On This Day

March 27th: On this day
1964, Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and Andrew Oldham attended a Decca launch party at the Ex-Serviceman’s Club, Windsor, Berkshire for Oldham's protégé singer Adrienne Posta, whose debut single, Shang-A-Doo-Lang was being released. Also at the party was 17 year-old Marianne Faithfull, with her boyfriend John Dunbar. This was the first time Mick met Marianne.
1965, The Supremes scored their fourth US No.1 single with 'Stop! In The Name Of Love.' The song was included on the Supremes' sixth album, More Hits by The Supremes, and was nominated for the 1966 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Rock & Roll Group Vocal Performance, losing to 'Flowers on the Wall' by the Statler Brothers. The song was also honored by inclusion in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's permanent collection of the 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll.
1966, During an UK tour, Roy Orbison fell off a motorbike while scrambling at Hawkstone Park, Birmingham fracturing his foot. He played the remaining dates sat on a stool and walking on crutches.
1967, John Lennon and Paul McCartney were awarded the prestigious Ivor Novello award for 'Michelle', the most performed song in the UK in 1966.
1971, New York radio station WNBC banned the song 'One Toke Over the Line' by Brewer & Shipley because of its alleged drug references. Other stations around the country followed.
1971, Bruce Springsteen & Friendly Enemies opened for The Allman Brothers Band at the Sunshine In, Asbury Park in New Jersey, tickets cost $4.00. Springsteen had just disbanded his group Steel Mill and within a few weeks would form Dr Zoom & The Sonic Boom with Steve Van Zandt.
1972, Elvis Presley recorded what would be his last major hit, 'Burning Love,' which became a No.2 hit on the US chart. Written by Dennis Linde and originally recorded by country soul artist Arthur Alexander, who included it on his 1972 self-titled album. It was soon covered and brought to fame by Elvis, becoming his biggest hit single in the United States since 'Suspicious Minds' in 1969.
1973, Rolling Stone magazine reported that after becoming a disciple of Sri Chinmoy, Carlos Santana had changed his name to 'Devadip', which means 'the lamp of the light of the Supreme'.
1976, Paul McCartney and Wings were forced to postpone forthcoming US tour for three weeks after guitarist Jimmy McCulloch fell in his hotel bathroom and broke a finger.
1979, Eric Clapton married Patti Harrison (the ex wife of George) at Temple Bethel, Tucson, Arizona. Patti applied for a divorce in 1988.
1984, Bryan Adams went into Little Mountain Sound, Vancouver, Canada to record 'Run To You' for his fourth studio album, Reckless. It was the first single released from the album and gave Adam's his first UK hit peaking at No.11. The music video shot in London and Los Angeles was nominated for the 1985 MTV Video Music Awards in five different categories.
1987, U2 performed from the roof of a store in downtown LA 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.
1991, New Kids On The Block's Donnie Wahlberg was arrested after setting fire to carpets (using a bottle of vodka) at The Seelbach Hotel, Louisville. Wahlberg plea bargains the charge down to criminal mischief and was ordered to perform fire safety and anti-drug abuse promos.
1996, Drummer Howard Wyeth died of cardiac arrest at St. Vincent's Hospital in Manhattan aged 51. He worked with Bob Dylan, Don McLean, Joan Baez, Joni Mitchell.
2000, Singer, songwriter, poet and actor, Ian Dury died after a long battle with cancer aged 57. Dury had been disabled by polio as a child, formed Kilburn and the High Roads during the 70's. His first album 'New Boot's And Panties' became a punk classic spending 90 weeks on the UK chart, featured the 1979 UK No.1 single 'Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick.'
2006, Former Village People policeman Victor Willis was arrested in San Francisco, California, after he disappeared from a drug and gun trial. Police had charged Willis with being in possession of cocaine and drug paraphernalia in July 2005. He would later be sentenced to three years' probation after he agreed to enter a treatment program.
2007, The wife of Velvet Revolver singer Scott Weiland was arrested on suspicion of burning over $10,000 (£5,000) of his belongings outside their home after police in southern California found a bin of smouldering clothes. Earlier that day, the couple left two rooms vandalised after an argument at a luxury hotel.
2008, An inquest in Leeds, England heard the husband of UK singer Corinne Bailey Rae died from a suspected overdose. The body of saxophonist Jason Rae, 31, was found in a flat in the Hyde Park area of Leeds. A 32-year-old man arrested on suspicion of supplying controlled drugs was bailed pending further inquiries.
2008, X Factor winner Leona Lewis became the first British woman to top the US pop chart for more than 20 years with her single ‘Bleeding Love.’ Kim Wilde was the last UK female to top the Billboard Hot 100 chart, with her 1987 cover version of The Supremes hit ‘You Keep Me Hangin' On’. Petula Clark was the first, with her 1965 track ‘Downtown’, while Sheena Easton's ‘Morning Train’ - released in the UK as 9 To 5 followed in 1981.
2012, David Bowie's landmark album Ziggy Stardust was celebrated with a blue plaque in central London. Former Spandau Ballet star Gary Kemp, unveiled a plaque at the spot where the cover of the 1972 release was shot. The location in Heddon Street, just off Regent Street, is now a pedestrianised area brimming with bars and restaurants.
2015, Country singer Willie Nelson announced that he and his family were hard at work on a new brand of marijuana called Willie's Reserve. Stores of that same name were being planned and were to include his signature brand and other strains that would be grown to meet quality standards.
March 27th: Born on this day
1947, Born on this day, Andrew Brown, keyboards, vocals, bass with English pop band The Herd, who had three UK top twenty hits in the late 1960s, including 'From the Underworld' and 'I Don't Want Our Loving to Die'.
1950, Born on this day, Tony Banks, keyboards, Genesis, (1986 US No.1 single 'Invisible Touch', 1992 UK No.7 single 'I Can't Dance' plus over 15 other UK Top 40 hit singles & 6 UK No.1 albums).
1953, Born on this day, Walter Stocker, from the Australian soft rock band Air Supply who scored the 1980 UK No.11 single 'All Out Of Love' and the 1981 US No.1 single 'The One That You Love'.
1956, Born on this day, British musician, singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, Paul Wickens who has worked with Paul McCartney since 1989. Wickens has also worked with Styx, The Damned, Tim Finn, Paul Carrack, Nik Kershaw, Jim Diamond, Boy George, and David Gilmour.
1957, Born on this day, Scottish singer Billy MacKenzie, The Associates, (1982 UK No.9 single 'Party Fears Two'). MacKenzie committed suicide on 22 January 1997 aged 39 after he overdosed on a combination of paracetamol and prescription medication in the garden shed of his father's house in Auchterhouse, Scotland.
1959, Born on this day, Andrew Farriss, keyboards, INXS, 1988 UK No.2 & US No.1 single 'Need You Tonight', 1987 album 'Kick' has sold over 10m copies in the US alone and features four Top 10 singles; 'Need You Tonight,' 'Devil Inside', 'New Sensation,' and 'Never Tear Us Apart.'
1962, Born on this day, Derrick McKenzie, drummer with Jamiroquai who had the 1993 UK No.1 album Emergency on Planet Earth and the 1998 UK No.1 single 'Deeper Underground'. Jamiroquai have sold more than 26 million albums worldwide and won a Grammy Award in 1998.
1964, Born on this day, English singer, songwriter, musician and record producer Clark Datchler, from British band Johnny Hates Jazz who had the 1987 UK No.5 single and international success with 'Shattered Dreams'.
1965, Born on this day, Johnny April, bassist with American rock band Staind who had the 2001 US No.1 album, Break The Cycle.
1970, Born on this day, Mariah Carey, singer. Carey is named after 'They Call The Wind Mariah' from the musical 'Paint Your Wagon'. Scored the 1994 UK No.1 single 'Without You' plus over 20 other UK Top 40 hits and 12 US No.1 singles.
1975, Born on this day, Fergie, US R&B singer, songwriter, former member of Kids Incorporated, Wild Orchid, co-host of the TV show Great Pretenders, and vocalist of The Black Eyed Peas. 2003 US & UK No.1 single 'Where Is The Love', 2006 US No.1 solo single ‘London Bridge.’ 2007 world-wide No.1 single 'Big Girls Don't Cry.'
1988, Born on this day, Jessie J, (Jessica Ellen Cornish), English singer-songwriter, who had the 2011 UK No.1 single 'Price Tag' and the 2012 UK No.1 'Domino.'
1990, Born on this day, Kimbra, (Kimbra Lee Johnson). She and Gotye won the Record of the Year and Best Pop Duo/Group Performance awards at the 55th Annual Grammy Awards for 'Somebody That I Used to Know', making her only the third New Zealand singer to win a Grammy Award in history.

