Throwback Thursday: This Week in History

THIS WEEK IN HISTORY

1944: Jeff Beck was born, guitarist. Beck worked with Screaming Lord Sutch before replacing Eric Clapton in The Yardbirds. As a solo artist, he released the 1967 single ‘Hi-Ho Silver Lining’, before forming The Jeff Beck Group, which featured Rod Stewart on vocals and Ron Wood on bass. His 1975 album Blow By Blow was produced by George Martin and set a new standard of jazz-rock fusion music. Beck had previously formed Beck, Bogart and Appice with Tim Bogert and Carmine Appice, and later recorded with The Honeydrippers, (alongside Jimmy Page, Robert Plant and Nile Rodgers), who had the 1984 US No.3 single Sea Of Love.  1945: Carly Simon was born, US singer, songwriter, (1973 UK No.3 and US No.1 single ‘Your So Vain’, 1974 US No.5 single with James Taylor ‘Mockingbird’). 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: Paul ‘Bonehead’ Arthurs was born, guitar, Oasis, (first single ‘Supersonic’ 1994 UK No.31, 1996 UK No.1 single ‘Don’t Look Back In Anger’, 1994 UK No.1 album ‘Definitely Maybe’ fastest selling UK debut album ever’). Quit the band in Aug 1999.  1969: Colin Greenwood was born, bass, Radiohead. Their 1993 debut single ‘Creep’ was initially unsuccessful, but it became a worldwide hit several months after the release of their debut album, ‘Pablo Honey’. Their 1997 album ‘OK Computer’ appeared in many 1997 critics’ lists and listener polls for best album of the year.   1969: Joni Mitchell appeared on the ABC TV Mama Cass Television Program from Los Angeles, California. 1973: Rolling Stone Keith Richards and his girlfriend Anita Pallenberg were arrested at their home in Chelsea, London on drugs and gun charges.  1974: Cher divorced Sonny Bono after 10years of marriage. Four days later, Cher married guitarist Gregg Allman, the couple split 10 days after that, got back together and split again. They did stay married for three years, producing Elijah Blue Allman. 1976: TV talent show winners from Liverpool The Real Thing were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘You To Me Are Everything’, the group’s only No.1 hit. It was the first single by a Black British band to top the UK charts. 1977: Elvis Presley made his last ever live stage appearance when he appeared at the Market Square Arena in Indianapolis. Presley would die less than two months later. The last two songs he performed were ‘Hurt’ and ‘Bridge Over Troubled Water.’ Before the show Elvis was presented with a plaque commemorating the 2 billionth record to come out of RCA’s pressing plant. 1983: The Police scored their fourth UK No.1 album with ‘Synchronicity’, also No.1 in the US and featuring the singles ‘Every Breath You Take’ and ‘Wrapped Around Your Finger’. 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. 1993: Bruce Springsteen was a surprise guest on David Letterman’s final show as host of NBC’s Late Night. 1995: Drummer Alan White made his live debut with Oasis at Glastonbury Festival. Also former Take That member Robbie Williams appeared on stage with the band during the show. 1999: Elton John was reported to be in talks with a City finance house to secure a £25 million ($42.5 million) loan, using his back catalogue of hits as security. It had been reported that Elton had been spending £250,000 ($425,000) a week on credit cards. 2000: Britney Spears hometown of Kentwood, Louisiana announced that a new museum, due to open early next year, would include a section including fan mail, platinum records and genuine items of the singers clothing. 2005: Tickets for a forthcoming Rolling Stones gig at the Hollywood Bowl were set to become the most expensive in rock ‘n’ roll history. Fans would have to pay up to £249 for a seat – £2 per minute to watch the Stones. 2008: Total Guitar magazine voted Celine Dion’s rendition of the AC/DC track ‘You Shook Me All Night Long’ as the world’s worst cover version ever, the magazines editor Stephen Lawson said Dion’s cover was “sacrilege”. In the best cover versions list, Jimi Hendrix was voted into first place with his version of the Bob Dylan song ‘All Along the Watchtower,’ The Beatles’ rendition of ‘Twist and Shout’, (first recorded by the Top Notes), was in second place, followed by the Guns N’ Roses version of the Wings song ‘Live and Let Die’. 2009: Chris Brown pleaded guilty to one count of assault on his former girlfriend, Rihanna. The 19 year-old R&B singer was sentenced to five years probation and ordered to do six months community service. Brown had faced charges of assaulting Rihanna, 21, during a row in February. The last-minute plea deal came before a hearing at a Los Angeles court at which Rihanna was due to give evidence. The Los Angeles County Superior Court judge also ordered Brown and Rihanna to stay at least 50 yards from each other, except at entertainment industry events when the distance is reduced to 10 yards. 