat guitarist Rod Price, who left us today in 2005. 

Also on March 22nd: The Great Opera House of Frankfurt is destroyed in an RAF air raid (1944)... En route to New York for an appearance on the Perry Como Show, the car that Carl Perkins in travelling in is involved in an accident. Carl sustains injuries that will keep him in hospital for several months, while his brother Jay, who is driving, is killed (1956)... Ornette Coleman goes into Atlantic Studios in NYC with his sidemen. Unusually, Coleman is playing the tenor saxophone rather than his usual alto, so the album that will emerge from the session today and from one five days from now will be called, unsurprisingly, Ornette on Tenor. It is also Jimmy Garrison's last date with the group before leaving to join John Coltrane's quartet (1961)... 19-year-old Barbra Streisand makes her Broadway debut in the original production of I Can Get It for You Wholesale, at the Schubert Theater (1962)... The Beatles' debut album Please Please Me is released in Britain (1963)... Bob Dylan's transitional album Bringing It All Back Home is released (1965)... Led Zeppelin start a six-week run at № 1 on the US album chart with Physical Graffiti, the group's fourth chart-topping LP. On its first day of release in the US, the album shipped a million copies – no other album in the history of Atlantic records had generated so many sales. Physical Graffiti has since been certified 16 times Platinum by the RIAA (1975)... The Police sign their first contract with A&M Records (1978)... The Rutles' 'All You Need Is Cash', an affectionate mockumentary spoofing The Beatles' career, is broadcast for the first time on NBC (1978)... Pink Floyd's 'Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2)' is the № 1 single in the US... In the UK, the Jam's latest single 'Going Underground' debuts at the top of the chart for their first № 1 in their home country (1980)... With the L.A. Latino punk rockers The Plugz as his backing band, Bob Dylan appears on the David Letterman Show, performing the Sonny Boy Williamson classic 'Don't Start Me Talking', along with 'License to Kill' and 'Jokerman' from his latest album Infidels... Queen film the video for ‘I Want To Break Free’ at Limehouse Studio in London. Directed by David Mallet, it is a parody of the British soap opera Coronation Street, with the band members dressed in drag. Guitarist Brian May will later say that the video, which is initially banned by MTV, ruined the band in America (1984)... Polygram Records officially announce that Tears for Fears have split up (1992)... Puff Daddy scores his first US № 1 with 'Can't Nobody Hold Me Down' (1997)... Yusuf Islam, i.e. the former Cat Stevens, joins the campaign to preserve a law banning the 'promotion of homosexuality' in UK schools. He praises peers in the House of Lords for fighting the government's plans to scrap Section 28, as the measure is officially known (2000)... A new book claims that Elvis Presley's ancestors came from a small village called Lonmay in N.E. Scotland. Author Allan Morrison says he found evidence that the King's great-great-great-great-great-great grandfather was married in the village 300 years ago (2004).

March 21st

Musical birthdays today include jazz pianist Amina Myers (84), multi-instrumentalist David Lindley (82), former Sly & the Family Stone singer & keyboardist Rose Stone (81), Mungo Jerry frontman Ray Dorset (80), Eddie Money (77), ex-Supertramp lead singer Roger Hodgson (76), former Stylistics lead singer Russell Thompkins, Jr. (75), House of Love singer & guitarist Guy Chadwick (70), Stray Cats drummer James McDonnell AKA Slim Jim Phantom (65), Ace of Base songwriter & producer Jonas Berggren (59), Prodigy rapper Keith Palmer AKA Maxim Reality (59), Dope lead singer Brian Ebejer AKA Edsel Dope (52), Kaiser Chiefs keyboardist Nick Baines (48), Outlawz rapper Rufus Cooper III AKA Young Noble (48), Sum 41 frontman Deryck Whibley (46), and Saturdays vocalist Rochelle Humes (37). 

