1955, Elvis Presley signed a management contract with Colonel Tom Parker. Parker had previously managed the 'Great Parker Pony Circus' with one of the acts being a troupe of dancing chickens. |
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1955, Ray Charles peaked at No.2 on the US R&B charts with the Atlantic single 'I Got A Woman', widely considered the first song to be labelled "soul" - a blending of R&B and gospel. |
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1964, The Rolling Stones kicked off a 58-date UK tour at the Invicta Ballroom in Chatham, Kent. Half the dates saw the Stones playing two shows in one evening. |
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1967, The first session recording George Harrison's new song ‘Within You Without You’ took place at Abbey Road studios, London. George was the only Beatle to perform on this song, which was still called 'Untitled'. Harrison played the swordmandel and tamboura, Natver Soni played tabla, Amrat Gajjar played dilruba, PD Joshi played swordmandel, and an undocumented musician played a droning tamboura.
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1969, Cream started a two-week run at No.1 on the UK chart with their fourth and final original album 'Goodbye.' The single, 'Badge', (which was written by Eric Clapton and George Harrison), was subsequently released from the album a month later.
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1969, Tommy Roe started a four week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Dizzy', also No.1 in the UK. In 1991 Vic Reeves and the Wonder Stuff took the song to No.1 on the UK chart. |
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1969, Janis Joplin was featured on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine, on sale for 35 Cents, (2/6). |
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1969, Tyrannosaurus Rex singer Marc Bolan's first book of poetry 'The Warlock Of Love' was published, priced at 12s/6d. |
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1969, During a Scandinavian tour Led Zeppelin played two shows in one day. The first was at Teens Club Box 45, Gladsaxe, Denmark and the second at the Brondby Pop Club in Norregard, Denmark. Also on the bill for the second show was The Keef Hartley Band, Ham and Swedish band Made In Sweden. |
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1972, DJ Robert W. Morgan played the Donny Osmond version of 'Puppy Love' for 90 minutes on the radio station KHJ in Los Angeles. LAPD mistakenly raided the station studios after receiving numerous calls from listeners, confused, the officers left without making any arrests. |
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1973, Roberta Flack was at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Killing Me Softly With His Song' and Elton John had the No.1 album with 'Don't Shoot Me I'm Only The Piano Player'.
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1975, Led Zeppelin went to No.1 on the UK chart with the double album 'Physical Graffiti', the first on their own 'Swan Song' label, the album spent six weeks at No.1 on the US chart.
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1975, Olivia Newton-John went to No.1 on the US album chart with 'Have You Ever Been Mellow', the singers second US No.1. |
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1975, The Doobie Brothers went to No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Black Water', the group's first of two US No.1's. |
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1977, Pink Floyd played the first of six sold-out nights at Empire Pool, Wembley, London, England. |
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1980, One hit wonder Fern Kinney was at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Together We Are Beautiful.' |
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1982, Bob Dylan was inducted into the Songwriter's Hall of Fame at the 13th annual dinner held at the Hilton Hotel in New York City. After the ceremony Dylan gave a short interview to Jane Hansen, which was broadcast by NBC, TV in New York City. |
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1986, Starship went to No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Sara', it reached No.66 in the UK. |
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1986, The Bangles were at No.2 on the UK singles chart with 'Manic Monday', a song written by Prince under the pseudonym Christopher, it also made No.2 in the US, held of No.1 by Prince with 'Kiss'.
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1988, Mick Jagger opened his first ever solo tour, his first ever performances in Japan and his first full concerts since 1982, with three shows at Osaka's Castle Hall in Osaka, Japan. The show is mostly made up of Rolling Stones songs, including songs not performed for a long time, including Bitch, Gimmie Shelter, Ruby Tuesday and Sympathy For The Devil as well as The Jimi Hendrix song Foxy Lady. |
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1989, The Rolling Stones signed a $70 million (£40 million) contract to play 50 North American dates. It was the largest contract in rock history.
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1997, The Spice Girls went to No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Mama', making them the first act ever to have their first 4 singles reach No.1 on the UK chart. |
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1998, Madonna scored her sixth UK No.1 album with 'Ray Of Light', no other female artist had achieved more than three UK No.1 albums.
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1999, Bruce Springsteen was inducted into the Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame by U2's Bono. |
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2000, Mick Jagger was ordered to increase his child support payments to Brazilian model Luciana Morad from $5,500 (£3,235) a month to $10,000 (£5,888). Mick was asked to confirm that he was the father of her child by the court, while Ms Morad was seeking a $10 million (£3.8 million) settlement. Morad told the court her monthly expenses: $3,500 (£2,065) for a nanny; $2,500, £3,000 for food and $3,350 (£1,970) to rent her place on New York's Upper West Side.
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2000, Sir Paul McCartney confirmed that him and former model Heather Mills had become 'an item'. The couple had met after working on the same charity project.
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2002, Yoko Ono unveiled a seven foot bronze statue of John Lennon overlooking the check- in hall of Liverpool John Lennon airport. The re-branding of the airport featured a sketch of Lennon's face with the words 'Above Us Only Skies.'
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2004, Former Crazy Town guitarist Rust Epique died of heart failure from an apparent heart attack at his home in Las Vegas. Epique was 35. Crazy Town had the 1999 world-wide No.1 single 'Butterfly'. |
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2004, George Harrison, Prince, Bob Seger, The Dells, Traffic and ZZ Top were all inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in New York City.
