Today in Rock n Roll History

1956: Elvis Presley appeared on American TV’s ‘Stage Show’ and performed ‘Heartbreak Hotel’ and ‘Blue Suede Shoes.’

1964: The Beatles perform their first American concert at Washington, D.C.’s Washington Coliseum. Also on the bill are Tommy Roe, the Chiffons, and the Caravelles.

1965: Ringo Starr marries Maureen Cox.They have a son, Zak Starkey, seven months later.They also have a daughter, Lee.The couple divorces in 1975.

1970: Film The Magic Christian starring Peter Sellers and Ringo Starr and featuring Badfinger Come and Get It premieres in New York.

1970: John Lennon and Yoko Ono play “Instant Karma” on the BBC TV show Top of the Pops.

1972: David Bowie performs his first gig as his Ziggy Stardust persona in Tollworth, England.

1983: The Rolling Stones documentary Let’s Spend the Night Together opens in New York.

1984: The Michael Jackson single “Thriller” debuts at No. 20 on Chart Toppers’s Hot 100. It is the highest debuting song of the 1980s, but fails to reach No. 1, topping out at No. 4.

1992: Motley Crue fired singer Vince Neil, claiming Neil didn’t have a passion for music. Neil claimed he was fired for taking a stand against the group’s new musical direction. Neil later re-joined Motley Crue in 1997.

1998: Bernie Taupin’s hand-written lyrics for Elton John’s Candle in the Wind ‘97 sold for $442,500 at Christie’s in Los Angeles. The proceeds benefited the Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles.

2000: A gunman begins firing into the crowd at an Isley Brothers concert in Los Angeles. The suspect is shot and killed by an on-duty police officer.

2001: The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rules that MP3-swapping Web site Napster must stop its users from trading tunes without the permission of their copyright owners. “The court’s decision … confirms that Napster was wrong in exploiting music by artists who do not want to be a part of the Napster system,” crow Napster opponents Metallica (BASTARDS) in a statement.

2008: Heather Mills and Sir Paul McCartney appeared at the High Court in London for a hearing to reach a financial settlement for their divorce. The hearing in the Family Division, which was taking place in private, was expected to last five days. The couple, who had a four-year-old daughter, Beatrice, announced the end of their four-year marriage in 2006. There had been speculation among divorce experts, based on recent cases, that the settlement could reach £60m.

2009: Ronettes singer Estelle Bennett died at her home in Englewood, N.J. She was 67. The 60’s girl group best known for their work with producer Phil Spector had the 1963 hit ‘Be My Baby’ which epitomized the famed “wall of sound” technique.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS
1935: Gene Vincent (Eugene Vincent Craddock) is born in Norfolk, Va. His biggest hit is the top 10 song “Be-Bop-a-Lula” in 1956.
1940: Bobby ‘Boris’ Pickett (Monster Mash)
1953: Alan Rubin aka Mr. Fabulous in Blues Brothers movie
1963: Sheryl Crow, one-time back-up singer for both Michael Jackson and Don Henley, is born in Kennett, Mo.