March 25th: On this day
1958, Having been sworn in as Private 53310761 the previous day Elvis Presley received the regulation short back and sides haircut from army barber James Peterson. Presley would earn $78 per month as an army private.
1958, Buddy Holly appeared at The Gaumont Theatre in London, the final date on his only UK tour. Also on the bill was Gary Miller, The Tanner Sisters, Des O'Connor, The Montanas, Ronnie Keene & His Orchestra.
1964, The Beatles made their debut on UK TV show Top Of The Pops singing 'Can't Buy Me Love' and ‘You Can’t Do That.’ The show had been recorded on March 19th.
1966, At a photo session at Bob Whitaker's studio in London, The Beatles posed in white coats using sides of meat with mutilated and butchered dolls for the cover of their next American album, 'Yesterday and Today'. After advance copies were sent to disc jockeys and record reviewers, negative reaction to the cover photo was so strong Capitol recalled 750,000 copies from distributors to replace the cover. The total cost to Capitol to replace the cover and promotional materials was $250,000, wiping out their initial profit.
1967, The Turtles started a three week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Happy Together'. The song was written by Garry Bonner and Alan Gordon, former members of a band known as The Magicians. The song had been rejected a dozen times before it was offered to the Turtles, and the demo acetate was worn out.
1967, The Who and Cream made their U.S. concert debut at RKO 58th Street Theatre, New York City as part of a rock & roll extravaganza promoted by DJ Murray the K.
1967, The Rolling Stones kicked off a three-week European tour in Orebro, Sweden. Arriving in Copenhagen for the tour the group were delayed after customs officers search all their luggage for drugs.
1967, Pink Floyd played three gigs in 24 hours. The appeared at the Ricky Tick Club in Windsor, England, then the New Yorker Discotheque in Swindon and then played at the Shoreline Club in Bognor Regis (in the early hours 26 March).
1969, John Lennon and Yoko Ono started their week long 'bed-in' in the presidential suite at The Amsterdam Hilton hotel. The couple invited the world's press into their hotel room every day, to talk about promoting world peace.
1972, America started a three week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with their debut hit 'Horse With No Name', it made No.3 in the UK. The group scored eight other US top 40 hits during the 70's.
1978, Bill Kenny, lead singer of The Ink Spots died. Had the UK No.10 single 'Melody Of Love.' 'The Gypsy' was their biggest chart success, staying at the No.1 position on the US chart for 13 weeks.
1983, Motown Records celebrated its 25 anniversary with a concert in Pasadena, featuring; The Supremes, Stevie Wonder, The Temptations, The Four Tops, Martha Reeves, Jr. Walker, The Commodores, Marvin Gaye, Smokey Robinson and The Jackson 5.
1986, Guns N' Roses signed a world-wide deal with Geffen Records. The band has now sold more than 100 million albums worldwide, their 1987 debut album, Appetite For Destruction has sold in excess of 28 million copies worldwide.
1989, Madonna was at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Like A Prayer', the singers sixth UK No.1, also No.1 in the US. The song was accompanied by a highly controversial music video, which in 2005 was voted the "Most Groundbreaking Music Video of All Time" by viewers of MTV.
1990, Motley Crue's Tommy Lee was arrested for mooning at the audience during a gig in Augusta. Lee was charged with indecent exposure.
1995, Pearl Jam singer Eddie Vedder was rescued after a riptide carried him 250 feet offshore in New Zealand.
1999, 73-year-old Country music singer Ray Price was arrested in his Texas home for possession of marijuana. He was fined $200 after pleading no contest to the charges. According to Price in a 2008 interview, old friend Willie Nelson - no stranger to marijuana arrests - phoned and told him he'd just earned $5 million in free publicity with the drug bust.
2000, Former Bay City Rollers drummer Derek Longmuir was given 300 hours community service after being caught with a hoard of child pornography including 150 videos and 73 floppy disks.
2000, *NSYNC set a new world record after selling a million tickets in one day for the group's forthcoming tour, netting them over £25 million ($42.5 million).
2001, The first Britney Spears Pepsi TV commercial was aired on US television. Spears had signed a multi-million dollar deal with Pepsi for her forthcoming world tour.
2002, Bono from U2 made a appearance at the air rage trial of R.E.M. guitarist Peter Buck, telling the court 'I came to court because Peter is actually famously known for being a peaceable person. I once had to twist his arm to get him to a boxing match'. Buck was later cleared of all charges. He had been accused of attacking two cabin staff and covering them in yoghurt, knocking over a trolley and trying to steal a knife. Come Fly With Me
2002, The seven-year mystery of missing Manic Street Preachers guitarist Richey Edwards took a grisly twist when human feet were found near where he vanished in 1995.
2005, Ozzy Osbourne and his wife Sharon Osbourne were forced to flee their Buckinghamshire mansion after a blaze broke out as they slept. Ozzy and his wife were roused by a fire alarm and ran to safety in the garden, rescuing their pets as they escaped.
2006, Buck Owens Jr, American singer and guitarist died. He pioneered the Bakersfield sound, a reference to Bakersfield, California. He scored twenty No.1 hits on the Billboard country music charts.
2008, Richie Sambora was arrested in California on suspicion of drink driving. The 48 year-old Bon Jovi guitarist was arrested after a police officer noticed his black Hummer weaving in traffic lanes in Laguna Beach. He was ordered to appear in court on one count of driving under the influence.
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2009, Dan Seals from England Dan & John Ford Coley died. They scored the 1976 US No. 2 & UK No. 26 single, 'I'd Really Love To See You Tonight.' Seals who died aged 61 was the younger brother of Seals & Crofts member Jim Seals. After the duo disbanded, Seals began a solo career in country music. Throughout the 1980s and into the early 1990s, he released 16 studio albums and charted more than 20 singles on the country charts. Eleven of his singles reached No.1.
2010, The manager of pop star Justin Bieber was arrested after police claimed he failed to warn fans on Twitter about overcrowding at a shopping centre event. Police said they asked Scott Braun to tell fans through Twitter that Bieber would not be appearing because of fears over safety after hundreds turned up - resulting in five people being taken to hospital with minor injuries. Police said Mr Braun refused to send the message until 90 minutes later. He pleaded not guilty to charges including reckless endangerment related to November's event in Roosevelt Field Mall in a New York suburb.
2015, Radiohead's seminal album OK Computer became one of 25 recordings to be preserved by the US Library of Congress. It was joined by Ben E King's 'Stand By Me' and recordings by Joan Baez, The Doors, The Righteous Brothers and Steve Martin.


March 25th: Born on this day
1931, Born on this day, American record producer Tom Wilson. He worked with various US acts including Bob Dylan (The Times They Are a-Changin', Another Side of Bob Dylan, and Bringing It All Back Home), Frank Zappa (Freak Out!), Simon and Garfunkel (Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M.) and The Velvet Underground, (White Light/White Heat).
1934, Born on this day, American singer-songwriter of rockabilly and pop music Johnny Burnette who had the 1961 UK No.3 & US No.8 single 'Your Sixteen'. He was killed on 14 August 1964 aged 30 when his unlit fishing boat was struck by an unaware cabin cruiser on Clear Lake, California. The impact threw him off the boat, and he drowned.
1938, Born on this day, Hoyt Axton, US singer, songwriter and actor who wrote songs for Elvis Presley, Three Dog Night, ('Joy to the World'), John Denver, Ringo Starr and Glen Campbell. He had his own hits with ‘When The Morning Comes’ and ‘Flash Of Fire’. Acting roles included Bionic Woman and McCloud. Axton died of a heart attack on October 26th 1999, aged 61.
1942, Born on this day, American singer and songwriter Aretha Franklin, The Queen of Soul, who had the 1967 US No.1 & UK No.10 single 'Respect', the 1968 UK No.4 single 'I Say A Little Prayer' and the 1987 UK No.1 single with George Michael, 'I Knew You Were Waiting', plus over 15 other Top 40 hits.
1947, Born on this day, Jack Hall from the Charlie Daniels Band, who had the 1979 US No.3 & UK No.14 single 'The Devil Went Down To Georgia'.
1947, Born on this day, Sir Elton John singer, songwriter, pianist, (Reginald Dwight), 1971 UK No.7 single 'Your Song', 1973 US No.1 single 'Crocodile Rock' seven other US No.1's. Biggest selling single of all time with 1997 'Candle In The Wind 97', plus over 50 UK Top 40 hit singles. Sold over 150m records worldwide. Elton and Bernie Taupin wrote 'Don't Go Breaking My Heart' under the pseudonyms Ann Orson and Carte Blanche. Some of the aliases Sir Elton has used checking into hotels include, Prince Fooboo, Sir Humphrey Handbag, Lillian Lollipop, Lord Choc Ice, Lord Elpus, Binky Poodleclip and Sir Henry Poodle. Elton John's official nickname is Rocket Man.
1947, Born on this day, English singer-songwriter Duncan Browne, who had the 1972 UK No.23 single 'Journey'. Browne died of cancer on 28 May 1993 aged 46.
1949, Born on this day, Neil Jones, from Welsh rock group Amen Corner who had the 1969 UK No.1 single 'If Paradise Is Half As Nice' plus five other UK Top 40 hits.
1949, Born on this day, Jewish Canadian music producer and keyboardist Bob Ezrin best known for his work with Lou Reed, Alice Cooper, Kiss, Pink Floyd, Deep Purple, Peter Gabriel, Jane's Addiction, Dr. John, Nils Lofgren and Phish.
1951, Born

Edited by monarch - 25-March-2018 at 00:27

March 23rd: On this Day

1956, Elvis Presley released his self titled studio album in mono on RCA Victor. The album spent ten weeks at No.1 on the Billboard Pop Albums chart in 1956, the first rock and roll album ever to make it to the top of the charts, and the first million-selling album of that genre. The iconic cover photograph was taken at the Fort Homer Hesterly Armory in Tampa, Florida, on July 31, 1955.

1961, Elvis Presley had his seventh UK No.1 single with 'Wooden Heart.' The song was based on a German folk song and was featured in Presley's film GI Blues.

1964, John Lennon's book of verse and rhyme 'In His Own Write' was published in the UK. Some of the content was first published in Lennon's 'Beachcomber' column in Mersey Beat.

1967, At a ceremony held at the Playhouse Theatre in London, The Beatles were awarded three Ivor Novello awards for 1966: Best-selling British single ‘Yellow Submarine’, most-performed song ‘Michelle’, and next-most-performed song 'Yesterday'. None of the Beatles attended and the winning songs were played by Joe Loss and his Orchestra. The lead vocal for ‘Michelle’ was sung by Ross MacManus, whose son would go on to become the professional musician Elvis Costello.

1972, The film of The Concert For Bangladesh featuring George Harrison, Bob Dylan and Eric Clapton premiered in New York. The event was the first benefit concert of this magnitude in world 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.

1974, Marvin Gaye and Diana Ross entered the UK singles chart with ‘You Are Everything’ which was originally recorded by the Philadelphia soul group The Stylistics. Released as the second UK single from the Diana & Marvin album, the song reached No.5 in the UK Singles Chart in this year.

1977, Elvis Presley appeared at the Arizona State University in Tempe, Arizona. This was the first date of 49 date US tour over three months and Presley's last ever tour. (His last ever show was on 26th June 1977 at the Indianapolis Indiana Market Square Arena).

1985, Billy Joel married model Christie Brinkley on a boat moored alongside the Statue Of Liberty. They divorced in 1993.

1985, Former Creedence Clearwater Revival front man John Fogerty went to No.1 on the US album chart with 'Centerfield.'

1991, R.E.M. scored their first UK No.1 album with their seventh LP 'Out Of Time' featuring the singles 'Losing My Religion' (which became R.E.M.'s highest-charting hit in the US, reaching No.4), and 'Shiny Happy People.' The video for 'Losing My Religion' won two Grammy Awards and six MTV Awards.

1995, British singer Alan Barton of died aged 41 from injuries incurred when Smokie's tour bus crashed during a hailstorm in Cologne, Germany. With Black Lace he had the 1984 UK No.2 single 'Agadoo.' Black Lace represented the UK in the Eurovision Song Contest 1979 in which they finished in seventh position. ‘Agadoo’ earned them the dubious accolade of being voted as the worst song of all time by a panel of music writers for Q Magazine. Barton replaced Chris Norman in Smokie in 1986, recording six albums with them.

1996, Celine Dion went to No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Because You Loved Me', her second US No.1, a No.5 hit in UK. The Diane Warren song was taken from the film 'Up Close And Personal' starring Robert Redford and Michelle Pfeiffer. And on the same day her album 'Falling Into You' went to No.1 on the UK album chart.

2005, (Is This The Way To) Amarillo by Tony Christie featuring Peter Kay was the No.1 UK single, Candy Shop by 50 Cent was at No.1 on the US chart and Almost Here by Delta Goodrem and Brian McFadden was at No.1 on the Australian singles chart.

