Musician Birthdays: Rob Thomas (singer of Matchbox Twenty, famous for the hit, “Push”, born in 1972)

– In 1961: The Beatles perform at the Cassanova Club, Liverpool, and at Litherland Town Hall, Liverpool where they play a special Valentine’s Day show. Paul McCartney sang Elvis Presley’s “Wooden Heart”, wearing wooden heart pinned to his coat, covered with satin and embroidered with the names “John”, “Paul”, “George”, and “Pete”. The heart was raffled off, and the winner also won a kiss from Paul.

– In 1970: The Who appeared at Leeds University, England. The show was recorded for the bands forthcoming ‘Live At Leeds’ album. The University of Leeds refectory, has now been named a national landmark in the UK, commemorated with a blue plaque.

– In 1972: John Lennon and Yoko Ono started a week long run as co-hosts on ‘Mike Douglas’ US TV show

– In 1973: David Bowie collapsed on stage during a concert at Radio City Music Hall in New York City.

– In 1977: US singer songwriter Janis Ian received 461 Valentine’s day cards after indicating in the lyrics of her song ‘At Seventeen’, she had never received any.

– In 1978: Dire Straits began recording their first album at Basing Street Studios, London. The whole project cost £12,500 ($21,250) to produce. The album which featured the group’s breakthrough single ‘Sultans of Swing’ went on to enjoy a 132 week run on the UK chart.

– In 1986: Frank Zappa appeared on an episode of the television series Miami Vice. Zappa portrayed a crime boss named ‘Mr. Frankie.’

– In 1987: Bon Jovi started a four week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘Livin’ On A Prayer’, the group’s second US No.1, a No.4 hit in the UK.

– In 1992: The film ‘Waynes World’, which featured appearances from Meat Loaf and Alice Cooper premiered in the US. The use of Queen’s ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ in the film propelled the song to No.2 on the US singles charts nearly 20 years after its first release.

– In 1995: Rapper Tupac Shakur was sentenced to one-and-a-half to four-and-a-half years in prison on a sexual abuse charge. He was later released on appeal.

– In 1998: Celine Dion’s ‘My Heart Will Go On’ set a new recorded for the most radio plays in the US with 116 million plays in one week.

– In 1999: Elton John appeared as himself in a special episode of the animated series The Simpsons shown on US TV.

– In 2003: Stolen reel-to-reel studio recordings by The Beatles were found in Australia. Police recovered the tapes of the bands 1968 ‘White album’ and the ‘Abbey Road’ album after they were advertised for sale in a Sydney newspaper. Australian police had been tipped off by British detectives from Operation Acetone, an investigation into thefts of original Beatles music from Abbey Road studios in London in the 1960’s .

– In 2009:  Bruce Springsteen went to No.1 on the US album chart with ‘Working on a Dream’, his 16th studio album.

Musician Birthdays: Peter Tork (singer, bassist of the Monkees, born in 1944), Peter Gabriel (former singer of Genesis, solo career, famous for hits, “Sledgehammer”, “Red Rain”, “Digging In the Dirt”, and more. Born in 1950), Henry Rollins (singer, actor, spoken word artist, born in 1961)

– In 1961: Frank Sinatra launched his own record label, Reprise Records, in order to allow more artistic freedom for his own recordings. Hence, he garnered the nickname “The Chairman of the Board.” One of the label’s founding principles under Sinatra’s leadership was that each artist would have full creative freedom, and at some point complete ownership of their work; including publishing rights. Reprise later became the home of many influential US acts such as Neil Young, Jimi Hendrix, Joni Mitchell, Randy Newman and The Beach Boys.

– In 1967: The Monkees announced that from now on they would be playing on their own recordings instead of session musicians.

– In 1967: The Beatles released the double A sided single ‘Strawberry Fields Forever/Penny Lane’ on Capitol Records in the US. The single spent 10 weeks on the chart peaking at No.1.

– In 1969: Bob Dylan recorded versions of ‘Lay, Lady, Lay’, at Columbia Recording Studios in Nashville, Tennessee. ‘Lay Lady Lay’ was originally written for the soundtrack of the movie Midnight Cowboy, but wasn’t submitted in time to be included in the finished film. The song has gone on to become a standard and has been covered by numerous bands and artists over the years, including The Byrds, Ramblin’ Jack Elliott, The Everly Brothers, Neil Diamond, Melanie, The Isley Brothers, Duran Duran, Hoyt Axton and Isaac Hayes amongst others.

– In 1970: On this day, Friday the 13th, Black Sabbath released their debut self-titled studio album on Vertigo records in the UK. Peaking at #8 on the charts, the album has been recognised as the first main album to be credited with the development of the heavy metal genre.

– In 1971: The Osmonds started a five week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘One Bad Apple’. The group had been appearing on TV in the US from 1962, on the Andy Williams Show and then the Jerry Lewis show.

– In 1973: After becoming ill during a concert in Las Vegas Elvis Presley presented Doctor Sidney Bowers with a Lincoln Continental to show his appreciation for all his work.

– In 1976: Genesis released their first album since the departure of Peter Gabriel, ‘A Trick Of The Tail’ featuring eight new tracks with drummer Phill Collins taking on the role of lead vocalist.

– In 1980: Police raided the home of former Sex Pistol John Lydon who greeted them waving a ceremonial sword, the only illegal item they found was a canister of tear gas, claimed to be for defence against intruders.

– In 1982: The Jam became the first band since The Beatles to play two numbers on the same edition of ‘Top Of The Pops’, when they performed ‘A Town Called Malice’, and ‘Precious’, their latest double A sided No.1.

– In 1997: Michael Jackson became a father when Debbie Rowe gave birth to a baby boy, Prince Michael Jackson Jr.

– In 2002: American country singer, songwriter Waylon Jennings died in his sleep after a lengthy fight with diabetes. Was bassist for Buddy Holly following the break-up of The Crickets. Released a series of duet albums with Willie Nelson in the late 1970s. Scored the 1980 US No.21 single ‘Theme From The Dukes Of Hazzard’, he was also the narrator on the television series. Member of The Highwaymen with Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash, and Kris Kristofferson.

– In 2004: Led Zeppelin were awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award at this year’s Grammys. Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones and Jason Bonham all attended. Robert Plant did not, since he was working on a new album and tour.

– In 2010: Doug Fieger singer, songwriter with The Knack died after a long battle with cancer. Had the 1979 US No.1 & UK No.6 single ‘My Sharona’.