Musician Birthdays: Jeff Ament (bassist of Pearl Jam. Born in 1963.)

– In 1956: RCA Records placed a half page ad in Billboard Magazine claiming that Elvis Presley was ‘the new singing rage.’

– In 1964: Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel record ‘The Sounds Of Silence’ as an acoustic duo. It wasn’t until record company producers added electric guitar, bass and drums, without the knowledge of Paul and Art, that the song would become a hit in late 1965.

– In 1967: The Monkees held the No.1 position on the US album chart with ‘More Of The Monkees.’

– In 1973: Pink Floyd released their eighth studio album ‘The Dark Side Of The Moon’ in the US. It remained in the US charts for 741 discontinuous weeks from 1973 to 1988, longer than any other album in history. After moving to the Billboard Top Pop Catalog Chart, the album notched up a further 759 weeks, and had reached a total of over 1,500 weeks on the combined charts by May 2006. With an estimated 45 million copies sold, it is Pink Floyd’s most commercially successful album and one of the best-selling albums worldwide.

– In 1977: At 7am in the morning on a trestle table set up out-side Buckingham Palace, London, The Sex Pistols signed to A&M Records. The contract lasted for six days.

– In 1979: Gloria Gaynor started a three week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘I Will Survive’, also a No.1 in the UK. The song was originally released as the B-side to a song first recorded by The Righteous Brothers called ‘Substitute.’

– In 1984:  Van Halen held the No.1 position on the US singles chart with ‘Jump’.

– In 1988: Younger brother of The Bee Gees Andy Gibb died in hospital. His death from myocarditis (inflammation of the heart) followed a long battle with cocaine addiction, which had weakened his heart.

– In 1996: Alanis Morissette won Best Album for ‘Jagged Little Pill’, Best Female singer, Best Rock Album, Best songwriter and best single at the 25th Juno Awards held in Hamilton, Canada.

– In 2000: Pretenders singer Chrissie Hynde was arrested for leading an animal rights protest against the clothing firm Gap, who were accused of using leather from cows slaughtered ‘illegally and cruelly’. The protest took place in a store in Manhattan.

– In 2002: Alanis Morissette went to No.1 on the US album chart and No.2 on the UK chart with ‘Under Rug Swept.’

– In 2003: Johnny Cash was admitted to Baptist Hospital in Nashville, Tennessee to undergo treatment for pneumonia.

– In 2005: Michael Jackson arrived in court an hour late dressed in his pyjamas after being treated for a back injury. Jackson was attending the Santa Moria court for his child abuse trial.

– In 2009: Tickets for a one-off gig by Sir Paul McCartney in Las Vegas sold out seven seconds after going on sale. The former Beatle was booked to perform at the opening of the New Joint at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino on 19 April 2009 in-front of 4,000 fans. Tickets cost $750 each.

– In 2010: Pink Floyd won a court battle with EMI that prevented the record company from selling single downloads and ringtones on the Internet from the group’s albums. Pink Floyd’s back catalogue was second in sales to only the Beatles.