2008, Neil Aspinall, who ran the Apple Corps music empire for the Beatles from 1970 - 2007 died at a hospital in New York from cancer aged 66. A school friend of Sir Paul McCartney and George Harrison, he was regarded by some of the band as the "fifth Beatle" becoming The Beatles road manager in 1961 before becoming their personal assistant. He led the legal battle with Apple computers over the use of the Apple name and a royalties dispute between the Beatles and record label EMI. Aspinall had also played background instruments on Beatles tracks including 'Magical Mystery Tour', 'Within You Without You' and 'Being for the Benefit of Mr Kite.'

2011, The Who's Pete Townshend told Uncut magazine that he regretted ever forming the band. "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."

2014, Canadian musician Dave Brockie died. He is best known as the lead vocalist of the heavy metal band Gwar. Brockie was found dead, his body sitting upright in a chair in his home, by a band member. The cause of death was determined to be a heroin overdose.

2015, British artist Lil' Chris was found dead in Suffolk at the age of 24. Chris Hardman first rose to fame on the UK reality show Rock School in 2006 when he was just 15 years old. He later released a hit single, 'Checkin' It Out,' which reached No.3 on the UK singles chart.

2016, Gloria Gaynor's hit 'I Will Survive' was selected to enter the US National Recording Registry. It joined Metallica's Master of Puppets and Mahler's Symphony No 9 on the list of culturally significant recordings.


March 23rd: Born on this day

1942, Born on this day, Jimmy Miller, New York-born record producer and musician. He is best known for his lengthy association with The Rolling Stones, for whom he produced a string of singles and albums during the band's career: Beggars Banquet (1968), Let It Bleed (1969), Sticky Fingers (1971), Exile On Main Street (1972) and Goats Head Soup (1973). Miller died on 22 October 1994.

1944, Born on this day, English blues guitarist, and founder of The Groundhogs Tony McPhee. They had three UK Top 10 hits in the UK Albums Chart in the early 1970s.

1944, Born on this day, English composer Michael Nyman best known for numerous film scores, including the 1993 The Piano film soundtrack. Nyman who has released over 20 albums has also worked with Damon Albarn from Blur.

1949, Born on this day, American singer, songwriter, musician Ric Ocasek, The Cars, who had the 1978 UK No.3 single 'My Best Friend's Girl.' Their 1984 US No.3 & 1985 UK No.4 'Drive' was used as part of the soundtrack for the Live Aid concert.

1952, Born on this day, Dave Bartram from English revival group Showaddywaddy who had the 1976 UK No.1 single with their version of 'Under The Moon Of Love'. Showaddywaddy spent 209 weeks on the UK Singles Chart, and had 10 Top Ten singles.

1953, Born on this day, American singer Chaka Khan, (Yvette Marie Stevens), who was the lead vocalist and focal point of the 1970's funk band Rufus. Khan was the first R&B artist to have a crossover hit featuring a rapper, with 'I Feel for You' in 1984. She has collaborated with Ry Cooder, Robert Palmer, Ray Charles, Quincy Jones, Guru, and Mary J. Blige, among others

1966, Born on this day, Mark McLoughlin, (Marti Pellow), vocals, Wet Wet Wet, (1994 UK No. 1 single 'Love Is All Around' which spent 15 weeks at the top of the charts plus over 20 other UK Top 40 singles). Left the band in 1999.

1967, Born on this day, John Stohm, from American alternative rock band The Lemonheads. A cover of Simon and Garfunkel's 'Mrs. Robinson', became one of the band's most successful single in the early 90's.

1968, Born on this day, Damon Albarn, singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and record producer. With Blur he scored the 1994 UK No.1 album Parklife, which spent over 2 years on the UK chart, and the 1995 UK No. 1 'Country House'. Albarn along with Jamie Hewlett formed the "virtual band" Gorillaz who had the 2001 UK No.4 single, 'Clint Eastwood.' Other projects include The Good, The Bad & The Queen, (2007 self-titled album with Paul Simonon, Tony Allen and Simon Tong). Albarn's debut solo studio album Everyday Robots was released in 2014.

1971, Born on this day, American session drummer Abe Laboriel, Jr. Has worked with Paul McCartney for many years as well as many other artists including Shakira, B.B. King, Sting, Eric Clapton, Steve Winwood, Les Paul, Ashlee Simpson and LeAnn Rimes.

1972, Born on this day, English singer Beverly Knight who had the 2002 UK No.10 single ‘Shoulda Woulda Coulda’. Knight has released eight studio albums to date and is widely labelled as one of Britain's greatest soul singers.

1979, Born on this day, American Grammy-winning record producer Ariel Rechtshaid who has worked with many artists including Adele, Brandon Flowers, Vampire Weekend, Madonna, Tobias Jesso Jr., Usher, We Are Scientists, Plain White T's and Kylie Minogue .

March 21st: On this Day

1956, Elvis Presley appeared at the 4,000 seated YMCA Gymnasium in Lexington, North Carolina. Also on the bill, Mother Maybelle and the Carter Sisters, featuring June Carter, Rod Brasfield, Hal and Ginger. Tickets cost $1 for general admission and $1.50 for reserved seats.

1961, The Beatles played their first ever evening show at The Cavern Club in Liverpool, supporting The Swinging Bluegenes, (later to become The Swinging Blue Jeans).

1964, After 'I Want To Hold Your Hand' had held the No.1 position on the US singles chart for seven weeks, The Beatles started a two-week run at No.1 with 'She Loves You'.

1971, Led Zeppelin appeared at the Boat Club, Nottingham, England on their 'Back To The Clubs' tour. This was the first tour which saw Zeppelin performing 'Stairway To Heaven', 'Black Dog' and 'Going To California'. Zeppelin opened the set with Immigrant Song and Heartbreaker. This small club on the banks of the River Trent had also seen performances by Elton John, Black Sabbath, Sex Pistols and Rod Stewart.

1973, The BBC banned all teenybopper acts appearing on UK TV show, Top Of The Pops after a riot following a David Cassidy performance.

1976, After a David Bowie concert at the Community War Memorial arena in Rochester, New York, Iggy Pop and David Bowie were involved in a drug bust at their hotel room where the police found 182 grams (a little over 6.4 ounces) of marijuana. The pair spent the rest of the night in the Monroe County Jail and were released at about 7 a.m. on $2,000 bond each.

1980, Hugh Cornwell of The Stranglers was sent to Pentonville Prison after losing his appeal against a drugs conviction.

1981, REO Speedwagon went to No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Keep On Loving You', the group's first top 40 hit and first No.1, a No.7 hit in the UK.

1984, Strawberry Fields, an area in Central Park bought by Yoko Ono in memory of her late husband was opened.

1987, U2 scored their third UK No.1 album with The Joshua Tree featuring the singles 'Where The Streets Have No Name', & 'I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For'. The album became the fastest selling in UK history and the first album to sell over a million CDs, spending a total of 156 weeks on the UK chart. Also a US No.1.

1991, Leo Fender, the inventor of The Telecaster and Stratocaster guitars died from Parkinson's disease. He started mass producing solid body electric guitars in the late 40s and when he sold his guitar company in 1965, sales were in excess of $40 million a year.

1994, Bruce Springsteen won an Oscar for the song 'Streets of Philadelphia.'

1997, Snoop Doggy Dog was sentenced to three years probation and fined $1,000 (£588) for a firearms violation after a handgun was found in his car when he was stopped for a traffic violation.

1998, Run-DMC VS Jason Nevins started a six week run at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'It's Like That.' The Run-DMC track was from 1983 and was remixed by Jason Nevins, a US DJ and producer.

1999, Blur went to No.1 on the UK album chart with '13', the bands fourth consecutive No.1 and making them only the third act to have four No.1's in the 90's, Simply Red and REM being the other two.

2000, Kurt Cobain and Happy Monday's singer Shaun Ryder both beat older stars such as Keith Richards and Keith Moon in a league of rock 'n' roll excess compiled by UK music weekly Melody Maker. Liam Gallagher, Robbie Williams, Courtney Love and Marilyn Manson all featured in the Top 10.

2001, Eminem was ordered to pay $476,000 (£280,000) as part of his divorce agreement with his ex-wife Kim. Also as part of the agreement Eminem would keep the US mansion and they would share custody of their five-year-old daughter, Hailie Jade.

2001, Michael Jackson's interior decorator told The Times newspaper that the singer kept 17 life size dolls, adult and child sizes, all fully dressed in his bedroom for 'company.'

2004, Ozzy Osbourne was named the nation's favourite ambassador to welcome aliens to planet earth. The 55-year-old singer came top of a poll as the face people want to represent them to alien life. The poll of internet users was carried out following the discovery of signs of water on Mars. Ozzy won 26 per cent of the vote. 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."

2006, Three South African women whose father, Solomon Linda, wrote ‘The Lion Sleeps Tonight’ in 1939, won a six-year court battle that gave them 25 per cent of all past and future royalties from the song. Linda who was a cleaner at a Johannesburg record company when he wrote the song, received virtually nothing for his work and died in 1962 with $25 in his bank account. The song had been recorded by Pete Seeger (as ‘Wimoweh’), The Kingston Trio, The Tokens, Karl Denver and R.E.M. and was featured in the Disney film The Lion King. It was estimated that the song had earned $15 million for its use in The Lion King alone.

2008, A five-year legal row over the use of The Beach Boys name was 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 said "a friendly settlement" had been reached that allowed them to focus on the talent and future of this American iconic band.’

2013, Pink Floyd's The Dark Side of The Moon was set to seal its place in history at the US Library of Congress as part of its National Recording Registry.The recording that received the highest number of public nominations for this year's registry was Dark Side, Floyd's groundbreaking 1973 album.

2015, English singer-songwriter, and actress Jackie Trent died in hospital, aged 74, in Minorca, Spain, after a long illness. Her 1966 hit, 'I Couldn't Live Without Your Love' was inspired by the ongoing affair between Trent and record producer Tony Hatch, who she later married. The couple went on to write songs for Scott Walker, Frank Sinatra, Nancy Wilson, Des O'Connor, Val Doonican, Shirley Bassey, Vikki Carr, and Dean Martin.

2016, A rare Beatles record found in the loft of Les Maguire - the keyboardist in fellow Liverpool act, Gerry and the Pacemakers sold for £77,500 at auction. The 10-inch acetate of 'Till There Was You' and 'Hello Little Girl' from 1962 was described as "a Holy Grail item". It was the first Beatles disc to be cut before the band broke into the national charts.


March 21st: Born on this day

1940, Born on this day, American preacher and singer Solomon Burke, known as the king of rock & soul. He had the 1961 US No.24 single 'Just Out Of Reach Of My Open Arms', and the 1963 US No.1 R&B hit, 'Got To Get You Off My Mind'. Burke died on October 10, 2010 at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport while on a plane from Washington Dulles Airport that had just landed.

