TODAY IN HISTORY – November 18th
1950 - Born on this day, Graham Parker, singer, The Rumour, (1978 UK No.32 single 'Hey Lord Don't Ask Me Questions')
1954 – Born this day, John Parr. Best known for 1985 hit single “St Elmo’s Fire”.
1956 - Fats Domino appeared on the US TV Ed Sullivan Show performing 'Blueberry Hill.' Before the song became a rock and roll standard it had been recorded by various artists including Louis Armstrong, The Glenn Miller Orchestra, Gene Autry and Jimmy Dorsey. The version by Fats Domino was ranked No.82 in Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
1960 – Born this day, Kim Wilde. Best known for 1981 hit song “Kids in America”.
1962 - Born on this day, Kirk Hammett, guitar, Metallica, (1991 UK No.5 single 'Enter Sandman', 1991 US & UK No.1 album 'Metallica').
1963 - The Beatles received silver LP discs for 'Please Please Me' and 'With the Beatles' at a ceremony held at EMI House in London. They also received a silver EP for 'Twist and Shout' and a silver single for 'She Loves You'. The band then attend a cocktail party and a formal lunch in the EMI boardroom with company executives and invited guests.
1967 – The first edition of Rolling Stone Magazine was launched by editor and publisher Jann Wenner.
1972 - Cat Stevens started a three-week run at No.1 on the US album chart with 'Catch Bull At Four'. The title was taken from one of the Ten Bulls of Zen a series of short poems and accompanying pictures that are intended to illustrate the stages of a Buddhist practitioner's progression towards enlightenment.
1972 - Singer, songwriter Danny Whitten died of a drug overdose aged 29. He was a member of Neil Young's Crazy Horse and writer of 'I Don't Wanna Talk About It', covered by Rod Stewart, Rita Coolidge and Everything But The Girl. The Neil Young song ‘The Needle and the Damage Done’ was written about Whitten’s heroin use (before he died of an overdose).
1974 - Genesis released the double concept album 'The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway' , their sixth studio album and the last album by the group to feature the involvement of lead singer Peter Gabriel.
1976 - Richard Hell and the Voidoids made their debut at CBGB's New York. Hell was an innovator of punk music and fashion and was one of the first to spike his hair and wear torn, cut and drawn-on shirts, often held together with safety pins. Malcolm McLaren, manager of the Sex Pistols, has credited Hell as a source of inspiration for the Sex Pistols' look and attitude.
1978 - Billy Joel went to No.1 on the US album chart with his sixth studio album, '52nd Street'. His first US No.1 album was also the first commercial album to be released on compact disc (by Sony Music Entertainment) and won Joel the 1979 Grammy for Album of the Year.
1988 – Bon Jovi started a 2 week run at number 1 on the US singles chart with the single “Bad Medicine”.
1989 - Songwriter Diane Warren had the No.1 and No.2 singles on the US chart with ‘When I See You Smile’ by Bad English followed by ‘Blame It On the Rain,’ by Milli Vanilli.
1993 - Nirvana recorded their MTV unplugged special at Sony Studios, New York. Nirvana played a setlist composed of mainly lesser-known material and cover versions of songs by The Vaselines, David Bowie, Meat Puppets and Lead Belly. The album won the Grammy for Best Alternative Music Album in 1996.
1993 - Pearl Jam singer Eddie Vedder was arrested in New Orleans for disturbing the peace after a fight broke out in a bar.
1994 – The first live rock concert was streamed on the Internet (20 minutes of a Rolling Stones concert)
2003 - More than five hundred Britney Spears fans camped overnight outside the Virgin Records Megastore in New York's Times Square waiting to get the star to sign copies of her new album 'In The Zone.'
2003 - Following allegations of sexual abuse of a 12-year old boy, police raided Michael Jackson's Neverland ranch. Jackson denied the allegations, the search came on the day that his latest greatest hits album, 'Number Ones' was released in the US.
2003 - American composer and orchestral arranger Michael Kamen died of a heart attack in London aged 55. Worked with Pink Floyd, Queen, Eric Clapton, Roger Daltrey, Aerosmith, Tom Petty, David Bowie, Eurythmics, Queensryche, Rush, Metallica, Herbie Hancock, The Cranberries, Bryan Adams, Jim Croce, Sting, and Kate Bush. Kamen co-wrote the Bryan Adams' ballad ‘(Everything I Do), I Do It for You.’