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for composer Modeste Mussorgsky, born on this day in 1842... for Appalachian traditional musician Bascom Lamar Lunsford, born in 1882... for Son House, born in 1902... for jazz pianist 'Sir' Charles Thompson, born in 1920... for bouzouki virtuoso Manolis Chiotis, born in 1920 [and who died on his birthday in 1970]... for Otis Spann, born in 1931... for Solomon Burke, who would have been 84... for Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band co-founder & songwriter Vivian Stanshall, who would have been 81... for Leo Fender, founder of the musical instrument corporation bearing his name, who died on this date in 1991... for Bobby Short, who passed away in 2005... and for gospel singer Loleatta Holloway, who left us in 2011. 

Also on March 21st: Beethoven's final string quartet, Op. 130 in Bb, is premiered in Vienna by the Schuppanzig Quartet (1826)... Richard Strauss conducts the Wetzler Symphony Orchestra at Carnegie Hall in the world premiere of his Simfonia Domestica (1904)... Kate Smith records the original version of 'God Bless America' (1939)... The Beatles play their first ever evening show at the Cavern Club, as the opening act for The Swinging Blue Jeans (1961)... At Rudy Van Gelder's studio with Eric Dolphy sitting in, Andrew Hill records the album Point of Departure for Blue Note... 'She Loves You' replaces 'I Want to Hold Your Hand' as the № 1 song in the US, the latter having held the top spot for the last 7 weeks (1964)... Al Green's debut album Back Up Train is released (1967)... The Faces, formed from the ashes of The Small Faces and The Jeff Beck Group, release their first album, First Step (1970)... Following a riot by David Cassidy fans at the singer's performance on 'Top of the Pops', the BBC imposes an indefinite ban on appearances on the show by acts whose fans the network deem to be composed primarily of teenage girls (1973)... 14 years into their career, REO Speedwagon's first US Top 40 hit is a № 1, 'Keep on Lovin' You' (1981)... Bob Dylan and his new band convene in NYC for their final rehearsal before their appearance on the David Letterman Show tomorrow night... Strawberry Fields, an area in Central Park bought by Yoko Ono as a memorial to her husband, opens to the public (1984)... Released just 12 days ago, U2's The Joshua Tree is already the № 1 album in both the US and the UK. It is also the first album ever to sell a million copies in the CD format (1987)... Bruce Springsteen wins the Best Song Oscar for 'Streets of Philadelphia' (1994)... Blur join Simply Red and R.E.M. as the only acts to have 4 UK № 1 albums in the '90s, when their new release 13 tops the chart (1999)... Michael Jackson's interior decorator tells The Times of London newspaper that the singer keeps 17 life size dolls, in both adult and child sizes, all fully dressed in his bedroom for 'company' (2000)... In an online poll organized by Yahoo!, Ozzy Osbourne is named favourite ambassador to welcome aliens to planet earth. The 55-year-old singer came top of a poll asking people whom they would want to represent them to alien life. The inquiry into the wishes of internet users was carried out following the discovery of signs of water on Mars. Ozzy won 26 per cent of the vote, while Simon Cowell came in last on the list, with just three per cent. A spokesman for Yahoo! News said: "As the world waits desperately for signs of alien life, we decided to ask our users who they thought was best suited for this most auspicious of roles. Ozzy is a great choice but I'm not sure what the Martians would make of his individual approach to the English language" (2004)... A five-year legal row over the use of the Beach Boys' name is settled by two former members of the group. Mike Love had argued he was the only person allowed to perform under the name of the band and sued Al Jardine, whom he claimed was appearing as an unlicensed Beach Boys act. Mr Jardine's lawyer says "a friendly settlement" has been reached that allows them to focus on the talent and future of this iconic American band (2006).

March 20th

Musical birthdays today include reggae producer Lee 'Scratch' Perry (90), rockabilly singer Robin Luke (84), Carl Palmer (76), Fabulous Thunderbirds guitarist Jimmy Vaughn (75), ex-James lead guitarist Adrian Oxaal (61), rapper Byron Thomas AKA Mannie Fresh (57), and Franz Ferdinand frontman Alex Kapranos (54).

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for bandleader & singer Ozzie Nelson, born on this day in 1906... for classical pianist Sviatoslav Richter, born in 1915... for Vera Lynn, born in 1917... for  bandleader Larry Elgart, born in 1922... for blues singer Marva Wright, who would have been 78 today... for Linkin Park lead singer Chester Bennington, who would have been 50... for French film score composer Georges Delerue, who died on this date in 1992... for operatic mezzo-soprano Risë Stevens, who passed away today in 2013... and for Kenny Rogers, who left us four years ago today. 

