Musician Birthdays: Berry Gordy (founder/owner of Motown Records. Born in 1929). Randy Newman (singer/songwriter/pianist. Born in 1943). Matt Cameron (drummer for Soundgarden, Pearl Jam. Born in 1962)

– In 1960: Elvis Presley started a six week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘Are You Lonesome Tonight’, his third US No.1 of 1960. The single included a spoken passage loosely based on Shakespeare.

– In 1962: The Beatles performed two evening shows: the first at the Cavern Club in Liverpool and the second at the 527 Club in Liverpool. The 527 Club show was a dance for the staff of Lewis Department Store in Liverpool, held on the top floor of the store.

– In 1974: John Lennon made his last ever concert appearance when he joined Elton John on stage at Madison Square Gardens in New York City. Lennon performed three songs; ‘Whatever Gets You Thru The Night’, ‘I Saw Her Standing There’ and ‘Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds.’

– In 1976: The Sex Pistols appeared on BBC TV’s ‘Nationwide’ and ITV’s ‘London Weekend Show.’

– In 1987: Taken from the film ‘Dirty Dancing’, the Jennifer Warnes’ duet with Bill Medley ‘(I’ve Had) The Time Of My Life’, went to No.1 on the US singles chart.

– In 1987: REM had their first entry in the Top 10 on the US singles chart with ‘The One I Love.’

– In 1991: Nirvana recorded a performance for BBC TV music show Top Of The Pops in London. When asked to lip-sync ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ to a pre-recorded tape Kurt Cobain protests by singing in a low-pitched funny voice with the rest of the band not even trying to mime in-time to the track.

– In 1992: Whitney Houston started a record-breaking fourteen-week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘I Will Always Love You’, taken from the ‘Bodyguard’ soundtrack. The song was written by Dolly Parton.

– In 1993: Steppenwolf drummer Jerry Edmonton was killed in a car crash not far from his Santa Barbara, California home, he was 47. Steppenwolf had the 1969 US No.2 & UK No.30 single ‘Born To Be Wild’.

– In 2004: Metallica played the last show on their 137-date ‘Madly in Anger with the World Tour’ at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, California. It became the fourth-highest grossing tour of 2004, reaping $60,500,000 in ticket sales.

– In 2006: US actress Pamela Anderson filed for divorce from rapper Kid Rock after just four months of marriage. In a statement on her website the 39-year-old confirmed she had split from Rock.

– In 2007: Kanye West and stuntman Evel Knievel settled a copyright dispute over West’s use of the name “Evel Kanyevel” in a music video. The 69-year-old daredevil had claimed his image was tarnished by the video’s “vulgar, sexual nature.” The clip for Touch The Sky, showed the rap star cavorting with Pamela Anderson and trying to jump a rocket-powered motorcycle over a canyon.

Enjoy!

Kev