TODAY IN HISTORY – FEBRUARY 4th
1948 - Born this day, Alice Cooper [Vincent Furnier], in Detroit, Michigan, US rock singer, singer, Earwigs, Alice Cooper Band, 1972 UK No.1 single School's Out.
1965 - The Righteous Brothers were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with the Phil Spector song 'You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'. Also a US No.1 at the same time. In 1999 the PRS announced that it was the most played song of the 20th Century.
1966 - Bob Dylan and The Band played at the Convention Center in Louisville, Kentucky. This was the first date on a world tour which would become noted as Dylan's first that used electric instruments, after he had ‘gone electric’ at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival.
1968 - Working at Abbey Road studios, London, The Beatles recorded 'Across The Universe'. John and Paul decided the song needed some falsetto harmonies so they invited two girl fans into the studio to sing on the song. The two were Lizzie Bravo, a 16-year-old Brazilian living near Abbey Road and 17-year-old Londoner Gayleen Pease.
1970 - John Lennon and Yoko Ono donated their hair for an auction in aid of the Black Power movement.
1975 - Born this day, Natalie Imbruglia, singer, 1997 UK No.2 single Torn.
1977 - Fleetwood Mac released 'Rumours'. The songs 'Go Your Own Way', 'Don't Stop', 'Dreams', and 'You Make Loving Fun' were released as singles. Rumours is Fleetwood Mac's most successful release; along with winning the Grammy Award for Album of the Year in 1978, the record has sold over 45 million copies worldwide, making it one of the best-selling albums of all time.
1978 - Abba started a seven week run at No.1 on the UK chart with 'The Album' their third No.1 LP.
1978 - The Bee Gees started a four week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with Staying Alive. From the film soundtrack Saturday Night Fever, it gave the brothers their 5th US No.1, and was also No.1 in the UK.
1983 - Died this day, Karen Carpenter, singer, from heart failure due to anorexia nervosa at the age of 33, at her parents' home in Downey, California. The singer, who had performed with her brother, Richard, would be best-remembered for her songs (They Long to Be) Close to You and We've Only Just Begun, which dominated the songs of choice for weddings throughout the 1970s and 1980s. The untimely death of the young, velvet-throated Grammy Award winner saddened and shocked the world. Her death shed new light on the devastating consequences of anorexia, an eating disorder brought on by compulsive dieting. At one low point in Carpenter's career, she was forced to cancel a command performance before Queen Elizabeth II of England, and a concert tour of Europe and the Orient, due to the illness. Standing five feet, four inches, she had dieted down to 90 pounds.
1984 - Culture Club started a three week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with Karma Chameleon, the groups 5th US top 10 hit. It was also a No.1 in the UK.
1984 - Eurythmics scored their first UK No.1 album with their second release Touch, featuring the singles Here Comes The Rain Again, Who's That Girl and Right By Your Side.
1996 - Rob Pilatus of the defunct pop duo Milli Vanilli was arrested in Los Angeles after witnesses said he tried to break into a car and force his way into a house. He was charged with eight criminal counts accusing him of attacking two people. Pilatus, age 31, was also accused in a 21 December 1995 incident of hitting a man with a lamp during a dispute.
1998 - Former lead singer of East 17, Brian Harvey, was fined £1,000 after being convicted of kicking a press photographer who was curled up on the ground in a ball. Harvey was also ordered to pay prosecution costs of £2,852.
1999 - American soul singer Gwen Guthrie died of cancer aged 48. Sang backing vocals for Aretha Franklin, Billy Joel, Stevie Wonder and Madonna and wrote songs for Sister Sledge and Roberta Flack. Had the 1986 R&B No.1 'Ain't Nothin' Goin' on But the Rent'.
2000 - Bjorn Ulvaeus confirmed that the members of Abba had turned down a $1 billion (£0.58 billion) offer by American and British consortium to reform the group. "It is a hell of a lot of money to say no to, but we decided it wasn't for us," band member Benny Andersson told the Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet.