2009: Michael Jackson died at the age of 50, after suffering heart failure at his home in Beverly Hills. The eighth child of the Jackson family, he debuted with his brothers as a member of The Jackson 5 in 1964. Jackson is credited for transforming the music video into an art form and a promotional tool, four of his solo albums are among the world’s best-selling records: Off the Wall (1979), Bad (1987), Dangerous (1991) and HIStory (1995), while his 1982 Thriller is the world’s best-selling record of all time with sales of over 50 million.  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”. 2012: Billboard.com named Olivia Newton-John’s 1982 hit, ‘Physical’ as The Sexiest Song Of All Time. Other classic Rock songs that made the top ten were Rod Stewart’s ‘Tonight’s The Night’, Marvin Gaye’s ‘Let’s Get It On’, Donna Summer’s ‘Hot Stuff’ and another Rod Stewart contribution, ‘Da Ya Think I’m Sexy’.   THIS WEEKEND IN HISTORY 1885: Chichester Bell and Charles Tainter applied for a patent on their invention the gramophone.  1944: Bruce Johnson was bron, vocals, guitar, The Beach Boys, (1966 UK & US No.1 single ‘Good Vibrations’, plus over 25 other UK Top 40 singles). 1967: Mick Jagger was found guilty of illegal possession of two drugs found in his jacket at a party given by Keith Richards. He was remanded overnight at Lewes jail, England (prison number 7856). Jagger requested books on Tibet and modern art and two packs of Benson & Hedges cigarettes. 1967: Rolling Stone Keith Richard was found guilty of allowing his house to be used forthe illegal smoking of cannabis. He was sentenced to one year in jail and a £500 ($850) fine, (prison number 5855). Mick Jagger was also fined £100 ($170) and given three months in jail on drug charges. Jagger and Richards were both released and granted bail of £7,000 the following day. 1968: Elvis Presley appeared on an NBC TV show that was billed as his “comeback special”. The show featured the king performing on a small, square stage, surrounded by a mostly female audience. Presley was outfitted in black leather and performed many of his early hits. 1968: Working at Abbey Road studios The Beatles recorded ‘Good Night’, John Lennon’s lullaby for his 5-year-old son Julian with Ringo singing the lead vocal. The track appeared on the White Album. 1977: Elton John achieved a life long ambition when he became the Chairman of Watford Football Club. 1981: Motorhead scored their only UK No.1 album with ‘No Sleep Til Hammersmith’. The live album was recorded at Leeds and Newcastle shows during their Short, Sharp Pain In The Neck tour in 1981. The name of the tour was a reference to the injury sustained by Phil Taylor when he was dropped on his head during some after-show horseplay. Despite the title of the album, the London venue the Hammersmith Odeon was not played on the tour.   1985: John Lennon’s 1965 Rolls-Royce Phantom V limousine, with psychedelic paintwork, sold for a record sum of $3,006,385, (£1,768,462) at a Sotheby’s auction in New York. 1987: Whitney Houston became the first women in US history to enter the album chart at No.1 with ‘Whitney’ she also became the first woman to top the singles chart with four consecutive releases when ‘I Wanna Dance With Somebody’ hit No.1.  1988: The Guardian newspaper reported that many music CD’s would fade and distort over the next few years due to manufacturing faults, sending shock-waves through the music industry. 1994: Aerosmith became the first major band to let fans download a full new track free from the internet. 1994: Oasis made their debut on BBC TV’s ‘Top Of The Pops’ performing their new single ‘Shakermaker’.  1996: It was reported that US record company bosses were considering random drug tests for pop stars similar to those carried out on athletes to try and reduce the drug death toll in the industry. 1997: The classic Pink Floyd album ‘Dark Side of the Moon’ spent its 1056th week on the US album chart. It was rumoured at the time that if the album was played while watching The Wizard of Oz movie, and started exactly when the MGM lion roared the third time during the movie’s intro, very interesting connections could be made between the two. 2000: Eight men were trampled to death during Pearl Jam’s performance at The Roskilde festival, near Copenhagen. Police said the victims had all slipped or fallen in the mud in front of the stage.  2000: Eminem’s mother went to court claiming defamation of character in a $10 million (£5.8 million) civil suit, after taking exception to the line “My mother smokes more dope than I do” from her son’s single ‘My Name Is’.  2002: One day before the scheduled first show of The Who’s 2002 US tour, bass player John Entwistle, died aged 57 in his hotel room at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. Entwistle had gone to bed that night with a stripper, who woke at 10am to find Entwistle cold and unresponsive. The Las Vegas medical examiner determined that death was due to a heart attack induced by an undetermined amount of cocaine.