The Pretenders

1964, EMI sends Kit Lambert a letter of rejection for The High Numbers. That was the original  band name for The Who. The rejection letter is later included with the Live At Leeds album. Since the reason the group is rejected is their lack of original material, Kit and Chris Stamp set up Pete with a Vortexion reel-to-reel recorder and tell him to get writing.  From this time on almost all Pete Townshend songs will be written and presented as completed demos, a style of presentation then unknown in England. His first pieces with the new system are a dance song called “You Don’t Have To Jerk” and a male chauvinist/hot-rod song (meant to appeal to both Roger and Keith) named “Call Me Lightning.”

1966, The Supremes had their first number one album with The Supremes a Go Go, knocking The Beatles Revolver, from the top of the charts.

1966, The Beach Boys “Good Vibrations” made its debut on the singles chart. Written by Brian Wilson and Mike Love, the track was recorded over 6 weeks in four different Los Angeles studios, at a cost of over $16,000 (£10,000.) The recording engineer would later say that the last take sounded exactly like the first, six months earlier. The record would reach number one on the charts in December 1966.

1967, The Who play two shows at the Saville Theatre in London, preceded by Vanilla Fudge and Studio Six. Before the show, Pete is interviewed on camera about illicit drugs by Australian director Peter Clifton. During the show, Pete plays a two-necked guitar and Keith wears a jester’s outfit.

1969, American singer Tommy Edwards died after suffering a brain aneurysm in Henrico County, Virginia, at the age of 47. He had the 1958 US and UK top single “It’s All In The Game.”

1969, Paul McCartney publicly denied rumors that he was dead. The most recent of many “clues” of this death hoax was the fact that he was the only barefoot Beatle on the newly released Abby Road LP cover. The story was actually started as a prank by Fred La Bour, a sports and arts writer for the student paper, The Michigan Daily at the University of Michigan.

1969, Led Zeppelin II was released on Atlantic Records in the UK. The Jimmy Page-produced album which was recorded over six months between four European and three American tours, peaked at number one in both the UK and the US, going on to sell over 12 million copies in the US alone, and spending 138 weeks on the UK chart. The album is now recognized by writers and music critics as one of the greatest and most influential rock albums ever recorded.

1970, The Who appear at the ABC Cinema in Stockton-on-Tees, England.

1970, Pink Floyd played at the Fillmore West, San Francisco, along with the Roger Wagner Chorale, three French horns, three trombones, three trumpets, and a tuba. They were there for the second ever stage performance of the “Atom Heart Mother Suite.”

1971, The Who perform at the Opera House in Blackpool, Lancashire, England.

1973, Roxy Music appear at City Hall, Sheffield, England.

1974, David Bowie plays at the Arie Crown Theater, Chicago.

1975, The Allman Brothers Band perform at the Civic Center, Bakersfield, California.

1976, Frank Zappa appears at the Memorial Auditorium, Buffalo, New York.

1978, Bob Dylan plays at the University Of Dayton Arena, Dayton, Ohio.

1979, The Pretenders started a run of four consecutive Monday nights at the Marquee Club in London.

1980, The Grateful Dead kicked off an eight night performance at Radio City Music Hall in New York.

1982, Mayor Sara Robertson in Worcester, MA, declared today Van Halen Day, in response to local fans collecting 25,000 signatures requesting the band add a second show to their tour.

1983, Culture Club went to number one on the album chart with their second release Colour By Numbers.

1988, Phil Collins started a two week run at number one on the singles chart with “Groovy Kind Of Love,” his 6th chart topper.

1988, U2 scored their fourth number one album with the double set and film soundtrack Rattle And Hum, featuring their first number one single “Desire.”

1989, English folk singer, songwriter, poet, and record producer Ewan MacColl died aged 74. He wrote “Dirty Old Town” and “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face,” which became a number one hit for Roberta Flack in 1972. Acts including Planxty, The Dubliners, Elvis Presley and Johnny Cash recorded his songs. He was the father of singer, songwriter Kirsty MacColl.

1990, Pearl Jam played their first ever concert when they appeared at the Off Ramp in Seattle.

1993, Oasis signed a six-album deal with Creation Records for a £40,000 ($64,000) advance.

2000, George Michael paid £1.45 ($2.32) million for the Steinway piano on which John Lennon wrote “Imagine.” George said, “I know that when my fingers touch the keys of that Steinway, I will feel truly blessed. And parting with my money has never been much of a problem, just ask my accountant.” The singer outbid Robbie Williams and The Oasis brothers.

2000, Pearl Jam appeared at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, California, celebrating the tenth anniversary of their first live performance as a band.

2008, A homeless man claimed a £2,000 ($3200) reward by returning a waxwork head of ex-Beatle Sir Paul McCartney which had been left on a train. Anthony Silva found the item in a bin at Reading station after auctioneer Joby Carter left it under a seat at Maidenhead station. The homeless man thought it was a Halloween mask and had been using it as a pillow before realizing what it was. The wax model sold the following week for £5,500 ($8800) at auction.

Born on this day: Timothy Leary  (1920); Bobby Fuller, The Bobby Fuller Four (1942); Leslie West, Mountain (1945); and Eddie Brigati, vocals, The Young Rascals (1946); Greg Hawkes, keyboards, The Cars (1952); Stiv Bators, vocals, Dead Boys, Wanderers, Lords Of The New Church (1956); Cris Kirkwood, singer-songwriter, bass, Meat Puppets (1960); Jon Foreman, singer-songwriter, guitarist Switchfoot,  Fiction Family (1976)

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