TODAY IN HISTORY – JUNE 6TH
1936 - Born this day, Levi Stubbs [Stubbles], singer, The Four Tops, 1965 US No.1 single I Can't Help Myself, 1967 UK No.6 single Standing In The Shadows of Love.
1939 - Born on this day, Gary U.S. Bonds, singer, (1961 US No.1 single 'Quarter To Three', 1981 UK No.43 single 'This Little Girl').
1960 - Born on this day, Steve Vai, guitarist, Frank Zappa, David Lee Roth, Whitesnake, (1987 US No.1 & UK No.9 single 'Here I Go Again').
1962 - The Beatles auditioned for producer George Martin a producer at EMI Records. After listening to a playback of the audition tapes, Martin said, 'They're pretty awful.' He changed his mind after meeting the group, however. He signed them, and became their producer throughout the Beatles' careers. They recorded four tracks, one of which was Love Me Do. The Four musicians received payments for the session of £7-2s-0d. (£7.10) pence each.
1966 - Died this day, Roy Orbison's first wife, Claudette, was killed when a truck pulled out of a side road and collided with the motorbike that she and her husband were riding on, she was 25.
1970 - Syd Barrett played his first gig since leaving Pink Floyd at the Extravaganza 70, at London's Olympia Hall, England, backed by a band that included his old friend Floyd guitarist David Gilmour. Barrett baffled the audience (and his musicians) when he abruptly took off his guitar during the fourth number and walked off stage.
1972 - The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars (often shortened toZiggy Stardust) is a 1972 concept album by English musician David Bowie, which is loosely based on a story of a fictional rock star named Ziggy Stardust.[1] It peaked at #5 in the UK[2] and #75 in the US on the Billboard Music Charts.[3]
The album tells the story of Bowie's alter-ego Ziggy Stardust, a rock star who acts as a messenger for extraterrestrial beings.
1982 - At the start of the US 'Peace Week' Tom Petty, Crosby, Stills and Nash, Bob Dylan, Stevie Wonder, Stevie Nicks and Jackson Browne all appeared at The Rose Bowl, Pasadena, California to a crowd of 85,000 fans.
1986 - A&R man Dick Rowe died of diabetes. Rowe became famous for not signing The Beatles to Decca records and made the classic quote 'Nobody cares about guitar group's anymore.' He did however sign The Rolling Stones to Decca.
1987 - Kim Wilde went to No.1 on the US singles chart with 'You Keep Me Hanging On', a No.2 hit in the UK. The song had been a 1966 hit for The Supremes.
1987 - Whitney Houston had her second UK No.1 single with 'I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)'. It reached No.1 in over a dozen other countries and won a Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance in 1988.
1987 - Michael Jackson announced that he was breaking all ties with the Jehovah's Witnesses. Jackson had been raised as a Jehovah's Witness and would don disguises and go door to door with the Watchtower message in cities where he was performing.
1998 - B*Witched scored their first UK No.1 single with 'C'est La Vie', making them the seventh act in chart history to debut at No.1. Also today, Boyzone scored their third UK No.1 album with 'Where We Belong', it was also the first time in chart history that both the No.1 positions were by Irish acts.
1999 - Australian filmmaker Baz Luhrmann went to No.1 on the UK singles chart with Everybody's Free To Wear Sunscreen.
1999 - Plans were announced for Elvis Presley to tour the UK almost 23 years after his death with a virtual version of the 'King' performing with a live orchestra and members of his band.
2001 - Twenty of Elton John's old automobiles sold at auction for $2.75 million. Elton said he, 'doesn't have time to drive them anymore'. The most expensive was a '93 Jaguar that sold for over $330,000.
2003 - Keyboard player with The Animals Dave Rowberry died aged 62. He replaced Alan Price who left in 1965. The Animals had the 1964 UK & US No.1 single 'House Of The Rising Sun'.
2005 - John Bonham was voted at No. 1 in Classic Rock Magazine's '50 Greatest Drummers in Rock' listing Moby Dick as Bonham's defining moment. During live sets with Zeppelin his drum solo Moby Dick would often last for half an hour and regularly featured the use of his bare hands.
2006 - Billy Preston died of kidney failure. The Grammy-winning keyboard player collaborated with some of the greatest names in the music industry, including the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Nat King Cole, Little Richard, Ray Charles, George Harrison, Elton John, Eric Clapton and Bob Dylan.
2012 – The most popular song played on NZ radio over the past week has been “Payphone” by Maroon 5.
2012 - Adam Clayton's former personal assistant and housekeeper went on trial, accused of stealing almost 3m euros (£2.4m) from the U2 bass player. Carol Hawkins, from Dublin, pleaded not guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to 181 counts of theft. She was accused of stealing money from two of Clayton's bank accounts over a four year period from 2004 to 2008. According to the latest Sunday Times Rich List, Bono, the Edge, Larry Mullen, Mr Clayton and their manager had a combined fortune of €628m, ($788m).
