May 15th

Musical birthdays today include Original Little River Band lead singer Graeham Goble (79), Brian Eno (78), Mike Oldfield (73) Sisters of Mercy frontman Andrew Eldritch (66), former  Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five lead rapper Melvin 'Melle Mel' Glover (65), Saint Etienne keyboardist Pete Wiggs (60), classical violinist Anne Akiko Meyers (56), Trail of Dead lead singer Conrad Keely (54), Ahmet Zappa (52), Deerhunter frontman Bradford Cox (44), and Pussycat Dolls vocalist Jessica Sutta (44). 

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for composer Claudio Monteverdi, born on this day in 1567... for ragtime pianist Eddie Morton, born in 1870... for Eddy Arnold, born in 1918... fort British jazzman John Barnes, born in 1932... for folk singer Bruce 'Utah' Phillips, who would have been 90 today... for Trini Lopez, who would have been 89... for former Chiffons vocalist Barbara Lee, who died on this date in 1992... for June Carter Cash, who passed away in 2003... and for film & TV score composer Alexander Courage [best remembered for the original Star Trek theme], who left us today in 2008. 

Also on May 15th: The Royal Opera House at Covent Garden reopens two years after being badly damaged in a fire (1858)... Charlie Parker records the live album One Night in Birdland (1950)... John Cage's Piano Concerto premieres at Carnegie Hall (1958)... Bob Dylan’s single 'Subterranean Homesick Blues' peaks at No.39 on the Billboard chart, giving Dylan his first US top 40 hit. John Lennon reportedly finds the song so captivating that he has been quoted as saying he doesn't know how he'd be able to write one that could compete with it (1965)... Paul McCartney meets American photographer Linda Eastman for the first time, during a Georgie Fame concert at the Bag O'Nails nightclub in London (1967)... George Harrison and Ringo Starr attend the premiere of 'Wonderwall' at the Cannes Film Festival. The film by first-time director Joe Massot stars Jack MacGowran and Jane Birkin, and features a cameo by Anita Pallenberg. The soundtrack was composed by Harrison. The film also provides the name for the Oasis track 'Wonderwall', which was inspired by George Harrison's score (1968)... John  Lennon's Life With The Lions is released on Apple's avant-garde imprint Zapple. One side of the album was recorded on a cassette player at London's Queen Charlotte Hospital during Yoko Ono's pregnancy which ended in a miscarriage (1969)...  EG Records release King Crimson's second album In the Wake of Poseidon (1970)... Crosby Stills Nash & Young score their second US № 1 LP with 4 Way Street. The live album features recordings from shows at the Fillmore East and The L.A. Forum (1971)... The Rolling Stones go to № 1 on the Billboard album chart with Black and Blue, their first release since the replacement of Mick Taylor with Ron Wood (1976)... Former Sex Pistol John Lydon's band Public Image Ltd performs a show at the Ritz Club in NYC posing behind a video screen while the music is played from tapes. The band are showered with missiles and eventually booed off stage (1981)... Stevie Wonder and Paul McCartney start a seven week run at № 1 on the US singles chart with 'Ebony and Ivory' (1982)... Manic Street Preachers guitarist Richey Edwards carves '4 real' into his arm with a razor blade while being interviewed by music paper The NME (1991)... Oasis become one of the first bands to attempt to exert censorship over the Internet when the group announce that they are working with Sony to close down unofficial websites carrying lyrics, sound files and photographs of the band (1997)... It is reported that Britney Spears has been crowned the queen of America's fastest growing youth movement, the teenage celibates. Spears told the German magazine Bravo that she intended to abstain from sex until her wedding night (2000).

May 14th

Musical birthdays today include Rascals guitarist Gene Cornish (82), David Byrne (74), former Red Rider frontman Tom Cochrane (73), French pop singer Patrick Bruel (67), Marillion lead singer Steve Hogarth (67), Irish tenor Ronan Tynan (66), former The Cult lead singer Ian Astbury (64), Poison guitarist C.C. DeVille (64), Testament guitarist Eric Peterson (62), Alice in Chains bassist Mike Inez (60), New Kids on the Block vocalist Danny Wood (57), AFI bassist Hunter Burgan (49), rapper Terrence Thornton AKA Pusha T (49), Black Keys frontman Dan Auberbach (47), Thirteen Senses lead guitarist Tom Welham (43), and Miranda Cosgrove (33). 
 
