Sex

The ghost story novella The Turn Of The Screw by Henry James is published. The book will inspire the film The Innocents (1961), which will in turn inspire Kate Bush to write her 1980 song The Infant Kiss.

Due to public outrage over the erotic content of several recent 'race' recordings, the United States Congress in Washington DC, USA, tries but fails to pass a bill forbidding distribution of any "obscene, lewd, lascivious, or filthy publication, picture, disc, transcription, or other article capable of producing sound."

Glen Matlock, future bassist for the first line-up of The Sex Pistols, is born in Paddington, London, England, UK, Europe.

A package tour, The Fantabulous Rock'n'Roll Show of '57, arrives at the Municipal Auditorium, Charleston, West Virginia, USA. Headliners are Ruth Brown, The Coasters, The Drifters, Bo Diddley, Smiley Lewis, The Five Satins and Paul 'Hucklebuck' Williams. When a female Bump'n'Grind duo called The Spence Twins take to the stage in flimsy negligee-like outfits, the place erupts and police have to be called in to stop the show. On the same day, amateur skiffle group The Quarrymen perform from the back of a lorry in Roseberry St, Liverpool, UK. Their guitarist is John Lennon, later to form The Beatles.

Teen pop idol Fabian makes his dramatic debut, playing a pathological killer, in A Lion Walks Among Us, an episode of the ABC-tv series Bus Stop in the USA. The storyline is deemed somewhat risque, so the show's normal sponsors refuse to handle it. Warner Bros step into the sponsorship gap, but critics will describe it as "sleazy", "sex-laden" and "just plain nasty".

The Bachelors play at the first 'Rock'n'Twist' event at The Corn Exchange, Chelmsford, Essex, UK, supported by Dave Martin And The Martells.

US Army Private James Marshall Hendrix, [later to find fame as Jimi Hendrix] is officially discharged from the service. He will claim that this was because of a broken ankle, but his military records show that he told the army psychiatrist that he was a homosexual and was in love with one of his squad mates. Captain John Halbert recommended him for discharge, citing his 'homosexual tendencies'.

The Associated Press reports that Elvis Presley and Ann-Margret, the co-star in his fifteenth movie, Viva Las Vegas, are having a love affair.

Bill Door, owner of Fax Records, is found dead, having been bludgeoned and shot, along with his nude girlfriend Ellen Criss, at his home on Fountain Avenue, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA. Door, whose company manufactured salacious sex-oriented 'party' records, was always controversial and was in trouble with federal authorities for failure to report income. A Los Angeles police spokesman later states, "Door had so many enemies, it was almost impossible to guess who committed the murders."

House Of The Rising Sun by The Animals reaches No1 in the Canadian pop singles chart.

Exotic dancer Little Egypt files suit against Paramount Pictures and Elvis Presley Music in the New York Supreme Court, New York City, USA. She claims to be owed damages because she owns the rights to the song Roustabout, performed by Presley. She will lose the case.

The Fugs play for a private party in the home of Frank Hoffman in Bloomington, Indiana, USA. According to Fugs member Ed Sanders, their performance was taped for the archives of the local Kinsey Institute.

The Fugs play the first of three nights at The Astor Place Playhouse, 434 Lafayette Street, Manhattan, New York City, USA.

The rock musical Hair (which includes a scene with a fully nude cast) is presented during a run of 1,997 performances at the Shaftesbury Theatre, London, England, UK, Europe. The cast includes Marsha Hunt, Paul Nicholas, Sonja Kristina and Jimmy Winston.

The Sex Pistols play at the 100 Club, London, UK, supported by The Clash and Suburban Studs.

When The Clash play a gig in Brighton, Sussex, UK, The Ramones go along to see them.

The Sex Pistols release a new single, God Save The Queen, in the UK. On the same day, Elvis Costello plays his first gig under that name at The Nashville pub in West London.

The BBC Year of the Child Concert is staged at Wembley Arena, London, UK, featuring Wishbone Ash, Cat Stevens, Gary Numan and David Essex.

Benny and Frida of Abba announce that they have started divorce proceedings, in the wake of Benny's revelation of his love for Swedish TV personality Mona Norklit.

Divine plays at Heaven, Charing Cross, London, England, UK, Europe.

The second day of the Futurama Festival 4 in Deeside Leisure Centre, Queensferry, Wales, UK, Europe, features Black, Dead or Alive, Gene Loves Jezebel, Nico, Sex Gang Children, Stockholm Monsters, The Damned, The Danse Society, The March Violets, The Membranes, The Room and The Southern Death Cult.

