1887 : Emile Berliner files the first patent for the gramophone, beating Thomas Edison to the punch.
1952 : Atlantic Records bought Ray Charles’ contract from Swingtime Records, where Charles had been recording in the mellower, bluesy style of Nat King Cole and Charles Brown.
1953 : The Texas duo of Buddy Holly and Bob Montgomery auditioned for radio station KDAV’s Sunday Party. The duo started a slot on Sunday afternoon that became known as The Bob and Buddy Show.
1955 : After complaints from his neighbors, Rock ‘n’ Roll fan Sidney Adams was fined $9.80 by a London Court after playing Bill Haley’s ‘Shake Rattle and Roll’ all day at full volume.
1956 : Elvis Presley was at No.2 on the US singles chart with ‘Hound Dog’ being held off the top by The Platters ‘My Prayer’.
1956 : 19 year old Jerry Lee Lewis arrived at Sun Records hoping for an audition, only to find that owner Sam Phillips was on vacation in Florida. Jerry Lee recorded some demos that Phillips would hear when he returned.
1957 : A young Jimi Hendrix catches Elvis Presley’s performance at Seattle’s Sicks Stadium.
1957 : The Biggest Show Of Stars package tour kicked off at Brooklyn Paramount featuring: Buddy Holly & The Crickets, The Drifters, The Everly Brothers and Frankie Lymon. On some dates artists were unable to play because of segregation laws.
1962 : Tommy Roe went to No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘Sheila’, a No.3 hit in the UK. The record was a re-recorded version of a song that was first released in 1960 when Roe was part of a group called The Satins.
1965 : James Brown introduces America to Papa’s Got A Brand New Bag, his latest single, on tonight’s episode of ABC-TV’s Shindig!
1966 : The Byrds played the first of an 11 night run at the Whisky-a-go-go, Hollywood, California.
1966 : The Who’s single ‘I’m A Boy’ entered the UK chart peaking at No.2 giving the band their second No.2 hit. The song was originally intended to be a part of a rock opera called ‘Quads’ which was to be set in the future where parents can choose the sex of their children.
1967 : David Bowie released the single ‘Love You Till Tuesday’ which failed to reach the charts.
1967 : The four Beatles held a meeting at Paul McCartney’s house in London to decide upon their next course of action following the death of manager Brian Epstein. They decide to be their own managers, and McCartney takes the lead on most business decisions. They postponed their planned trip to India and to begin the already-delayed production of the Magical Mystery Tour movie. They have two songs already recorded for the movie, ‘Magical Mystery Tour’ and ‘Your Mother Should Know’. With hefty responsibilities outside of music, things get tense and the group breaks up two years later.
1967 : Boz Scaggs returned to the US from Europe and rejoined Steve Miller’s band. The pair had played together as teenagers, after which Scaggs left for Europe and recorded the solo album, Boz. Working with Miller, Scaggs appeared on Children of the Future and Sailor before going solo for good.
1972 : The O’Jays’ Back Stabbers is certified gold.
1974 : The Osmonds were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with the Johnny Bristol song ‘Love Me For A Reason’, the group’s only UK No.1. Also a UK No.2 hit for Boyzone in 1994.
1971 : After their successful summer-replacement series, Sonny And Cher begin their fall TV variety series on CBS-TV.
1976 : Ode Records president Lou Adler and employee Neil Silver were kidnapped at Adler’s house in Malibu. The two were released after paying a $25,000 ransom. A week later, a California couple were charged with the crime, but a third accomplice got away.
1977 : Blondie, featuring former Playboy Bunny Debra Harry, signed their first major record company contract with Chrysalis Records.
1979 : U2 released their very first record, an EP titled ‘U2-3.’ With an initial run of 1,000 individually numbered copies the tracks were produced by the band with Chas de Whalley and was available only in Ireland.
1980 : Fleetwood Mac ended a nine-month world tour with a performance at the Hollywood Bowl. Lindsay Buckingham announced on stage, “This is our last show for a long time.” He’s right as the band doesn’t play live again for over two years.
1983 : Mick Jones, lead guitarist with The Clash was fired by the other three members who claimed he’d ‘drifted apart’ from the original idea of the group.
1984 : After a 25-year career, Tina Turner had her first solo No.1 single in the US with ‘What’s Love Got To Do With It’. This song was originally written for Cliff Richard, however the song was rejected. It was then offered to Donna Summer, who has stated she sat with it for a couple of years but never recorded it.
2000 : The last remaining original member of The Platters, Herb Reed, is awarded a court injunction against a group using the same name but containing no actual original members.
2000 : The Spice Girls had five places in a list of the UK Top 20 earning celebrity directors. Monsta Productions (Emma), Moody Productions, (Posh), Red Girl Productions, (Mel C), Moneyspider Productions, (Mel B) and Geri Productions with £6m each.
2002 : Coldplay scored their second UK No.1 album with A Rush Of Blood To The Head. The album won the band the 2003 Grammy for Best Alternative Album for the second time in a row, successive to their previous win in the same category, and the 2004 Grammy for Record of the Year for the song ‘Clocks’.
2004 : Former Libertines frontman Pete Doherty was given a suspended four month jail sentence after admitting possession of a flick knife. The singer was found with the weapon by police as he drove to his home in London on 18 June.
2005 : Barry Cowsill, bass guitarist for The Cowsills, died from injuries caused by Hurricane Katrina. His body was not recovered until December 28th, 2005, from the Chartres Street Wharf, New Orleans. He was 51.
2007 : Supergrass were forced to put all plans on hold after band member Mick Quinn broke his back. The bass player and vocalist sleepwalked out of a first floor window of a villa where he was staying in the South of France; he was rushed to a specialist spinal unit in Toulouse where surgeons operated to repair two broken vertebrae as well as a smashed heel.
2009 : Jake Brockman, former keyboard player with Echo and the Bunnymen was killed when his motorbike was in collision with a converted ambulance on the Isle of Man. In 1989 the band’s first drummer Pete De Freitas died in a similar crash.
2011 : While boarding a Southwest flight from Oakland heading to Burbank, Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong is forced off the flight because he gave some lip to a flight attendant who asked him to pull up his sagging pants. Armstrong doesn’t take kindly to the request, and eventually he and his traveling companion are booted from the flight. Armstrong quickly responds by taking to Twitter, writing, “Just got kicked off a southwest flight because my pants sagged too low!” The tweet is quickly retweeted by his followers, forcing Southwest to release a statement apologizing for the incident.
2012 : US songwriter Hal David, who wrote dozens of hits with collaborator Burt Bacharach, died in Los Angeles at the age of 91 from complications from a stroke. With Bacharach he wrote a string of hits for Dionne Warwick, including ‘Walk On By’ and ‘I Say a Little Prayer’, as well as other artists including Tom Jones and Dusty Springfield.
2012 : Geoff Tate, late of the band Queensryche, announces plans to get a “new Queensryche” together. Pledging their support are Rudy Sarzo (formerly of Quiet Riot), Bobby Blotzer (formerly Ratt), Glen Drover (formerly of Megadeth), Kelly Gray and Randy Gane (formerly of Myth). There’s still some question as to whether they’ll actually be able to call the band Queensryche, since Tate is still wrapped up in lawsuits with the other three members over his firing in the same year and the use of the name.