Shoutout to the Great Beyond for conductor Otto Klemperer, born on this day in 1885... for Sidney Bechet, born in 1897 [and who died in 1959 on his 62nd birthday]... for original Coasters vocalist Will 'Dub' Jones, born in 1928... for Bobby Darin, and for early rocker Charlie Gracie, both of whom would have been 90 today... for Jack Bruce, and for Herman's Hermits lead guitarist Derek Leckenby, both of whom would have been 83...  for former Yardbirds lead singer Keith Relf, who was electrocuted whilst  playing an improperly grounded guitar on this date in 1976 at the age of 33... and for Frank Sinatra, who left us today in 1998. 

Also on May 14th: Vienna's Burgtheater opens for the first time (1741)... John Philip Sousa's 'The Stars and Stripes Forever' is performed in public for the first time in Willow Grove Park in Philadelphia, PA (1897)... Enrico Caruso makes his Covent Garden debut in 'Rigoletto' (1902)... Elvis is rushed to a Los Angeles hospital after swallowing a porcelain cap from one of his front teeth, which then became lodged in one of his lungs (1957)... The Silver Beats (John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Stu Sutcliffe and Tommy Moore) perform at Lathom Hall, Seaforth, Liverpool. They play a few songs during the 'interval' to audition for promoter Brian Kelly. Also appearing are Cliff Roberts & the Rockers, The Deltones, and Kingsize Taylor & the Dominoes. This is the only occasion on which the group uses the name Silver Beats, quickly changing it back to Silver Beetles (1960)... In NYC, Miles Davis finishes recording the album Seven Steps to Heaven (1963)... Pye Records release Donovan's debut album What's Been Did and  What's Been Hid (1965)... John Lennon and Paul McCartney appeared on NBC-TV's Tonight Show with guest host Joe Garagiola sitting in for Johnny Carson. The topics of conversation include transcendental meditation, the forming of Apple Corps, and song writing (1968)... Reprise Records release Everybody Knows This Us Nowhere by Neil Young & Crazy Horse... During a UK tour, Fairport Convention's van crashes on the M1 motorway on the way home from a gig in Birmingham. The group's 19 year-old drummer Martin Lamble is killed, along with Richard Thompson's girlfriend Jeannie Franklyn (1969)... ATCO Records release High Voltage, AC/DC's first album available outside Australia (1976)... During a UK tour, Talking Heads play a gig at The Rock Garden in London. Brian Eno is in the audience, and approaches the band after the show with an offer to produce them (1977)... Led Zeppelin reunite for  Atlantic Records' 40th anniversary party at Madison Square Garden, appearing with John Bonham's son Jason on drums. Other acts performing included Foreigner, Crosby, Stills & Nash, Genesis, Emerson Lake & Palmer, Wilson Pickett and Ben E. King (1988)... At an auction at Christies of London, the acoustic guitar that Elvis used to make his first recordings in 1954, 'That's All Right Mama' and 'Blue Moon of Kentucky', sells for £130,285. Also on the block are four 'Super Hero' costumes worn by the group Kiss, which go for £20,000 (1993)... George Michael is fined $750 after being convicted of a 'lewd act' in a Los Angeles public lavatory. The court also orders him to undergo psychological counselling and carry out 80 hours community service (1998)... Tom Jones is at № 1 on the UK album chart with Reload, making the singer the oldest artist to top the British album chart with new material (2001).

May 13th

Musical birthdays today include harmonica player Richard 'Magic Dick' Salwitz (81), original Fleetwood Mac guitarist & co-lead singer Danny Kirwan (76), Stevie Wonder (76), Roxy Music drummer Paul Thompson (75), ex-Porcupine Tree drummer Chris Maitland (62), Alison Goldfrapp (60), Hootie & the Blowfish frontman Darius Rucker (60), rapper Parrish 'PMDE' Smith (58), guitarist & multi-instrumentalist Brian ' Buckethead' Carroll (58), and Maroon Five bassist Mickey Madden (47).

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for composer Arthur Sullivan, born on this day in 1842... for Gil Evans, born in 1912... for country singer Johnnie Wright, born in 1914... for jazz pianist & frequent Miles Davis and John Coltrane sideman Red Garland, born in 1923... for Ritchie Valens, who would have been 85 today... for Mary Wells, who would have been 82... for jazz drummer Alfred 'Tubby' Hall, who died on this date in 1945... for country & western swing singer Bob Wills, who died in 1975... for Chet Baker, who passed away in 1988... for producer & record company executive Eddie Barclay, who died in 2005... for Booker T & the M.G.'s bassist Donald 'Duck' Dunn, who passed away in 2012... and for Doris Day, who left us today in 2019.