Also on March 20th: Bartók's Fourth String Quartet is premiered by the Waldbauer Quartet in Budapest (1929)... Following the lifting of a Musicians' Union ban on TV performances, Eugene Ormandy conducts the Philadelphia Orchestra playing Beethoven's 5th live on CBS in the first symphony concert to be televised in the United States. 90 minutes later, NBC carries Arturo Toscanini and the NBC Symphony Orchestra performing compositions by Richard Wagner live at Carnegie Hall (1948)... Elvis begins his first recordings since being discharged from the Army. A 12-hour session in a Nashville studio produces his next single, 'Stuck on You'. Scotty Moore and Bill Black, who quit the King's touring band in 1957, are with him in the studio for the last time (1960)... At CBS Studios on 30th St. in Manhattan, Hank Mobley plays his only date with the Miles Davis Quintet, one of three sessions that will produce the album Someday My Prince Will Come (1961)... The Beatles appear live on the UK television program Ready Steady Go!, lip-synching to ‘It Won't Be Long’, ‘You Can't Do That’, and ‘Can't Buy Me Love’. They are also presented with a special award from Billboard, in recognition of The Beatles having the top three singles on the US chart simultaneously... Motown Records release Meet the Temptations, the group's debut album (1964)... Eric Clapton, Neil Young, Richie Furay and Jim Mesina, are all arrested in Los Angeles for 'being at a place where it was suspected marijuana was being used.' Clapton is later found innocent, while the others pay small fines (1968)... John Lennon and Yoko Ono are married at the British Consulate in Gibraltar (1969)... David Bowie and Angela Barnett are married at the Beckenham Registry Office in London (1970)... Janis Joplin goes to № 1 on the US singles chart posthumously with 'Me and Bobby McGee' (1971)... The management of the London Palladium cancel a show by Lou Reed on the grounds of the singer's current 'punk appearance'... T-Rex play their final gig at the Locarno in Portsmouth, Hants. (1977)... 28-year-old Joseph Riviera holds up the Asylum Records office in NYC at gunpoint and demands to see either Jackson Browne or The Eagles. Riviera wants to talk to them to see if they will refinance his failing trucking operation. He flees the scene when told that neither act is in the office, but surrenders to police a short distance away (1980)... Joan Jett & the Blackhearts begin a 7-week run at № 1 on the US singles chart with 'I Love Rock 'n' Roll' (1982)... Gloria Estefan's tour bus is rammed by a tractor-trailer on the way to a concert. Emilio Estefan and their son Nayib receive cuts and bruises, while Gloria sustains a serious back injury which will require surgery two days later (1990)... Eric Clapton's four year old son Conor falls to his death from the 53rd story of a New York City apartment building after a housekeeper who is cleaning the room leaves a window open. The boy was in the custody of his mother, Italian actress Lori Del Santo, and the pair were visiting a friend's apartment. Clapton was staying in a nearby hotel after taking his son to the circus the previous evening. The tragedy inspires his song ‘Tears in Heaven’... Michael Jackson signs a $1 billion contract with Sony (1991)... Geri Halliwell tops the British charts for the third time with her single 'Bag It Up'. It makes the former Spice Girl the first woman in UK chart history to have 10 № 1 hits (2000)... The Daily Mail newspaper reports that Robbie Williams has become a priest.  He was ordained via the Internet by the non-denominational Universal Ministries and officiated the wedding of Billy Morrison of The Cult and Jennifer Holliday (2002).

March 19th

Musical birthdays today include R&B singer Clarence 'Frogman' Henry (89), singer-songwriter Richard Dobson (84), cellist Myung-wha Chung (82), Ruth Pointer (80), jazz pianist Chris Brubeck (74), Mr. Big bassist Billy Sheehan (73), Specials lead singer Terry Hall (67), singer-songwriter Gary Jules (57), rapper Bernard Freeman AKA Bun B (53), and Mastodon drummer Brann Dailor (51). 

