TODAY IN HISTORY – MAY 15th
1947 - Born this day, Graham Goble, musician, guitarist, Little River Band, Australian group, 1978 US No.3 single Reminiscing, plus 12 other US Top 40 singles.
1948 - Born this day, Gary Thain, bass player, Keef Hartley Band, Uriah Heep. Died of a drug overdose 19 March 1976 aged 28.
1953 - Born this day, Mike Oldfield, composer, musician, his album Tubular Bells was the first album released on the Virgin record label in 1973 and went on to sell over 10 million copies.
1967 - Paul McCartney met American photographer Linda Eastman for the first time, during a Georgie Fame concert at the Bag O'Nails nightclub in London, England. They married on March 12, 1969.
1968 - George Harrison and Ringo Starr attended the premiere of 'Wonderwall' at the Cannes Film Festival. The 1968 film by first-time director Joe Massot starred Jack MacGowran and Jane Birkin, and featured cameos by Anita Pallenberg. The soundtrack was composed by then-Beatle George Harrison. The film provides the name for the Oasis track 'Wonderwall', which was inspired by George Harrison's score.
1970 - Close to You, the Carpenter's second album, and the one that launched them to meteoric fame, was released by A&M Records. The title song, (They Long to Be) Close to You, became a pop music standard and the first of six million-sellers in a row for Karen and Richard. In all, The Carpenters would have 10 gold records for singles and a dozen top ten hits to their credit. The duo won Best New Artist honours at the Grammy Awards in 1970.
1974 - Frank Zappa and his wife announced the birth of their third child, a boy named Ahmet Rodan, after the Japanese movie monster that lived of a steady diet of 707 planes.
1976 - The Rolling Stones went to No.1 on the US album chart with 'Black And Blue', the group's sixth US No.1 album. The band's first studio album released with Ronnie Wood as the replacement for Mick Taylor featured the hit 'Fool To Cry'.
1978 - Bianca Jagger filed divorce papers against her husband Mick Jagger, leader of the Rolling Stones. The couple had been married for seven years, and Bianca, who was formally Bianca Perez Morena de Macias, was the daughter of a Nicaraguan diplomat. Mick was pleased as it meant he had more time and space to preen in the bathroom mirror.
1981 - Former Sex Pistol John Lydon's band Public Image Ltd performed a show at New York's Ritz Club posing behind a video screen while the music was played from tapes. They were showered with missiles and eventually booed off stage.
1982 - Asia went to No.1 on the US album chart with their self-titled album. It spent a total of nine weeks at No.1 and became the best-selling album in the US for the year 1982. The supergroup included former members of several veteran progressive rock bands, namely bassist/vocalist John Wetton (formerly in Mogul Thrash, Family, King Crimson, Roxy Music, Uriah Heep, U.K. and Wishbone Ash), guitarist Steve Howe (formerly in Yes), keyboardist Geoff Downes (of Yes and The Buggles) and drummer Carl Palmer (formerly in The Crazy World of Arthur Brown, Atomic Rooster and Emerson, Lake & Palmer).
1982 - Stevie Wonder and Paul McCartney started a seven week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Ebony And Ivory'. The song gave McCartney his 24th US No.1 as a songwriter. The title was inspired by McCartney hearing Spike Milligan say "black notes, white notes, and you need to play the two to make harmony folks!". It was later named as the tenth worst song of all time by Blender magazine and in 2007 was named the worst duet in history by BBC 6 Music listeners.
1991 - Manic Street Preacher Richey Edwards carved '4 real' into his arm with a razor blade while being interviewed by music paper the New Musical Express (NME).
1994 - Blur scored their first UK No.1 album with ‘Parklife’, which went on to spend over two years on the chart. The album featured four UK hit singles: 'Girls & Boys', 'End of a Century', 'Parklife' and 'To the End'. In the year following its release the album came to define the emerging Britpop scene. The album cover for Parklife was among the ten chosen by the Royal Mail for a set of "Classic Album Cover" postage stamps issued in January 2010.
1997 - Courtney Love sold the Seattle mansion she shared with Kurt Cobain. A local family purchased the house in the salubrious Denny Blaine area for $3m.
1997 - Oasis became the first artists to attempt to exert censorship over the Internet. The group was working with Sony to put a end to unofficial websites carrying lyrics, soundfiles and photographs.
2000 - It was reported that Britney Spears had been crowned the queen of America's fastest growing youth movement, the teenage celibates. Spears had told a German magazine that she intended to abstain from sex until her wedding night. That would prove to be a mountain to hard to climb as she went on to become a drunk, drugged, head shaven, divorced mother of 2 with a history of bad driving incidents within the next 8 years.
2002 - Jay Kay claimed he was assaulted at the premiere of Star Wars, Episode II: Attack of the Clones in London. The singer suffered facial injuries after an incident with a photographer after the star-studded event.
2003 - Died this day, June Carter Cash, country singer, wife of Johnny Cash, aged 73. Had hits with Johnny Cash, Ring Of Fire, Jackson, If I Were A Carpenter.
2008 - Neil Diamond reached the top of the US Billboard album chart for the first time in his career with ‘Home Before Dark’ the 67-year-old's 29th studio album. His previous highest chart position was in 1973 when the soundtrack to the film Jonathan Livingston Seagull peaked at No.2. At the age of 67, Diamond became the oldest artist to have a US number one, the record was previously held by Bob Dylan in 2006 with ‘Modern Times’ released when he was 65.
2013 – “Mirrors” by Justin Timberlake is the most played song on NZ radio over the past week.
