Happy birthday to Steven Morrissey, born on 22nd May 1959, vocals, songwriter, The Smiths, who scored the 1984 UK No.10 single 'Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now', plus over 15 other UK Top 40 singles'. As a solo artist he scored the 1988 UK No.5 single...
Happy birthday to Bernie Taupin, born on 22nd May 1950, English lyricist, poet, and singer and Elton John's long-time song writing partner. Rod Stewart, Cher, The Motels, John Waite, Starship and Alice Cooper have all recorded his songs. In 1967, Taupin...
28th May 1966, Percy Sledge started a two week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'When A Man Loves A Woman'. A No.4 hit on the UK chart and No.2 when re-issued in 1987. Before the recording session, the song had no title or lyrics. The session...
31st May 1966, Filming began on The Monkees first TV series. The Monkees' first single, 'Last Train to Clarksville' was released in August 1966, just weeks prior to the TV broadcast debut. In conjunction with the first broadcast of the television show...
June 28th 1968, Pink Floyd released their second album A Saucerful Of Secrets in the UK. It is both the last Pink Floyd album on which Syd Barrett would appear and the only studio album to which all five band members contributed. The album sleeve was...
27th June 1970, The Trans-Continental Pop Festival (better known as the The Festival Express) set off. The tour was unique in that rather than flying to each city, most of the acts travelled on a chartered CN train. The Grateful Dead, Janis Joplin, The...
27th June 2002, One day before the scheduled first show of The Who's 2002 US tour, bass player John Entwistle, died aged 57 in his hotel room at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. Entwistle had gone to bed that night with a stripper, who woke...
26th June 1972, During sessions at Olympic Studios, London, England, David Bowie recorded 'John, I'm Only Dancing', with Mick Ronson on lead guitar and Lou Reed on rhythm guitar. The track which was released and became a hit single in the UK in September...
June 11th 1952, Born on this day, Donnie Van Zant, American rock vocalist, guitarist best known as having been a member of 38 Special, from its formation in 1974 until 2013. He is the middle of three brothers: his older brother Ronnie was the original...
June 22nd 1980, Don McLean had his second UK No.1 single with the Roy Orbison song 'Crying'. The song had been a No.2 US hit for Orbison in July 1961. In 1987, Orbison re-recorded the song as a duet with k.d. lang as part of the soundtrack for the motion...
June 17th 1971, Carole King went to No.1 on the US album chart with ‘Tapestry’ for the first of 15 consecutive weeks. The album contained ‘It's Too Late’, ‘I Feel the Earth Move’, ‘Will You Love Me Tomorrow’’ and ‘You've Got a Friend’. The cover photograph...
June 16th 1965, Bob Dylan recorded 'Like A Rolling Stone' at Columbia Recording Studios in New York City, in the sessions for the forthcoming 'Highway 61 Revisited' album. Session musicians included Mike Bloomfield and Al Kooper, whose Hammond organ on...
June 16th 1970, Mungo Jerry were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'In The Summertime'. It went on to become the best selling UK single of 1970 spending seven weeks at No.1 and was a hit in 26 other countries. The UK release was a maxi-single playing...
7th June 1958, Born on this day, Prince Rogers Nelson, the American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and actor. He has produced ten platinum albums and thirty Top 40 singles during his career including the 1984 US No.1 & UK No.4 single 'When...
June 9th 1891, Born on this day, Cole Porter, American composer and songwriter who wrote countless classic songs, including 'Night And Day', 'I Get A Kick Out Of You', 'Ev'ry Time We Say Goodbye', 'I've Got You Under My Skin'. His most successful musical,...
2nd June 2008, American guitarist and singer Bo Diddley, (Ellas Otha Bates) died of heart failure at his home in Archer, Florida aged 79. The legendary singer and performer, was known for his homemade square guitar and his 'shave and a haircut, two bits'...
June 2nd 1966, Frank Sinatra was at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Strangers In The Night', the singers second UK No.1. The song was originally composed by Avo Uvezian as 'Broken Guitar' and later under the title 'Beddy Bye' as part of the instrumental...
June 9th 1915, Born on this day, guitarist Les Paul, inventor of the Gibson Les Paul guitar who also had a 1953 UK No.7 single with ‘Vaya Con Dios’ and the US No.7 single ‘Hummingbird’ with Mary Ford featuring his multi-layered recording techniques. He...
August 1st 1971, The Concert For Bangladesh organised by George Harrison to aid victims of famine and war in Bangladesh took place at New York's Madison Sq Garden. Featuring Bob Dylan, Ringo Starr, Billy Preston, Eric Clapton, Ravi Shankar and members...
July 31st 1957, Richard Starkey (later known as Ringo Starr) is thought to have made his debut at the The Cavern playing drums with the Eddie Clayton Skiffle Group. John Lennon made his first appearance at the club a week later with The Quarry Men Skiffle...
31st July 1955, Elvis Presley performed 3 shows at Fort Homer Hesterly Armory in Tampa, Florida, (2 matinee and 1 evening). A full scale riot broke out after the show when Elvis announced to the 14,000 strong crowd, "Girls, I'll see you backstage." Fans...
July 30th 2003, Sam Phillips the founder of Sun Records and studio died of respiratory failure at St. Francis Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee. In the 1940s, Phillips worked as a DJ for Muscle Shoals, Alabama radio station WLAY. Phillips recorded what some...
July 29th 1974, Mamas And The Papas singer Cass Elliot died in her sleep from a heart attack after playing a sold out show in London, England. She was staying at Harry Nilson's London flat when she died. Her solo hits included 'Dream a Little Dream of...
29th July 1973, Led Zeppelin played the last of three nights at Madison Square Garden, New York at the end of a 33-date North American tour. It was on this day that Led Zeppelin lost around $203,000 in cash after a thief made off with the receipts from...
24th July 1965, The Byrds were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with their version of the Bob Dylan song 'Mr Tambourine Man'. The first Bob Dylan song to reach No.1. The Byrds' recording of the song was influential in initiating the musical subgenre of...
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