Births
1938: Maurice Williams (R&B
Singer)
1940: Nik Turner (Sax,
Flute & Vocals for Hawkwind)
1942: Chris Curtis
(Drums for The Searchers & Deep Purple)
1942: Maureen
"Moe" Tucker (Drums for The Velvet Underground)
1948: Valerie Simpson
(Vocals in Ashford and Simpson)
1948: Jet
Black (Brian Duffy) (Drums for The Stranglers)
1960:
Branford Marsalis (Jazz Sax player)
1965: Annie
Holland (Bass for Elastica)
1966: Dan
Vickrey (Lead Guitarist for Counting Crows)
1969:
Adrian Young (Drummer for No Doubt)
1986:
Cassie (Cassie Ventura) (R&B Singer)
Events
1967: The Beatles
follow their favorite new lecturer, the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, to University
College in Bangor, North Wales, along with Mick Jagger and his girlfriend
Marianne Faithfull. After his lecture the group holds a press conference to
announce that they've become his disciples in the "Spiritual Regeneration
Movement" and officially renounced the use of all drugs.
1969: Although Elvis
Presley has written a soprano part for backup singer Cissy Houston during
"Are You Lonesome Tonight?" her actual live performance of it tonight
at the International Hotel in Vegas strikes Elvis as amazingly funny for some
reason, leading to a collector's classic: a performance where the King cannot
stop laughing. "That's it, man, fourteen years right down the drain,"
he jokes as the song ends.
1969: Elvis Presley
released the single "Suspicious Minds”.
1970: The famous
three-day Isle of Wight rock festival begins in England, featuring Bob Dylan,
Joan Baez, Joni Mitchell, Donovan, Jethro Tull, Miles Davis, Mungo Jerry,
Emerson Lake and Palmer, The Doors, The Who, Spirit, The Moody Blues, Chicago,
Procol Harum, Sly and the Family Stone, Free, and, in what would be his last
appearance on a British stage, Jimi Hendrix.
1970: After an
all-night jam, the Allman Brothers' Duane Allman asks Eric Clapton if he can
attend the recording sessions for his new group, Derek and the Dominoes.
Clapton agrees, only on the condition that Allman also play on the sessions.
1973: 10cc makes its
stage debut at the Palace Lido on England's Isle of Man.
1974: John
Denver records "Thank God I'm A Country Boy" at the Universal
Amphitheatre in Los Angeles in his first night of concerts that become the album
"An Evening With John Denver".
1977: The Pretenders played their first public gig,
opening for Strangeways.
1980: Tom Peterson quit Cheap Trick due to the
"personal and musical differences." He was replaced by Pete Comita.
However, he returned to the group in 1988.
1981: The mayor of
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, Marion Dewar, declares today "Paul Anka Day"
in honor of its native son.
1983: The film Merry
Christmas, Mr. Lawrence, starring David Bowie, opens in New York City.
1987: Sonny Bono of
Sonny and Cher announces his intention to run for mayor of Palm Springs, CA,
after frustration over his inability to get a new sign approved by the city
council for his local restaurant, Bono's. He won and served one four-year term,
and eventually became a Congressman for the district in 1994.
1990: Randy Newman wins
an unlikely Emmy for his score to the legendary ABC-TV flop series Cop Rock.
1993: A recording of
the Beatles playing "Kansas City" and "Some Other Guy" at
the Cavern Club in Liverpool in 1962 fetches a record of approximately $32,000
at Christie's auction house in London.
1995: Ronnie White (The
Miracles) died after a battle with leukemia at age 56.
1997: Chad
Smith of the Red Hot Chili Peppers was admitted to hospital after crashing on
his motorbike while driving down Sunset Boulevard.
1997: Creed released their debut album "My Own
Prison".
2000:
Country singer Jamie O'Neal marries Rodney Good in Seaside, Florida, just weeks
after she finishes recording her debut album.
2000:
Country singer Pam Tillis joins the Grand Ole Opry, performing "All The
Good Ones Are Gone" and "Maybe It Was Memphis," on the same
evening that Darryl Worley makes his Opry debut.
2000:
Rascal Flatts lead singer Gary LeVox and his wife, Tara, have their first
daughter, Brittany Kay, in Nashville.
2000:
Douglas Allen Woody former bass player with The Allman Brothers & Gov’t
Mule was found dead in New York.
2002: Herman's Hermits
leader and lead singer Peter Noone files an unsuccessful lawsuit against former
Hermits drummer Barry Whitwam, attempting to block him from touring with new
musicians under the group name.
2004:
Singer Laura Branigan died of a brain aneurysm at age 47. She had had a 1982 US
No.2 & UK No.6 single with ‘Gloria’ and a 1984 US No.4 & UK No.5 with
‘Self Control’. She had also played Janis Joplin in the US musical Love, Janis.
2005: A post office in Los Angeles is officially renamed after singer
Ray Charles due to its close proximity to the studio where he recorded later in
life.
2007: Police who raided the home of US rap star DMX, found 12
neglected pit bull terrier dogs and a number of guns. The bodies of three more
dogs had been buried. No arrests were made and DMX told police he had not been
at the property in Arizona for at least two months. The rapper who had launched
his own range of dog clothing, including caps, scarves and raincoats for
canines also featured on the cover of his latest album, Year of the Dog...
Again, with a pit bull straining at the leash.
2007: Country singer Billy
Currington travels to Hawaii to begin therapy for anger issues related to the
abuse he suffered from a stepfather in childhood. The abuser was actually the
subject of Currington's first hit, "Walk A Little Straighter".