1941, Born on this day, John Boylan, American producer and songwriter. Worked with Rick Nelson, the Association, the Dillards. He also managed Linda Ronstadt and introduced her to a then unknown group of musicians who went on to become her backing band in 1971, and later became the Eagles.

1943, Born on this day, English singer-songwriter, musician, author, poet and wit, Vivian Stanshall a founding member of Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band who had the 1968 UK No.5 single 'I'm The Urban Spaceman'. He was Master of Ceremonies on Mike Oldfield's album Tubular Bells. Stanshall died on March 5th 1995 after an electrical fire had broken out as he slept in his top floor flat in Muswell Hill, North London.

1945, Born on this day, Rosemary Stone, vocals, piano, Sly and The Family Stone, who had the 1968 US No.1 singles 'Everyday People', the 1971 US No.1 'Family Affair' and the 1971 US No.1 album There's a Riot Goin' On.

1946, Born on this day, English guitarist, singer, songwriter, Ray Dorset, founder of Mungo Jerry, who had the 1970 UK No.1 & US No.3 single 'In The Summertime' as well as the hits 'Baby Jump' and 'Lady Rose'.

1950, Born on this day, English musician, singer and songwriter Roger Hodgson, known as the former co-frontman with Supertramp. He composed and sang the majority of their hits such as 'Dreamer', 'Give a Little Bit', 'Breakfast in America', 'Take the Long Way Home', 'The Logical Song' and 'It's Raining Again'.

1951, Born on this day, American musician Conrad Lozano, bass player for Los Lobos (Spanish for "the Wolves"), who had the 1987 UK & US No.1 single their their cover version of 'La Bamba', which was a 1958 hit for Ritchie Valens and one of early rock and roll's best-known songs.

1951, Born on this day, Russell Thompkins Jr, singer with the Philadelphia soul group The Stylistics who had the 1974 US No.2 single 'You Make Me Feel Brand New', and the 1975 UK No.1 single 'Can't Give You Anything But My Love' and twelve consecutive US R&B top ten hits.

1953, Born on this day, Robert Johnson, singer with American disco and funk group KC and the Sunshine Band who had the 1975 US No.1 single 'That's The Way, I Like It', and the 1983 UK No.1 single 'Give It Up'.

1956, Born on this day, English singer, songwriter and guitarist Guy Chadwick from House Of Love, who rose to prominence in 1987 with their first single 'Shine On' released on the independent label Creation.

1958, Born on this day, Jonathan Norton, drummer/percussionist/vocalist worked with Eels, Lisa Germano, Tracy Chapman, Rufus Wainwright, Fiona Apple, Michael Penn, Aimee Mann and Lucinda Williams.

1967, Born on this day, Jonas Berggren, guitar, keyboards with Swedish pop group Ace Of Base who had the 1993 UK No.1 single 'All That She Wants' and the 1994 US No.1 single 'The Sign'. The g

Edited by monarch - 21-March-2018 at 13:28

March 19th: On this day
1962, Bob Dylan's debut album Bob Dylan was released in the Untied States. Initially poor sales led the record to be known around Columbia Records as ‘Hammond's Folly’ (John Hammond was producer of Dylan’s early recordings and the man responsible for signing Dylan). The album was praised by the New York City weekly newspaper Village Voice as an ‘explosive country blues debut’, but featured only two Dylan original compositions, Talkin' New York and Song To Woody, the rest being old folk standards.
1964, UK Prime Minister Harold Wilson presented The Beatles with their awards for show business personalities of the year for 1963 at London's Dorchester Hotel.
1965, The Tailor And Cutter Magazine ran an article asking The Rolling Stones to start wearing ties. The current fashion did not include wearing ties with shirts and many tie-makers were facing financial disaster. Mick Jagger said 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."
1971, T Rex were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Hot Love.' The group's first of four UK No.1's spent six weeks at the top of the charts.
1974, Jefferson Airplane re-named the group and became Jefferson Starship. The new line-up included Paul Kantner, Grace Slick, drummer Johnny Barbata, David Freiberg, Peter Kaukonen, Cragi Chaquico and Papa John Creach.
1975, Led Zeppelin played the first of two sold-out nights at the Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver, Canada. Tickets cost $7.50. The set list included: 'Rock And Roll', 'Stairway To Heaven', 'Whole Lotta Love', 'Black Dog' and 'Heartbreaker'.
1976, Paul Kossof guitarist with Free and Back Street Crawler died aged 25, of heart failure during a flight from Los Angeles to New York, Kossof had a long history of drug abuse. Free had the 1970 UK No.2 & US No.4 single 'All Right Now'. His first band was Black Cat Bones alongside drummer Simon Kirke, (later of Free), formed Back Street Crawler after leaving Free.
1982, Ozzy Osbourne guitarist and former Quiet Riot member Randy Rhoads was killed when the plane he was riding in crashed. After driving much of the night, the band had stopped near a small airstrip. The tour bus driver, Andrew Aycock, talked the band's keyboardist, Don Airey, into taking a test flight in a '55 Beechcraft Bonanza, the joyride ended, and the plane landed safely. Then Aycock took Rhoads and Rachel Youngblood on another flight and attempts were made to "buzz" the tour bus. The left wing clipped the bus, which sent the plane spiralling into a nearby house and bursting into flames. All three bodies were burned beyond recognition, and were identified by dental records.
1996, The second Beatles Anthology series was released. The album featured '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."
2001, Former Spice Girl Geri Halliwell's London home was broken into. The intruder left obscene notes on the walls, stole the singer's computer and Hi Fi and had thrown milk and Ribena fruit drink on the walls. They also stole a necklace that used to belong to actress Liz Taylor.
2001, Keith Richards inducted Johnnie Johnson and James Burton at the 16th annual Rock & Roll Hall of Fame award ceremonies at the Waldorf Astoria in New York City. Richards also took part in the closing jam with Bono, Paul Simon, Kid Rock, Solomon Burke, Robbie Robertson and others.
2005, 50 Cent became the first solo artist to have three singles in the US Top 5. 'Candy Shop' was at No.1 with 'How We Do' by The Game, (a member of his G-Unit group) at No.4 and 'Disco Inferno' at No.5.
2006, Shakira was 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' would not be issued in the US as a CD or as a download via the internet but would be available to phone users connected to Verizon.
2007, US soul singer Luther Ingram died from a heart attack at the age of 69. Ingram scored the 1972 US No.2 hit '(If Loving You Is Wrong) I Don't Want to Be Right' and wrote the Staple Singers' hit 'Respect Yourself'.
2009, Eighties pop fan Justine Thompson was ordered to pay more than £1,040 for repeatedly playing The Cure’s 'Boys Don’t Cry' at full blast. Thompson aged 31, had also belted out 'Geno' by Dexy’s Midnight Runners and The Smiths 'This Charming Man' so loudly it shook flats around her home in Brighton, a court heard. City magistrates found her guilty of ignoring a noise abatement notice.
2015, Ed Sheeran sold the two millionth copy of his second album, X, (pronounced multiply), in the UK, nine months after it was released. He became only the fifth artist to achieve the feat this decade, following in the footsteps of Adele, Emeli Sande, Take That and Michael Buble.
March 19th: Born on this day
1944, Born on this day, American keyboardist Tom Constanten who is best known for playing with the Grateful Dead from 1968 to 1970.
1946, Born on this day, Paul Atkinson, guitarist with The Zombies who had four US hits, 'She's Not There', 'Tell Her No', 'She's Coming Home', and 'Time of the Season'. He later became an A&R executive, working for Columbia and RCA, discovering and signing such bands as ABBA, Bruce Hornsby, Mr. Mister, Judas Priest, and Michael Penn. Atkinson died on 1st April 2004 aged 58.
1946, Born on this day, Ruth Pointer with American R&B singing group The Pointer Sisters who had the 1981 US No.2 single, 'Slow Hand' and the 1984 UK No.2 single 'Automatic'. The Pointer Sisters have won three Grammy Awards and had 13 US top 20 hits between 1973 and 1985.
1952, Born on this day, Derek Longmuir, Scottish drummer and a founding member of the 1970s pop group, Bay City Rollers who had the 1975 UK No.1 single 'Bye Bye Baby' plus 11 other UK Top 20 singles' and the 1976 US No.1 single 'Saturday Night'.
1953, Born on this day, Ricky Wilson, guitarist, with the American new wave band The B-52's. Best known for their 1978 debut single 'Rock Lobster and the 1990 UK No.2 & US No.3 single 'Love Shack'. Wilson died on October 12th 1985 aged 32.
1953, Born on this day, Billy Sheehan, bass guitarist, with American hard rock supergroup Mr. Big, who had the 1992 US No.1 & UK No.3 single 'To Be With You'. Also worked with Steve Vai and David Lee Roth.
1955, Born on this day, American actor, producer, and singer Bruce Willis who scored the 1987 hit singles with his versions of 'Under The Boardwalk' and 'Respect Yourself,' (a duet with June Pointer), both of which were taken from his debut album The Return of Bruno.
1959, Born on this day, Terry Hall, vocals, Specials, (1981 UK No.1 single 'Ghost Town'). Then formed Fun Boy Three, (1982 UK No.4 single 'It Ain't What You Do It's The Way That You Do It' with Bananarama). And Colour Field, (1985 UK No.12 single 'Thinking Of You') Hall was also a member of Vegas.
1959, Born on this day, American pianist, musician, composer Anthony Marinelli who performed on the synthesizer for albums including Michael Jackson's Thriller and has also worked with Lionel Richie, Kenny Loggins, Herb Alpert, Supertramp, The Crystal Method, Billy Childs and James Brown. Marinelli has also scored many film soundtracks.
1971, Born on this day, Jack Bessant, bassist with English band Reef who had the 1996 UK No. 6 single ‘Place Your Hands’ and the 1997 UK No.1 album ‘Glow'.

March 17th: On this Day

1957, Elvis Presley bought the Graceland mansion from Mrs Ruth Brown-Moore for $102,500. (£60,295). The 23 room, 10,000 square foot home, on 13.8 acres of land, would be expanded to 17,552 square feet of living space before the king moved in a few weeks later. The original building had at one time been a place of worship, used by the Graceland Christian Church and was named after the builder's daughter, Grace Toof.

1966, The Walker Brothers had their second UK No.1 with the single 'The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Anymore', (originally recorded by Frankie Valli).

1967, Working at Abbey Road studios in London, The Beatles finished the recording of 'She's Leaving Home' after adding backing vocals to the track. Harpist Sheila Bromberg who was part of the string section on the track became the first woman to play on a Beatles recording.

1973, Dr Hook's single 'On The Cover Of Rolling Stone' peaked at No.6 on the US chart. The single was banned in the UK by the BBC due to the reference of the magazine.

