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The Washington Post reports that Catholic bishops in Nashville (Tennessee) and Cincinnati (Ohio) have told their flocks that dancers of the Turkey Trot will not be forgiven for their sins. This is part of an ongoing effort to ban such modern 'animal' dances as The Turkey Trot, Grizzly Bear and Bunny Hug, which are widely considered immoral, and are usually performed to the accompaniment of ragtime or jazz music.
During a concert at the Mechanic's Hall, Boston, Massachusetts, USA, ragtime and jazz bandleader, arranger and composer James Reese Europe is attacked with a knife and killed by percussionist Herbert Wright. Europe is just 38 and dies from a severed jugular vein.
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Billboard magazine in the USA reviews a new novelty release, There's A New Sound by Tony Burrello, declaring it to be "a studied attempt to be as screwy as possible." The track is an example of early experimentation with new recording techniques such as reversing, speeding up and slowing down of tapes, sometimes called 'noise and sound' recordings.
Watford Gap, the first of Britain's motorway service stations opens. The station's restaurant, The Blue Boar, will prove conveniently located as a stop-off for rock bands travelling back to London after gigs in the north of the country, so it will be visited in the early hours of the morning by Jimi Hendrix, The Rolling Stones, Status Quo, Pink Floyd, Small Faces, Spencer Davis Group, The Soft Machine and many others. In 1977, on his album Bullinamingvase, Roy Harper will include a song called Watford Gap with the chorus, 'Watford Gap, Watford Gap, a plate of grease and a load of c**p'.
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Outrageous British comedy-horror rock'n'roller Screaming Lord Sutch announces that he intends to run for election as an independent candidate at the upcoming Stratford-Upon-Avon by-election.
By a curious coincidence, a plane crash in Houston, Texas, USA, takes the life of 21-year-old rockabilly singer David Box, a Buddy Holly soundalike who had recorded with The Crickets - after Holly's death in a plane crash.
Composer and musical arranger Jimmie Haskell releases a new singalong album, Sing A Song With The Beatles, in Canada on Capitol Records. [The Beatles are not involved in playing on this record, which consists entirely of backing tracks "re-created" by session men.)
City authorities in Munich, Germany, Europe, begin action to extract an 'entertainment tax' from The Beatles, relating to their recent concerts in the city. Music is normally exempt from tax in Germany, but the authorities argue that in this case The Beatles' music is "incidental to the shouting and stamping of the audience, which it is designed to achieve."
During an anti-Vietnam war protest, The Fugs, Norman Mailer and others attempt to levitate The Pentagon, Washington DC., USA.
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Bridge Piece by Joseph Jarman of avant-garde jazz combo The Art Ensemble Of Chicago is performed at Ida Noyes Hall, Chicago, Illinois, USA. The multi-media performance includes the band wearing tuxedos, strobe lights, video projections, a smoke machine, strolling performers and someone carrying a portable radio tuned to a Top 40 music station. Some audience members are told to wear sacks over their heads, while others are draped in tinfoil. If any audience members are not formally dressed, they are asked to leave.
Groovy Baby by Microbe enters the UK popular singles chart. The record has little to distinguish it, except that vocalist Ian Doody is just three years old. Microbe had originally appeared as a character on BBC radio deejay Dave Cash's show.
When Emerson, Lake and Palmer play at Stadio, Bologna, Italy, Europe, fireworks are set off by mistake during the show, and many explode among the audience, bringing the show to a premature end.
A coffin containing the body of country-rock star Gram Parsons is stolen from LAX Airport, Los Angeles, California, USA, by his road manager, Phil Kaufman, who drives it out to the Joshua Tree National Monument in the Navajo Desert and sets fire to the corpse, in accordance with a request made by Parsons before his death. The incident is immortalised in the song Fast Cars And Rented Beds by Julian Dawson on his 2004 album Bedroom Suite. The 2003 movie Grand Theft Parsons is about the same incident. Another song inspired by the life [and death] of Gram Parsons is My Man by The Eagles.
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During a concert in Spokane, Washington, USA, a member of the audience pulls a .44 Magnum gun on guitarist Ted Nugent. The incident ends without injury when the man is wrestled to the ground by security.
