1955 : Elvis Presley makes his first appearance on the Big D Jamboree radio program, broadcast from the Dallas Sportatorium by KRLD.

1955 : “The Ballad of Davy Crockett” has four different versions on the charts, including a #1 hit for Bill Hayes. The other three are by Fess Parker, Walter Schumann and Tennessee Ernie Ford.

1957 : The National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS) is established. They become known for their Grammy Awards, which kicks off in 1958.

1958 : Buddy Holly receives his draft notice in Lubbock, TX, but is refused induction because of his notoriously poor eyesight and also a stomach ulcer.

1960 : Elvis Presley visits Vegas, and his entourage is for the first time dubbed the “Memphis Mafia” in the local media, due to their penchant for wearing long coats and dark glasses.

1963 : Recorded on this day, Elvis Presley – “Slowly But Surely”, “Blue River”, “Ask Me”

1964 : Recorded on this day, Marianne Faithfull – “As Tears Go By”

1964 : The BBC received over 8,000 postal applications for tickets for The Rolling Stones forthcoming appearance on the British TV show, Juke Box Jury.

1965 : Elvis Presley’s Tickle Me movie opens nationally.

1966 : Released on this day, Ike & Tina Turner – “River Deep, Mountain High”

1966 : Percy Sledge started a two week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘When A Man Loves A Woman’. A No.4 hit on the UK chart and No.2 when re-issued in 1987. Before the recording session, the song had no title or lyrics. The session proceeded with the expectation that Sledge would produce them for the vocal takes. When it came time to record the vocals, Sledge improvised the lyrics with minimal pre-planning, using the melody as a guide for rhythm and phrasing. The performance was so convincing that others working on the session assumed Sledge had the lyrics written down.

1966 : All four Beatles spent the day with Bob Dylan in his room at the Mayfair hotel in London, England, watching rushes of D.A. Pennebakers’s forthcoming documentary film, Don’t Look Back, which covered Dylan’s 1965 concert tour of the United Kingdom.

1966 : Love appeared at the Whisky A Go Go West Hollywood, California, supported by The Doors.

1966 : Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass’ have 4 of the top 10 albums: What Now My Love, Whipped Cream and Other Delights, South of the Border, and Going Places. It’s a record most albums in the Top 10 at the same time.

1967 : The Association make their television debut, performing Along Comes Mary on CBS-TV’s Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour.

1968 : No. 1 Billboard Pop Hit: Simon & Garfunkel’s Mrs. Robinson

1969 : Rolling Stone Mick Jagger and Marianne Faithfull were arrested at their London home and charged with possession of cannabis, they were both later released on $85 bail.

1969 : Mick Jagger and girlfriend Marianne Faithfull are arrested in their London home on charges of marijuana possession, but released on 50 pounds’ bail.

1973 : Bassist Ronnie Lane left The Faces and went on to form Slim Chance, (who had the 1974 hit ‘How Come’).

1973 : Pink Floyd’s The Dark Side Of The Moon was on both the UK and US album charts. It remained in the US charts for 741 discontinuous weeks from 1973 to 1988, longer than any other album in history. (After moving to the Billboard Top Pop Catalog Chart, the album notched up a further 759 weeks, and had reached a total of over 1,500 weeks on the combined charts by May 2006). Read the full story

1975 : The Doobie Brothers’ LP Stampede is certified gold.

1976 : The Allman Brothers Band temporarily disbanded after Greg Allman testified against Scooter Herring, his personal road manager, who was charged with drug trafficking. Herring was subsequently sentenced to 75 years in prison. This causes tensions in the band, who take two years off before re-forming. An album of previously unreleased live material was issued later in the year under the title ‘Wipe the Windows, Check the Oil, Dollar Gas’.

1977 : Bruce Springsteen is finally free to record after a legal battle with his former manager Mike Appel that keeps him out of the studio for two years. Springsteen learns that it’s not a good idea to sign a contract on the hood of a car.

1977 : Sting, Stewart Copeland and Andy Summers played together for the first time when they performed as part of Mike Howlett’s band, Strontium 90 in Paris France.

1978 : David Cassidy is the guest star on an episode of NBCs TV show Police Story. He does so well that he is given his own show called David Cassidy: Man Undercover, which tanks hard.

1981 : Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five are the opening act for The Clash, who play the first of 8 shows at Bond’s in Times Square, New York (future home of Tower Records). The rappers are booed and assaulted with various projectiles as the crowd does not appreciate their act.

1982 : Promoter Bill Graham staged a special Vietnam Veterans benefit concert in San Francisco starring The Jefferson Starship, The Grateful Dead and Country Joe.

1983 : Actress and singer Irene Cara started a six week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘Flashdance…What A Feeling’. Taken from the film ‘Flashdance’, a No.2 hit in the UK. Cara had also appeared in TV’s ‘Roots’ and ‘The Next Generation’.

1983 : The four day US Festival ’83’ took place in California, featuring The Clash, U2, David Bowie, The Pretenders, Van Halen, Stray Cats, Men At Work, Judas Priest, Stevie Nicks, Willie Nelson. INXS, Joe Walsh, Motley Crue and Ozzy Osbourne. Over 750,000 fans attended the festival.

1983 : Van Halen is paid $1 million to play the “US Festival” in San Bernardino, California. It’s the biggest fee anyone has ever received for playing a single concert.

1983 : Rapidfire appeared at Gazzarri’s On The Sunset Strip, in Los Angles. Rapidfire featured singer Axl Rose, who was seen for the first time by guitarist Slash, who was in the audience.

1983 : After supporting Adam and the Ants and The Go-Go’s on their first tour of America, INXS plays a triumphant set at the US Festival in California, drawing many of the 150,000 concert goers to their second stage performance and earning an encore. The very same day, their first American hit, “The One Thing,” reaches its peak chart position of #30.

1985 : Desert Island Discs radio presenter Roy Plomley died. He devised the BBC Radio series Desert Island Discs in 1941, and went on to present 1,791 editions of the show, which became one of the longest running radio shows in the UK.

1988 : Aerosmith singer Steven Tyler married his second wife clothing designer Teresa Barrick. The couple announced they were separating due to personal problems in February 2005.

1990 : Mitch Mitchell former drummer with Jimi Hendrix took out a High Court action against Private Eye magazine over an allegedly defamatory item.

1995 : Hootie & the Blowfish started a four-week run at No.1 on the US album charts with ‘Cracked Rear View’. The album went on to sell over 15m copies.

1996 : Depeche Mode singer Dave Gahan was rushed to Cedars Sinai Hospital, Los Angeles after an apparent drug overdose. The singer was later arrested for possession of cocaine and heroin.

2007 : The Police set aside their differences and launch their first tour since 1986 in Vancouver in front of 22,000 people. Despite some bandmember clashes along the way, the tour lasts over a year, selling 3,300,912 tickets in 151 shows.