1978, U2 won £500 ($850) and a chance to audition for CBS Ireland in a talent contest held in Dublin. The Limerick Civic Week Pop '78 Competition was sponsored by The Evening Express and Guinness Harp Lager.

1979, Gloria Gaynor started a four-week run at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'I Will Survive.' The song was originally released as the B-side to a song first recorded by The Righteous Brothers called 'Substitute.'

1979, The Bee Gees went to No.1 on the UK album chart with their fifteenth studio album release 'Spirits Having Flown.' the group's first album after their collaboration on the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack. The album's first three tracks were released as singles and all reached No.1 in the US, giving the Bee Gees an unbroken run of six US chart-toppers and tying a record set by The Beatles.

1984, Van Halen's 'Jump' peaked at No.1 in the US. Over the years David Lee Roth has given various accounts of the meaning behind the lyrics, but most often says they are about a TV news story he saw where a man was about to kill himself by jumping off a building.

1990, British multi-instrumentalist. Rick Grech who had worked with Family, Blind Faith, Traffic, and Ginger Baker's Air Force died of renal failure at the age of 43, as a result of alcoholism. As a session musician Grech also worked with Rod Stewart, Ronnie Lane, Vivian Stanshall, Muddy Waters, The Crickets, Bee Gees and Gram Parsons.

1996, American singer and songwriter Terry Stafford died of liver failure, at the age of 54. He is best known for his 1964 US Top 10 hit, ‘Suspicion’, (also recorded by Elvis Presley) and the 1973 country music hit, ‘Amarillo by Morning’. ‘Suspicion’ had the distinction of being sixth on the Billboard Hot 100 on April 4, 1964, when the Beatles held down the top five spots. 'Amarillo by Morning', was later covered by George Strait on Strait's 1982 album Strait from the Heart. The song was named No.12 country song of all-time by Country Music Television.

1997, American R&B singer Jermaine Stewart died of AIDS-related liver cancer at age 39. Stewart scored the 1986 UK No.2 and US No.5 single 'We Don't Have To...Take Our Clothes Off'. He gained recognition as a dancer on the television show Soul Train. Stewart later worked with Shalamar, The Temptations and Boy George.

1997, Elvis Presley Enterprises of Memphis, Tennessee, lost its Court of Appeal battle to stop London trader Sid Shaw using the name of 'The King' on his souvenirs. The legal tussle with Mr Shaw, who ran a memorabilia shop called 'Elvisly Yours', had been going on for over 17 years. Speaking after the ruling, Mr Shaw said: "I'm delighted. I've proved that Elvis belongs to all of us - Elvis is part of our history, part of our culture.

2004, The Kinks singer Ray Davies received his CBE medal from the Queen at Buckingham Palace for services to the music industry.



2005, Justin Hawkins from The Darkness became the centre of the latest hands-on activity at Madame Tussauds in London. His wax double would judge the air guitar skills of visitors who would be invited to play an imaginary guitar with smoke and music pumping out. Hawkins said: "I find the process of air guitaring rather silly. What makes a good air guitarist? Alcohol."

2006, The Smiths turned down a $5m (£2.8m) offer to reform for a music festival. The band who split acrimoniously in 1987, rejected the bid to get back together for this year's Coachella US festival.

2008, Ola Brunkert, the former drummer with the Swedish group ABBA, was found dead with his throat cut at his home in Majorca, Spain. Brunkert died after he hit his head against a glass door in the dining room at his home. He had managed to wrap a towel around his neck and leave the house to seek help, but collapsed and was found dead in his garden. The 62-year old musician had played on every Abba album the group released and had toured with the group.

2010, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and record producer, Alex Chilton died in hospital of heart problems in New Orleans aged 59. As a teenager Chilton had been a member of The Box Tops who had the 1967 hit 'The Letter' and later in 1971 co-founded the power-pop group Big Star, with Chris Bell. In the 1980s both R.E.M., and the Replacements cited Big Star group as a major influence.

2013, John Lennon and George Harrison were honored with a blue plaque at the site of the former Apple Boutique in a ceremony in London held at at 94 Baker Street. The new plaque reads "John Lennon, M.B.E., 1940-1980, and George Harrison, M.B.E., 1943-2001, worked here."


March 17th: Born on this day

1919, Born on this day, American jazz pianist and vocalist Nat King Cole, who had the 1955 US No.2 single 'A Blossom Fell', the 1957 UK No.2 single 'When I Fall In Love'. He recorded over one hundred songs that became hits on the pop charts and was the first black man to host an American television series. Nat King Cole died of lung cancer on February 15th 1965.

1941, Born on this day, Clarence Collins from Little Anthony and The Imperials who had the 1958 US No.4 single 'Tears On My Pillow'. The song gave Kylie Minogue a UK No.1 in 1990.

1941, Born on this day, American guitarist, singer and songwriter Paul Kantner from Jefferson Airplane. He was known for co-founding Jefferson Airplane, the leading psychedelic rock band of the counterculture era, and its more commercial spin-off band Jefferson Starship. With Jefferson Airplane, Kantner was among the performers at the Monterey Jazz Festival in 1966 and the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967 and the Woodstock Festival in 1969. Kantner died in San Francisco at the age of 74 on Jan 28, 2016 due to multiple organ failure and septic shock after he suffered a heart attack days earlier.

1944, Born on this day, Bob Johnson, guitarist with English folk rock band Steeleye Span who formed in 1969. They had the 1975 UK No.5 single 'All Around My Hat' and a hit with 'Gaudete'.

1944, Born on this day, American singer, songwriter, guitarist, harmonicist, and autoharpist, John Sebastian who is best known as a founder of The Lovin' Spoonful. They had the 1966 UK No.2 single 'Daydream', and 1966 US No.1 single 'Summer in The City' and Sebastian scored the solo 1976 US No.1 single 'Welcome Back'. In August 1969, Sebastian made a memorable, albeit unscheduled appearance at Woodstock. He was not on the performance bill and traveled to the festival as a spectator, but he was asked to appear when the organisers suddenly needed an acoustic performer after a rain break.

1944, Born on this day, Pat Mcauley, keyboards with the Northern Irish band Them who had the 1965 UK hits 'Baby, Please Don't Go' and 'Here Comes The Night' with Van Morrison on lead vocals. Morrison quit the band in 1966 and went on to a successful career as a solo artist.

1946, Born on this day, Harold Brown, drummer and vocalist and band leader with American funk band War. Their album The World Is a Ghetto was the best-selling US album of 1973. They also scored the 1973 US No.2 single 'Cisco Kid'.

1948, Born on this day, Pat Lloyd, from the British pop, R&B and rock group The Equals who had the 1968 UK No.1 & US No.32 single 'Baby Come Back' written by Eddy Grant.

1951, Born on this day, American guitarist and songwriter Scott Gorham Thin Lizzy, who had the 1976 hit single 'The Boys Are Back In Town' and the UK No.2 album Live and Dangerous. Gorham joined the band at a time when their future was in doubt after the departures of original guitarist Eric Bell and his brief replacement Gary Moore.

1959, Born on this day, Mike Lindup, keyboard player and falsetto voiced singer from Level 42, who had the 1986 UK No.3 & US No.12 single 'Lessons In Love' & 19 other UK Top 40 hits.

1962, Born on this day, Clare Grogan, vocals, Altered Images, (1981 UK No.2 single 'Happy Birthday') also an actress, her first film appearance was in the acclaimed film Gregory's Girl, has also appeared in UK soap Eastenders and the comedy Father Ted. Also worked as a VH1 presenter.

1963, Born on this day, Michael Ivins, bassist and keyboardist and one of the founding members of The Flaming Lips. Their 1999 release The Soft Bulletin was NME magazine's Album of the Year and the group has won three Grammy Awards.

1967, Born on this day, Billy Corgan, vocals, guitar, Smashing Pumpkins, (1995 US No.1 album 'Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness', 1996 UK No.7 & US No.36 single 'Tonight Tonight').

1972, Born on this day, Canadian musician, singer-songwriter Melissa Auf Der Maur for the American alternative rock band Hole who she joined in the summer of 1994 and is included on several Hole releases, including the album Celebrity Skin (1998).

1972, Born on this day, American rapper Sean Price who was a member of the hip hop collective Boot Camp Clik and was also half of the duo Heltah Skeltah, performing under the name

March 15th: On this Day

1955, Elvis Presley signed a management contract with Colonel Tom Parker. Parker had previously managed the 'Great Parker Pony Circus' with one of the acts being a troupe of dancing chickens.

1955, Ray Charles peaked at No.2 on the US R&B charts with the Atlantic single 'I Got A Woman', widely considered the first song to be labelled "soul" - a blending of R&B and gospel.

1967, The first session recording George Harrison's new song ‘Within You Without You’ took place at Abbey Road studios, London. George was the only Beatle to perform on this song, which was still called 'Untitled'. Harrison played the swordmandel and tamboura, Natver Soni played tabla, Amrat Gajjar played dilruba, PD Joshi played swordmandel, and an undocumented musician played a droning tamboura.

1968, The Rolling Stones started daily sessions at Olympic Studios in London to start recording their next album, Beggars Banquet. Working from 7pm to 8am each day without a break, the Stones worked on 'Jumpin’ Jack Flash', 'Child Of The Moon', 'Jigsaw Puzzle' and 'Parachute Woman' as well as the instrumental foundation for a song called 'Did Everybody Paid Their Dues?' (which would later become Street Fighting Man).

1969, Cream started a two-week run at No.1 on the UK chart with their fourth and final original album 'Goodbye.' The single, 'Badge', (which was written by Eric Clapton and George Harrison, ) was subsequently released from the album a month later.

1969, Tommy Roe started a four week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Dizzy', also No.1 in the UK. In 1991 Vic Reeves and the Wonder Stuff took the song to No.1 on the UK chart.

1969, Janis Joplin was featured on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine, on sale for 35 Cents, (2/6). The magazine was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner, the first issue of November 9, 1967 was in newspaper format with a lead article on the Monterey Pop Festival.

1969, Tyrannosaurus Rex singer Marc Bolan's first book of poetry 'The Warlock Of Love' was published, priced at 12s/6d.

1969, During a Scandinavian tour Led Zeppelin played two shows in one day. The first was at Teens Club Box 45, Gladsaxe, Denmark and the second at the Brondby Pop Club in Norregard, Denmark. Also on the bill for the second show was The Keef Hartley Band, Ham and Swedish band Made In Sweden.

1972, DJ Robert W. Morgan played the Donny Osmond version of 'Puppy Love' for 90 minutes on the radio station KHJ in Los Angeles. LAPD mistakenly raided the station studios after receiving numerous calls from listeners, confused, the officers left without making any arrests.

