1940 Tony Butala born in Sharon, Pennsylvania, US Lead Singer with the Lettermen formed in 1960.
1941 Aubrey Lee de Cordova – US Bassist with the String-A-Lings.
1942 Norman Greenbaum born in Malden, Massachusetts. US Singer, he head one hit in 1970 with Spirit In The Sky. (1970 UK No.1 & US No.3 single ‘Spirit In The Sky’).
1946 Duane Allman born in Nashville, Tennessee. Founder & Guitarist with the Allman Brothers Band, (1973 US No.12 single ‘Ramblin Man’). Killed in a motorcycle accident on 29th October 1971.
1946 Ray Stiles – UK Bassist & Singer with Mud, (1974 UK No.1 single ‘Tiger Feet’, plus 14 other UK Top 40 singles).
1947 Joe Walsh born in Ohio. Guitarist/Singer/Songwriter, The James Gang, The Eagles, joined in 1976, (1977 US No.1 & UK No.8 single ‘Hotel California’, plus 5 US No.1 albums. ‘Greatest Hits 1971-1975’ is the second biggest selling album in the world with sale
1955 The song that changed popular music history ‘Rock Around The Clock’ by Bill Haley & His Comets went to No.1 on the UK singles chart. The song was used under the opening credits of the film Blackboard Jungle. The song entered the charts a further six times until 1974.
1955 Bo Diddley appeared on US The Ed Sullivan Show television show. The show had requested that he sang his version of ‘Sixteen Tons’, but, when he appeared on stage, he sang his own song ‘Bo Diddley’ resulting in him being banned from further appearances on the show.
1956 Robert Poss, guitar, vocals, Band Of Susans, (1988 album ‘Hope Against Hope’).
1957 Jimmy Brown born in Birmingham. UK Drummer & Singer with UB40, (1983 UK No.1 & 1988 US No.1 single ‘Red Red Wine’ and over 30 other Top 40 singles).
1961 Paul King, vocals, King, (1985 UK No.2 single ‘Love And Pride’) & VH 1 TV presenter.
1961 Bob Dylan started recording his debut album over two days at Columbia Recording Studios in New York City
1962 Steve Alexander – UK Drummer with Brother Beyond, (1988 UK No.2 single ‘The Harder I Try’).
1962 Gail Ann Dorsey, American bass guitarist and vocalist. Worked with David Bowie from 1993-96, recorded and toured with Tears for Fears and has also worked with Bryan Ferry, Boy George, Gwen Stefani and Seal.
1965 Mike Diamond, The Beastie Boys, (1987 US No.7 & UK No.11 single ‘You Gotta Fight For Your Right To Party’).
1965 The Supremes had their sixth US No.1 single with the Motown production team, Holland–Dozier–Holland’s, ‘I Hear A Symphony’.
1965 The Walker Brothers kicked off a 10-date UK tour at Buxton Pavilion.
1965 Little Jimmy Dickens hit No. 1 on the Country Charts with “May The Bird Of Paradise Fly Up Your Nose”. The song also hit No. 15 on the pop charts.
1965 “1-2-3” by Len Barry peaked at #2 on the pop singles chart.
1965 “Ain’t That Peculiar” by Marvin Gaye peaked at #8 on the US singles chart.
1965 “I Hear A Symphony” by The Supremes peaked at #1 on the US singles chart.
1965 “Rescue Me” by Fontella Bass peaked at #4 on the US singles chart.
1966 Kevin Gilbert, multi instrumentalist, songwriter, Member of Giraffe, worked with Sheryl Crow, co- wrote 1994 UK No.4 hit ‘All I Want To Do.’ Died on 17th May 1996.
1967 Strawberry Alarm Clock were at No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘Incense And Peppermints’.
1967 The Beach Boys “Smiley Smile” album featuring the song “Vegetables,” produced by Paul McCartney and the Beach Boys is released in the U.K. on Capitol and in the U.S. on the band’s own Brothers label.
1968 The Monkees film ‘Head’ opened in six US cities. Reviews were harsh and the picture was a box office disaster.
1968 “Those Were The Days” single by Mary Hopkin was certified Gold by the RIAA
1970 Creedence Clearwater Revival went to No.1 on the Australian Singles Chart with ”Lookin’ Out My Back Door’. Staying at No.1 for 1wk.