2001 - Atomic Kitten started a four-week run at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Whole Again', the group's first UK chart topper. The song was written by Andy McCluskey from OMD.
2003 - Courtney Love was arrested at Heathrow airport for 'endangering an aircraft' on a transatlantic flight. The singer was said to have hurled abuse at the cabin crew on the flight from Los Angeles to London after her nurse who was in an economy seat was barred access to sit with Love in the upper class cabin.
2004 - Police questioned Noel Gallagher after a photograph of him trespassing on a railway line appeared in a newspaper. The Oasis guitarist was in a studio in Cornwall recording the bands new album when he took a walk along the railway line. British Transport Police said 'he was setting a bad example.'
2007 - A Razorlight's gig in Lyon was halted mid-set because of an altercation between singer Johnny Borrell and bassist Carl Dalemo. The pair exchanged insults before they came to blows onstage. Borrell then stormed off leaving the French crowd amazed and unsure about what was going on.
2008 – An intergalactic celebration is launched for “Across the Universe Day”. To mark the release of the Beatles song 40 years previously fans are asked to play the song in a bid to “create a harmonic convergence” around the planet earth and throughout the universe. NASA has agreed to beam the song into space aimed at the North Star, Polaris, which is 431 light years away from earth. The song will travel at a speed of 186,000 miles per second.
2009 - Robert Plant said he felt Led Zeppelin couldn't reunite for a full tour and album because the band feels incomplete without drummer John Bonham. During an interview on UK station Absolute Radio Plant stated, 'The reason that it stopped was because we were incomplete, and we've been incomplete now for 29 years,' he said. He admitted: 'I think the thing about it is really, is that to visit old ground, it's a very incredibly delicate thing to do, and the disappointment that could be there once you commit to that and the comparisons to something that was basically fired by youth and a different kind of exuberance to now, it's very hard to go back and meet that head on and do it justice'.
2013 – Ali Campbell’s UB40 play Vector Arena (Auckland). Campbell has recently been on NZ screens as a judge on New Zealand’s Got Talent!
1948 - Born this day, Alice Cooper [Vincent Furnier], in Detroit, Michigan, US rock singer, singer, Earwigs, Alice Cooper Band, 1972 UK No.1 single School's Out.
1965 - The Righteous Brothers were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with the Phil Spector song 'You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'. Also a US No.1 at the same time. In 1999 the PRS announced that it was the most played song of the 20th Century.
1966 - Bob Dylan and The Band played at the Convention Center in Louisville, Kentucky. This was the first date on a world tour which would become noted as Dylan's first that used electric instruments, after he had ‘gone electric’ at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival.
1968 - Working at Abbey Road studios, London, The Beatles recorded 'Across The Universe'. John and Paul decided the song needed some falsetto harmonies so they invited two girl fans into the studio to sing on the song. The two were Lizzie Bravo, a 16-year-old Brazilian living near Abbey Road and 17-year-old Londoner Gayleen Pease.
1970 - John Lennon and Yoko Ono donated their hair for an auction in aid of the Black Power movement.
1975 - Born this day, Natalie Imbruglia, singer, 1997 UK No.2 single Torn.
1977 - Fleetwood Mac released 'Rumours'. The songs 'Go Your Own Way', 'Don't Stop', 'Dreams', and 'You Make Loving Fun' were released as singles. Rumours is Fleetwood Mac's most successful release; along with winning the Grammy Award for Album of the Year in 1978, the record has sold over 45 million copies worldwide, making it one of the best-selling albums of all time.
1978 - Abba started a seven week run at No.1 on the UK chart with 'The Album' their third No.1 LP.
1978 - The Bee Gees started a four week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with Staying Alive. From the film soundtrack Saturday Night Fever, it gave the brothers their 5th US No.1, and was also No.1 in the UK.