1973, Roberta Flack was at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Killing Me Softly With His Song' and Elton John had the No.1 album with 'Don't Shoot Me I'm Only The Piano Player'.

1975, Led Zeppelin went to No.1 on the UK chart with their sixth studio album Physical Graffiti the first on their own 'Swan Song' label, the album spent six weeks at No.1 on the US chart. The album's intricate die-cut sleeve design depicts a photograph of a New York City brownstone tenement block, located at 96 and 98 St. Mark's Place in New York City.

1975, The Doobie Brothers went to No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Black Water', the group's first of two US No.1's.

1982, Bob Dylan was inducted into the Songwriter's Hall of Fame at the 13th annual dinner held at the Hilton Hotel in New York City. After the ceremony Dylan gave a short interview to Jane Hansen, which was broadcast by NBC, TV in New York City.

1986, The Bangles were at No.2 on the UK singles chart with 'Manic Monday', a song written by Prince under the pseudonym Christopher, it also made No.2 in the US, held of No.1 by Prince with 'Kiss'.

1988, Mick Jagger opened his first ever solo tour, his first ever performances in Japan and his first full concerts since 1982, with three shows at Osaka's Castle Hall in Osaka, Japan. The show is mostly made up of Rolling Stones songs, including songs not performed for a long time, including Bitch, Gimmie Shelter, Ruby Tuesday and Sympathy For The Devil as well as the Jimi Hendrix song Foxy Lady.

1997, The Spice Girls went to No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Mama', making them the first act ever to have their first four singles reach No.1 on the UK chart.

1998, Madonna scored her sixth UK No.1 album with 'Ray Of Light', no other female artist had achieved more than three UK No.1 albums.

1999, Bruce Springsteen was inducted into the Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame by U2's Bono.

2000, Mick Jagger was ordered to increase his child support payments to Brazilian model Luciana Morad from $5,500 (£3,235) a month to $10,000 (£5,888). Mick was asked to confirm that he was the father of her child by the court, while Ms Morad was seeking a $10 million (£3.8 million) settlement. Morad told the court her monthly expenses: $3,500 (£2,065) for a nanny; $2,500, £3,000 for food and $3,350 (£1,970) to rent her place on New York's Upper West Side.

2002, Yoko Ono unveiled a seven foot bronze statue of John Lennon overlooking the check-in hall of Liverpool John Lennon airport. The re-branding of the airport featured a sketch of Lennon's face with the words 'Above Us Only Skies.'

2005, Former Stone Roses singer Ian Brown was arrested after a fight during a concert in San Francisco after a fan jumped on stage and attacked the singer, who then became involved in a fracas with a security guard. Brown was arrested at his hotel after the show at the Great American Music Hall but released without charge.

2010, Sony Music announced the biggest recording deal in history with the estate of Michael Jackson worth more than $200m (£133m). The deal involved 10 album projects over seven year's including one of previously unreleased material. Sony had sold about 31 million copies of Jackson's albums worldwide since his death on 25 June, 2009.

2013, Friends of Lana Clarkson, the actress murdered by music producer Phil Spector, were protesting at a screening of the film about his trial. The movie, starring Al Pacino, focused on his relationship with his defence lawyer, played by Helen Mirren. But the group against the film said it was too sympathetic towards Spector's defence case. Clarkson's former publicist, Edward Lozzi, called the film a "slap in the face".

2013, Singer, songwriter and guitarist Hardrock Gunter died from complications of pneumonia, at the age of 88. His music at the turn of the 1950s prefigured rock and roll and rockabilly music. His song 'Birmingham Bounce' from early 1950, became a regional hit, and led to over 20 cover versions, the most successful being by Red Foley, whose version reached No.1 on the country chart. Gunter's original version has become regarded as a contender for the first rock and roll record, predating 'Rocket 88' by Ike Turner's Kings of Rhythm by a year.

2014, Scott Asheton best known as the drummer for the Stooges died of a heart attack aged 64. He co-formed the Stooges in 1967 along with his older brother Ron Asheton, Iggy Pop and Dave Alexander.

2015, Mike Porcaro bassist with Toto died following a battle Lou Gehrig's Disease. He was the middle brother of Toto members Jeff Porcaro and Steve Porcaro. Toto who formed in 1978 are best known for such classic rock hits as 'Hold the Line,' 'Rosanna' and 'Africa' and won an Album of the Year Grammy for 1982's Toto IV.


March 15th: Born on this day

1912, Born on this day, American blues guitarist and singer Sam 'Lightnin' Hopkins. He was a major influence on Bob Dylan and Jimi Hendrix. R.E.M. included the song 'Lightnin' Hopkins' on their 1987 album Document. He died 30th January 1982 aged 69.

1922, Born on this day, Eddie Calvert, British solo trumpeter. (1953 UK No.1 'Oh, Mein Papa' and 1955 UK No.1 with 'Cherry Pink & Apple Blossom White').

1931, Born on this day, James Mitchell, tenor saxophone, The Memphis Horns. Worked with Al Green, Aretha Franklin, Sam And Dave, Elvis Presley, The Doobie Brothers, Otis Redding. Mitchell died on December 18th 2000.

1932, Born on this day, Arif Mardin, Turkish-American music producer and arranger. In 1969, he became Vice President of Atlantic Records and later served as Senior Vice President until 2001. He worked with Aretha Franklin, Bette Midler, Roberta Flack, Wilson Pickett, Average White Band, The Bee Gees, Barbra Streisand and more recently Norah Jones. Mardin died on June 25th 2006 following a lengthy battle with pancreatic cancer.

1940, Born on this day, musician Phil Lesh who was a founding member and bassist with the Grateful Dead, who released over 140 albums, the majority of them recorded live in concert. After the band's disbanding in 1995, Lesh continued the tradition of Grateful Dead family music with side project Phil Lesh and Friends.

1941, Born on this day, Mike Love, American singer, songwriter, and musician who co-founded The Beach Boys. Love collaborated with Brian Wilson and was a lyricist on singles including 'Fun, Fun, Fun' (1964), 'California Girls' (1965), and 'Good Vibrations. (1966). The Beach Boys released the 1966 classic album Pet Sounds.

1942, Born on this day, English drummer Hughie Flint, known for his stint in John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers, (on their albums John Mayall Plays John Mayall (1965) and Blues Breakers with Eric Clapton (1966), also known as The Beano Album and for his group McGuinness Flint (1970 UK No.2 'When I'm Dead And Gone') and for his subsequent association with The Blues Band.

1944, Born on this day, American musician, songwriter, and record producer Sly Stone, most famous for his role as frontman for Sly and the Family Stone, a band which played a critical role in the development of soul, funk, rock, and psychedelia in the 1960s and 1970s. (1968 UK No.7 & US No.8 single 'Dance To The Music', 1969 US No.1 single 'Everyday People').

1944, Born on this day, David Costell, Gary Lewis and the Playboys,

March 13th: On this Day

1961, The Temptations auditioned for Motown Records. They were then known as the Elgins but soon changed their name. Now having sold tens of millions of albums, the Temptations are one of the most successful groups in music history, known for their choreography, distinct harmonies, and flashy wardrobe, the group was highly influential in the evolution of R&B and soul music.

1964, Billboard reported that sales of Beatles singles currently accounted for 60 percent of the US singles market and The Beatles album Meet the Beatles had reached a record 3.5 million copies sold.

1965, Eric Clapton quit The Yardbirds due to musical differences with the other band members. Clapton wanted to continue in a blues type vein, while the rest of the band preferred the more commercial style of their first hit, 'For Your Love'.

1965, The Beatles started a two week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Eight Days A Week', the group's 7th US No.1. Paul McCartney would later say the name of the song came from a chauffeur who drove him one day. "I said, 'How've you been?'. 'Oh working hard,' he said, 'Working eight days a week.'"

1966, Rod Stewart left the British blues band Steampacket to work as a solo artist. Arguably, the UK's first "supergroup" Steampacket was formed in 1965 by Long John Baldry and also featured singer Julie Driscoll, organist Brian Auger and guitarist Vic Briggs.

1966, Pink Floyd appeared for the first time at The The Marquee Club in Wardour Street, London, England. The Marquee became the most important venue for the emerging British scene and witnessed the rise of some of the most important artists in the 1960s and 1970s, such as Jimi Hendrix, Cream, Manfred Mann, The Who, Yes, Led Zeppelin, Jethro Tull, King Crimson and Genesis.

1967, Working at Abbey Road studios in London, six members of Sounds, Inc. recorded the horn parts for The Beatles song 'Good Morning Good Morning' (three saxophones, two trombones, and one french horn).

1971, Brewer and Shipley entered the US singles chart with 'One Toke Over The Line'. The song, which featured The Grateful Dead's Jerry Garcia on steel guitar, peaked at No.10 despite being banned by radio stations for its drug references. Brewer and Shipley maintained that the word "toke" meant "token" as in ticket, hence the line "waitin' downtown at the railway station, one toke over the line."

1976, The Four Seasons started a three week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'December 1963, (Oh What A Night)', the group's 5th US No.1, also their only UK No.1.

1977, Manhattan Transfer were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Chanson D'amour', the group's only UK No.1. The retro Jazz vocal harmony group had been working in New York gay bars, singing 40s and 50s swing classics.

1977, Iggy Pop kicked off a the North American leg of The Idiot World Tour at Le Plateau Theatre, Montreal, Canada (with David Bowie in the band playing keyboards and backing vocals). Blondie were the opening act on this lag of the tour.

1985, Bob Geldof and Midge Ure received the Best Selling A Side award at the 30th Ivor Novello Awards for Do They Know It's Christmas?

1993, Eric Clapton started a three-week run at No.1 on the US album chart with Unplugged. It remains the most successful and best-selling live album ever, winning two Grammy awards at the 35th Annual Grammy Awards in 1993. It is also Clapton's best-selling album ever, having sold 26 million copies worldwide.

1995, Radiohead released their second studio album The Bends. In the UK, The Bends, which features the tracks 'High and Dry' and 'Fake Plastic Trees' reached No.4 and stayed on the chart for 160 weeks. In 2006, British Hit Singles & Albums and NME organised a poll in which 40,000 people worldwide voted for the 100 best albums ever. The Bends was placed at No.10.

1998, English reggae and ska artist Judge Dread (Alex Hughes) died after collapsing as he walked off stage in Canterbury, England. He achieved 10 UK hit singles during the 70's and was the first white recording artist to have a reggae hit in Jamaica. Dread has the most banned songs at radio of all time.

1999, Cher started a four week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Believe', making the singer the oldest woman to top the Hot 100 at the age of 53. The song reached No.1 in almost every country it charted, including Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, the UK, Spain, France, Germany and Italy. It also became the highest-selling single by a solo female artist in the United Kingdom. 'Believe' remains one of the best-selling singles of all time with sales of over 11 million copies worldwide.

