3rd Nov 1990, 25 years after their version was recorded, The Righteous Brothers went to No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Unchained Melody'. The track had been featured in the Patrick Swayze film 'Ghost.' Written by Alex North and Hy Zaret, 'Unchained...
28th Oct 1957, After a show at the Pan Pacific Auditorium in Los Angeles, local police told Elvis Presley that he was not allowed to wiggle his hips onstage, the local press also ran headlines saying Elvis would have to clean up his act. The next night,...
August 20th 1952, Born on this day, John Hiatt, American rock guitarist, pianist, singer, and songwriter. His songs have been covered by a variety of artists including Bob Dylan, The Searchers, Ry Cooder, Linda Ronstadt, Bonnie Raitt, Eric Clapton, B.B....
August 19th 1951, Born on this day, John Deacon, bass, Queen. He was the last to join the band and also the youngest, being only 19 years old. Deacon wrote a number of Queen's hit singles, including 'You're My Best Friend', 'Spread Your Wings', 'I Want...
18th Aug 1977, The Police made their live debut as a three-piece band when they played at Rebecca's Birmingham, England. The Police became globally popular in the late 1970s and are generally regarded as one of the first New Wave groups to achieve mainstream...
17th Aug 2009, A thief in New Zealand took the unusual step of leaving his contact details at the site of his crime. The man reserved a copy of Pink Floyd's The Wall at a record shop in Christchurch, leaving his name and phone number, before robbing the...
17th Aug 1991, Nirvana shot the video for 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' at GMT Studios in Culver City, California, costing less than $50,000 to make, the shoot features real Nirvana fans as the audience. The video won Nirvana the Best New Artist and Best...
August 17th 1960, The Beatles began their first Hamburg engagement at the Indra Club, Grosse Freiheit, Hamburg, West Germany, playing the first of 48 nights at the Club. The owner, Bruno Koschmider, asked The Beatles to "Mach Shau", or really put on a...
Very sad to hear the news that Aretha Franklin, the "queen of soul" who became the first woman inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, has died in Detroit at the age of 76. In a 50-year recording career she scored 20 Top 10 albums, a dozen million-selling...
August 16th 1968, Bruce Springsteen's new band Earth made their live debut at the Off Broad Street Coffee House in Red Bank, New Jersey, admission was 75c. The lineup of the group consisted of Springsteen (guitars & vocals), John Graham (bass), Michael...
August 16th 1977, Elvis Presley was found dead lying on the floor in his bathroom by his girlfriend Ginger Alden, he had been seated on the toilet reading 'The Scientific Search For Jesus'. He died of heart failure at the age of 42. His first record for...
Happy birthday to Jimmy Webb, born on 15th Aug 1946, American singer, songwriter who wrote the 1968 hit for Richard Harris 'MacArthur Park', plus 'Galveston', for Glen Campbell (and other hits for Campbell), and 'Up Up and Away', a hit for 5th Dimension....
15th Aug 1969, Woodstock Festival was held on Max Yasgur's 600 acre farm in Bethel outside New York. Attended by over 400,000 people, the event featured, Jimi Hendrix, Crosby Stills Nash & Young, Santana, The Who, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Grateful...
13th Aug 2009, legendary guitarist Les Paul died in hospital in White Plains, New York at the age of 94 suffering from severe pneumonia. Paul is credited with developing one of the first solid-body electric guitars, which went on sale in 1952 and contributed...
Happy birthday to Mark Knopfler, born on 12th Aug 1949, British songwriter, guitarist, singer with Dire Straits, (1985 US No.1 single 'Money For Nothing', 1986 UK No.2 single 'Walk Of Life', 1985 world-wide No.1 album 'Brothers In Arms'). Knopfler has...
10th Aug 1909, Born on this day, Clarence Leonidas 'Leo' Fender, inventor and founder of the Fender Electric Instrument Manufacturing Company. The Fender Telecaster (1949) was the first mass-produced electric guitar; the Fender Stratocaster (1954) is...
10th Aug 1985, 'Money for Nothing' by Dire Straits peaked at No.4 on the UK singles chart. Notable for its groundbreaking music video and a cameo appearance by Sting singing the song's falsetto introduction and backing chorus, "I want my MTV" who also...
August 9th 1995, Jerry Garcia guitarist and singer from The Grateful Dead died from a heart attack at the Serenity Knolls rehabilitation clinic in San Francisco aged 53. Garcia co-founded the New Riders of the Purple Sage and also released several solo...
8th Aug 1969, The photo session for the cover of The Beatles Abbey Road album took place on the crossing outside Abbey Road studios. Photographer Iain McMillan, balanced on a step-ladder in the middle of the road took six shots of John, Ringo, Paul, and...
August 7th 1957, The Quarry Men played at The Cavern Club in Liverpool, (without Paul McCartney who was away at Boy Scout summer camp). The Cavern was still a jazz club, but skiffle was tolerated, but when John Lennon dared to play ‘Hound Dog’ and ‘Blue...
5th Aug 1992, Jeff Porcaro drummer from Toto died age 38. His death has been the subject of controversy: some say the attack was caused by an allergic reaction to garden pesticide, while others say Porcaro's heart was weakened by smoking and cocaine use....
August 5th 1965, The Beatles were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Help!' The group's eighth consecutive UK No.1 single. John Lennon later stated he wrote the lyrics of the song to express his stress after the Beatles' quick rise to success. "I was...
5th Aug 2005, Bob Dylan's song 'Like a Rolling Stone' topped a poll of rock and film stars to find the music, movies, TV shows and books that changed the world. The 1965 single beat Elvis Presley's 'Heartbreak Hotel' into second place in a survey for...
August 4th 1975, Led Zeppelin singer Robert Plant and his wife were both badly injured when the hire car he was driving spun off the road and crashed on the Greek island of Rhodes. Plant smashed both his ankle and his elbow, and was not fully fit for...
4th Aug 1967, Aretha Franklin released her twelfth studio album Aretha Arrives on Atlantic Records. It’s only single release was “Baby I Love You”, a million-selling No.1 R&B hit. The sessions for the album were delayed because Aretha shattered her elbow...
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