1936 - Born this day, Levi Stubbs [Stubbles], singer, The Four Tops, 1965 US No.1 single I Can't Help Myself, 1967 UK No.6 single Standing In The Shadows of Love.
1939 - Born on this day, Gary U.S. Bonds, singer, (1961 US No.1 single 'Quarter To Three', 1981 UK No.43 single 'This Little Girl').
1960 - Born on this day, Steve Vai, guitarist, Frank Zappa, David Lee Roth, Whitesnake, (1987 US No.1 & UK No.9 single 'Here I Go Again').
1962 - The Beatles auditioned for producer George Martin a producer at EMI Records. After listening to a playback of the audition tapes, Martin said, 'They're pretty awful.' He changed his mind after meeting the group, however. He signed them, and became their producer throughout the Beatles' careers. They recorded four tracks, one of which was Love Me Do. The Four musicians received payments for the session of £7-2s-0d. (£7.10) pence each.
1966 - Died this day, Roy Orbison's first wife, Claudette, was killed when a truck pulled out of a side road and collided with the motorbike that she and her husband were riding on, she was 25.
1970 - Syd Barrett played his first gig since leaving Pink Floyd at the Extravaganza 70, at London's Olympia Hall, England, backed by a band that included his old friend Floyd guitarist David Gilmour. Barrett baffled the audience (and his musicians) when he abruptly took off his guitar during the fourth number and walked off stage.
1972 - The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars (often shortened toZiggy Stardust) is a 1972 concept album by English musician David Bowie, which is loosely based on a story of a fictional rock star named Ziggy Stardust.[1] It peaked at #5 in the UK[2] and #75 in the US on the Billboard Music Charts.[3]
The album tells the story of Bowie's alter-ego Ziggy Stardust, a rock star who acts as a messenger for extraterrestrial beings.
1982 - At the start of the US 'Peace Week' Tom Petty, Crosby, Stills and Nash, Bob Dylan, Stevie Wonder, Stevie Nicks and Jackson Browne all appeared at The Rose Bowl, Pasadena, California to a crowd of 85,000 fans.
1986 - A&R man Dick Rowe died of diabetes. Rowe became famous for not signing The Beatles to Decca records and made the classic quote 'Nobody cares about guitar group's anymore.' He did however sign The Rolling Stones to Decca.
1987 - Kim Wilde went to No.1 on the US singles chart with 'You Keep Me Hanging On', a No.2 hit in the UK. The song had been a 1966 hit for The Supremes.
1987 - Whitney Houston had her second UK No.1 single with 'I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)'. It reached No.1 in over a dozen other countries and won a Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance in 1988.
1987 - Michael Jackson announced that he was breaking all ties with the Jehovah's Witnesses. Jackson had been raised as a Jehovah's Witness and would don disguises and go door to door with the Watchtower message in cities where he was performing.
1998 - B*Witched scored their first UK No.1 single with 'C'est La Vie', making them the seventh act in chart history to debut at No.1. Also today, Boyzone scored their third UK No.1 album with 'Where We Belong', it was also the first time in chart history that both the No.1 positions were by Irish acts.
1999 - Australian filmmaker Baz Luhrmann went to No.1 on the UK singles chart with Everybody's Free To Wear Sunscreen.
1999 - Plans were announced for Elvis Presley to tour the UK almost 23 years after his death with a virtual version of the 'King' performing with a live orchestra and members of his band.
2001 - Twenty of Elton John's old automobiles sold at auction for $2.75 million. Elton said he, 'doesn't have time to drive them anymore'. The most expensive was a '93 Jaguar that sold for over $330,000.
2003 - Keyboard player with The Animals Dave Rowberry died aged 62. He replaced Alan Price who left in 1965. The Animals had the 1964 UK & US No.1 single 'House Of The Rising Sun'.
2005 - John Bonham was voted at No. 1 in Classic Rock Magazine's '50 Greatest Drummers in Rock' listing Moby Dick as Bonham's defining moment. During live sets with Zeppelin his drum solo Moby Dick would often last for half an hour and regularly featured the use of his bare hands.
2006 - Billy Preston died of kidney failure. The Grammy-winning keyboard player collaborated with some of the greatest names in the music industry, including the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Nat King Cole, Little Richard, Ray Charles, George Harrison, Elton John, Eric Clapton and Bob Dylan.
2012 – The most popular song played on NZ radio over the past week has been “Payphone” by Maroon 5.
2012 - Adam Clayton's former personal assistant and housekeeper went on trial, accused of stealing almost 3m euros (£2.4m) from the U2 bass player. Carol Hawkins, from Dublin, pleaded not guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to 181 counts of theft. She was accused of stealing money from two of Clayton's bank accounts over a four year period from 2004 to 2008. According to the latest Sunday Times Rich List, Bono, the Edge, Larry Mullen, Mr Clayton and their manager had a combined fortune of €628m, ($788m).