On the back of a flat-bed truck travelling along Swanston Street, Melbourne, Australia, AC/DC (accompanied by members of The Rats Of Tobruk Pipe Band), film a video for It's A Long Way To The Top, (If You Wanna Rock'n'Roll. The video is intended for the Australian music tv show Countdown.
Gary Rossington, guitarist of Lynyrd Skynyrd, loses several teeth, breaks a kneecap and suffers numerous lacerations when his car hits a telegraph pole, then a tree and finally a house, on his way home from a party in Jacksonville, Florida, USA.Killing Joke, Aztec Camera and Peter And The Test Tube Babies play at The Top Rank, Brighton, England, UK, Europe. Shortly after this gig, Jaz Coleman of Killing Joke moves to Iceland. When asked why, he explains that he believes the world is coming to an end. In later years he will revise this rationale, explaining that he actually went to iceland to speak with his Guardian Angel.
Jaz Coleman of Killing Joke moves from the UK to Iceland and decides to become a composer of music for symphony orchestras. When asked why he has moved, he explains that he believes the world is coming to an end. In later years he will revise this rationale, explaining that he actually went to Iceland to commune with his Holy Guardian Angel.Iggy Pop, Motorhead and Twisted Sister perform live on a Heavy Metal special edition of music tv series The Tube in Newcastle, England, UK, Europe.
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Queen Elizabeth of England officially opens The Beatles Maze at the International Garden Festival, Liverpool, England, UK, Europe.
During a gig in Berkeley, California, USA, the Grateful Dead sets aside an area within which fans can bootleg the show.
When Prince’s Lovesexy tour arrives at McNicolls Arena, Denver, Colorado, USA, the Denver Post reviewer is surprised when Prince comes over all holy and reveals to the audience that he is in love "not with a girl or boy, but with the heavens above" and goes on to explain that "God is alive inside us. He just wants to come out and play."
The Astronomical Union's Minor Planet Centre announces that Asteroids 4147-4150, are to be named Lennon, McCartney, Harrison and Starr after the four members of The Beatles.
Axl Rose of Guns N'Roses pops round to girlfriend Erin Everly's house at 4a.m., tells her that he has a gun in his car and threatens that, if she doesn't marry him, he will kill himself. Despite the fact that he has physically abused her in the past, she agrees to marry him.
Despite having split up a decade earlier, Abba is revealed to have been the Best-Selling Swedish Artist of the Year at the World Music Awards in Monte Carlo.
Richey Edwards of The Manic Street Preachers walks out of The Embassy Hotel in West London, England, UK, climbs into his L reg Vauxhall Cavalier and is never seen again.
During a confrontation at his home, Ronnie Hammond, lead singer for the southern rock band The Atlanta Rhythm Section, charges at police officers in Macon, Georgia, USA, weilding a claw hammer, but is shot in the stomach by Sgt. Neal Smith before he can cause injury.
Ozzy Osbourne issues a statement asking that his band Black Sabbath should be removed from the nominations for the Rock'n'Roll Hall Of Fame because the nomination is made by "the supposed elite of the industry" rather than by music fans. 
In a survey published by Parents' magazine in the USA, Ozzy Osbourne comes third, after Mel Gibson and Will Smith, in responses to the question, 'Which famous dad would be most likely to change a diaper or handle a night feeding?'
During a private visit to Berlin, Germany, Europe, Michael Jackson shocks fans gathered outside the Adlon Hotel, when he dangles his nine month old son, Prince Michael Jackson II, aka Blanket, over the balcony outside his fifth floor room.Michael Jackson and his attorney fly by XtraJet from Las Vegas, Nevada, USA, to Santa Barbara, California, where Jackson is arrested on child abuse charges, and then freed on $3m bail. He immediately returns to Las Vegas, where he is filming a video. An unauthorised videotape of Jackson speaking with his attorney on this flight will subsequently be offered for sale to the highest bidder.
Britney Spears marries a childhood friend, Jason Allen Alexander, at the Little White Chapel On The Strip in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA, but twelve hours later she contacts her lawyers to ask to have the ceremony annulled.
