Throwback Thursday: This Week in History

THIS WEEK IN HISTORY

1958: The first Gold record album presented by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) was awarded to the soundtrack LP, ‘Oklahoma’. The honor signified that the album had reached one million dollars in sales. The first Gold single issued by the RIAA was ‘Catch a Falling Star’ by Perry Como in March of 1958. A Gold single represented sales of one million records. 1963: The Rolling Stones made their UK TV debut when they appeared on ‘Thank Your Lucky Stars.’ Also appearing on the show was, Mickie Most, The Cadets, Helen Shapiro and Gordon Mills. The group made a total of 13 appearances on the show between 1963 and 1966. 1965: The Dave Clark Five had their movie, Catch Us If You Can, premiere in London. The film was renamed to Having a Wild Weekend for its US release. Songs featured by the group in the movie included ‘Catch Us If You Can,’ ‘Having a Wild Weekend’ and ‘I Can’t Stand It.’ 1969: George Harrison recorded his new song ‘Here Comes the Sun’ with just two other Beatles, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr at Abbey Road in London. John Lennon was absent recovering from a car crash in Scotland. 1978: Joe Strummer and Paul Simonon from The Clash were arrested for being drunk and disorderly after a gig at the Apollo in Glasgow, both were fined. 1980: Led Zeppelin played their last-ever concert when they appeared at Eissporthalle, West Berlin at the end of a European tour. The set included: ‘Black Dog’, ‘The Rain Song’, ‘Hot Dog’, ‘All My Love’, ‘Trampled Under Foot’, ‘Since I’ve Been Loving You’, ‘Kashmir’, ‘Stairway To Heaven’ and ‘Rock And Roll’. They finished the show with a 17-minute version of ‘Whole Lotta Love’. 1989: It was announced that for the first time compact discs were out selling vinyl albums. This week’s UK No.1 album was ‘Emergency On Planet Earth’ by Jamiroquai. 1999: It was reported that to attract young people to their mobile vans UK ice cream sellers would start to play pop hits as music instead of the traditional chimes. Spice Girls and Oasis hits would be the first to be played. 1999: Elton John had a pacemaker fitted in an operation at a London hospital following reports about his ill health. Sir Elton was forced to cancel a series of concerts. 2000: Eminem’s wife, Kimberly Mathers, was hospitalised after she slit her wrists following her husband’s show as part of the Up in Smoke Tour at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit. Also on this day, Eminem scored his first UK No. single with ‘The Real Slim Shady’, taken from his second album The Marshall Mathers LP the song was a No.4 hit in the US. 2002: Michael Jackson spoke out against the music industry’s treatment of artists, alleging that the business was rife with racism. Speaking at a civil rights meeting in New York, Jackson claimed there was a ‘conspiracy’ among record companies, especially towards black artists. A spokesman for Jackson’s record label said the remarks were ‘ludicrous, spiteful and hurtful.’ 2006: Syd Barrett died from complications arising from diabetes aged 60. The singer, songwriter, guitarist was one of the founding members of Pink Floyd, active as a rock musician for only about seven years before he went into seclusion. He joined Pink Floyd in 1965 but left three years later after one album. Barrett released two solo albums before going into self-imposed seclusion lasting more than thirty years, with his mental deterioration blamed on drugs. 2006: Queen guitarist Brian May made a “substantial” donation to save hedgehogs from slaughter in the Outer Hebrides. Although the exact amount was not revealed it was said to be enough to pay for the rescue of hundreds of hedgehogs from the Uists, where Scottish Natural Heritage has been culling the animals for the past four years. May’s money would go towards funding cash rewards for islanders so hundreds more hedgehogs can be saved. 2007: Ozzy Osbourne became the first artist to be honoured on Birmingham’s own Hollywood-style Walk of Fame. The singer, from Aston, told more than 1,000 fans on Broad Street that the brass paving star meant more to him that than any Hollywood accolade. Organisers named other local pop stars who could be joining Ozzy for the walk included Duran Duran, Jamelia, Robert Plant and UB40. 2007: Snow Patrol Keyboard player Tom Simpson was arrested in connection with a failed court appearance in Glasgow. He was later released and the band went on to headline the T in the Park festival in Scotland. Amy Winehouse pulled out of her slot from the event suffering from “exhaustion”. 2009: Michael Jackson’s family and fans said farewell to the pop superstar at an emotional memorial service. The singer’s coffin was placed in front of the stage during the event at the Staples Center in Los Angeles after an earlier private funeral. Jackson’s daughter Paris, 11, fought back tears to describe him as “the best father you could ever imagine”. Stevie Wonder, Lionel Richie and Mariah Carey paid tribute before the family joined a sombre finale on stage. Motown boss Berry Gordy, who signed the Jackson Five, ended his tribute with the words: “Michael, thank you for the joy, thank you for the love. You will live in my heart forever.” 2013: Former Fugees singer Lauryn Hill began a three-month prison sentence in Connecticut for tax evasion. The 38-year-old was sentenced in May for failing to pay tax on $1.8m (£1.2m) of her earnings between 2005-07. After her release, Hill would be under parole supervision for a year, with the first three months to be spent confined to her home.  