Sexual Healing by Marvin Gaye becomes the first record for twenty years to rack up ten weeks at No1 on the Billboard R'n'B Singles Chart in the USA. The last one was I Can’t Stop Loving You by Ray Charles.

Alien Sex Fiend release a new LP, Liquid Head In Tokyo, on Anagram Records in the UK.

Sid And Nancy, the film about doomed Sex Pistol Sid Vicious and his girlfriend Nancy Spungen, opens in New York City, USA.

America's Spin magazine, set up two years earlier by Penthouse boss Bob Guccione, as a rival to Rolling Stone, ceases publication, having been hit by bans in major retail outlets related to the publication's 'explicit sexual content'.

The Red Hot Chili Peppers release the Abbey Road E.P., whose cover features the band wearing nothing but socks over their penises.

After Motley Crue’s final show at The Budokan in Tokyo, Japan, Asia, two strippers are the special guests at a bachelor party in a disco for Nikki Sixx, soon to marry Playboy's October 1987 Playmate - Brandi Brandt.

Roman Catholic groups condemn Madonna's Blond Ambition concert tour as blasphemous due to the shows' overtly sexual and religious content. They also announce plans to have her concerts in Rome and Turin cancelled.

Prince shoots a video for the track Sexy Mf in his Paisley Park complex in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Madonna's bustier is stolen from a display in Frederick's of Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA. A US$1,000 reward is offered for its return.

An exhumation order is granted to the Sisters of Our Lady of Charity at High Park Laundry, Drumcondra, Ireland, Europe. When the order is carried out, the bodies of 155 women are found. It transpires that no death certificates had ever been issued for many of these women and that the laundry had been employing them as prostitutes for many years. The story will become a major scandal and will inspire Joni Mitchell to write her 1994 song The Magdalene Laundries.

Mia Zapata, lead singer for Seattle-based punk band The Gits is beaten, strangled and possibly raped, in the Central District of Seattle, Washington, USA. The Seattle music community, including its most famous bands - Nirvana, Pearl Jam and Soundgarden - will help raise $70,000 to hire a private investigator for three years, but no killer is ever identified.

Michael Jackson fans turn out in cities across the world including London, Paris, Rome, Las Vegas, Los Angeles and New York to hold candlelit vigils in support of their beleaguered idol, currently facing child molestation charges in California, USA.

Nathan Moore, former lead singer of hit-making 1980s pop group Brother Beyond, is arrested in the Kings Cross area of London, England, UK, Europe. He had appoached a woman he thought was a prostitute and requested a sexual favour, but she was in fact an undercover police officer. A week later, Moore will plead guilty to charges of kerb crawling, and will be fined £250 and ordered to play £50 costs.

During a tv interview in the USA, Michael Jackson claims that his fame has made him a target for those who wish to make money by falsely accusing him of, among other things, molesting small children.

Static-X guitarist Todd Salvador (aka Tripp Eisen) is arrested in California, USA, after being caught sleeping in a car with an under-age girl. He is released on bail of $100,000.

In Los Angeles, California, USA, the prosecution opens its case with accusations that Michael Jackson used wine and pornography to seduce a 13-year-old boy. The defense counters that no DNA from the accuser has been found in Jackson's bedroom.

On his AmericanaramA tour, Bob Dylan plays at Aaron's Amphitheatre @ Lakewood, Atlanta, Georgia, USA, with Wilco and My Morning Jacket. During the show, Dylan becomes visibly annoyed by the intrusive playing of guitarist Duke Robillard. Within days, Robillard will be removed and replaced by Charlie Sexton.

Ian Brown, best-known as the singer of The Stone Roses, testifies in Minshull Street Crown Court, Manchester, UK, that Fred Talbot, his biology teacher at Altrincham Grammar School, showed his class pornographic films and taught the boys how to masturbate. Talbot later became a tv weatherman, and is now on trial charged with ten offences of indecent assault on five boys while working as a teacher in the late 1960s and early 1980s.

Gary Glitter is found guilty at Southwark Crown Court, London, England, UK, Europe, of a series of child sex offences on three young girls, aged between 8 and 13. His sentence could be up to life imprisonment.

It is reported that Robbie Williams' former personal assistant Gilles De Bonfilhs has requested the dismissal of his sexual harassment lawsuit against the singer and his wife Ayda Field. As a result, the lawsuit has been thrown out of court in Los Angeles, California, USA.

Disgraced entertainer Rolf Harris's conviction on the charge that he had indecently assaulted an eight-year-old girl at a community centre in Portsmouth in 1969 is overturned on the grounds that it was unsafe.