March 27th

Musical birthdays today include producer & recording industry executive Mo Ostin (92), former Shadows keyboardist Alan Hawkshaw (82), Status Quo bassist Andy Bown (73), Genesis keyboardist Tony Banks (69), multi-instrumentalist & longtime Paul McCartney sideman Paul Wickens (61), former INXS keyboardist & principal songwriter Andrew Farriss (60), former Gun Club and Nick Cave guitarist Brian 'Kid Congo Powers' Tristan (60), Johnny Hates Jazz lead singer Clark Datchler (55), jazz singer Stacey Kent (51), ex-Time Frequency lead singer Mary Kiani (50), Mariah Carey (49), Blues Traveler drummer Brendan Hill (49), Procol Harum bassist Matt Pegg (38), Black Eyed Peas lead singer Fergie Duhamel (44), Dillinger Escape Plan frontman Greg Puciato (39), and pop singer Laura Critchley (35). 

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for Sarah Vaughn, born on this day in 1924... for cellist Mstislav Rostropovich, born in 1927... for bluesman Johnny Copeland, who would have been 81... for rockabilly & country singer Janis Martin, who would have been 79... for former Genesis drummer John Mayhew, who would have been 72... for Associates vocalist Billy Mackenzie, who would have been 62... for jazz saxophonist Clifford Jordan, who died on this date in 1993... for Rolling Thunder Revue drummer Howie Wyeth, who passed away in 1996... for Ian Dury, who died in 2000... and for Dudley Moore, who left us in 2002. 

Also on March 27th: Franz Joseph Haydn makes his last public appearance at a performance of his oratorio The Creation in Vienna to mark the composer's 76th birthday. Beethoven and Antonio Salieri are also in attendance (1808)... CBS Laboratories announce a new stereophonic Long Playing (LP) record that is playable on ordinary monaural LP phonographs (1958)... Beatlemania continues to take the world by storm, as the Fab Four now occupy the top 6 positions on the Australian pop chart (1964)... The Supremes score their fourth US № 1 with 'Stop! In the Name of Love' (1965)... Fats Domino makes his UK debut at London's Saville Theatre with The Bee Gees and Gerry & the Pacemakers opening for him... Columbia Records release the first Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits package (1967)... The Beatles have their final UK № 1 on the Parlophone EMI label with 'Lady Madonna' (1968)... Ringo Starr becomes the first of the Beatles to release a solo album that is neither a film soundtrack nor an avant-garde experiment, as Sentimental Journey hits the shops (1970)... At RCA Studios in Memphis, Elvis records what will prove to be his last top ten hit, 'Burning Love' (1972)... Rolling Stone magazine reports that after becoming a disciple of Sri Chinmoy, Carlos Santana changed his name to 'Devadip', which means 'the lamp of the light of the Supreme' (1973)... Eric Clapton and Patti Harrison married in Tucson, AZ (1979)... Former Small Faces and Faces bassist Ronnie Lane is diagnosed with multiple sclerosis [He will succumb to the disease in 1997] (1982)... Van Halen kick off a 112 date North American tour at the Hirsch Memorial Coliseum in Shreveport, LA. It is the band's first tour with Sammy Hagar on lead vocals (1986)... U2 perform from the roof of a store in downtown L.A. to make the video for 'Where The Streets Have No Name', attracting thousands of spectators and bringing traffic to a standstill. The police eventually stop the shoot (1987)... The wife of Velvet Revolver singer Scott Weiland is arrested on suspicion of burning over $10,000 of his belongings outside their home after police in Los Angeles find a bin of smouldering clothes. Earlier that day, the couple left two rooms vandalised after an argument at a luxury hotel (2007)... X Factor winner Leona Lewis becomes the first British woman to top the US pop chart in more than 20 years with her single ‘Bleeding Love.’ Kim Wilde was the last UK female to top the Billboard Hot 100, with her 1987 cover version of the Supremes hit ‘You Keep Me Hangin' On’. Petula Clark was the first, with her 1965 track ‘Downtown' (2008)... David Bowie's landmark album Ziggy Stardust is celebrated with a blue plaque in central London. Former Spandau Ballet frontman Gary Kemp unveils the marker at the spot where the iconic cover shot of the 1972 release was taken. The location in Heddon Street, just off Regent Street, is now a pedestrianised area filled with bars and restaurants (2012).