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2005, Former Stone Roses singer Ian Brown was arrested after a fight during a concert in San Francisco after a fan jumped on stage and attacked the singer, who then became involved in a fracas with a security guard. Brown was arrested at his hotel after the show at the Great American Music Hall but released without charge. |
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2008, Six people were charged with conspiracy to defraud the Isle of Wight Festival by trying to sell fake tickets and wristbands. A police investigation was launched after alleged counterfeit tickets were discovered at last year's event, which was headlined by the Rolling Stones. |
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2009, Jenkins and West, Tom Jones and Robin Gibb went to No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Islands In The Stream', the Comic Relief single for 2009, (Jenkins and West were, actors Ruth Jones and Rob Brydon). The Bee Gees song had been a hit for Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton in 1983. |
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2010, Sony Music announced the biggest recording deal in history with the estate of Michael Jackson worth more than $200m (£133m). The deal involved 10 album projects over seven year's including one of previously unreleased material. Sony had sold about 31 million copies of Jackson's albums worldwide since his death on 25 June, 2009. |
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2010, PRS for Music announced that the royalties that UK songwriters received from online sales were growing faster than the decline from CDs and DVDs. It said UK online revenues for its members rose by 73% to £30.4m in 2009, at the same time, UK revenues from CD or DVD sales were down £8.7m. |
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2011, Disney Studios scrapped plans for a 3D remake of The Beatles' 1968 film Yellow Submarine. The new film which was being developed by Forrest Gump Oscar-winning director Robert Zemeckis was going to incorporate the 16 Beatles songs and recordings from the original animated film. Budget issues and a cancelled meeting with surviving Beatles' members were cited as reasons for the film's demise. |
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March 15th: Born on this day |
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1912, Born on this day, blues guitarist and singer Sam 'Lightnin' Hopkins. He died 30th January 1982 aged 70. Major influence on Bob Dylan and Jimi Hendrix.
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1922, Born on this day, Eddie Calvert, British solo trumpeter. (1953 UK No.1 'Oh, Mein Papa' and 1955 UK No.1 with 'Cherry Pink & Apple Blossom White'). |
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1931, Born on this day, James Mitchell, tenor saxophone, The Memphis Horns. Worked with Al Green, Aretha Franklin, Sam And Dave, Elvis Presley, The Doobie Brothers, Otis Redding. Mitchell died on December 18th 2000. |
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1932, Born on this day, Arif Mardin, Producer and arranger. Worked with Aretha Franklin, Bette Midler, Roberta Flack, Wilson Pickett, Average White Band, The Bee Gees, Barbra Streisand and more recently Norah Jones. Mardin died on June 25th 2006. |
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1940, Born on this day, Phil Lesh, bass, The Grateful Dead, who released over 30 albums including the 1970 UK No.69 and US No.127 album, 'Workingman's Dead'). |
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1941, Born on this day, Mike Love, vocals, The Beach Boys, (1966 UK & US No.1 single 'Good Vibrations', plus over 25 other US & UK Top 40 singles. 1966 classic album 'Pet Sounds').
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1942, Born on this day, Hughie Flint, Blues Band, McGuinness Flint, (1970 UK No.2 'When I'm Dead And Gone'). |
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1944, Born on this day, Sly Stone, vocals, guitar, keyboards, Sly and the Family Stone, (1968 UK No.7 & US No.8 single 'Dance To The Music', 1969 US No.1 single 'Everyday People'). |
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1944, Born on this day, David Costell, Gary Lewis and the Playboys, (1965 US No.1 single 'This Diamond Ring' plus 11 other US Top 40 hits). |
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1946, Born on this day, Howard Scott, War, (1973 US No.2 single 'Cisco Kid', 1976 UK No.12 single 'Low Rider'). |
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1947, Born on this day, Ry Cooder, guitarist, member of Captain Beefheart's Magic Band, worked with Gordon Lightfoot, The Rolling Stones, Eric Clapton, Randy Newman, John Lee Hooker. Solo, 1979 album 'Bop Till You Drop', and 1985 film soundtrack album 'Paris Texas'.
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1947, Born on this day, Hernandez Lugo, ? & The Mysterians, (1966 US No. 1 & UK No.37 single 96 Tears). The song was a UK No.17 hit for The Stranglers in 1990. |
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1948, Born on this day, Stephen Nisbett, drums, Steel Pulse, (1978 UK No.35 single 'Prodigal Son'). |
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1955, Born on this day, Dee Snider, Twisted Sister, (1983 UK No.18 single 'I Am, I'm Me', 1984 album 'Stay Hungry'). |
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1962, Born on this day, Steve Coy, Dead Or Alive, (1985 UK No.1 single 'You Spin Me Round, Like A Record'). |
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1962, Born on this day, Terence Trent D'arby, (1988 UK No.2 single 'Sign Your Name' plus 8 other UK Top 40 hits. 1988 US No.1 single 'Wishing Well'). |
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1963, Born on this day, Bret Michaels, Poison, (1988 1989 UK No.13 & US No.1 single 'Every Rose Has Its Thorn'). |
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1964, Born on this day, Rockwell, (Kennedy Gordy), 1984 US No 2 & UK No.6 single, 'Somebody's Watching Me'. Rockwell is the son of Motown records boss Berry Gordy. |
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1968, Born on this day, Mark McGrath, Sugar Ray, (1999 UK No. 10 single 'Every Morning'). Also a TV host on US Show tabloid Extra. |
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1972, Born on this day, Mark Hoppus, American musician, record producer, and television host, and bassist and singer with Blink 182, who had the 2000 UK No.2 single 'All The Small Things' and the 2001 US No.1 album 'Take Off Your...'.
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1975, Born on this day, Will.i.am, Black Eyed Peas, (2003 US & UK No.1 single 'Where Is The Love').
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1977, Born on this day, Joe Bourdon, DJ, Linkin Park, (2002 US No.2 & UK No.4 single 'In The End', 2002 US No.2 & 2001 UK No.4 album 'Hybrid Theory'). |