TODAY IN HISTORY – August 31st
1939 - Born this day, Jerry Allison, musician, drummer, The Crickets, 1957 US No.1 single That'll Be The Day, 1959 UK No.1 single It Doesn't Matter Anymore, plus over 15 other UK top 40 singles. The real 'Peggy Sue' was his girlfriend.
1945 - Born this day, Van Morrison, singer, songwriter, born George Ivan, in Belfast, Northern Ireland. In 1961, he was sax and harmonica player with the Monarchs, evolving into Them. His first hit was the 1967 US No.10 single Brown Eyed Girl. Rod Stwart had a hit with his version of Van's Have I Told You Lately. It made UK and US No.5. His biggest hit was the 1965 UK No.2 single with Them Here Comes The Night. Solo a 1970 US No.29 and UK No.32 single Moondance and a 1968 album Astral Weeks, plus over 15 other UK top 40 albums.
Van has worked with Bob Dylan, Ray Charles, Joni Mitchell, Bill Wyman, The Chieftains, John Lee Hooker, and Cliff Richard. In 1993, he failed to turn up at the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame induction dinner, making him becoming the first living inductee not to attend. Van was awarded an OBE in 1996.
1946 - Born this day, Bob Welch, rock musician, guitarist, singer, (Fleetwood Mac: Oh Well). Died June 7th 2012.
1963 - The girl trio Angels started a three week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘My Boyfriend’s Back’. The writers of the song Bob Feldman, Jerry Goldstein and Richard Gottehrer were a trio of Brooklyn songwriter/producers who went on to write the hits ‘Sorrow’ and have the 1965 US No.11 single as The Strangeloves with ‘I Want Candy’.
1963 - The Ronettes first entered the US singles chart with 'Be My Baby' the girl group's only top 10 hit. Lead singer, Veronica Bennett who became Ronnie Spector, took producer and ex-husband Phil Spector to court in the late 1990s for unpaid royalties.
1969 - Decca Records released what has been called The Rolling Stones most political song, 'Street Fighting Man', written after Mick Jagger attended a March 1968 anti-war rally at London's US embassy, during which mounted police attempted to control a crowd of 25,000. The single was kept out of the US Top 40 (reaching No.48) because many radio stations refused to play it based on what were perceived as subversive lyrics.
1976 - George Harrison was found guilty of 'subconscious plagiarism'. A judge ruled that George Harrison was guilty of copying from the Ronnie Mack song He's So Fine (a 1963 Chiffons hit). The judge said that the chorus to Harrison's My Sweet Lord was identical to He's So Fine and it eventually (appeals went on for about five years) cost the former Beatle over half a million dollars. The Chiffon's then recorded their own version of My Sweet Lord.
1985 - Brothers In Arms by Dire Straits, started a nine week run at No.1 in the US album charts, the album also topped the charts in 25 other countries and went on to sell over 20 million world-wide.
1985 - UB40 with guest vocals from Chrissie Hynde had their second No.1 with their version of the Sonny Bono song I Got You Babe.
1986 - After living together for 10 years Bob Geldof married TV presenter Paula Yates in Las Vegas with Duran Duran singer Simon Le Bon as the best man. Yates died of a drug overdose on 17th September 2000.
1987 - The largest preorder of albums in the history of CBS Records occured as 2.25 million copies of Michael Jackson's Bad album were shipped to record stores. The LP followed in the tracks of the Jackson album, Thriller, the biggest Jackson-seller of all time (35 million copies sold). The Bad album was successful, but sold only 13 million copies.
1990 - Jackson Browne, Bonnie Raitt and Stevie Wonder sang 'Amazing Grace' at a memorial service held for guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughan who had been killed in a helicopter crash 4 days earlier.
1991 - Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat went to No.1 on the UK album chart by Jason Donavan and the original London cast from the show.
2002 - NASA announced that Lance Bass, singer with NSYNC was to become the first celebrity astronaut. His £14m place on a Russian Soyuz module would make him the youngest person to go into orbit.
2003 - Elton John went to No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Are You Ready For Love.' The song was recorded in 1977 and released in 1979, when it reached No.42. It was used by Sky TV for their Premiership football ads.
2006 - The Times ran a story on the demands of rock stars when on tour. Ozzy Osbourne insists on an eye, ear, nose and throat doctor at each venue. The Beach Boys require a licensed masseur, Meat Loaf a mask and one small tank of oxygen. David Bowie requests that the dressing room temperature is between 14c and 18c and Paul McCartney must have a large arrangement of white Casablanca lilies in his dressing room. Mick Jagger must have an onstage autocue with the lyrics to all the songs, it would also tell him the name of the city in which they were performing.
