Musician Birthdays: Sammy Davis Jr. (Singer/actor, born in 1925), Jim Morrison (singer of the Doors, born in 1943), Greg Allman (guitarist for the Allman Brothers, born in 1947), Sinead O’ Connor (Singer/songwriter, born in 1966), Corey Taylor (guitarist/singer for Slipknot and Stone Sour, born in 1973)

– In 1961: The Beach Boys first single ‘Surfin’ was released on Candix Records, a small label based in Los Angeles.

– In 1963: Frank Sinatra Jr was kidnapped at gunpoint from a hotel in Lake Tahoe. He was released two days later after his father paid out the $240,000 ransom demanded by the kidnappers, who were later captured, and sentenced to long prison terms. In order to communicate with the kidnappers via a payphone the senior Sinatra carried a roll of dimes with him throughout this ordeal, which became a lifetime habit, he is said to have been buried with a roll of dimes.

– In 1965: The Rolling Stones recorded their ninth UK single ‘19th Nervous Breakdown’ at RCA studios in Hollywood, California.

– In 1966: Working at Abbey Road in London, Paul McCartney overdubbed his lead vocal for ‘When I’m Sixty-Four’. Then The Beatles set about remaking a new John Lennon song ‘Strawberry Fields Forever.’

– In 1968: Singer and guitarist Graham Nash left The Hollies and started work with David Crosby and Stephen Stills who went on to form Crosby Stills and Nash.

– In 1969: Mick Jagger was quoted saying ‘I don’t really like singing very much, I enjoy playing the guitar more than I enjoy singing and I can’t play the guitar either’.

– In 1969: On trial in Canada on drug possession charges, Jimi Hendrix told a Toronto court that he had only smoked pot four times in his life, snorted cocaine twice and took LSD no more than five times. Telling the jury that he had now ‘outgrown’ drugs. They find the guitarist not guilty.

– In 1977: Four people were arrested after a riot broke out when Blondie didn’t arrive for a gig in Brisbane. Over 1,000 Australian fans had waited over an hour for the group to appear on stage, but the gig was cancelled due to singer Debbie Harry being unwell.

– In 1979: Styx went to No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘Babe’, the group’s only US No.1, a No.6 hit in the UK.

– In 1980: John Lennon was shot five times by 25 year old Mark Chapman outside the Dakota building in New York City where John and Yoko lived. Chapman had been stalking Lennon for days outside the Dakota apartments and asked for an autograph as Lennon walked through the courtyard. As he signed a piece of paper Chapman fired. Lennon was pronounced dead from a massive loss of blood at 11.30pm.

– In 1982: American country singer, songwriter Marty Robbins died aged 57 of complications following cardiac surgery. Had the first No.1 of the 60’s in the US with ‘El Paso’, (winning him a Grammy Award). Robbins later portrayed a musician in the 1982 Clint Eastwood film Honkytonk Man.

– In 1984: Hall and Oates started a two week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘Out Of Touch’, the duo’s 6th US No.1, it made No.48 in the UK.

– In 1984: Vince Neil from Motley Crue was involved in a car accident in Redondo Beach, Ca, which killed Nick Dingley from Hanoi Rocks and injured two other passengers. Neil was jailed for 20 days and paid $2.6 million in compensation.

– In 1995: Courtney Love appeared on the ABC TV show ’10 Most Fascinating People’, telling the presenter that she wished she had done ‘eight thousand million things differently’ to have prevented the death of her husband Kurt Cobain.

– In 2000: A plaque to commemorate the 20th anniversary of John Lennon’s death was unveiled outside his childhood home in Liverpool.

– In 2000: Sting joined the ranks of Tinseltown’s greatest when his star was unveiled on the celebrated Walk Of Fame in Hollywood.

– In 2004: Former Pantera guitarist Dimebag Darrell was one of five people killed after a man stormed the stage during a Damageplan show at the Alrosa Villa Club in Columbus. Nathan Gale, aged 25, began firing at the band and crowd, was then shot and killed by a police officer who arrived shortly after the first shots were fired.

Musician Birthdays: Harry Chapin (singer/songwriter who wrote “Cats in the Cradle”, born in 1942), Tom Waits (singer/songwriter/actor, born in 1942)

– In 1963: The Beatles second album ‘With The Beatles’ started a 21-week run at No.1 on the UK album chart. It replaced their first album ‘Please Please me’ which had been at the top of the charts since it’s release 30 weeks previously. Also today, all four Beatles appeared on BBC TV’s ‘Juke Box Dury’. Some of the songs The Beatles judged were ‘Kiss Me Quick’ by Elvis Presley, ‘The Hippy Hippy Shake’ by the Swinging Blue Jeans. ‘Did You Have a Happy Birthday’ by Paul Anka and ‘Where Have You Been All My Life’ by Gene Vincent.

– In 1964: Beach Boy Brian Wilson married Marilyn Rovell in L.A. The couple divorced in 1979. Marilyn and her sister and cousin were in a group, the Honeys, who were produced by Brian Wilson. Marilyn and Brian had two daughters, Carnie and Wendy, who became members of Wilson Phillips.

– In 1967: Otis Redding went into the studio to record ‘(Sittin’ On) The Dock Of The Bay’. The song went on to be his biggest hit. Redding didn’t see its release; he was killed three days later in a plane crash.

– In 1968: The Beatles ‘White Album’ started a seven-week run at No.1 on the UK chart. The double set was the first on the Apple label and featured ‘Back In The USSR’, ‘Dear Prudence’, and the Harrison song ‘While My Guitar Gently Weeps.’

– In 1974: Carl Douglas started a two week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘Kung Fu Fighting’. The song was recorded in 10 minutes, had started out as a B-side and went on to sell over 10 million.

– In 1979: The Police had their second UK No.1 single with ‘Walking on the Moon’, taken from their second album ‘Reggatta De Blanc’. The video for the song was filmed at Kennedy Space Center interspersed with NASA footage.

– In 1991: George Michael and Elton John were at No.1 in the UK with a live version of ‘Don’t Let The Sun Go down On Me’, (a hit for Elton in 1974). All proceeds from the hit went to aids charities.

– In 1991: Michael Jackson started a 7 week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘Black Or White’, his 12th solo No.1, also a No.1 in the UK.

– In 1991: Two weeks after Freddie Mercury’s death ‘Queen’s Greatest Hits II’ started a four week run at No.1 on the UK album chart.

– In 1991: U2 went to No.1 on the US album charts with ‘Achtung Baby’. Featuring ‘One’, Zoo Station’, ‘The Fly’ and ‘Even Better Than The Real Thing’.

– In 1992: Mariah Carey’s MTV Unplugged EP became the first Sony Minidisc to be released in the US.

– In 1996: Bush went to No. 1 on the US album chart with ‘Razorblade Suitcase’.

– In 2003: Britney Spears was at No.1 on the US album chart with ‘In The Zone’ the singer’s fourth US No.1 album. The singer broke her own record from being the first female artist to have three albums enter the US chart at No.1 to being the first female artist to have 4 albums enter at No.1 consecutively.