March 31

Birthdays

1908: Red Norvo (Jazz Vibraphonist)

1921: Lowell Fulson (Blues Guitarist)

1928: Lefty Frizzell (Country Artist)

1933: Ina Anita Carter (The Carter Family)

1934: Shirley Jones (Singer & Mother on The Partridge Family)

1935: Herb Alpert (Jazz Musician)

1944: Mick Ralphs (Guitarist for Mott The Hoople)

1946: Allan Nichol (The Turtles)

1947: Jon Poulos (Drums for The Buckinghams)

1953: Sean Hooper (Huey Lewis and the News)

1954: Tony Brock (The Tubes, The Babys)

1955: Angus Young (Guitarist for AC/DC)

1958: Pat McGlynn (Bay City Rollers)

1958: Paul Ferguson (Killing Joke)

Events

1949: After nine years of development, the first 45 rpm record is introduced by the RCA Victor label, a 7-inch wonder promising better sound and easier playability than the current standard, the 12" 78 rpm record.

1956: Brenda Lee makes her US television debut, singing an unrehearsed version of Hank Williams' "Jambalaya" on ABC-TV's Ozark Jamboree.

1957: Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Carl Perkins begin their first and only tour together, a Southern swing that begins tonight in Little Rock, AK.

1958: Chuck Berry releases "Johnny B. Goode"

1959: NBC-TV's Jimmie Rodgers Show -- featuring a regular performer by the name of Connie Francis -- debuts.

1962: The Shirelles "Soldier Boy" is released.

1967: Jimi Hendrix plays his first British concert, on a bill with Cat Stevens, The Walker Brothers, and Englebert Humperdinck at the Rainbow Theatre in Finsbury Park, England. (Seriously.) On a whim, Hendrix sets fire to his guitar with lighter fluid for the first time, but burns his hands so badly he is admitted to a nearby hospital.

1969: George Harrison and his wife, Pattie, appear in court in Surrey, England, to answer recent charges of marijuana resin possession. Both are fined 250 pounds. On the same day, John Lennon and new wife Yoko Ono leave their "bed-in" at the Amsterdam Hilton in order to "make a lightning trip" to Vienna and premiere Yoko's new film Rape. The Viennese trip is detailed in the next Beatles single, "The Ballad Of John And Yoko."

1972: The official Beatles Fan Club disbands.

1974: Television appeared at CBGB's in New York City.

1977: During intermission at Elvis Presley's latest show in Baton Rouge, LA, the King becomes too ill to return to the stage. The concert is canceled and Elvis is admitted to Baptist Hospital in Memphis the next day, suffering from "fatigue" and "intestinal flu."

1981: 1st Golden Raspberry Awards: The Village People movie “Can't Stop the Music” wins.

1982: After twelve years together, the Doobie Brothers announce their breakup.

1984: Kenny Loggins started a three week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Footloose', the theme from the film with the same name.

1986: O’Kelly Isley (The Isley Brothers) suddenly died of a heart attack at the age of 48.

1992: White Zombie's "La Sexorcisto: Devil Music Vol. One" was released. It was their major label debut album.

1992: “Human touch” and “Lucky Day”, both by Bruce Springsteen were released.

1994: Madonna appeared on The Late Show With David Letterman from New York City. The network had to delete 13 offending words from the interview before the show aired. Madonna also handed Letterman a pair of her panties and told him to sniff them. He declined and stuffed them into his desk drawer.

1995: An audience member rushes the stage at a Jimmy Page/Robert Plant concert at The Palace in Auburn Hills, MI, determined to stab the guitarist to end his "Satanic" music. Two security guards that apprehend him are stabbed instead, but recover.

1995: Mexican American singer Selena was murdered aged 23 by the president of her fan club Yolanda Saldívar. Warner Brothers made a film based on her life starring Jennifer Lopez in 1997.

2001: Whitney Houston and husband Bobby Brown were banned for life from Hollywood's Bel Air hotel after wrecking their room. Hotel workers said a TV was smashed, two doors were ripped of their hinges and the walls and carpets were stained by alcohol. It was reported that Whitney called in her lawyers to plead with the hotel management not to call the police. The suite was so badly damaged it had to be shut for five days for repairs.

2005: Rap record company boss Marion "Suge" Knight was ordered to pay $107m to a woman who claimed she helped found Death Row label in 1989, one of hip-hop's top labels with artists including Tupac Shakur, Dr Dre and Snoop Dogg. Lydia Harris said she invested in Death Row but was pushed out by Mr Knight.