2006, The Sex Pistols refused to attend their own induction into the US Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio. Blondie, Herb Alpert and Black Sabbath were all inducted but the Pistols posted a handwritten note on their website, calling the institution "urine in wine", adding "We're not your monkeys, we're not coming. You're not paying attention".

2006, The Kinks came out the top earners for music used in TV adverts in the US, earning them £6m a year. The sixties group were enjoying a resurgence with their music being used to sell washing powder, computers and medicines. Led Zeppelin came in second place with £4m and The Rolling Stones third with £2.3m.

2008, Michael Jackson refinanced his Neverland ranch to save it from being auctioned off, after being told that if he failed to pay $25m (£12.5m) he owed on the California property, it would be auctioned within a week. Jackson bought Neverland in 1987 intending to create a fantasy land for children naming it after an island in the story Peter Pan, where children never grow up.

2013, Jimi Hendrix scored his highest chart debut since 1969 when his new studio album, People, Hell & Angels, consisting of unreleased tracks recorded with a variety of musicians between 1968 and 1970, sold 72,000 copies in the US on the week of release and made its debut at No.2 on the charts.

2014, Two people were killed and 23 injured after a drunk driver crashed through barricades set up for the South by Southwest (SXSW) festival in Austin, Texas. The driver was thought to have been trying to escape from the police when the accident happened. Two other people later died in hospital.


March 13th: Born on this day

1933, Born on this day, Mike Stoller, (Leiber &), songwriter, and producer for Elvis Presley, Buddy Holly, The Monkees and Cliff Richard. Their hit songs include 'Hound Dog' and 'Kansas City'. Later in the 1950s, particularly through their work with The Coasters, they created a string of ground-breaking hits that are some of the most entertaining in rock and roll.

1937, Born on this day, Terry Cox, English drummer who worked with David Bowie on his 1969 album David Bowie (released as Man of Words/Man of Music by Mercury in the US). Cox also worked with Pentangle, the Bee Gees and Elton John.

1939, Born on this day, American singer, songwriter Neil Sedaka who had the 1959 UK No.3 single 'Oh Carol' plus over 30 US & 14 UK other Top 40 singles including the 1962 US No.1 & UK No.7 single 'Breaking Up Is Hard To Do'. He has written or co-written over 500 songs for himself and others including two songs recorded by The Monkees. His first group The Tokens were a doo-wop-style vocal group best for their chart-topping 1961 single, 'The Lion Sleeps Tonight'.

1942, Born on this day, American music artist Scatman John who created a fusion of scat singing and dance music, best known for his 1995 hits 'Scatman (Ski Ba Bop Ba Dop Bop)' and 'Scatman's World' and 1997 hit 'Everybody Jam!'. He died at his home in Los Angeles on 3 December 1999 at the age of 57.

1959, Born on this day, Greg Norton, Husker Du, (1987 album 'Warehouse Songs And Stories'). In 2016 Greg joined La Crosse, WI band Porcupine as their bass player to replace Davey Reinders.

1959, Born on this day, Ronnie Rogers, guitar, T'Pau, who had the 1987 UK No.1 single 'China In Your Hand' and the 1987 US & UK No.4 single 'Heart And Soul', (which was initially a flop in the UK). T'Pau took their name from a Vulcan elder of the same name in the sci-fi series Star Trek.

1960, Born on this day, British-Irish musician Adam Clayton, U2, who had the 1984 UK No.3 single 'Pride, In The Name Of Love' plus over 25 other UK Top singles. The 1987 UK and the world wide No.1 album The Joshua Tree spent 156 weeks on the UK chart. U2 scored five consecutive US No.1 albums from 1987. As a member of U2, Clayton has received 22 Grammy Awards.

1973, Born on this day, David Draiman, American songwriter and the vocalist for the band Disturbed, (2005 US No.1 album 'Ten Thousand Fists').

1979, Born on this day, Toni Lundow, singer, Liberty X, (2002 UK No.1 single 'Just A Little'). The group was formed by the five finalists of the British talent show Popstars who failed to make it into the group Hear'Say. Liberty X went on to achieve ten consecutive UK Top 20 singles.

March 11th: On this Day

1956, The Dream Weavers were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Its Almost Tomorrow'. The Miami based studio band's only chart hit in the UK, thus condemning The Dream Weavers to the One Hit Wonder tag.

1964, The Beatles spent the day filming at Twickenham Studios for A Hard Day's Night. Filming on a stage set made to look like a train guard's cage, where the Beatles played cards and mimed to 'I Should Have Known Better'.

1965, Tom Jones was at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'It's Not Unusual.' The Welsh singer's first of 16 UK Top 40 hits during the 60's.

1966, This week's ITV music show 'Ready Steady Go', was entirely devoted to the music of 'The Godfather Of Soul - James Brown.

1967, Music publisher, Dick James, announced that 446 different versions of the Paul McCartney song 'Yesterday' had been recorded so far.

1968, The Otis Redding single '(Sittin' On) The Dock Of The Bay' went gold in the US three months after the singer was killed in a plane crash.

1970, Deja Vu, the first album by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, (and the second by the trio configuration of Crosby, Stills, and Nash), was released. It topped the pop album chart for one week and spawned three US Top 40 singles: 'Teach Your Children', 'Our House', and 'Woodstock'.

1971, Jim Morrison of The Doors arrived in Paris booking into The Hotel George's, the following week he moved into an apartment at 17 Rue Beautreillis in Paris. Morrison lived in Paris until his death on July 3rd 1971.

1972, Neil Young went to No.1 on the US & UK album chart with 'Harvest.' The album featured the hit single 'Heart Of Gold.'

1972, Harry Nilsson was at No.1 on the UK singles chart with his version of The Peter Ham and Tom Evans song 'Without You'. First recorded by Badfinger in 1970, the song was also a No.1 for Mariah Carey in 1994.

1975, The Original Soundtrack, the third album by 10cc was released. It featured the world wide, multi million selling single 'I'm Not in Love' notable for its innovative and distinctive backing track, composed mostly of the band's multitracked vocals. The song was the band's breakthrough hit worldwide, reaching No.1 in Ireland and Canada and No.2 in the US, as well as reaching the top ten in Australia, New Zealand and several European countries.

1978, French singer Claude Francois was electrocuted changing a light bulb while standing in his bathtub. He had the 1976 UK hit, 'Tears On The Telephone'.

1978, Meat Loaf's Bat Out Of Hell album began a 416-week run on the UK chart. The album went on to become one of the most influential and iconic albums of all time and its songs have remained classic rock staples.

1978, The debut single from Kate Bush, 'Wuthering Heights' a song inspired by the Emily Bronte novel, started a four-week run at No.1 on the UK singles chart. Record company, EMI had originally chosen another track, 'James and the Cold Gun' as the lead single, but Bush was determined that 'Wuthering Heights' would be the first release from the album.

1989, Australian actor turned singer Jason Donovan scored his first UK No.1 single with 'Too Many Broken Hearts' which was written and produced by Stock, Aitken and Waterman.

1993, Oasis recorded their first demos at The Real People's studio in Liverpool. The set included 'Rock 'n' Roll Star', 'Columbia' and 'Fade Away.'

1996, Pulp singer Jarvis Cocker walked free from Kensington police station after police failed to charge him with any criminal offence following his 'stage invasion', during Michael Jackson's performance at the Brit Awards on 19th February 1996.

2005, The front door of Ozzy Osbourne's childhood home in Birmingham went up for sale because the current owner was fed up with fans defacing it. Ali Mubarrat, who now owned the house in Lodge Road, Aston, said over the years it had become a pilgrimage destination. He was now auctioning the door on eBay and giving the money to charity.

2008, Madonna was inducted into the US Rock and Roll Hall of Fame at a star-studded ceremony in New York City, she received her honour at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel from singer Justin Timberlake. The 49-year-old thanked her detractors in an acceptance speech, including those who "said I couldn't sing, that I was a One Hit Wonder. Rock star John Mellencamp, Leonard Cohen, The Ventures and The Dave Clark Five were also among the inductees.

2009, Iron Maiden's tour manager criticised people who were arrested for trying to gatecrash a concert in Bogota. Colombian police arrested more than 100 people after stones were thrown hours before the group were due to perform. In a statement posted on the band's website, Rod Smallwood said: "We abhor the inane behaviour of a small minority of people outside." Riot police fired tear gas canisters at those who tried to enter the concert without tickets.

2010, Pete Doherty was banned from driving for 12 months after admitting allowing his manager to use his Daimler car without insurance. Doherty's manager Andrew Boyd, admitted dangerous driving and failing to stop at the scene of an accident and was jailed for 12 months. The court was told how the victim Chris Corder suffered "catastrophic" brain injuries and was left in a coma after the crash, the court heard.

2011, The former singer with Iron Maiden was jailed for nine months for fraudulently claiming benefits. Paul Andrews, fronted the band between 1978 and 1981, under the stage name Paul Di'Anno. Andrews, 52, was jailed at the city's crown court after earlier admitting falsely claiming more than £45,000. Fraud investigators had viewed online videos and read about gigs on the performer's website.

2015, A jury in the United States ruled that the writers of 'Blurred Lines', copied a Marvin Gaye track. Jurors in Los Angeles decided that the 2013 single by Pharrell Williams and Robin Thicke breached the copyright of Gaye's 1977 hit 'Got To Give It Up'. The family of the late soul singer were awarded $7.3m (£4.8m) in damages. Thicke and Williams denied copying the hit, and their lawyer said the ruling set a "horrible precedent".

2015, Jimmy Greenspoon, keyboardist with Three Dog Knight died after a long battle with cancer at the age of 67. During the course of their career, Three Dog Knight had 21 top 40 hits, including three No.1 singles.

2016, English musician Keith Emerson died in Santa Monica, California, of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head after he had become "depressed, nervous and anxious" because nerve damage in his hands had hampered his playing. Emerson found his first commercial success with the Nice, in the late 1960s and was a founding member of Emerson, Lake & Palmer (ELP), one of the early progressive rock supergroups.


March 11th: Born on this day

1944, Born on this day, Ric Rothwell, drummer with The Mindbenders, (1965 US No.1 single with ‘Game Of Love’ and a 1966 UK No.2 single with ‘Groovy Kind Of Love’).

1945, Born on this day, American guitarist, Harvey Mandel who played with Charlie Musselwhite, Canned Heat, The Rolling Stones and John Mayall as well as having a solo career. Mandel is one of the first rock guitarists to use two-handed fretboard tapping.

1947, Born on this day, Mark Stein, lead vocalist, keyboardist, composer, and arranger with Vanilla Fudge, (1968 US No.6 single 'You Keep Me Hangin' On').

1948, Born on this day, George Kooymans, guitar, Golden Earring, (1974 UK No.7 & US No.13 single 'Radar Love').