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for Broadway musicals singer Patricia Morison, born on this day in 1915... for early country singer Martha Carson, born in 1921... for former Zombies guitarist Paul Atkinson, who would have been 79 today... for original B-52's guitarist Ricky Wilson, who would have been 72... for Free lead guitarist Paul Kosoff, who died on this date in 1976... for Quiet Riot guitarist Randy Rhoads, who was killed in a private plane crash today in 1982 at the age of 25... for French horn player Alan Civil, who passed away in 1989... for Andrew Wood, lead singer of Mother Love Bone, who died of a drug overdose today in 1990 at age 24. (The remaining members of the band would go on to form Pearl Jam)... and for Luther Ingram, who left us in 2007. 

Also on March 19th: Haydn's oratorio Die Schöpfung [The Creation] premieres in Vienna (1789)... Charles Gounod's opera Faust has its premiere at the Théâtre Lyrique in Paris (1859)... Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Suite is performed for the first time in St. Petersburg, with the composer himself conducting (1892)... In NYC, the Met gives Mussorgsky's Boris Godunov its first American performance (1913)... Bob Dylan's self-titled debut album is released by Columbia Records (1962)... UK Prime Minister Harold Wilson presents The Beatles with their awards for show business personalities of the year for 1963 at London's Dorchester Hotel (1964)... Britain's Tailor and Cutter Magazine runs an article asking The Rolling Stones to start wearing ties. The current fashion does not include wearing ties with shirts, and many tie-makers are facing financial ruin. Mick Jagger says of the appeal, "The trouble with a tie is that it could dangle in the soup. It is also something extra to which a fan can hang when you are trying to get in and out of a theatre (1965)... Jethro Tull's album Aqualung is released (1971)... Jefferson Airplane re-name themselves and become Jefferson Starship. The new line-up includes Paul Kantner, Grace Slick, drummer Johnny Barbata, David Freiberg, Peter Kaukonen, Craig Chaquico and Papa John Creach (1974)... The J Geils Band are at № 1 on the US singles chart with 'Centerfold'. Roxy Music occupy the top spot in the UK with 'Jealous Guy' (1981)... The second Beatles Anthology series is released. The album features 'Real  Love', a track the remaining members of the Beatles recorded using an old demo track of John Lennon's. The song was first recorded by Lennon in 1977 with a handheld tape recorder on his piano at home; it originated as part of an unfinished stage play that Lennon was working on at the time entitled 'The Ballad of John and Yoko' (1996)... Former Spice Girl Geri Halliwell's London home is broken into. The intruders leave obscene notes on the walls, steals the singer's computer and hi-fi, and throws milk and Ribena fruit drink on the walls. They also steal a necklace that once belonged to Elizabeth Taylor (2001)... 50 Cent becomes the first solo artist to have three singles in the US Top 5. 'Candy Shop' is at № 1, with 'How We Do' by The Game, (a member of his G-Unit group) at № 4 and 'Disco Inferno' at № 5 (2005)... Shakira is set to become the first pop star to release a single only in the form of a mobile download. The singer's forthcoming release 'Hips Don't Lie' will not be issued in the US as a CD or as a download via the internet but will be available to phone users connected to Verizon (2006).

March 18th

Musical birthdays today include musical theatre composer John Kander [best known for Cabaret and Chicago] (99), former Doobie Brothers drummer John Hartman (76), session guitarist Bernie Tormé (74), Irene Cara (67), ex-Hüsker Dü drummer Grant Hart (65), singer-songwriter James McMurtry (64), Alice in Chains lead guitarist Jerry Cantrell (60), ex-Lush guitarist Miki Berenyi (59), Dana Owens AKA Queen Latifah (56), Evan and Jaron Lowenstein (52), original Jamiroquai bassist Stuart Zender (52), Sutton Foster (51), ex-LFO vocalist Devin Lima (49), Maroon 5 lead singer Adam Levine (47), Trevor Powers AKA Youth Lagoon (37), and multi-instrumentalist and composer Dylan Mattingly (35). 

