1943, American jazz musician, singer and composer, Fats Waller died of pneumonia on a train trip near Kansas City, Missouri. Wrote many songs including 'Ain't Misbehavin', 'Your Feet's Too Big' and 'The Reefer Song'. In 1926 Waller was kidnapped at gunpoint in Chicago and driven to a club owned by gangster Al Capone. Inside the club he was ordered to perform at what turned out to be a surprise birthday party for the gangster.
1944, Hank Williams married Audrey Guy. The ceremony took place at a filling station.
1956, Elvis Presley gave his final performance on Louisiana Hayride, a live radio program that was broadcast on KWKH in Shreveport, Louisiana. Presley made 50 appearances on the show. At the end of the show, Horace Logan first made the now legendary phrase ‘Elvis has left the building’.
1962, The Beatles played two separate shows at the same venue, the Majestic Ballroom in Birkenhead, Merseyside. First they played a standard Majestic booking then at midnight, the first-ever "Mersey Beat" poll awards show took place. As poll winners, The Beatles closed the show (at 4:00 am).
1969, John Lennon played what would be his final ever gig in the UK when he appeared at The Lyceum Ballroom, London, with the Plastic Ono Band in a UNICEF 'Peace For Christmas' benefit. George Harrison, Eric Clapton, Delaney and Bonnie, Billy Preston and The Who's drummer, Keith Moon also took part.
1973, Jermaine Jackson from The Jackson Five married the daughter of the boss of Motown Records, Hazel Gordy.
1973, David Cassidy went to No.1 on the UK album chart with his third solo album 'Dreams Are Nothin More Than Wishes.'
1975, Cat Stevens appeared at London's Royal Albert Hall, England, tickets £2.50.
1977, The Sex Pistols were refused entry into the USA two days before a scheduled NBC TV appearance. Johnny Rotten because of a drugs conviction, Paul Cook & Sid Vicious because of 'moral turpitude' and Steve Jones because of his criminal record.
1979, U2 appeared at the Windsor Castle Pub, Harrow Road, London, admission was free.
1979, Pink Floyd started a five week run at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Another Brick In The Wall, (part 2),' their only UK singles chart topper.
1984, 'Do They Know It's Christmas' by Band Aid entered the UK chart at No.1 and stayed at the top for five weeks. It became the biggest selling UK single of all time with sales over 3 and a half million. Band Aid was masterminded by former Boomtown Rats singer Bob Geldof, who had been moved by a TV news story of famine in Ethiopia. Geldof had the idea of raising funds with a one-off charity single featuring the cream of the current pop world. Duran Duran, Spandau Ballet, Paul Young, Culture Club, George Michael, Sting, Bono, Phil Collins, Paul Weller, Francis Rossi and Rick Parfitt of Status Quo and Bananarama all appeared on the recording.
1990, Rod Stewart married New Zealand model Rachel Hunter in Beverly Hills. Stewart was quoted as saying 'I Found the Girl that I Want, I won't be putting my banana in anybody's fruit bowl from now on'. They split in 1999.
1994, Bon Jovi guitarist Richie Sambora married actress Heather Locklear. The couple divorced in 2006.
1999, Former Sex Pistols manager Malcolm McLaren announced that he was running for the Mayor of London. He said he would be campaigning for brothels, pot shops and boozing in libraries. "I changed London with the Sex Pistols, I can change London as Mayor."
2001, American funk and soul singer Rufus Thomas died of heart failure aged 84. Recorded on Sun Records in the 1950s and on Stax Records in the 1960s and 1970s. Scored the 1963 US No.10 single 'Walking The Dog' and the 1970 UK No.18 & US No.28 single 'Do The Funky Chicken'. A street is named in his honor, just off Beale Street in Memphis.
2001, Eagles guitarist Joe Walsh was given an honorary Doctorate of Music from Kent State University in Ohio.
2006, The co-founder of Atlantic Records Ahmet Ertegun died, aged 83. Ertegun who founded Atlantic Records with Herb Abramson in 1947 helped make Ray Charles and Aretha Franklin stars and signed the Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin in the early 70s. He suffered a head injury when he fell at a Rolling Stones concert at New York's Beacon Theatre in October, and died after slipping into a coma.
2010, Various Pink Floyd items were sold at an Entertainment Memorabilia auction by Bonhams in Knightsbridge London. A demo pressing of the single 'Point Me To The Sky'/'Careful With That Axe Eugene' sold for £720. Pink Floyd signatures, in various blue marker pens on four separate pieces of paper mounted and framed together with a copy of 'Dark Side Of The Moon' sold for £624.00 and a demo pressing of the single by Syd Barrett, 'Octopus' / 'Golden Hair' from 1969, misspelt 'Barratt' corrected in ink on A-side, sold for £300.
Happy Rock-n-Roll Birthdays to...
1919, Max Yasgur, owner of the Woodstock farm where the 1969 festival was held. Yasgur died of a heart attack February 8, 1973.
1922, Alan Freed, American DJ. The man who gave 'Rock 'n' Roll' its name. Died January 20, 1965.
1939, Cindy Birdsong, The Supremes
1942, Dave Clark, Dave Clark Five
1946, Carmine Appice, Vanilla Fudge
1955, Paul Simonon, The Clash
1957, Tim Reynolds, Dave Matthews Band.
1961, Nick Beggs, Kajagoogoo
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