TODAY IN HISTORY – MARCH 2ND
1943 - Born this day, George Benson, guitartist, singer.
1943 - Born this day, Lou Reed [Louis Fairbanks], rock singer, songwriter, guitarist, Velvet Underground, 1968 White Light, White Heat, solo, 1973 UK No.10 and US No.16 single Walk On The Wild Side, plus 1997 UK No.1 single Perfect Day.
1950 - Born this day, [Anne] Karen Carpenter, drummer, Grammy Award-winning singer, The Carpenters, 1973 UK No.2 single Yesterday Once More and 3 US No.1's including 1975 US No.1 single Please Mr Postman. Died 4 February 1983 from the effects of anorexia nervosa.
1960 - Elvis left Germany. After completing his national service and flying back to America, Elvis Presley set foot on British soil for the first and only time in his life when the plane carrying him stopped for refuelling at Prestwick Airport, Scotland
1962 - Born this day, Jon Bon Jovi [John Francis Bongiovi], singer, musician, songwriter, solo, 1990 UK No.13 single Blaze Of Glory and as Bon Jovi, vocals, 1987 US No.1 and UK No.4 single Livin' On A Prayer.
1964 - Shooting began on The Beatles first feature film A Hard Day's Night at Marylebone train station, London. The film was a black-and-white semi-fictional account of 'a day in the life' of the Beatles, and included eight songs written specifically for the film. Richard Lester was director. George Harrison met model Patti Boyd on the film set. The filming took eight weeks.
1974 - At this years Grammy's Stevie Wonder won five awards winning Album of the year for Innervisions, Best R&B song and Best vocal for Superstition, Pop vocal performance for You Are The Sunshine Of My Life, and Best Album Innervisions.
1975 - A Los Angeles policeman stopped a Lincoln Continental for running a red light and was surprised to find Paul McCartney at the wheel with his wife Linda. The policeman detected a smell of marijuana, and on searching the car found eight ounces. Linda was arrested.
1977 - Born this day, Chris Martin, piano, guitar, vocals, Coldplay, 2000 UK No.4 single Yellow, 2000 UK No.1 album Parachutes.
1983 - A new digital audio system, a five inch compact disc containing up to 1 hour of music was launched by Sony, Philips and Polygram.
1985 - Phil Collins started a five week run at No.1 on the UK chart with his third solo LP No Jacket Required.
1989 - Madonna started a $5 million sponsorship deal with Pepsi Cola.
1994 - Kurt Kobain collapsed into a coma in a hotel room in Rome.
1999 - Died this day, Dusty Springfield, the smoky-voiced, soulful singer of elegant 1960's pop songs Wishin' and Hopin' and The Look of Love, and her signature bluesy classic, Son of a Preacher Man, lost her long battle against breast cancer. She was 59.
The British-born entertainer died at her London-area home, her agent Paul Fenn said. "She was one of the icons of the music industry," Fenn said. "She was one of the most talented female singers of this century." She was due to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, alongside fellow Class of 1999 members Bruce Springsteen and Paul McCartney, in just 11 days. Springfield's catalogue of hits also included: Anyone Who Had a Heart, I Only Want to Be With You and You Don't Have to Say You Love Me. There were more, of course - notably 1987's comeback collaboration with the Pet Shop Boys, What Have I Done To Deserve This? A Springfield CD anthology, released in 1997, featured 77 songs.
2003 - Christina Aguilera started a two week run at No.1 on the UK singles chart with Beautiful. It was the singer's fourth UK No.1.
2008 – Blind blues guitarist /singer, Jeff Healy, died this day from cancer. Lost his sight at the age of 8 months from cancer and had to have his eyes replaced with artificial ones. Started playing the guitar at age 3 and developed his own unique style of playing it flat on his lap. His breakthrough album “See the Light” was released in 1988 and included the hit single “Angel Eyes”. The following year he recorded the soundtrack for and had a cameo in the movie “Roadhouse”, starring Patrick Swayze.
2011 – The most popular song played on NZ radio this past week is “Perfect” by Pink!
2014 – Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band perform the 2nd of 2 shows in New Zealand at Auckland’s Mt Smart Stadium.