Also on May 13th: The first commercial FM radio station goes on the air in Bloomfield, CT as WDRC (1939)... 'The Pajama Game' opens on Broadway. It will go on to have a run of 1,063 performances (1954)... The Monkees' second album More of the Monkees goes to № 1 on the UK charts. In 1967, only four albums reached № 1 in Britain: The Sound Of Music soundtrack, which spends 17 weeks at the top; Sgt Pepper, 25 weeks; and The Monkees first and second albums, which spend a total of 10 weeks at № 1... The Supremes score their 10th US № 1 single with 'The Happening'; it reaches № 6 in the UK. It is the group's last single to be released under the name of The Supremes; henceforth they will be known as Diana Ross and the Supremes (1967)... John Lennon and Paul McCartney arrive in NYC for a press junket to help launch Apple Corps in the US (1968)... Led Zeppelin become the first British rock group to appear in Hawaii, when  they play the Civic Auditorium in Honolulu. A review in the Honolulu Advertiser states 'The showmanship exceeded any rock performance here to date. I wondered before the concert if Led Zeppelin could sound as good as their Atlantic album – they sounded better' (1969)... The Beatles final original release of any kind takes place with the world premiere of the film 'Let It Be' in New York (1970)... Grace Slick crashes her Mercedes into a wall near the Golden Gate Bridge and is hospitalised (1971)... Boney M top the UK singles chart with 'By the Rivers of Babylon' (1978)... Warner Bros. Records release Dire Straits' Brothers in Arms (1984)... Bruce Springsteen marries Julianne Phillips in Lake Oswego, OR (1985)...  Oasis become the fastest selling group in UK history after all 330,000 tickets for their summer shows sell out in just nine hours. The tickets for shows at Knebworth and Loch Lomond were priced at £22.50 (1996)... Dionne Warwick is arrested at Miami International Airport for possession of marijuana after authorities find 11 joints in a lipstick case in the singer's hand luggage. The charges are dropped after Warwick completes a drug program and makes a contribution in an undisclosed amount to charity (2002)... Brian May is placed under 24-hour security watch after a deranged man announced he was setting off to murder him, and then disappeared. Police are hunting for a schizophrenic who left a letter behind at his home blaming the Queen guitarist for his illness. In it the man said May was an 'impostor', and that he was the real rock star. He signed the letter 'Brian May' (2007)... The US Postal Service issued a 42-cent postage stamp in honour of Frank Sinatra. The design shows a '50s-vintage image of Sinatra, wearing a fedora (2008)... Like A Rolling Stone has been voted as Bob Dylan’s best-ever song by Rolling Stone Magazine, who asked the opinions of a panel of writers, academics and musicians to compile a poll to mark Dylan's 70th birthday on 24th May. 'Like A Rolling Stone' was described by U2's Bono as 'a black eye of a pop song', while Mick Jagger praised the simplicity of Desolation Row. Keith Richards argued that the original 1963 solo version of Girl from The North Country, ranked 30th, was superior to Dylan's 1969 duet of the same song with Johnny Cash (2011).

May 12th

Musical birthdays today include Billy Swan (84), Steve Winwood (78), Billy Squier (76), Kix Brooks [of Brooks & Dunn] (71), Kiss drummer Eric Singer (68), The Cult guitarist Billy Duffy (65), Bad Religion guitarist Brett Gurewitz (64), bossa nova singer Bebel Gilberto (58), rapper Jason Harrow AKA Kardinal Offishall (50), and Greek Cypriot pop singer Eleftheria Eleftheriou (37). 

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for composer Jules Massenet, born on this day in 1842... for composer Gabriel Fauré, born in 1845... for Burt Bacharach, born in 1928... for Motown songwriter Norman Whitfield, who would have been 86 today... for Ian Dury, who would have been 84... for former Small Faces keyboardist Ian McLagan, who would have been 81... for former Badlands lead singer Ray Gillen, who would have been 67... for R&B singer Charles Pettigrew, who would have been 63... for composer Bedřich Smetana, who died on this date in 1884... for Perry Como, who died in 2001... and for singer-songwriter Antonio Vega, who left us today in 2009. 