1939 - Born this day, Jerry Allison, musician, drummer, The Crickets, 1957 US No.1 single That'll Be The Day, 1959 UK No.1 single It Doesn't Matter Anymore, plus over 15 other UK top 40 singles. The real 'Peggy Sue' was his girlfriend.
1945 - Born this day, Van Morrison, singer, songwriter, born George Ivan, in Belfast, Northern Ireland. In 1961, he was sax and harmonica player with the Monarchs, evolving into Them. His first hit was the 1967 US No.10 single Brown Eyed Girl. Rod Stwart had a hit with his version of Van's Have I Told You Lately. It made UK and US No.5. His biggest hit was the 1965 UK No.2 single with Them Here Comes The Night. Solo a 1970 US No.29 and UK No.32 single Moondance and a 1968 album Astral Weeks, plus over 15 other UK top 40 albums.
Van has worked with Bob Dylan, Ray Charles, Joni Mitchell, Bill Wyman, The Chieftains, John Lee Hooker, and Cliff Richard. In 1993, he failed to turn up at the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame induction dinner, making him becoming the first living inductee not to attend. Van was awarded an OBE in 1996.
1946 - Born this day, Bob Welch, rock musician, guitarist, singer, (Fleetwood Mac: Oh Well). Died June 7th 2012.
1963 - The girl trio Angels started a three week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘My Boyfriend’s Back’. The writers of the song Bob Feldman, Jerry Goldstein and Richard Gottehrer were a trio of Brooklyn songwriter/producers who went on to write the hits ‘Sorrow’ and have the 1965 US No.11 single as The Strangeloves with ‘I Want Candy’.
1963 - The Ronettes first entered the US singles chart with 'Be My Baby' the girl group's only top 10 hit. Lead singer, Veronica Bennett who became Ronnie Spector, took producer and ex-husband Phil Spector to court in the late 1990s for unpaid royalties.
1969 - Decca Records released what has been called The Rolling Stones most political song, 'Street Fighting Man', written after Mick Jagger attended a March 1968 anti-war rally at London's US embassy, during which mounted police attempted to control a crowd of 25,000. The single was kept out of the US Top 40 (reaching No.48) because many radio stations refused to play it based on what were perceived as subversive lyrics.
1976 - George Harrison was found guilty of 'subconscious plagiarism'. A judge ruled that George Harrison was guilty of copying from the Ronnie Mack song He's So Fine (a 1963 Chiffons hit). The judge said that the chorus to Harrison's My Sweet Lord was identical to He's So Fine and it eventually (appeals went on for about five years) cost the former Beatle over half a million dollars. The Chiffon's then recorded their own version of My Sweet Lord.
1985 - Brothers In Arms by Dire Straits, started a nine week run at No.1 in the US album charts, the album also topped the charts in 25 other countries and went on to sell over 20 million world-wide.
1985 - UB40 with guest vocals from Chrissie Hynde had their second No.1 with their version of the Sonny Bono song I Got You Babe.
1986 - After living together for 10 years Bob Geldof married TV presenter Paula Yates in Las Vegas with Duran Duran singer Simon Le Bon as the best man. Yates died of a drug overdose on 17th September 2000.
1987 - The largest preorder of albums in the history of CBS Records occured as 2.25 million copies of Michael Jackson's Bad album were shipped to record stores. The LP followed in the tracks of the Jackson album, Thriller, the biggest Jackson-seller of all time (35 million copies sold). The Bad album was successful, but sold only 13 million copies.
1990 - Jackson Browne, Bonnie Raitt and Stevie Wonder sang 'Amazing Grace' at a memorial service held for guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughan who had been killed in a helicopter crash 4 days earlier.
1991 - Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat went to No.1 on the UK album chart by Jason Donavan and the original London cast from the show.
2002 - NASA announced that Lance Bass, singer with NSYNC was to become the first celebrity astronaut. His £14m place on a Russian Soyuz module would make him the youngest person to go into orbit.
2003 - Elton John went to No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Are You Ready For Love.' The song was recorded in 1977 and released in 1979, when it reached No.42. It was used by Sky TV for their Premiership football ads.
2006 - The Times ran a story on the demands of rock stars when on tour. Ozzy Osbourne insists on an eye, ear, nose and throat doctor at each venue. The Beach Boys require a licensed masseur, Meat Loaf a mask and one small tank of oxygen. David Bowie requests that the dressing room temperature is between 14c and 18c and Paul McCartney must have a large arrangement of white Casablanca lilies in his dressing room. Mick Jagger must have an onstage autocue with the lyrics to all the songs, it would also tell him the name of the city in which they were performing.