1950 - Born on this day, Graham Parker, singer, The Rumour, (1978 UK No.32 single 'Hey Lord Don't Ask Me Questions')
1954 – Born this day, John Parr. Best known for 1985 hit single “St Elmo’s Fire”.
1956 - Fats Domino appeared on the US TV Ed Sullivan Show performing 'Blueberry Hill.' Before the song became a rock and roll standard it had been recorded by various artists including Louis Armstrong, The Glenn Miller Orchestra, Gene Autry and Jimmy Dorsey. The version by Fats Domino was ranked No.82 in Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
1960 – Born this day, Kim Wilde. Best known for 1981 hit song “Kids in America”.
1962 - Born on this day, Kirk Hammett, guitar, Metallica, (1991 UK No.5 single 'Enter Sandman', 1991 US & UK No.1 album 'Metallica').
1963 - The Beatles received silver LP discs for 'Please Please Me' and 'With the Beatles' at a ceremony held at EMI House in London. They also received a silver EP for 'Twist and Shout' and a silver single for 'She Loves You'. The band then attend a cocktail party and a formal lunch in the EMI boardroom with company executives and invited guests.
1967 – The first edition of Rolling Stone Magazine was launched by editor and publisher Jann Wenner.
1972 - Cat Stevens started a three-week run at No.1 on the US album chart with 'Catch Bull At Four'. The title was taken from one of the Ten Bulls of Zen a series of short poems and accompanying pictures that are intended to illustrate the stages of a Buddhist practitioner's progression towards enlightenment.
1972 - Singer, songwriter Danny Whitten died of a drug overdose aged 29. He was a member of Neil Young's Crazy Horse and writer of 'I Don't Wanna Talk About It', covered by Rod Stewart, Rita Coolidge and Everything But The Girl. The Neil Young song ‘The Needle and the Damage Done’ was written about Whitten’s heroin use (before he died of an overdose).
1974 - Genesis released the double concept album 'The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway' , their sixth studio album and the last album by the group to feature the involvement of lead singer Peter Gabriel.
1976 - Richard Hell and the Voidoids made their debut at CBGB's New York. Hell was an innovator of punk music and fashion and was one of the first to spike his hair and wear torn, cut and drawn-on shirts, often held together with safety pins. Malcolm McLaren, manager of the Sex Pistols, has credited Hell as a source of inspiration for the Sex Pistols' look and attitude.
1978 - Billy Joel went to No.1 on the US album chart with his sixth studio album, '52nd Street'. His first US No.1 album was also the first commercial album to be released on compact disc (by Sony Music Entertainment) and won Joel the 1979 Grammy for Album of the Year.
1988 – Bon Jovi started a 2 week run at number 1 on the US singles chart with the single “Bad Medicine”.
1989 - Songwriter Diane Warren had the No.1 and No.2 singles on the US chart with ‘When I See You Smile’ by Bad English followed by ‘Blame It On the Rain,’ by Milli Vanilli.
1993 - Nirvana recorded their MTV unplugged special at Sony Studios, New York. Nirvana played a setlist composed of mainly lesser-known material and cover versions of songs by The Vaselines, David Bowie, Meat Puppets and Lead Belly. The album won the Grammy for Best Alternative Music Album in 1996.
1993 - Pearl Jam singer Eddie Vedder was arrested in New Orleans for disturbing the peace after a fight broke out in a bar.
1994 – The first live rock concert was streamed on the Internet (20 minutes of a Rolling Stones concert)
2003 - More than five hundred Britney Spears fans camped overnight outside the Virgin Records Megastore in New York's Times Square waiting to get the star to sign copies of her new album 'In The Zone.'
2003 - Following allegations of sexual abuse of a 12-year old boy, police raided Michael Jackson's Neverland ranch. Jackson denied the allegations, the search came on the day that his latest greatest hits album, 'Number Ones' was released in the US.
2003 - American composer and orchestral arranger Michael Kamen died of a heart attack in London aged 55. Worked with Pink Floyd, Queen, Eric Clapton, Roger Daltrey, Aerosmith, Tom Petty, David Bowie, Eurythmics, Queensryche, Rush, Metallica, Herbie Hancock, The Cranberries, Bryan Adams, Jim Croce, Sting, and Kate Bush. Kamen co-wrote the Bryan Adams' ballad ‘(Everything I Do), I Do It for You.’