1964 : The Beatles played the first of two nights at Auckland Town Hall, New Zealand.

1965 : John Lennon’s second book of poetry and drawings, ‘A Spaniard In The Works’, was published. The book consisted of nonsensical stories and drawings similar to the style of his 1964 book ‘In His Own Write’.

1965 : The Hollies were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘I’m Alive’, the group’s first of two UK No.1’s and over 25 other Top 40 singles.

1966 : The Rolling Stones kicked off their fifth North American tour at the Manning Bowl, Lynn, Massachusetts, support acts; The McCoys and The Standells.

1966 : The final Beatles world tour begins in Munich. Moving forward, they concentrate on studio efforts, resulting in the landmark album Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.

1966 : The Richard Carpenter Trio (with sister Karen on drums) wins a “Battle Of The Bands” at the Hollywood Bowl.

1967 : Procol Harum’s “A Whiter Shade Of Pale” enters the U.S. singles chart.

1967 : The Monkees went to No.1 on the US album charts with ‘Headquarters’ the group’s third chart topper.

1969 : The UK Top 5 singles this week: No.5, ‘Living In The Past’, Jethro Tull, No.4, ‘Time Is Tight’, Booker T and the MG’s, No.3, ‘Dizzy’, Tommy Roe. No.2, ‘Oh Happy Day’, Edwin Hawkins Singers and at No.1, ‘The Ballad Of John And Yoko’ by The Beatles.

1971 : Robert Altman’s McCabe & Mrs. Miller is released to theaters. Altman loves Leonard Cohen’s work, and the soundtrack for this “anti-western” leans heavily on three songs from Songs of Leonard Cohen. On the merits of his film Brewster McCloud, which Cohen had seen and loved, Altman sold Cohen on the project and even convinced the “prince of pessimism” to create some new music for the film.

1973 : Blues Project reunite for a concert in Central Park

1977 : The Jacksons were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘Show You The Way To Go.’ The Jacksons were four members of the Jackson Five, including Michael.

1978 : Genesis, Jefferson Starship, Jeff Beck, Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers, Devo, Brand X and The Atlanta Rhythm Section all appeared at Knebworth Park, England, tickets cost $10.

1988 : UB40 bass player Earl Falconer was sent to prison for six months, with a further 12 suspended, after admitting to causing his brothers death in a car accident.

1989 : Paul McCartney scored his seventh UK No.1 solo album with ‘Flowers In The Dirt’, featuring the single ‘My Brave Face’.

1990 : New Kids On The Block’s Donnie Wahlberg spent two days in hospital after falling through an unlocked trapdoor mid-concert in Saratoga Springs, New York.

1991 : Frank Zappa took part at the concert ‘Adieu Soviet Army’, organised in Prague, as the farewell to the last soldiers of Soviet Red Army, leaving free Czechoslovakia (the Red Army had occupied Czechoslovakia since the Prague spring). This was probably Zappa’s last rock appearance on the stage and it is recorded on the album Adieu C. A. (Soviet Army).

1992 : Billy Joel graduates! He finally gets his high school diploma from Hicksville High School in Long Island, New York. He didn’t graduate with his class in 1967 because of missed gym and English credits.

1999 : Eric Clapton put 100 of his guitars up for auction at Christie’s in New York City to raise money for his drug rehab clinic, the Crossroads Centre in Antigua. His 1956 Fender Stratocaster named Brownie, which was used to record the electric version of ‘Layla’, sold for a record $497,500. The auction helped raise nearly $5 million for the clinic.

2000 : Kiss auction off $888,000 worth of costumes, instruments and tour memorabilia, including Gene Simmons’ Psycho Circus tourwear (including codpiece), which goes for $32,200.

2003 : A man who had been deported from Sweden for stalking Abba singer Agnetha Faeltskog was arrested near the singer’s island retreat. Gert van der Graaf, 37, had been the singer’s boyfriend from 1997 to 1999, but had been issued a restraining order barring him from seeing or talking to her in 2000.

2004 : A Fender Stratocaster that Eric Clapton nicknamed ‘Blackie’ sold at a Christie’s auction for $959,500 in New York, making it the most expensive guitar in the world. The proceeds of the sale went towards Clapton’s Crossroads addiction clinic, which he founded in 1998.

2004 : Doris Day receives the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

2005 : The Thrills, The Zutons, Doves, The Killers, White Stripes, Kaiser Chiefs, Ash, The Coral, Keane, New Order, Coldplay, James Blunt, Brian Wilson, Garbage, Primal Scream and Basement Jaxx all appeared at this years UK Glastonbury Festival.

2007 : The White Stripes went to No.1 on the UK album chart with ‘Icky Thump’ the duo’s sixth and final studio album. ‘Icky Thump’ won a Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album in 2008.

2007 : Shirley Bassey’s helicopter makes an emergency landing in Surrey, England (she is unhurt).

2008 : A blogger who had thought it would be a good idea to leak some finished tracks from Guns N’ Roses’ “Chinese Democracy” receives a visit from the FBI and a cease-and-desist letter.

2012 : The crypt in which Elvis Presley was first buried was withdrawn from a Los Angeles auction after protests it should be kept as a shrine. More than 10,000 fans signed a petition against the sale of the tomb at Forest Hill Cemetery in Memphis, Tennessee. Julien’s Auctions said it would not sell the crypt until the cemetery “finds a plan that best suits the interests of the fans while respecting and preserving the memory of Elvis”.