THIS WEEKEND IN HISTORY

1954: 19 year old Elvis Presley signed a recording contract with Sun Records. He also gave in his notice at his day job at The Crown Electric Company. Sam Phillips from Sun Records originally wanted to use the 19 year old to make demos of songs meant for other artists, but soon realized that here was the man who could bridge the gap between white and black performances. 1962: The Rolling Stones made their live debut at the Marquee Jazz Club, London, with Dick Taylor on bass (later of The Pretty Things) and Mick Avory on drums, (later of The Kinks). Billed as The Rollin’ Stones, they were paid £20 for the gig, the equivalent of £330 (roughly $565) in 2010. 1962: Dan Murphy was born, guitar, Soul Asylum, (1993 US No.5 and UK No.7 single ‘Runaway Train’). 1969: Over 100 US radio stations banned The Beatles new single ‘The Balled Of John and Yoko’ due to the line ‘Christ, you know it ain’t easy’, calling it offensive. 1978: The BBC announced a ban on The Sex Pistols’ latest single ‘No One Is Innocent’, which featured vocals by Ronnie Biggs, the British criminal notorious for his part in the Great Train Robbery of 1963. At the time of the recording, Biggs was living in Brazil, and was still wanted by the British authorities, but immune from extradition. 1985: At 12.01 Status Quo started the ‘Live Aid’ extravaganza, held between Wembley Stadium, London and The JFK Stadium, Philadelphia. The cream of the world’s biggest rock stars took part in the worldwide event, raising over £40million. TV pictures beamed to over 1.5bn people in 160 countries made it the biggest live broadcast ever known. Artists who appeared included Paul McCartney, Phil Collins, The Who, U2, David Bowie and Mick Jagger, Queen, Tina Turner, The Cars, Neil Young, Tom Petty, Bob Dylan, Bryan Adams, Hall and Oates, Lionel Richie and Led Zeppelin. 1985: Elton John re-signed with MCA Records in America, his five-album deal being worth $8 million, the biggest advance in history at the time. 1991: American singer and lyricist Roger Christian died. Worked with The Beach Boys and co-wrote songs recorded by Jan and Dean. Christian worked as a radio personality in the 1960s. 1996: Smashing Pumpkins drummer Jimmy Chamberlin was charged with drug possession after the death of the bands keyboard player Jonathan Melvoin in his New York Hotel room. 1997: Red Hot Chili Peppers singer Anthony Kiedis underwent five hours of hospital surgery after being involved in a motorbike accident in Los Angeles. 1999: The New Radicals called it a day after just one album and a world-wide hit single. Front man, songwriter and driving force Gregg Alexander said he would concentrate on producing and writing. 1999: Paul McCartney displayed 73 paintings at the Kunstforum Lyz gallery in the German town of Siegen. McCartney had been painting for the past 16 years (since he turned 40). 2008: Rolling Stone Ron Wood left his wife of 23 years and moved in with an 18-year-old Russian cocktail waitress. The 61 year-old dad-of-four had met the teenager while out drinking and had taken her away to his luxury pad in Ireland.