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for composer Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, born on this day in 1844... for country singer-songwriter Lester 'Smiley' Burnette', born in 1911... for jazz trumpeter Pat Halcox, born in 1930... for Wilson Pickett, who would have been 84... for Alan Parsons Project founder Eric Woolfson, who would have been 80... for Procol Harum drummer B.J. Wilson, who would have been 79... for The Mamas and the Papas co-founder John Phillips, who died in 2001... and for Chuck Berry, who left us today in 2018. 

Also on March 18th... Arnold Schoenberg's string sextet Verklärte Nacht, considered one of the most influential pieces in  early 20th century orchestral music, premieres in Vienna... In a Milan hotel room, Enrico Caruso makes the first surviving recording of classical opera. He sings 109 arias for The Grammophone Company and is paid $5000 (1902)... 
In NYC, the Met performs its first opera by an American composer, The Pipe of Desire by Frank Shepherd Converse (1910)... Frank Sinatra makes his first studio recording, a demo of the song 'Our Love' with The Frank Mane Band (1939)... At A&R Studios in NYC, Stan Getz, João Gilberto and collaborators hold the first of two days of sessions that will become the Getz/Gilberto album, the success of which is credited with launching the international popularity of the bossa nova style (1965)... The UK music magazine New Musical Express announces that former Spencer Davis Group lead vocalist Steve Winwood is planning to form a new group with Jim Capaldi, Chris Wood and Dave Mason. [The ensemble  choose the name Traffic]... The Beatles score their 13th US № 1 single with the double A-side 'Penny Lane'/'Strawberry Fields Forever' (1967)... Neil Young hits № 1 in America with 'Heart of Gold', his only stateside Top 20 as a solo performer to date. Meanwhile, Paul Simon's eponymous debut solo effort is at the top of the album chart... T-Rex play the first of two sold-out shows at Wembley's Empire Pool. Ringo Starr films the gig for the Apple documentary 'Born to Boogie' (1972)... The Clash release their first UK single, 'White Riot' (1977)... The Bee Gees have the top 3 entries on the US singles chart, with 'Night Fever' at № 1, '(Love is) Thicker Than Water', written by brother Andy at № 2, and 'Emotion' by Samantha Song written and produced by The Bee Gees at № 3 (1978)... After having produced the sessions for his Empire Burlesque album himself, Bob Dylan makes what is to many the surprising announcement that he has asked hip hop producer Arthur Baker to do the final mix (1985)...  A radio station in Fresno, CA announces that it has arranged to have all of its Cat Stevens records destroyed by having a steamroller run over them;  the former singer, now a convert to Islam, recently made remarks in an appearance at a British university that were widely interpreted as supportive of the Ayatollah Khomeini's fatwa against Salman Rushdie (1989)...
After attending an in-store promo appearance at Dublin's Virgin Megastore, the four members of U2 are fined £500 each after being found guilty of selling condoms in the establishment illegally (1991)... At the 100 Club in London, the Sex Pistols announce that they are reuniting nearly 20 years after their split (1996)... The remains of the Notorious B.I.G. are laid to rest in Inglewood, NJ (1997)... During a promotional appearance by British boy band A1 in a record store in the Indonesian capital of Jakarta,  four girls are killed and two others seriously injured when the crowd breaks into a stampede (2001)... Eddie Vedder inducts The Ramones into the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame (2002)... Courtney Love exposes her breasts during an appearance on David Letterman's TV talk show. The singer, who has her back to the audience, flashes the host while singing the song Danny Boy. After the taping, she goes on to perform a surprise gig at the Plaid nightclub in Manhattan, where she is alleged to have injured a spectator by throwing a microphone stand into the crowd. Ms. Love is charged with assault and reckless endangerment (2004)... Organisers of an attempt to reunite 19 people who watched The Beatles play in a town hall in 1963 receive claims from 24 people who said they were there. Billy Shanks is helping to lead the search for the audience members of the gig in Dingwall, Ross-shire, Scotland 48 years earlier. He said that some who turned up thought the music was rubbish and left to join an audience of 1,200 watching a local band in nearby Strathpeffer (2011)... David Bowie's first album in a decade becomes the fastest seller of the year, hitting the No.1 spot in the UK in its first week of release. The Next Day is the 66-year-old's first № 1 since 1993's Black Tie White Noise, and has sold 94,000 copies in the first week (2013).