In 1959, Lloyd Price sang "Personality" and Frankie Avalon sang "A Boy Without A Girl" on CBS-TV's "The Ed Sullivan Show."
In 1962, at the Atlantic Studios in New York City, the Drifters recorded "Up On The Roof." In 2004, The Drifters' "Up on the Roof" was named #113 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time list. It is one of The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll.
In 1964, Frank Sinatra sang "My Kind Of Town" on CBS-TV's "The Ed Sullivan Show."
In 1965, Dick Clark’s afternoon teen music show, 'Where The Action Is,' made its debut on ABC. The "house" band was Paul Revere & The Raiders.
In 1966, ABC-TV's "Where the Action Is" featured guest performers Gary Lewis & the Playboys, Bobby Freeman, and Bob Kuban & the In Men.
In 1967, at Bell Sound Studios in New York City, Spanky And Our Gang recorded "Lazy Day."
Working at Abbey Road studios in 1968, the Beatles recorded "Good Night," John Lennon’s lullaby for his 5-year-old son Julian, with Ringo singing the lead vocal. The track appeared on the White Album.
In 1968, Aretha Franklin appeared on the cover of Time magazine.
In 1968, at the NBC Studios in Burbank, California, Elvis Presley taped the "gospel medley" portion of his upcoming TV special, as well as a controversial "bordello" scene that was never broadcast because the sponsor, Singer Sewing Machines, worried that it might upset viewers.
In 1969, Henry Mancini started a two week run at #1 on the US singles chart with "Love Theme from Romeo And Juliet."
In 1969, the Bath Festival in England features Led Zeppelin, Fleetwood Mac, John Mayall, Nice, Ten Years After and others. A total of 12,000 attend.
In 1973, in New York City, one of the first British Invasion revival concerts was held at Madison Square Garden. The show featured Wayne Fontana & the Mindbenders, Gerry and the Pacemakers, the Searchers, and Herman's Hermits. The last time any of them were on the U.S. record charts was in early 1968.
In 1974, Elton John released the album 'Caribou,' recorded at the Caribou Ranch Studios in Colorado. The album contains the singles, "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me," which reached #16 in the UK Singles Chart and #2 in the US and "The Bitch Is Back," which reached #15 in the UK and #4 in the US.
In 1975, the Eagles started a five-week run at #1 on the US album chart with 'One Of These Nights.'
In 1975, singer songwriter Tim Buckley completed the last show of a tour in Dallas, Texas, playing to a sold-out crowd of 1,800 people. This was Buckley’s last ever show, he died the following day of a heroin and morphine overdose (age 28).
In 1977, Elton John achieved a life long ambition when he became the Chairman of Watford Football Club.
In 1980, Paul McCartney's "Coming Up" became one of the few 'live' recordings to reach the top of Billboard's Hot 100. However, American disc jockeys preferred it to the studio version on the flip side of the record.
On this day in 1982, "Don't You Want Me" by Human League was the #1 song.
In 1986, Wham! made their farewell concert appearance at London's Wembley Stadium. Elton John made an appearance in a clown suit to sing a song and then came back later to sing "Candle In The Wind" with George Michael.
In 1991, at Liverpool Cathedral, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra performed Paul McCartney's first classical composition, "Liverpool Oratorio."
In 1996, in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, Def Leppard began the North American leg of their 133-date Slang world tour at the Blossom Music Center.
In 1996, in London, Burt Bacharach performed at the Royal Albert Hall. Oasis guitarist Noel Gallagher joined him onstage for a rendition of the Bacharach composition "This Guy's In Love With You."
In 1996, Van Halen announce Sammy Hagar has left the group. The group’s planned recording with original vocalist David Lee Roth is a straw that breaks Hagar. Meanwhile, KISS begin their reunion tour in Detroit.
On June 28, 1997, the classic Pink Floyd album ‘Dark Side of the Moon’ spent its 1056th week on the US album chart. It was rumored at the time that if the album was played while watching The Wizard of Oz movie, and started exactly when the MGM lion roared the third time during the movie’s intro, very interesting connections could be made between the two. One in every fourteen people in the US under the age of 50 is estimated to own, or to have owned, a copy.
In 1997, George Harrison had an operation to remove a cancerous growth from his neck.
In 2005, U2 sued Lola Cashman, one of their former stylists, to regain possession of about $6,000 worth of memorabilia, which includes a cowboy hat and a pair of pants worn by Bono. The band claims Cashman wrongly appropriated the items during the band's 1987 Joshua Tree tour. "They sound like trivial items, they're really not," says Bono in a Dublin court. "They are important . . . to the group." The judge rules in U2's favor.
In 2007, "I Don't Wanna Stop" was Ozzy Osbourne's first #1 on Billboard's Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks. The song ended an eight-week run by Linkin Park's "What I've Done."
Also in 2007, Benno Goldewijk, from Holland, and Spaniard Alfredo Pecina Matias were killed and two other men were injured during an accident dismantling the stage after a Rolling Stones concert in Madrid. Three of the workers fell 33ft from a metal structure and landed on a fourth. The Stones were currently on the European leg of their A Bigger Bang world tour.
In 2007, the Spice Girls confirmed they would reform for a world tour to take place in December 2007 and January 2008 with the original line-up who had not performed on stage since Ginger Spice Geri Halliwell quit in May 1998. The 11 dates announced included a London show on 15 December, eight days after the first date in Los Angeles. Other dates included Cologne, Madrid Beijing, Hong Kong, Sydney and Cape Town. The tour was being put together by Simon Fuller, whose 19 company masterminded the group's global success more than a decade ago.
In 2010, a Los Angeles woman paid $190,000 for the Swarovski-crystal-studded glove that Michael Jackson wore on his 1984 Victory Tour. Julien's Auctions, which ran the auction at Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas, also sold a Jimi Hendrix Fender guitar for $180,000, Prince's "Purple Rain" handwritten lyrics for $66,000, and an Elvis Presley shirt worn in 1956 on "The Milton Berle Show," went for $61,200.
birthdays today include (among others): Dave Knights (Procol Harum) (68), Andy Cousin (All About Eve) (50), Charles Clouser (Nine Inch Nails) (50), Saul Davis (James) (48) and Mark Stoermer (Killers) (33)