1970 Ray Davies had to cross the Atlantic a second time to London in a year to amend a lyric he had recorded. Earlier in the summer he had to change ‘Coca-Cola’ in “Lola,” because the BBC wouldn’t allow a product name to be mentioned. He then had to change “The air pollution is a-foggin up,” which many thought might be misheard as a naughty word. Back in June it was to change “Coca-Cola” to “Cherry Cola” in the song “Lola.”
1970 Kinks singer Ray Davies re-recorded one word for the single “Apeman.” The song contained the word “foggin’,” which sounded too much like an
1971 Isaac Hayes started a two week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘Theme From Shaft’, it made No.4 in the UK. Hayes won a Grammy award for Best Original Film Score with ‘Theme From Shaft’.
1972 “Hot August Night” album by Neil Diamond was released
1973 American musician, parodist, satirist Allan Sherman died of emphysema ten days before his 49th birthday, in Chicago IIIinois. Had the 1963 US No.2 & UK No.14 single ‘Hello Muddah, Hello Faddah’.
1974 Drummer with The Who, Keith Moon collapsed during a concert after his drink was spiked with horse tranquilliser. 19 year-old Scott Halpin who was in the audience, volunteered to replace him on drums for the remaining three numbers.
1974 “Anka” album by Paul Anka was certified Gold by the RIAA
1975 Dr Hooks Christmas UK tour started at Oxford Poly.
1975 The Who kicked off a month-long North American tour at The Summit in Houston. At a party afterwards drummer Keith Moon was arrested for disorderly conduct and spent the night in jail.
1976 22 Golden Guitar Greats’ by Bert Weedon went to No.1 on the UK album chart.
1976 Paul Simon hosted NBC’s Saturday Night Live where he performed live with George Harrison on ‘Here Comes The Sun’ and ‘Homeward Bound’. Paul McCartney and John Lennon were both in New York City watching the show on TV.
1976 “Fernando” by Abba peaked at #13 on the US singles chart.
1976 “Love So Right” by Bee Gees peaked at #3 on the US singles chart.
1976 “Muskrat Love” by Captain & Tennille peaked at #4 on the US singles chart
1976 Manfred Mann’s Earth Band’s “Blinded By The Light” was released.
1976 “The Wreck Of The Edmund Fitzgerald” by Gordon Lightfoot peaked at #2 on the US singles chart.
1979 Barbra Streisand and Donna Summer were at No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘No More Tears, Enough Is Enough’, it made No.3 in the UK.
1979 “First Under The Wire” album by Little River Band was certified Gold and Platinum by the RIAA. Including Lonesome Loser, Cool Change,
1979 “Don’t Bring Me Down” single by Electric Light Orchestra was certified Gold by the RIAA
1981 Kimberley Walsh, Girls Aloud, (2002 UK No.1 single ‘Sound Of The Underground’).
1981 Ringo releases “Stop & Smell the Roses” album.
1981 “Best Of Manhattan Transfer” album by Manhattan Transfer was released
1981 Prince played the first night on his 56-date North American ‘Controversy’ tour at the Stanley Theater in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
1984 A large crowd of fans watched the unveiling of a Hollywood Walk of Fame Star for Michael Jackson in front of Mann’s Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles. Jackson became star number 1,793 on the famed walk.
1986 Jared Followill, bassist, Kings Of Leon, (2007 UK No.1 album ‘Because Of The Times’, 2008 UK No.1 single ‘Sex on Fire’, 2008 UK No.1 album ‘Only By The Night’).
1986 Appearing at Poole Arts Centre, England, Van Morrison.
1988 Appearing at the Brighton Centre, England, Huey Lewis and the News
1991 A Los Angeles court gave Randy Jackson of The Jackson’s a 30-day jail sentence for violating a probation order.
1991 The Rolling Stones announced they’d signed a £20 million deal with Virgin Records, to make three albums over six years.
1991 “Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me” single by George Michael was released
1993 Phil Collins went to No.1 on the UK album chart with ‘Both Sides.’
1993 “Please Forgive Me” by Bryan Adams peaked at #7 on the US singles chart.
