On This Day

Message Topic Search Topic Options Post Reply Create New Topic Printable Version Translate Topic

   August 23rd: On this Day

1962, John Lennon married Cynthia Powell at Liverpool's Mount Pleasant register office. He then played a gig that night with The Beatles at Liverpool's Riverpark Ballroom.

1963, The Rolling Stones appeared on UK TV show Ready, Steady, Go! for the first time, performing their debut single 'Come On.' The group made a total of 20 appearances on the show between 1963 and 1966.

1965, Security guards at a Manchester TV studio hosed down 200 Rolling Stones fans after they broke down barriers while waiting for the band to arrive for a performance.

1966, The Beatles were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with the double a sided 'Yellow Submarine - Eleanor Rigby'. The group's eleventh No.1. Paul McCartney said he came up with the name Eleanor from actress Eleanor Bron, who had starred with The Beatles in the film Help!. Rigby came from the name of a store in Bristol, Rigby & Evens Ltd, Wine & Spirit Shippers.

1966, On their final tour of America, The Beatles performed at Shea Stadium in New York City, New York. Unlike the previous year's performance, which had sold out, there were 11,000 empty seats in the 55,600 seat stadium. The Beatles earn more than the previous year, receiving $189,000 for their performance.

1967, Enjoying a wild birthday party Keith Moon drummer with The Who drove his Lincoln car into a Holiday Inn swimming pool. As the party had become out of control, the police were called to put an end to the festivities. Moon, ever keen to avoid the boys in blue snuck outside and got into a Lincoln Continental Limousine and attempted to make a getaway. Unfortunately, in his inebriated state he released the handbrake, and began rolling towards the pool. Moon simply sat back and waited, as the car crashed through the fence around the pool and into the water.

1968, During a North American tour The Jimi Hendrix Experience appeared at Singer Bowl, Flushing Meadow Park, New York. Also on the bill was Soft Machine and Big Brother and the Holding Company.

1969, Johnny Cash started a four-week run at No.1 on the US album chart with 'Johnny Cash At San Quentin'. The album was a recording of a live concert given to the inmates of San Quentin State Prison and was the follow-up to Cash's previous live album, the critically acclaimed and commercially successful At Folsom Prison.

1969, The Rolling Stones started a four week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Honky Tonk Women' the group's fifth US No.1. The song written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards was inspired by Brazilian gauchos at the ranch where Jagger and Richards were staying in Matao, Sao Paulo.

1969, Ibex, featuring vocalist Freddie Bulsara (later known as Freddie Mercury) played a gig at the Octagon Theatre, Bolton, Lancashire, UK.

1970, Lou Reed and the Velvet Underground performed together for the last time at the New York Club 'Max's Kansas City'. Reed worked as a typist for his father for the next two years, at $40 per week.

1971, Diana Ross was at No.1 on the UK singles chart 'I'm Still Waiting', the singers first solo UK No.1. The song which spent four weeks at the top of the charts was released after BBC Radio 1 DJ Tony Blackburn featured it heavily on his morning programme.

1975, Joy Division singer Ian Curtis married Deborah Woodruff, whom he met while still at school, when he was 19 and she was 18. They remained married until his death when he hanged himself in the kitchen of his house in Macclesfield, England at the age of 23.

1980, David Bowie was at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Ashes To Ashes' his second UK No.1. Taken from the Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps) album, the song continued the story of Major Tom from Bowie's 'Space Oddity'. The video for 'Ashes to Ashes' was one of the most iconic of the 1980s and costing £250,000, it was at the time the most expensive music video ever made.

1980, The Heatwave Festival in Toronto, Canada took place with Talking Heads, Elvis Costello, The B-52's, The Pretenders, Rockpile and The Rumour. Tickets cost $30, with only 50,000 people attending the festival lost over $1 million.

1986, Jamaican singer Boris Gardiner started a three week run at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'I Want to Wake Up with You'.

1986, Sigue Sigue Sputnik came up with an idea to sell advertising space between the tracks on their forthcoming new album. It was a non-starter.

2003, Lee Ryan of boy band Blue was banned from driving for 18 months after admitting drink-driving. Ryan was also ordered to pay a £2250 fine at Tower Bridge magistrate's court London.

2005, Les McKeown the lead singer of the Bay City Rollers appeared in court charged with drugs offences. McKeown, aged 49, was accused of conspiring with four other people, including the band's drummer Pat McGlynn, to supply cocaine. He was arrested in Dalston, east London, in June as part of a major police operation.

2007, Comedy writer Buddy Sheffield, sued Disney alleging that he originally came up with the idea for Hannah Montana but was never compensated by Disney. In the lawsuit, Sheffield claimed that he pitched an idea for a TV series with the name of ‘Rock and Roland’ to Disney Channel in 2001 with the plot of a junior high student who lived a secret double life as a rock star.

2008, Madonna kicked off her 86-date Sticky & Sweet Tour at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff Wales. It became the highest grossing tour by a solo artist, breaking the previous record Madonna achieved with her 2006 Confessions Tour. Madonna's first venture with Live Nation, was estimated to have grossed $280 million.

2013, A man found in the pool house at Jennifer Lopez's mansion in the exclusive Hamptons area of New York was charged with stalking. According to police, the singer had a restraining order against John Dubis, who was a retired firefighter, was also charged with burglary, criminal contempt and possessing burglary tools.