1953 : Percy Faith’s “Song From Moulin Rouge (Where Is Your Heart)” hits #1

1959 : No. 1 Billboard Pop Hit: Wilbert Harrison’s Kansas City

1960 : Billboard magazine reports that Detroit music mogul Berry Gordy is thinking of starting three new record labels, including one called Motown.

1962 : B Bumble and the Stingers were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘Nut Rocker.’ The instrumental was based on Tchaikovsky’s ‘Nutcracker Suite.’

1963 : The Beatles appeared live on the national BBC TV children’s program ‘Pops and Lenny’, at Television Theatre, Shepherd’s Bush Green, London, in front of an live audience. The Beatles performed ‘From Me to You’ and a shortened version of ‘Please Please Me.’

1963 : At this year’s Grammy Awards ceremonies in Los Angeles, Tony Bennett’s I Left My Heart in San Francisco wins Record Of The Year and Best Male Vocal, while Ray Charles’ I Can’t Stop Loving You is awarded Best R&B Recording. For some reason, Best Rock and Roll Record goes to the Bent Fabric instrumental Alley Cat.

1964 : Mary Wells started a two week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘My Guy’. Written and produced by Smokey Robinson and The Miracles, it made No.5 in the UK.

1965 : The Rolling Stones’ limo is attacked by female fans on the way back to their hotel after a show in Long Beach, CA, standing on the roof in such numbers that it caves in. While the band holds the roof up with their hands, the chauffeur speeds away, leaving fans to fall on the road.

1966 : The Beach Boys released the album Pet Sounds in the US. The album is now regarded as the masterpiece of composer-producer Brian Wilson. To confirm this, Pet Sounds has been widely ranked as one of the most influential records ever released and has been ranked at No.1 in several music magazines lists of greatest albums of all time, including New Musical Express, The Times and Mojo Magazine. In 2003, it was ranked No.2 in Rolling Stones 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list, (Sgt. Pepper’s came first).

1966 : Dylan’s iconic Blonde On Blonde album was released, reaching No.9 in the US charts and No.3 in the UK. Rock’s first double album, and Dylan’s seventh studio effort, it was recorded with Al Kooper, Robbie Robertson and Nashville country music session players, and had what Dylan later called ‘that wild mercury sound’.

1966 : Bruce Springsteen’s band The Castiles buys an hour of studio time at the Bricktown Recording Studio in the Brick Mall Shopping Center in New Jersey. They pay $50 to cut two songs written by the 16-year-old Springsteen.

1966 : Recorded on this day, The Beatles – “Taxman”, “For No One”

1966 : Recorded on this day, Frank Sinatra – “Summer Wind”

1967 : Jeff Beck appeared at the Corn Exchange in Bristol, Manfred Mann played at the Industrial Ballroom in Norwich and appearing on the ITV show ‘As You Like It’; Lulu, Cat Stevens, Herd, Georgie Fame and the Tremeloes.

1968 : Recorded on this day, Tony Joe White – “Polk Salad Annie”

1969 : Jack Casady, bassist for the Jefferson Airplane, is arrested in New Orleans for possession of marijuana and given a suspended sentence of two-and-a-half years.

1969 : Pete Townshend spent the night in a US jail for assaulting a man during a Who gig at The Fillmore East. What Townshend didn’t know was the man who jumped onto the stage was a plainclothes policeman trying to warn the audience that a fire had broken out. The Who guitarist was later fined $30 for the offence.

1970 : Marty Balin of Jefferson Airplane is arrested on charges of drug possession in his Bloomington, Minnesotta hotel room after police find him smoking pot. His eventual punishment in a $100 fine.

1970 : Randy Bachman leaves The Guess Who to produce an album for Winnipeg band Brave Belt, which he eventually joins. At the suggestion of Neil Young, Bachman recruits fellow Winnipeg bassist and vocalist Fred Turner, and the band Bachman-Turner Overdrive is born.

1970 : Crosby Stills Nash & Young went to No.1 on the US album chart with ‘Deja Vu’. The album featured three Top 40 singles: ‘Teach Your Children,’ ‘Our House,’ and ‘Woodstock.’ In 2003, the album was ranked number 148 on Rolling Stone magazine’s list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.

1974, Brian May collapsed in New York while Queen were on a US tour and was flown back to England suffering from hepatitis.

1974 : Neil Young made an unannounced appearance at The Bottom Line in New York and played songs from his new album ‘On The Beach.’

1975 : Tonight’s episode of NBC-TV’s The Midnight Special is a retro tribute hosted by Chubby Checker and featuring musical performances by Bo Diddley, The Drifters, Lesley Gore, The Angels, The Tymes, and Danny and the Juniors.

