October 31st: On this Day In Music History

 

1952, Pianist Johnnie Johnson hired 26 year old Chuck Berry as a guitarist in his band. While playing evening gigs in the St. Louis area, Berry kept his day job as a hairdresser for the next three years.

1954, Vera Lynn was at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'My Son, My Son.' The singers only No.1 hit. Lynn who had three songs in the first ever Top 12 in 1952 was known as the "Forces Sweetheart" during World War II.

1959, The Quarry Men decided to change their name to Johnny and the Moondogs. The band were in Liverpool auditioning for the Carrol Levis show. The Quarry Men featured John Lennon, Paul McCartney and George Harrison. 1963, Gerry And The Pacemakers were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'You'll Never Walk Alone.' The group's third and final No.1. 1963, The Beatles returned to London from Sweden and were greeted by hundreds of screaming fans and a mob of photographers and journalists. American television host Ed Sullivan was at Heathrow as The Beatles arrived, and was struck by the sight of Beatlemania in full swing; he decided to look into getting this group to appear on his US television program. 1964, Barbra Streisand started a five-week run at Noi.1 on the US album chart with 'People'. 1964, The Supremes started a four week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Baby Love', the group's second of five consecutive US No.1's. The group were formally known as the five piece group The Primettes. 1964, Ray Charles was arrested by Logan Airport customs officials in Boston and charged with possession of heroin. This was his third drug charge, following incidents in 1958 and 1961. Charles avoided prison after kicking the habit in a clinic in Los Angeles, but spent a year on parole in 1966. 1965, The Who appeared at the Cavern Club in Liverpool, England, (the bands only appearance at the club).   1967, Rolling Stone Brian Jones was released from Wormwood Scrubs prison on £750 bail pending appeal. Jones had been found guilty of possession of cannabis. Seven Stones fans were arrested and charged with obstructing the police after demonstrating outside the prison gates. 1967, Iggy and the Stooges made their live debut when they played at a Halloween party in Michigan. 1970, Michelle Gilliam from The Mamas and the Papas married actor Dennis Hopper, the marriage lasted eight days. 1970, Led Zeppelin started a four week run at No.1 on the US album chart with 'Led Zeppelin III', the bands second US chart topper. 1970, 'Motown Chartbusters Vol 4' went to No.1 on the UK album chart. The album featured tracks from The Jackson Five, Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell, The Four Tops, The Supremes, The Temptations and Smokey Robinson & The Miracles. 1974, Led Zeppelin launched their record label 'Swan Song'. Named after an unreleased Zeppelin instrumental track. 1980, Bow Wow Wow appeared at London's Rainbow Theatre. The group had a backing singer by the name of Lieutenant Lush, a.k.a. Boy George. 1981, The Human League went to No.1 on the UK album chart with 'Dare', their first No.1 LP. 1986, a new series of TV's Channel 4's 'The Tube', started with Jermaine Stewart, Troublefunk, Bob Geldof and Frankie Goes To Hollywood plus Spandau Ballet who played live in the studio at Newcastle upon Tyne. 1986, Roger Waters went to the high court to try and stop David Gilmour and Nick Mason from using the name 'Pink Floyd', for future touring and recording. 1987, Fleetwood Mac started a two week run at No.1 on the UK album chart with their third No.1 LP 'Tango In The Night.' 1987, Forbes Magazine listed the Top 40 American entertainment earners from 86-87, 8th was Whitney Houston $44 million, 7th Madonna $47 million and third place Bruce Springsteen $56 million. 1989, The very first MTV unplugged show was recorded in New York, featuring UK band Squeeze, the program was aired on 26th Nov 1989. 1990, During a gig in Seattle, Washington, Billy Idol dumped 600 dead fish in Faith No More's dressing room. They responded by walking on stage, naked during Idol's set. 1992, Boyz II Men were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'End Of The Road', taken from the film 'Boomerang'. The quartet from Philadelphia were Motown's biggest selling act of the 1990s, with 5 US No.1s. 1993, Red Hot Chili Peppers bass player Flea was at the scene of actor's River Phoenix fatal collapse in Los Angles. 1995, James Brown was arrested in Aiken, South Carolina for assaulting his 47 year old wife, Adrienne, who said that her husband hit her with a mirror. Adrienne died in January, 1996 and the assault charges against James were dropped. 1996, Slash announced he was no longer in Guns N' Roses. The guitarist said that Axl Rose and he had only been civil to each other on two occasions since 1994. 1998, Chart history was made when the UK Top 5 singles chart was made up entirely of new entries. Alanis Morissette went in at No.5, Culture Club at No.4, U2 at No.3, George Michael at No.2 and Cher with 'Believe' at No.1. 1998, Cher started a seven week run at No.1 with her third UK No.1 single 'Believe', taken from her twenty-third studio album. It made Cher (who was 52) the first female artist to have a No.1 single over the age of 50. The song was a No.1 in 23 countries. 1999, A list of 'New Pop Fortunes' published in The Sunday Times, reported that The Corrs were worth £1.5 million each, Boyzone £3 million each, Jamiroquai £4 million, The Chemical Brothers £4 million each and Norman Cook £10 million.   1999, EMI records announced that it was planning to stop paying for some of its artists to release singles. The label said that anyone who sold less than 80,000 copies would be discouraged from releasing a single. 