1947 - Born this day, Graham Goble, musician, guitarist, Little River Band, Australian group, 1978 US No.3 single Reminiscing, plus 12 other US Top 40 singles.
1948 - Born this day, Gary Thain, bass player, Keef Hartley Band, Uriah Heep. Died of a drug overdose 19 March 1976 aged 28.
1953 - Born this day, Mike Oldfield, composer, musician, his album Tubular Bells was the first album released on the Virgin record label in 1973 and went on to sell over 10 million copies.
1967 - Paul McCartney met American photographer Linda Eastman for the first time, during a Georgie Fame concert at the Bag O'Nails nightclub in London, England. They married on March 12, 1969.
1968 - George Harrison and Ringo Starr attended the premiere of 'Wonderwall' at the Cannes Film Festival. The 1968 film by first-time director Joe Massot starred Jack MacGowran and Jane Birkin, and featured cameos by Anita Pallenberg. The soundtrack was composed by then-Beatle George Harrison. The film provides the name for the Oasis track 'Wonderwall', which was inspired by George Harrison's score.
1970 - Close to You, the Carpenter's second album, and the one that launched them to meteoric fame, was released by A&M Records. The title song, (They Long to Be) Close to You, became a pop music standard and the first of six million-sellers in a row for Karen and Richard. In all, The Carpenters would have 10 gold records for singles and a dozen top ten hits to their credit. The duo won Best New Artist honours at the Grammy Awards in 1970.
1974 - Frank Zappa and his wife announced the birth of their third child, a boy named Ahmet Rodan, after the Japanese movie monster that lived of a steady diet of 707 planes.
1976 - The Rolling Stones went to No.1 on the US album chart with 'Black And Blue', the group's sixth US No.1 album. The band's first studio album released with Ronnie Wood as the replacement for Mick Taylor featured the hit 'Fool To Cry'.
1978 - Bianca Jagger filed divorce papers against her husband Mick Jagger, leader of the Rolling Stones. The couple had been married for seven years, and Bianca, who was formally Bianca Perez Morena de Macias, was the daughter of a Nicaraguan diplomat. Mick was pleased as it meant he had more time and space to preen in the bathroom mirror.
1981 - Former Sex Pistol John Lydon's band Public Image Ltd performed a show at New York's Ritz Club posing behind a video screen while the music was played from tapes. They were showered with missiles and eventually booed off stage.
1982 - Asia went to No.1 on the US album chart with their self-titled album. It spent a total of nine weeks at No.1 and became the best-selling album in the US for the year 1982. The supergroup included former members of several veteran progressive rock bands, namely bassist/vocalist John Wetton (formerly in Mogul Thrash, Family, King Crimson, Roxy Music, Uriah Heep, U.K. and Wishbone Ash), guitarist Steve Howe (formerly in Yes), keyboardist Geoff Downes (of Yes and The Buggles) and drummer Carl Palmer (formerly in The Crazy World of Arthur Brown, Atomic Rooster and Emerson, Lake & Palmer).
1982 - Stevie Wonder and Paul McCartney started a seven week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Ebony And Ivory'. The song gave McCartney his 24th US No.1 as a songwriter. The title was inspired by McCartney hearing Spike Milligan say "black notes, white notes, and you need to play the two to make harmony folks!". It was later named as the tenth worst song of all time by Blender magazine and in 2007 was named the worst duet in history by BBC 6 Music listeners.
1991 - Manic Street Preacher Richey Edwards carved '4 real' into his arm with a razor blade while being interviewed by music paper the New Musical Express (NME).
1994 - Blur scored their first UK No.1 album with ‘Parklife’, which went on to spend over two years on the chart. The album featured four UK hit singles: 'Girls & Boys', 'End of a Century', 'Parklife' and 'To the End'. In the year following its release the album came to define the emerging Britpop scene. The album cover for Parklife was among the ten chosen by the Royal Mail for a set of "Classic Album Cover" postage stamps issued in January 2010.
1997 - Courtney Love sold the Seattle mansion she shared with Kurt Cobain. A local family purchased the house in the salubrious Denny Blaine area for $3m.
1997 - Oasis became the first artists to attempt to exert censorship over the Internet. The group was working with Sony to put a end to unofficial websites carrying lyrics, soundfiles and photographs.
2000 - It was reported that Britney Spears had been crowned the queen of America's fastest growing youth movement, the teenage celibates. Spears had told a German magazine that she intended to abstain from sex until her wedding night. That would prove to be a mountain to hard to climb as she went on to become a drunk, drugged, head shaven, divorced mother of 2 with a history of bad driving incidents within the next 8 years.
2002 - Jay Kay claimed he was assaulted at the premiere of Star Wars, Episode II: Attack of the Clones in London. The singer suffered facial injuries after an incident with a photographer after the star-studded event.
2003 - Died this day, June Carter Cash, country singer, wife of Johnny Cash, aged 73. Had hits with Johnny Cash, Ring Of Fire, Jackson, If I Were A Carpenter.
2008 - Neil Diamond reached the top of the US Billboard album chart for the first time in his career with ‘Home Before Dark’ the 67-year-old's 29th studio album. His previous highest chart position was in 1973 when the soundtrack to the film Jonathan Livingston Seagull peaked at No.2. At the age of 67, Diamond became the oldest artist to have a US number one, the record was previously held by Bob Dylan in 2006 with ‘Modern Times’ released when he was 65.
2013 – “Mirrors” by Justin Timberlake is the most played song on NZ radio over the past week.