1950, Born on this day, Bobby McFerrin, vocalist and conductor, (1988 US No.1 & UK No.2 single 'Don't Worry Be Happy').

1951, Born on this day, Katie Kissoon, Mac & Katie Kissoon, (1971 US No.20 single 'Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep', 1975 UK No.3 single 'Sugar Candy Kisses').

1955, Born on this day, Flinto, Jimmy The Hoover, (1983 UK No.18 single 'Tantalise, (Wo Wo Ee Yeh Yeh').

1955, Born on this day, Nina Hagen, German singer, songwriter, The Nina Hagen Band.

1961, Born on this day, Bruce Watson, guitar, Big Country, (1983 UK No.10 single 'Fields Of Fire' plus 14 other UK Top 40 singles', 1983 US No.17 single 'In A Big Country').

1961, Born on this day, Mike Percy, Dead Or Alive, (1985 UK No.1 single 'You Spin Me Round, Like A Record').

1964, Born on this day, Vinnie Paul, heavy metal drummer and producer and co-founder of Pantera. He co-founded the heavy metal band Damageplan in 2003 with his late brother, Dimebag Darrell.

1968, Born on this day, Lisa Loeb, US singer, (1994 US No.1 & UK No.6 single 'Stay, I Missed You', from the film 'Reality Bites')

1969, Born on this day, Rami Jaffee, keyboards, The Wallflowers, (1997 US No.3 album, 'Bringing Down The Horse').

1979, Born on this day, Joel Madden, vocals and Benji Madden, Good Charlotte, (2002 US No.7 album, 'The Young And The Hopeless', 2003 UK No.6 single 'Girls and Boys').

1981, Born on this day, LeToya Nicole Luckett, American singer, Destiny's Child (2000 US No.1 and worldwide hit single 'Independent Woman Part 1'). Quit the group in 2000, had the 2006 US No.1 self-titled debut solo album.

1981, Born on this day, Paul Wall, US rapper, features on the US No.1 single ‘Grillz’ by Nelly with Ali & Gipp.

March 9th: On this Day

1964, The Beatles filmed the last day of train scenes for the movie A Hard Day's Night. During their six days of filming aboard a moving train, The Beatles travelled a total of 2,500 miles on the rails.

1964, Capitol Records released a song called 'Letter To The Beatles' by The Four Preps. The lyrics describe a boy lamenting the fact that he's lost his girlfriend to The Fab Four. On its first day, the record shot to No.85 on the charts and it looked like The Preps were going to have another hit on their hands. Unfortunately they had included a few bars from 'I Want To Hold Your Hand' without permission and Capitol was forced to withdraw the single to avoid a lawsuit.

1966, The Beach Boys started recording the Brian Wilson and Tony Asher penned song 'God Only Knows', which when released in May 1966 was the eighth track on the group's album Pet Sounds. It became a UK No.2 single in 1966 and the B-side of 'Wouldn't It Be Nice' in the US.

1967, Pink Floyd and The Thoughts appeared at The Marquee Club London, England. The Marquee club has often been defined as 'the most important venue in the history of pop music', not only for having been the scene of the development of modern music culture in London, but also for having been an essential meeting point for some of the most important artists in rock music.

1968, Bob Dylan started a ten week run at No.1 on the UK chart with John Wesley Harding. The album marked Dylan's return to acoustic music after three albums of electric rock music and was exceptionally well received by critics, also reaching No.2 on the US charts. The commercial performance was considered remarkable, considering that Dylan had made Columbia Records release the album without much publicity.

1970, Having recently changed their name from Earth to Black Sabbath, Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Bill Ward made their concert debut at The Roundhouse, London.

1971, Led Zeppelin appeared at Leeds University, Leeds, England, during their 'Back To The Clubs' tour. This was the first tour which saw Zeppelin performing 'Stairway To Heaven', 'Black Dog' and 'Going To California.'

1974, Alvin Stardust was at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Jealous Mind'. Know as Shane Fenton in the 1960s, it was the singer's only UK chart topper.

1975, Actor Telly Savalas was at No.1 on the UK singles chart with his version of the David Gates (from Bread) song 'If'. Savalas was currently high in the TV ratings playing the policeman Kojak.

1981, Robert Plant played a secret gig at Keele University, England with his new band The Honey Drippers.

1985, Dead Or Alive were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'You Spin Me Round (Like A Record). It was the first No.1 for the production team of Stock, Aitken and Waterman who went on to produce over 100 UK Top 40 hits.

1985, Mick Jagger released his solo single 'Just Another Night' a No. 12 hit in the US and No. 32 on the UK charts.

1985, REO Speedwagon started a three week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Can't Fight This Feeling', it made No.16 in the UK.

1987, U2 released their fifth studio album The Joshua Tree which features the singles 'Where The Streets Have No Name', and 'I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For'. The album became the fastest selling in UK history and the first album to sell over a million CDs, spending a total of 201 weeks on the UK chart. It topped the charts in over 20 countries and became U2's first US No.1 album.

1991, 'Should I Stay Or Should I Go' gave The Clash their only UK No.1 single after the track was used for a Levi's TV advertisement. The track was first released in 1982 from their album Combat Rock.

1996, Take That scored their eighth and last UK No.1 single (until re-forming in 2006) with their version of The Bee Gees 1977 song 'How Deep Is Your Love', (originally intended for US singer Yvonne Elliman), and used as part of the soundtrack to the film Saturday Night Fever.

1997, Notorious BIG was gunned down and killed as he left a party at the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles. Born Christopher Wallace the rapper was pronounced dead on arrival at Cedars Sinai Hospital. He was 24 years old.

2004, Former Crazy Town guitarist Rust Epique died of heart failure from an apparent heart attack at his home in Las Vegas. Epique was 36. Crazy Town had the 1999 world-wide No.1 single 'Butterfly'.

2005, 53-year-old Danny Joe Brown, the original lead singer of Molly Hatchet, died from renal failure due to complications from diabetes. Brown was the front man for the band's self-titled album in 1978, which went Platinum.

2007, Brad Delp lead singer of US rock band Boston committed suicide by carbon monoxide poisoning in at his home in the New Hampshire town of Atkinson. He died from the smoke of two charcoal grills he’d lit inside his sealed master bathroom. He was found by police lying on a pillow on his bathroom floor with a note paper-clipped to his shirt which read: "Mr. Brad Delp. I am a lonely soul." Boston had the 1977 UK No.22 single 'More Than A Feeling' and the 1986 US No.1 single 'Amanda.'

2010, Lil Wayne was sentenced to a year in prison at New York City's Rikers Island jail complex after pleading guilty to gun possession. The charges were linked to his arrest in 2007 when a gun was found on his tour bus. His sentencing came after several delays; the first date was postponed to allow the rapper to have dental work and the second had to be rearranged after a fire broke out in the New York court complex.

2012, 76-year-old Jerry Lee Lewis married for the seventh time when he wed his caregiver Judith Brown. Lewis split from his sixth wife, Kerrie McCarver, in 2004 after twenty years of marriage. Brown, who was 14 years younger than Lewis, was previously married to the star's cousin Rusty.

2016, A study by The Journal of Advanced Nursing reported that pop records set a bad example by portraying ageing and old people in a negative light, focusing on dying and physical decline. Researchers trawled the musical archives from the 1930s to the present day for any tracks mentioning old age. The majority, 55 out of 76 songs, focused on "bad" aspects of ageing. The Beatles and Elton John featured on the "negative list", along with Pulp and The Who.


March 9th: Born on this day

1930, Born on this day, American jazz saxophonist, violinist, trumpeter and composer Ornette Coleman. He was one of the major innovators of the free jazz movement of the 1960s. Coleman died of a cardiac arrest at the age of 85 in New York City on June 11, 2015.

1934, Born on this day, Lloyd Price, US singer, songwriter, (1959 US No.1 & UK No.7 single 'Stagger Lee').

1936, Born on this day, Mickey Gilley, US singer, (1980 US No. 22 single 'Stand By Me' from the soundtrack 'Urban Cowboy').

1942, Born on this day, singer-songwriter and record producer, John Cale, Velvet Underground, (1968 'White Light, White Heat', 1967 Velvet Underground And Nico 'peeled banana' album). He produced the first albums of the Stooges, the Modern Lovers, Patti Smith, Squeeze, and Happy Mondays.

1942, Born on this day, Mark Lindsay, singer, guitarist with Paul Revere & The Raiders, (1971 US No.1 single with ‘Indian Reservation’ plus 14 other US Top 30 hit singles).

1944, Born on this day, Trevor Burton, The Move, (1969 UK No.1 single 'Blackberry Way').

1945, Born on this day, Robert Calvert, singer, poet, Hawkwind & solo, (1972 UK No.3 single 'Silver Machine'). Calvert died on 14th August 1988.

1945, Born on this day, Ron Wilson, drummer, The Surfaris, (1963 US No.2 & UK No.3 single 'Wipe Out'). Died of a brain anueryism on 7th May 1989.

1945, Born on this day, Robin Trower, guitarist, Procol Harum, (1967 UK No.1 single & US No.5 ' 'A Whiter Shade Of Pale'' & three top 20 solo albums).

1946, Born on this day, Jim Cregan, guitar, Family, Cockney Rebel, (1975 UK No.1 single 'Make Me Smile', Come Up And See Me), also works with Rod Stewart.

1948, Born on this day, Chris Thompson, vocals, Manfred Mann's Earth Band, (1976 UK No.6 single 'Blinded By The Light', a US No.1 in 1977).

1948, Born on this day, Jeffrey Osborne, soul singer, (1984 UK No.11 & US No. 29 single 'On The Wings Of Love').

1949, Born on this day, Jimmy Fadden, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, (1971 US No.9 single 'Mr Bojangles').

1951, Born on this day, Frank Rodriguez, ? & The Mysterians, (1966 US No. 1 & UK No.37 single 96 Tears). The song was a UK No.17 hit for The Stranglers in 1990.

1958, Born on this day, Martin Fry, vocals, ABC, (1982 UK No.4 & 1983 US No.18 'The Look Of Love' plus nine other UK Top 40 singles).

1968, Born on this day, Robert Sledge, drums, Ben Folds Five, (1997 UK No.26 single 'Battle Of Who Could Care Less').

1969, Born on this day, Adam Siegel, American rock guitarist and producer. Founding member of the Los Angeles punk band Excel, and subsequently became the lead guitarist for the Suicidal Tendencies side project Infectious Grooves.

1980, Born on this day, Chingy, US rapper, (2003 US No.2 album ‘Jackpot’, 2003 US No.2 & UK No.17 single ‘Right Thurr’).

1987, Born on this day, Lil Bow Wow, (Shad Moss), US rapper, (2001 UK No. 6 single 'Bow Wow, That's My Name').