1999, Five scored their first UK No.1 single when 'Keep On Movin', went to the top of the charts. The track was taken from their second album Invincible. 2000, Winners at this years Q Awards included, David Gray, best single for 'Babylon', Oasis won best live act, Coldplay won best album for 'Parachutes', best act in the world went to Travis, Badly Drawn Boy won best new act and former Clash member Joe Strummer won the Q Inspiration award. 2000, Britney Spears paid £6,000 to hire a private bar in Leipzig, Germany during a night off on her 'Oops!... I did It Again Tour.' Britney who at 18 was banned from drinking in the US was reported to be knocking back vodka laced White Russians and Pina Coladas. 2002, The mother of pop star Bjork ended a hunger strike she had staged to protest against plans for a by a US company to build a aluminum smelter and hydroelectric plant power plant in the Icelandic wilderness. Hildur Runa Hauksdottir began eating again after four week's of fasting. 2003, The first UK Fame Academy winner, David Sneddon quit his career as a pop star to become a songwriter less than a year after winning the talent contest. Sneddon had scored two Top 10 singles since winning his £1m recording contract through the BBC TV show. 2004, R. Kelly was kicked off a tour with Jay-Z, a day after claiming he was attacked with pepper spray by a member of the rapper's entourage. Kelly alleged he had been sprayed by a member of Jay-Z's entourage during a performance in New York. But Jay-Z's publicist denied that the rapper or any of his associates were involved. Jay-Z and R Kelly were in the midst of the 40-city Best of Both World's tour, scheduled to run until 28 November. 2004, Robbie Williams was at No.1 on the UK album chart with 'Greatest Hits.' 2004, Rod Stewart was at No.1 on the US album chart with 'Stardust' his third US No.1 album since 1971. 2004, Ja Rule feat R Kelly & Ashanti went to No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Wonderful.' Taken from the Rule/Kelly album 'Unfinished Business'. 2005, The white suit worn by John Lennon on the cover of the Beatles' Abbey Road album sold for $118,000 (£66,385) at an auction in Las Vegas. And an Austin Princess hearse driven by the late star in the documentary Imagine sold for $150,000 (£84,388). A portion of the proceeds from the sale of the items went to Amnesty International. 2007, 22-year-old X Factor winner Singer Leona Lewis helped boost UK online music downloads to a record 1.7 million in one week making it the biggest week ever for download sales. Lewis sold more than 106,000 downloads of her track 'Bleeding Love.' 2008, A couple who admitted supplying drugs including cocaine and ecstasy to singer Amy Winehouse were warned they faced a jail term as they appeared in Snaresbrook Crown Court, England. The charges related to video footage which appeared to show Winehouse smoking a crack pipe. The singer was arrested and questioned over the images but she was not charged. October 31st: Born on this day 1937, Born on this day, Tom Paxton, folk singer, (1970 UK No.23 album, 'No.6). 1947, Born on this day, Russ Ballard, guitar, vocals, Argent, (1972 UK No.5 single 'Hold Your Head Up'). 1952, Born on this day, Bernard Edwards, producer and member of Chic, (1978 UK No.7 single 'Le Freak'). Produced ABC, Power Station and Rod Stewart. Edwards died on 18th April 1996. 1956, Born on this day, Tony Bowers, Alberto Y Los Trios Paranoias and then Simply Red, (1986 US No.1 & UK No.2 single 'Holding Back The Years'). 1961, Born on this day, Larry Mullen, drummer, U2, (1984 UK No.3 single 'Pride, In The Name Of Love' plus over 25 other UK Top singles, 1987 UK and worldwide No.1 album 'The Joshua Tree' spent 156 weeks on the UK chart. Scored five consecutive US No.1 albums from 1987.) 1963, Born on this day, Johnny Marr, guitarist, songwriter, The Smiths, (1984 UK No.10 single 'Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now', plus 15 other UK Top 40 singles). Electronic, (1991 UK No.8 single 'Get The Message'). Modest Mouse, (2007 US No.1 album 'We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank'). Also worked with The The, The Pretenders and Johnny Marr and the Healers. 1963, Born on this day, Mikkey Dee, Motorhead, (1980 UK No.15 single 'Ace Of Spades'). 1964, Born on this day, Colm O'Ciosoig, My Bloody Valentine, (1991 UK No.29 single 'To Here Knows When'). 1965, Born on this day, Annabella Lwin, vocals, Bow Wow Wow, (1982 UK No.7 single 'Go Wild In The Country'). 1966, Born on this day, Ad-Rock, (Adam Horovitz), The Beastie Boys, (1987 US No.7 & UK No.11 single 'You Gotta Fight For Your Right To Party', 1987 US No.1 and UK No.7 album 'Licence To Ill', plus 3 other US No.1 albums). 1968, Born on this day, Alistair Mcerlaine, guitarist, Texas, (1997 UK No.3 single 'Say What You Want'). 1968, Born on this day, Al Mackenzie, D:Ream, (1994 UK No.1 single 'Things Can Only Get Better'). 1970, Born on this day, Malin Berggren, Ace Of Base, (1993 UK No.1 single 'All That She Wants', 1994 US No.1 single 'The Sign'). 1980, Born on this day, Charles Moniz, Canadian bassist in Avril Lavigne's band and the drummer for the band Grade. 1981, Born on this day, Frank Anthony Iero, rhythm guitarist, My Chemical Romance, (2006 UK No.1 single 'Welcome to the Black Parade', 2006 US No.2 album 'The Black Parade'). 1982, Born on this day, Monica and Gabriela Irimia, Cheeky Girls, Romanian duo, (2002 UK No.2 single 'Cheeky Song', Touch My Bum).    Died on this day   1990, UK DJ Roger Scott died of cancer aged 46. Scott was one of the most respected broadcasters in the UK, working on Capital Radio for 15 years and then BBC Radio 1. Working as a presenter at the Montreal station 1470 CFOX, Scott sang on 'Give Peace a Chance', recorded by John Lennon and Yoko Ono during their "Bed-in" for peace at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal, Canada.