1995 “Relish” album by Joan Osborne was certified Gold by the RIAA. Including One Of Us & St. Teresa
1995 Australian group CBD went to No.1 on the Australian Singles Chart with ”Let’s Groove”. Staying at No.1 for 8wks in a row.
1995 Whitney Houston was at No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘Exhale, Shoop Shoop’, it made No.11 in the UK.
1995 “Actual Miles – Don Henley’s Greatest Hits” album by Don Henley was released
1995 “Cream Of Clapton” album by Eric Clapton was certified Gold by the RIAA
1998 A study comparing noise levels of rock music, found that older people rated rock music much higher on a loudness scale than younger people. The researchers carried out by Ohio University tested people age 18 to 21 and people ranging in age from 51 to 58. The study asked participants to rate the loudness of rock music played at nine intensities, ranging from 10 decibels to 90 decibels. Participants listened to ‘Heartbreaker’ by Led Zeppelin for 10 seconds at different intensities. At each intensity, the older subjects gave the music higher numerical ratings based on loudness than the younger subjects
2000 The Baha Men went to No.1 on the Australian Singles Chart with “Who Let The Dogs Out”. Staying at No.1 for 4wks
2000 Spice Girl Mel C announced she was quitting the group during a TV interview on the ITV Frank Skinner show.
2001 Madonna’s childhood home in Oakland County Michigan, sold at an auction in just 12 minutes. The house, along with a few items of Rock memorabilia was purchased for $331,000.
2002 Former Ultravox member Midge Ure was fined £500 and ordered to pay £35 costs by magistrates in King’s Lynn, Norfolk, after he admitted driving without due care and attention. The court heard that Ure was involved in a minor accident in Norfolk while driving his Chrysler people carrier to a concert near Fakenham where he was performing.
2003 Michael Jackson flew to Santa Barbara to be arrested by police. He was seen in handcuffs being taken into the police station. The singer had his mug shot and fingerprints taken before being freed on $3m bail.
2004 Oasis singer Liam Gallagher was fined £40,000 after a fight in a German hotel. Gallagher was arrested along with drummer Alan White and three other members of the band’s entourage after the brawl in Munich in December 2002. Gallagher lost two front teeth in the fight, which led to the band abandoning their German tour.
2005 Madonna adds a ninth U.K. No. 1 album to her career tally, joining her 11th No. 1 single to complete her domination of the British sales charts. “Confessions on a Dance Floor” goes straight to No. 1 on the album survey, while “Hung Up” starts a second week at the singles chart peak.
2005 Robbie Williams smashed a Guinness World Record by selling more than 1.6 million tickets for his 2006 World Tour in one day. The tickets, snapped up on the first day of sale, were valued at an estimated £80 million.
2007 Velvet Revolver were forced to cancel a four-city Japanese after their requests for visas was rejected. Officials were said to have refused the band entry to Japan due to previous drug convictions.
2007 Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke admitted he was among the thousands of people who paid nothing to download the band’s latest album In Rainbows. Speaking to BBC 6 Music’s Steve Lamacq, Yorke said: “There wasn’t any point. I just move some money from one pocket to the other.” According to one survey, three in five people paid nothing at all for it. Yorke added that no one was allowed to have copies of the master recording in case it was leaked beforehand.
2015 Associated Newspapers lost its challenge to a High Court decision to award £10,000 ($15,000), privacy damages to Paul Weller. The singer and his wife won the damages in 2014 after pictures of his three youngest children were featured on The Mail Online in 2012.
2015 Justin Bieber topped the UK singles chart with ‘Sorry’ breaking a chart record for the most tracks inside the top 40. The chart featured eight songs from Bieber’s new album Purpose, the first time a living artist had so many simultaneous entries. His eight entries saw him break a record set by Elvis Presley in 1957, when he had seven songs in the top 40 singles chart.
2016 Craig Gill, drummer of the Inspiral Carpets, died at the age of 44. Gill was one of the founding members of the group who scored the hits ‘Joe’, ‘This Is How It Feels’, ‘She Comes In The Fall’, ‘Dragging Me Down’ and ‘Saturn 5’. Gill, who was a DJ at The Hacienda nightclub in Manchester, England, was also a music historian and ran music-themed tours around Greater Manchester.
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20 November – On This Day In Music
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