In an online poll conducted by Yahoo, Ozzy Osbourne is named as the UK's favourite ambassador to welcome aliens to planet earth. Ozzy secures 26% of the vote, while music biz entrepreneur Simon Cowell, who came last on the list, had just 3%.
It is announced that the Country Cow Creamery in New Jersey, USA, will be producing the ice cream flavors Ozzy's Carnivorous Carrot Cake and Death By Sharon in honour of Ozzy Osbourne and his wife Sharon.
Britney Spears is photographed in public wearing a t-shirt bearing the slogan Brunettes Are So Hot Right Now. In recent days she has also been seen out and about wearing such slogans as I'm A Virgin (but this is an old t-shirt), MILF In Training, How Could I Say No? and Shut Up And Do Me.
New York City's legendary punk rock night club CBGB's (home to The Ramones, Blondie, Television, Talking Heads etc) launches its own commemorative chocolate bar, plus a 16-piece truffle collection – the CBGB's Punk Rock Box.During A Kanye West Foundation/ Musicland Performance at Santa Monica High School, Santa Monica, California, USA, Kanye gives an impassioned interview to MTV, threatening (among other things) to have "a real problem" if his album Late Registration doesn't win an award at the upcoming Grammies.
Cuban tv announces the death at 79 of Jorge Serguera, the former Cuban TV and radio boss who banned The Beatles' music from the country's airwaves, fearing the band's music could threaten the communist revolution.
Obeying his GPS navigation device without question, a Bavarian driver does a U-turn on a motorway and drives against the flow of traffic. As a result, he crashes into another car and injures an 11-year-old boy. Reading of this incident in a newspaper, Duran Duran will write the song Blame The Machines.
It is reported that Disney has removed from sale t-shirts bearing an image of Mickey Mouse which closely resembled the artwork on the cover of Joy Division's 1979 album Unknown Pleasures. There had been criticisms earlier in the week, not just on the grounds of plagiarism, but on the suitability of using - on a t-shirt aimed at children - an image widely associated with a band whose singer, Ian Curtis, committed suicide.
During her Born This Way Ball Tour, Lady Gaga is obliged to cancel tonight's sold-out show at the Gelora Bung Karno Stadium, Jakarta, Indonesia, Asia. The cancellation comes in the wake of threats from the Islamic Defenders Front that they would disrupt the show because it amounts to "satanic worship".
Despite having died in 1977, Elvis Presley tops a newly-released chart of the all-time best-selling solo artists in the UK, with combined sales of over 21.7m. The chart, compiled from statistics collected by The Official Charts Company, shows Cliff Richard in second place [21.5m] with Michael Jackson in third place [15.5m].Panic! At The Disco, promote their fourth album, Too Weird to Live, Too Rare to Die!, with a live appearance at Billboard Studios, New York City, USA.
In a British tv interview, Canadian dentist Dr Michael Zuk reveals his plans to clone John Lennon of The Beatles using samples of his DNA.
Gene Simmons of Kiss officates his first wedding, between Lee Samango and Michael Gottlieb at Rock And Brews, El Segundo, California, USA.
A new production of Jesus Christ Superstar, starring John Lydon (Sex Pistols), Brandon Boyd (Incubus) and Michelle Williams (Destiny's Child), is cancelled due to poor advance ticket sales. The show had been set to open in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA, in early June.
It is officially announced that pop/opera vocalist Sarah Brightman has paid $52m to secure the honour of becoming the first professional musician to sing from space. Assuming all goes to plan, she would achieve her goal during a 2015 flight to the International Space Station, organised by a company called Space Adventures.
Laurie Anderson performs a special concert for dogs in Times Square, New York City, USA. The live performance is paired with a viewing of a three-minute version of Anderson's new feature film, Heart Of A Dog. The show is a silent disco, featuring a soundtrack which human attendees can listen to on headphones.
A memorial bench in honour of Californian gangsta rapper Easy E of NWA is unveiled in the British seaside town of Newhaven, East Sussex, England, UK, Europe, despite the fact that the deceased rapper never had anything to do with Newhaven.1913 |
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