Also on May 12th: Needing just two takes, The Everly Brothers record 'All I Have to Do Is Dream' (1958)... Charles Mingus records Mingus Ah Um, his first LP for Columbia (1959)... Bob Dylan walks out of rehearsals for The Ed Sullivan show after being told he may not perform his song 'Talking John Birch Paranoid Blues' due to its mockery of the US military and segregation. CBS executives ask Dylan to replace it with another song, but the singer reportedly says: "No, this is what I want to do. If I can't play my song, I'd rather not appear on the show" (1963)... The Beach Boys have their first № 1 album in the US with Beach Boys Concert (1964)... After moving the sessions to record (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction from Chess Studios in Chicago to RCA Studios in Hollywood, the Rolling Stones produce the master take (1965)... Pink Floyd appear at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in London, giving a special concert called 'Games For May ~ Space Age Relaxation For The Climate Of Spring'. This is reportedly the first show to include loudspeakers placed at the back of the hall to give a 'sound in the round', or quadraphonic, effect. The sound system, developed by EMI technicians, is stolen after the show and will not be recovered for some years... Reprise Records release Are You Experienced?, the debut album from The Jimi Hendrix Experience (1967)... Brian Jones makes his final live appearance with The Rolling Stones when they appear at the New Musical Express Poll Winners Concert at the Empire Pool, Wembley (1968)... Mick Jagger marries Bianca Macias in Saint Tropez (1971)... The Rolling Stones release Exile on Main St. (1972)... Led Zeppelin go to № 1 on the US album chart with Houses of the Holy (1973)... Jefferson Starship give a free concert in NYC's Central Park in front of 60,000 fans. The band and concert sponsor WNEW-FM are forced to pay $14,000 for cleaning up and damage done to the park after the event (1975)... Virgin Records announce that they have signed The Sex Pistols, who have been dropped by both A&M and EMI in the last six months (1977)... Van Halen kick off their 82-date North American 'Fair Warning' tour at the Halifax Metro Centre in Halifax, NS (1981)... Lionel Richie's  'Hello' is at the top of the singles charts in both the US and the UK (1984)... 17-year-old Bernadette O'Brien dies the day after being severely injured whilst 'body surfing' at a Smashing Pumpkins gig at The Point, Dublin (1996)... Neil Young has a spider named after him. LSU biology professor Jason Bond discovered a new species of trapdoor spider and decided to name it after his favourite musician. Myrmekiaphila neilyoungi was found in Jefferson County, Alabama, in 2007 (2008).

May 11th

Musical birthdays today include Eric Burdon (85), former Gerry and the Pacemakers bassist Ken Chadwick (83), Allman Brothers Band drummer Butch Trucks (79), chansonnier Renaud Séchan (74), ex-Afghan Wigs guitarist Greg Dulli (61), Rammstein drummer Christoph Schneider (60/span>), and Enation frontman Jonathan Jackson (44).

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for Irving Berlin, born on this day in 1888... for free jazz pianist Carla Bley, who would have been 89 today... for jazz saxophonist Johnny Hodges, who died on this date in 1970... for Bob Marley, who died in 1981... for Jimi Hendrix Experience bassist Noel Redding, who passed away in 2003... for singer-songwriter and producer John Whitehead, who was shot to death in 2007 at the age of 57... and for original Rush drummer John Rutsey, who left us today in 2008. 

Also on May 11th: Connie Francis tops the UK singles chart with a cover of the 1923 song 'Who's Sorry Now', making her Francis the first female rock 'n' roll star to reach № 1 in Britain (1958)... The Beatles start a 30 week run at № 1 on the UK album charts with their debut LP Please Please Me, making it the longest running chart-topping album by a group ever. The band's follow-up, With The Beatles, replaces it at the sales summit on the 7th of December 1963 and stays there for 21 weeks (1963)... During a UK tour, The Rolling Stones are refused lunch at The Grand Hotel, Bristol where they are staying because they are not wearing jackets and ties. The following day, the Daily Express run the story with the headline, 'The Rolling Stones Gather No Lunch' (1964)... Small Faces release their eponymous debut album on the Decca label (1966)... The Bee Gees make their UK television debut performing 'New York Mining Disaster 1941' on Top of the Pops (1967)... The triple album of the soundtrack of Woodstock is released in the US, and goes gold within two weeks (1970)... John Lennon, appearing on The Dick Cavett Show, claims he is under surveillance by the FBI (1972)... Wings kick off their 15-date debut UK tour at the Bristol Hippodrome (1973)... Led Zeppelin attend an Elvis Presley show at the Los Angeles Forum. After a shaky start to the show, the King stops the band and jokingly says "Wait a minute, let's see if we can start together, fellas, because we’ve got Led Zeppelin out there. Let's try to look like we know what we're doing." All four members of Zeppelin meet with Elvis after the show, spending over 2 hours backstage. Elvis asks for all the group members' autographs for his daughter Lisa Marie (1974)... Bruce Springsteen and a small group of friends go for a boy’s night out in Lake Oswego, OR two nights before his wedding to Julianne Phillips. Drinking in the Gemini pub, Springsteen sings a number of songs, karaoke-style, to his own records in the jukebox (1985)... 
Over 500 Michael Jackson fans hold a demonstration outside the Sony records building in Berlin, complaining that the label has not sufficiently promoted the singer's latest album 'Invincible' (2002)... One of the rarest rock t-shirts in the world sells for $10,000, the largest sum ever paid for a vintage t. The record-setting sale of a 1979 Led Zeppelin shirt on eBay is made by Kyle Ermatinger of Stormcrow Vintage (2011).