1976 : No. 1 Billboard Pop Hit: Paul McCartney and Wings’ Silly Love Songs

1976 : Patti Smith made her UK debut at The Roundhouse, London. The American singer-songwriter, poet and visual artist, became a highly influential component of the New York City punk rock movement with her 1975 debut album Horses.

1976 : Mayor James H. McGee declares today “Ohio Players Day” in the band’s hometown of Dayton, OH.

1977 : The London Evening Standard reported that Led Zeppelin singer Robert Plant had been arrested at Atlanta Airport for being drunk and pulling a knife. Since Plant was at his home in Wales at the time of the incident, the person arrested was a man impersonating Plant and the British paper ran an apology the following night.

1980 : Brian May of Queen collapses onstage during a concert in and is rushed to the hospital, where he is diagnosed (for the second time) with hepatitis.

1980 : Elvis Presley’s doctor, George Nichopoulous, is brought before the Memphis medical board and officially charged with 14 counts of abusing his right to prescribe medication. Though he will be acquitted in November, his case will be reopened twelve years later, when his license will be revoked.

1980 : The Carpenters’ last TV special, Music, Music, Music, airs on ABC.

1981 : Former New Christy Minstrels member (with Kenny Rogers), Kim Carnes started a nine week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘Bette Davis Eyes’, the singers only US No.1 and a No.10 hit in the UK.

1983 : Michael Jackson introduces the “moonwalk” at the taping of the Motown 25th Anniversary TV special (don’t ask why the 25th anniversary was only 23 years after Motown formed).

1984 : Ozzy Osbourne was arrested in Memphis, Tennessee for ‘staggering drunk’ down Beale Street.

1986 : Johnny Paycheck is convicted of shooting a man in a misunderstanding occurring at a bar in Hillsboro, OH. The fan was only grazed by the bullet, and Paycheck is pardoned after 22 months in prison.

1986 : Caitlin O’Riordan of The Pogues marries Elvis Costello in Dublin, Ireland.

1987 : David Crosby marries his longtime girlfriend Jan Dance in Los Angeles, with bandmate Stephen Stills giving away the bride and Graham Nash renewing his vows with wife Susan.

1987 : U2 started a three week run at No.1 on the US singles chart ‘With Or Without You’, the group’s first US No.1. The third track from their 1987 album, The Joshua Tree, the song was the group’s most successful single at the time.

1991 : Ray Charles is inducted into the Atlanta Celebrity Walk.

1993 : US soul singer Marv Johnson died of a stroke. He had the US Top 10 single ‘I Love The Way You Love’ and the 1969 UK No.10 single ‘I’ll Pick A Rose For My Rose’. Johnson’s recording of Berry Gordy’s song ‘Come To Me’ became Motown Records first ever-single release in May 1959.

1998 : Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards fell while reaching for a book of nude art in his Connecticut home. The fall broke his ribs, causing the Stones to postpone many dates on their Bridges To Babylon tour.

1999 : Diana Ross stars in her last major TV role, portraying the estranged mother of R&B singer Brandy in the NBC movie Double Platinum.

2000 : The Artist Formerly Known As Prince announces that he will start using his name again.

2002 : Cher is the guest star (for the second time) on tonight’s “A.I.: Artificial Insemination” episode of NBC-TV’s Will & Grace.

2003 : Hoboken, NJ names its post office after its favorite son, Frank Sinatra.

2003 : While undergoing dialysis, Barry White suffers a stroke, though his sister publicly claims he will soon perform again, it proves to be the end of White’s public life.

2004 : Frankee started a three week run at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘F.U.R.B. (F U Right Back)’. The song was a “reply” to the No.1 by Eamon that it replaced, (Fuck It, I Don’t Want You Back). This is the first time that a record and its reply have both made No 1.

2007 : Parma, Italy names streets after Elvis Presley, John Lennon, Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald.

2009 : Bob Dylan went to No.1 on the US album chart with ‘Together Through Life’, his 33rd studio album. The album received two Grammy Award nominations in Best Americana Album category and Best Solo Rock Vocal Performance category for ‘Beyond Here Lies Nothin’. The album also is significant as the only album by Dylan to top the US and UK charts consecutively.

2010 : Ronnie James Dio, singer with Elf, Rainbow, Black Sabbath, Heaven & Hell, and his own band Dio died after a six-month battle with stomach cancer. He was 67 years old. Dio’s career began in 1957 with The Vegas Kings, which later changed to Ronnie and the Rumblers, then Ronnie and the Redcaps, then in 1961, Ronnie Dio and the Prophets. In 1967, Dio and Prophets guitarist Nick Pantas formed the Electric Elves, which shortened its name to Elf. The band’s success eventually landed them an opening slot for Deep Purple, which exposed Dio’s voice to Deep Purple’s guitarist, Ritchie Blackmore, who later recruited Dio and other members of Elf for his new band Rainbow.