1943 - Born this day, George Benson, guitartist, singer.
1943 - Born this day, Lou Reed [Louis Fairbanks], rock singer, songwriter, guitarist, Velvet Underground, 1968 White Light, White Heat, solo, 1973 UK No.10 and US No.16 single Walk On The Wild Side, plus 1997 UK No.1 single Perfect Day.
1950 - Born this day, [Anne] Karen Carpenter, drummer, Grammy Award-winning singer, The Carpenters, 1973 UK No.2 single Yesterday Once More and 3 US No.1's including 1975 US No.1 single Please Mr Postman. Died 4 February 1983 from the effects of anorexia nervosa.
1960 - Elvis left Germany. After completing his national service and flying back to America, Elvis Presley set foot on British soil for the first and only time in his life when the plane carrying him stopped for refuelling at Prestwick Airport, Scotland
1962 - Born this day, Jon Bon Jovi [John Francis Bongiovi], singer, musician, songwriter, solo, 1990 UK No.13 single Blaze Of Glory and as Bon Jovi, vocals, 1987 US No.1 and UK No.4 single Livin' On A Prayer.
1964 - Shooting began on The Beatles first feature film A Hard Day's Night at Marylebone train station, London. The film was a black-and-white semi-fictional account of 'a day in the life' of the Beatles, and included eight songs written specifically for the film. Richard Lester was director. George Harrison met model Patti Boyd on the film set. The filming took eight weeks.
1974 - At this years Grammy's Stevie Wonder won five awards winning Album of the year for Innervisions, Best R&B song and Best vocal for Superstition, Pop vocal performance for You Are The Sunshine Of My Life, and Best Album Innervisions.
1975 - A Los Angeles policeman stopped a Lincoln Continental for running a red light and was surprised to find Paul McCartney at the wheel with his wife Linda. The policeman detected a smell of marijuana, and on searching the car found eight ounces. Linda was arrested.
1977 - Born this day, Chris Martin, piano, guitar, vocals, Coldplay, 2000 UK No.4 single Yellow, 2000 UK No.1 album Parachutes.
1983 - A new digital audio system, a five inch compact disc containing up to 1 hour of music was launched by Sony, Philips and Polygram.
1985 - Phil Collins started a five week run at No.1 on the UK chart with his third solo LP No Jacket Required.
1989 - Madonna started a $5 million sponsorship deal with Pepsi Cola.
1994 - Kurt Kobain collapsed into a coma in a hotel room in Rome.
1999 - Died this day, Dusty Springfield, the smoky-voiced, soulful singer of elegant 1960's pop songs Wishin' and Hopin' and The Look of Love, and her signature bluesy classic, Son of a Preacher Man, lost her long battle against breast cancer. She was 59.
The British-born entertainer died at her London-area home, her agent Paul Fenn said. "She was one of the icons of the music industry," Fenn said. "She was one of the most talented female singers of this century." She was due to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, alongside fellow Class of 1999 members Bruce Springsteen and Paul McCartney, in just 11 days. Springfield's catalogue of hits also included: Anyone Who Had a Heart, I Only Want to Be With You and You Don't Have to Say You Love Me. There were more, of course - notably 1987's comeback collaboration with the Pet Shop Boys, What Have I Done To Deserve This? A Springfield CD anthology, released in 1997, featured 77 songs.
2003 - Christina Aguilera started a two week run at No.1 on the UK singles chart with Beautiful. It was the singer's fourth UK No.1.
2008 – Blind blues guitarist /singer, Jeff Healy, died this day from cancer. Lost his sight at the age of 8 months from cancer and had to have his eyes replaced with artificial ones. Started playing the guitar at age 3 and developed his own unique style of playing it flat on his lap. His breakthrough album “See the Light” was released in 1988 and included the hit single “Angel Eyes”. The following year he recorded the soundtrack for and had a cameo in the movie “Roadhouse”, starring Patrick Swayze.
2011 – The most popular song played on NZ radio this past week is “Perfect” by Pink!
2014 – Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band perform the 2nd of 2 shows in New Zealand at Auckland’s Mt Smart Stadium.