May 10th

Musical birthdays today includeSpinners vocalist Henry Fambrough (88), Carl Douglas (84), Donovan (80), 10cc guitarist Graham Gouldman (80), Dave Mason (80), ex-Spirit keyboardist Jay Ferguson (79/span>), session drummer Sly Dunbar (74), Bono (66), Tool drummer Danny Carey (65), rapper Marvin 'Young M.C.' Young (59), Mogwai lead guitarist Stuart Braithwaite (50), and We Are Scientists frontman Keith Murray (49). 

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle, composer of 'La Marseillaise', born on this day in 1760... for film score composer Max Steiner, born in 1888... for film score composer Dmitri Tiomkin, born in 1894... For Fred Astaire, born in 1899... for Maybelle Carter, born in 1909... for jazz guitarist Bert Wheedon, born in 1920... for R&B singer-songwriter Larry Williams and for composer Harold Budd,both of whom would have been 90 today... for Danny & the Juniors leader Danny Frapp, who would have been 85. for Jackie Lomax, who would have been 82... for Sid Vicious, who would have been 69... for jazz singer Sylvia Syms, who died on this date in 1992... and for pop singer Soraya, who left us today in 2006. 

Also on May 10th: Wagner’s Centennial Inaugural March is performed for the first time at the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia, PA. The composer was paid $5,000 for the piece, conducted by Theodore Thomas (1876)... Bill Haley & His Comets release 'Rock around the Clock', an event that is often considered to be the beginning of the rock era (1954)... Bob Dylan arrives in Britain for his first major UK tour including a show at London's Royal Festival Hall on the 17th of this month (1964)... The Rolling Stones record a version of '(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction' at Chess Studios in Chicago, with Brian Jones on harmonica. The group re-record it two days later at RCA Studios in Hollywood, with a different beat and using the Gibson Maestro fuzzbox that Keith Richards recently acquired, adding sustain to the sound of the guitar riff. (1965)... At the request of presidential daughter Tricia Nixon, The Turtles give a special performance at the White House. Unconfirmed rumours continue to circulate that members of the group snorted cocaine off Abraham Lincoln's desk (1969)... Chrysalis Records release Jethro Tull's Thick as a Brick (1972)... The Go-Go's announce that they are disbanding (1986)... Falco is at № 1 on both sides of the Atlantic with 'Rock Me Amadeus' (1987)... The Apollo Theater begins installing bronze plaques dedicated to legends who had close ties to the establishment on the sidewalk in front of the building. Among the first to be so honoured are James Brown, Michael Jackson, Smokey Robinson and Ella Fitzgerald (2010)... The ornate iron gates of a children's home which inspired John Lennon's psychedelic Beatles anthem Strawberry Fields Forever are removed after the Salvation Army, which owns the former home, decides to put the red Victorian gates into storage. Beatles fans who pass the Liverpool site now are met with 10ft (3m) high replicas. The original gates are being taken to a secret location for storage, and will eventually be auctioned off (2011).