1983 - Died this day, Karen Carpenter, singer, from heart failure due to anorexia nervosa at the age of 33, at her parents' home in Downey, California. The singer, who had performed with her brother, Richard, would be best-remembered for her songs (They Long to Be) Close to You and We've Only Just Begun, which dominated the songs of choice for weddings throughout the 1970s and 1980s. The untimely death of the young, velvet-throated Grammy Award winner saddened and shocked the world. Her death shed new light on the devastating consequences of anorexia, an eating disorder brought on by compulsive dieting. At one low point in Carpenter's career, she was forced to cancel a command performance before Queen Elizabeth II of England, and a concert tour of Europe and the Orient, due to the illness. Standing five feet, four inches, she had dieted down to 90 pounds.
1984 - Culture Club started a three week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with Karma Chameleon, the groups 5th US top 10 hit. It was also a No.1 in the UK.
1984 - Eurythmics scored their first UK No.1 album with their second release Touch, featuring the singles Here Comes The Rain Again, Who's That Girl and Right By Your Side.
1996 - Rob Pilatus of the defunct pop duo Milli Vanilli was arrested in Los Angeles after witnesses said he tried to break into a car and force his way into a house. He was charged with eight criminal counts accusing him of attacking two people. Pilatus, age 31, was also accused in a 21 December 1995 incident of hitting a man with a lamp during a dispute.
1998 - Former lead singer of East 17, Brian Harvey, was fined £1,000 after being convicted of kicking a press photographer who was curled up on the ground in a ball. Harvey was also ordered to pay prosecution costs of £2,852.
1999 - American soul singer Gwen Guthrie died of cancer aged 48. Sang backing vocals for Aretha Franklin, Billy Joel, Stevie Wonder and Madonna and wrote songs for Sister Sledge and Roberta Flack. Had the 1986 R&B No.1 'Ain't Nothin' Goin' on But the Rent'.
2000 - Bjorn Ulvaeus confirmed that the members of Abba had turned down a $1 billion (£0.58 billion) offer by American and British consortium to reform the group. "It is a hell of a lot of money to say no to, but we decided it wasn't for us," band member Benny Andersson told the Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet.
2001 - Atomic Kitten started a four-week run at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Whole Again', the group's first UK chart topper. The song was written by Andy McCluskey from OMD.
2003 - Courtney Love was arrested at Heathrow airport for 'endangering an aircraft' on a transatlantic flight. The singer was said to have hurled abuse at the cabin crew on the flight from Los Angeles to London after her nurse who was in an economy seat was barred access to sit with Love in the upper class cabin.
2004 - Police questioned Noel Gallagher after a photograph of him trespassing on a railway line appeared in a newspaper. The Oasis guitarist was in a studio in Cornwall recording the bands new album when he took a walk along the railway line. British Transport Police said 'he was setting a bad example.'
2007 - A Razorlight's gig in Lyon was halted mid-set because of an altercation between singer Johnny Borrell and bassist Carl Dalemo. The pair exchanged insults before they came to blows onstage. Borrell then stormed off leaving the French crowd amazed and unsure about what was going on.
2008 – An intergalactic celebration is launched for “Across the Universe Day”. To mark the release of the Beatles song 40 years previously fans are asked to play the song in a bid to “create a harmonic convergence” around the planet earth and throughout the universe. NASA has agreed to beam the song into space aimed at the North Star, Polaris, which is 431 light years away from earth. The song will travel at a speed of 186,000 miles per second.
2009 - Robert Plant said he felt Led Zeppelin couldn't reunite for a full tour and album because the band feels incomplete without drummer John Bonham. During an interview on UK station Absolute Radio Plant stated, 'The reason that it stopped was because we were incomplete, and we've been incomplete now for 29 years,' he said. He admitted: 'I think the thing about it is really, is that to visit old ground, it's a very incredibly delicate thing to do, and the disappointment that could be there once you commit to that and the comparisons to something that was basically fired by youth and a different kind of exuberance to now, it's very hard to go back and meet that head on and do it justice'.
2013 – Ali Campbell’s UB40 play Vector Arena (Auckland). Campbell has recently been on NZ screens as a judge on New Zealand’s Got Talent!