1960 : Elvis Presley started his first recordings since being discharged from the US Army. A 12 hour session in a Nashville recording studio produced his next No.1 single, ‘Stuck On You’. Scotty Moore and Bill Black, who had quit Presley’s touring band in 1957, were in the studio with him for the last time.

1961 : Elvis Presley started a two week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘Surrender’, his fifth No.1 of the 60’s. It also made No.1 in the UK. The song was based on the 1911 Italian song, ‘Return To Sorrento.’

1961 : Elvis Presley begins filming his ninth movie, Blue Hawaii, on location.

1964 : The Beatles appear for the first time on the British TV show Ready Steady Go!, where they lip-synch Can’t Buy Me Love, It Won’t Be Long and You Can’t Do That. The show gets its highest-ever ratings for this episode. They were also presented with a special award from US magazine Billboard, in recognition of The Beatles having the top three singles on the chart.

1965 : The first Motown package tour begins in the UK with a show in north London. On the bill are The Supremes, The Temptations, Stevie Wonder, Smokey Robinson & The Miracles, and Martha and the Vandellas.

1967 : The Beatles’ Penny Lane b/w Strawberry Fields Forever is certified gold.

1968 : In Los Angeles, Eric Clapton and three members of Buffalo Springfield — Neil Young, Jim Messina, and Richie Furay — are arrested for suspicion of marijuana use. The band members are eventually found guilty and fined, while Clapton beats the charges.

1969 : John Lennon married Yoko Ono in Gibraltar. They spent their honeymoon in Amsterdam campaigning for an international “Bed-In” for peace. They planned another “Bed-in” in the United States, but were denied entry. The couple then went to Montreal, and during a “Bed-in” at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel recorded ‘Give Peace a Chance’. Lennon also detailed this period in The Beatles ‘The Ballad of John and Yoko’, recorded by Lennon and McCartney on April 14.

1970 : Elton John’s “Border Song” is released, but fails to chart. Nearly a year later, “Your Song,” becomes his first hit.

1970 : David Bowie and Angela Bowie were married at Beckenham Registry Office, London. They were divorced in 1980.

1971 : At their own expense The Rolling Stones placed full page advertisements in all the UK’s music papers disclaiming any connection with the release of the Decca album ‘Stone Age’ saying ‘in our opinion the content is below the standard we try to keep.’

1971 : Janis Joplin started a two week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with her version of the Kris Kristofferson and Fred Foster song “Me And Bobby McGee.” Joplin, who was a lover and a friend of Kristofferson’s from the beginning of her career to her death, changed the sex and a few of the lyrics in her cover. Kristofferson states he did not write this song for her, but the song is associated with her – especially, he has said, in the line “Somewhere near Salinas, Lord, I let her slip away.” Joplin died of a drug overdose the year before on 4th October aged 27.

1972 : No. 1 Billboard Pop Hit: America’s A Horse With No Name

1973 : Slade were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘Com On Feel The Noize’, the group’s fourth UK No.1.

1976 : Alice Cooper gets married for the first (and only) time. His bride is Sheryl Goddard, a 19-year-old dance instructor who had performed on his Welcome To My Nightmare tour.

1976 : Status Quo started a three-week run at No.1 on the UK chart with their third No.1 album ‘Blue For You’. The bands record label set up a deal with Levi Jeans, advertising in over 6,000 clothes shops to help promote the album.

1977 : Lou Reed was banned from appearing The London Palladium in England because of his punk image.

1977 : T Rex played their final ever gig when they appeared at The Locarno in Portsmouth, England.

1980 : At Asylum Records in New York, 28-year-old Joseph Riviera holds employees at gunpoint, demanding to talk to either Jackson Browne or one of the Eagles. When informed that they lived in California, Riviera pockets his pistol and leaves the building, later surrendering to police.

1982 : Joan Jett And The Blackhearts started a seven week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll’, a No.4 hit in the UK. The song had been a B-side from 60’s bands The Arrows.

1984 : Slim Jim Phantom of The Stray Cats marries actress Britt Ekland.

1989 : After 37 years on the air, Dick Clark announces he will discontinue hosting his creation, ABC-TV’s highly influential American Bandstand. The show continues with another host, but folds for good soon after.

1991 : Eric Clapton’s four year old son, Connor, fell to his death from the 53rd story of a New York City apartment after a housekeeper who was cleaning the room left a window open. The boy was in the custody of his mother, Italian actress, Lori Del Santo and the pair were visiting a friend’s apartment. Clapton was staying in a nearby hotel after taking his son to the circus the previous evening. The tragedy inspired his song ‘Tears in Heaven’.

1991 : Michael Jackson signed the richest deal in recording history with Sony which could earn him up to $1 billion.

2003 : On the day the Iraq war begins, Bruce Springsteen opens his Melbourne, Australia show with a quiet, acoustic version of his hit Born In The U.S.A. and follows it, pointedly, with a cover of Edwin Starr’s War.

2008 : The Eagles launch their world tour in support of their album, Long Road Out of Eden.

2008 : Rolling Stone magazine endorses Barack Obama by putting him on the first of three 2008 covers.