May 9th

Musical birthdays today include former Crickets frontman [replacing Buddy Holly after his death] Sonny Curtis (89), former Freddie & the Dreamers bassist Pete Birrell (85), Tommy Roe (84), Richie Furay (82), Blood, Sweat & Tears guitarist Steve Katz (81), Billy Joel (77), Cheap Trick bassist Tom Petersson (76), operatic mezzo-soprano Anne Sofie von Otter (71), Depeche Mode lead singer Dave Gahan (64), former Housemartins & Beautiful South lead singer Paul Heaton (64), pop singer Marie-Claire Cremers, AKA Amber (57), Wu Tang Clan rapper Dennis Coles AKA Ghostface Killah (56), Oasis bassist Paul McGuigan (55)), and Simple Plan lead singer Pierre Bouvier (46). 

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for composer Giovanni Pierluigi de Palestrina, born on this day in 1525... for country legend Hank Snow, born in 1914... for Soviet-era dissident bard Bulat Okudzhava, born in 1924... for Dave Prater [of Sam & Dave], who would have been 88... for composer & organ virtuoso Dieterich Buxtehude, who died on this date in 1707... for country singer Keith Whitley, who died in 1989 at the age of 34... for song & dance woman Alice Faye, who passed away in 1998... for chansonnier Pascal Sevran, who died in 2008... for Lena Horne, who died in 2010... and for the Rev. Richard Penniman, AKA Little Richard, who left us four years ago today.

Also on May 9th: In Linz, Austria, Anton Bruckner's 1st Symphony is performed for the first time, with the composer conducting (1868)... Vladimir Horowitz plays his first public concert in 12 years, returning to Carnegie Hall. When the pianist appears on stage, he receives a 30 minute standing ovation (1963)... Chuck Berry begins his first ever UK tour at the Astoria Theatre in London. Opening acts include The Animals, The Swinging Blue Jeans, and Karl Denver & the Nashville Teens... Louis Armstrong goes to № 1 on the US singles chart with 'Hello Dolly' making him at the age of 62 the oldest artist to hit the top (1964)... The Beatles attend their first Bob Dylan concert, the first of two sold out nights at the Royal Albert Hall (1965)... The Doors play the Whisky A Go Go in West Hollywood, auditioning for the position of the venue's house band (1966)... Sandie Shaw is at № 1 on the UK singles chart with 'Puppet On A String'. This week's two highest new entries are Jimi Hendrix with 'The Wind Cries Mary' and The Kinks with 'Waterloo Sunset' (1967)... Zapple Records releases George Harrison's debut solo album Electronic Sounds (1969)... The Guess Who start a three-week run at № 1 on the US singles chart with 'American Woman', the group's sixth Top 30 hit and only chart topper. The song was born by accident when guitarist Randy Bachman was playing a heavy riff on stage after he had broken a string, and the other members joined in on the jam. A fan in the audience who had bootlegged the show presented his tape to the group after the show and they developed the riff into a full song (1970)... Mick Jagger adds $150,000 of his own money to the $350,000 raised by a Rolling Stones benefit concert on January for victims of the recent Nicaraguan earthquake (1973)... Bonnie Raitt plays two shows at Harvard Square Theatre in Cambridge, MA; her opening act is Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band. Rolling Stone critic Jon Landau is in the audience Springsteen and writes a review that includes the line 'I saw rock and roll future, and its name is Bruce Springsteen' (1974)... 'I Don't Like Mondays' by The Boomtown Rats wins in the Best Pop Song and Outstanding British Lyric categories at the 25th Ivor Novello Awards, while Supertramp's 'The Logical Song' wins Best Song Musically and Lyrically. Boomtown Rats lead singer Bob Geldoff was inspired to write  the song after reading about the tragic shooting spree of 16-year-old Brenda Spencer, who killed two people and wounded nine others when she fired from her house across the street at the entrance of San Diego's Grover Cleveland Elementary School (1980)... Bruce Springsteen makes his North American TV debut as the musical guest on Saturday Night Live (1992)... Jimmy Page appears on SNL with rapper Sean 'Puffy' Combs and performs 'Come With Me' from the 'Godzilla' movie soundtrack. The song samples the guitar riff from Led Zeppelin's 'Kashmir' (1998)... Country star Kenny Chesney marries Renee Zellweger (2005)... David Bowie's latest video, which stars Gary Oldman and Marion Cotillard, is temporarily pulled from YouTube because of its graphic content. 'The Next Day' features heavy religious imagery, including Cotillard bleeding from stigmata marks. The video sees Bowie performing in a basement bar, surrounded by religious figures, while Oldman, dressed as a priest, punches a beggar before dancing with a prostitute, played by Oscar-winner Cotillard. YouTube admitted making the 'wrong call' in removing the video, and reinstated it with an adult content warning (2013).