December 2nd: On this Day In Music History

1963, The Beatles recorded an appearance on the UK TV comedy program The Morecambe and Wise Show. The Beatles played 'This Boy', 'All My Loving', and 'I Want to Hold Your Hand' and also participate in comedy sketches with Eric Morecambe and Ernie Wise. The program was broadcast on April 18, 1964.

1967, The Monkees album, 'Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn and Jones Ltd' went to number one on the US album chart. It was their fourth album to sell over a million copies, following 'The Monkees', 'More Of The Monkees' and 'Headquarters'.

1969, Cindy Birdsong of the Supremes was kidnapped at knifepoint by a maintenance man who worked in the building she lived in. She later escaped unharmed by jumping out of his car on the San Diego freeway. The kidnapper was arrested in Las Vegas four days later.

1971, Led Zeppelin appeared at The Royal Ballroom, Bournemouth, England.

1976, Elvis Presley played the first of an 11 night run at the Hilton Hotel, Las Vegas.

1978, Rod Stewart was at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Da Ya Think I'm Sexy', the singers fifth UK chart topper. A plagiarism lawsuit by Brazilian musician Jorge Ben Jor confirmed that the song had been derived from his composition 'Taj Mahal'. Stewart agreed to donate all his royalties from the song to United Nations Children's Fund.

1979, Neil Diamond and Barbra Streisand's 'You Don't Bring Me Flowers' was at No.1 on the US singles chart. A radio station engineer had spliced together Neil's version with Barbra's version and got such good response, the station added it to their play list. When Neil Diamond was told about it, he decided to re-record the song with Streisand herself, and within weeks of its release, the single went to No.1 in the US and No.5 in the UK.

1983, MTV aired the full 14-minute version of Michael Jackson's 'Thriller' video for the first time.

1986, Jerry Lee Lewis checked into the Betty Ford Clinic to overcome his addiction to painkillers.

1987, during a UK tour INXS played at Newcastle City Hall, supported by Sinead O'Connor

1988, The Stone Roses supported by The Charlatans both appeared at The London School Of Economics, tickets £2.50.

1995, Mariah Carey went to No.1 on the US singles chart with her duet with Boyz II Men 'One Sweet Day'. It made Carey the first artist in history to have two consecutive single debut at No.1, 'Fantasy' being her first.

 

1999, It was reported that Stevie Wonder was to undergo an operation to regain his sight. The breakthrough by top eye specialists involved inserting a microchip in the retina.

1999, David Bowie played his first UK show in over two years when he appeared at the Astoria Theatre in London infront of 2,000 fans.

2000, Thieves broke into the London home Madonna shares with Guy Ritchie. The raiders forced their way in through a basement door then took a set of car keys before loading up Guy Ritchie's car with some of the couple's possessions and driving off.

2000, The Smashing Pumpkins played their final concert when they appeared at the Metro Club in Chicago.

2001, Creed started an eight-week run at No.1 on the US album chart with 'Weathered'.

2001, Daniel Bedingfield scored his first UK No.1 single with 'Gotta Get Thru This', the single went back to No.1 in January 2002. The track was recorded in Bedingfield's bedroom with his PC and a microphone, using music software.

2002, Oasis singer Liam Gallagher was arrested and charged with assault after he Kung-Fu kicked a police officer. The incident happened at the Bayerischer hotel in Munich, the singer lost his two front teeth in the brawl and an Oasis minder was knocked out cold.

2003, Darkness singer Justin Hawkins was held for two hours at JFK Airport, New York after police mistook him for a wanted man with the same name and looks. The police only agreed to let him go after Justin's fiance and manager Sue Whitehouse produced a tour schedule to prove that he was in England on July 4th when the crime was committed.

2006, 25 year old singer and actress Beyonce was set to earn more money than any other black actress for her performance in her latest film 'Dreamgirls.' The musical based on the history of Diana Ross and the Supremes would earn the singer a £5m fee.

2007, Sharon and Ozzy Osbourne made more than $800,000 (£389,032) for charity after they sold off some of their possessions from their former US home. Items sold included the family's custom pool table for $11,250 (£5,470) and a pair of Ozzy's trademark round glasses went for $5,250 (£2,553). The beaded wire model of the Eiffel Tower that adorned the kitchen fetched $10,000 (£4,862), while skull-adorned trainers worn by Ozzy sold for $2,625 (£1,276).

December 2nd: Born on this day

1906, Born on this day, Dr Peter Carl Goldmark, invented the long-playing microgroove record in 1945. The invention went on to revolutionise the way people listened to music. Goldmark was Killed in a car crash on 7th December 1977. 1941, Born on this day, Tom McGuinness, guitar, vocals, Manfred Mann, (1964 UK & US No.1 single 'Do Wah Diddy Diddy'). McGiness Flint (1970 UK No.2 single 'When I'm Dead And Gone'). Also a member of The Blues Band. 1942, Born on this day, Ted Bluechel Jr, drums, vocals, The Association, (1967 US No.1 single 'Windy'). 1960, Born on this day, Rick Savage, bass player, Def Leppard, (1987 UK No.6 single 'Animal' 1987 world wide No.1 album 'Hysteria', 1988 US No.1 single 'Love Bites'). 1960, Born on this day, Sydney Youngblood, singer, (1989 UK No.3 single 'If Only I Could'). 1968, Born on this day, Nate Mendel, bass, Foo Fighters, (1995 UK No.5 single 'This Is A Call', 2003 US No.5 single 'All My Life'). 1971, Born on this day, Donna Matthews, guitar, Elastica, (1995 UK No.13 single 'Waking Up'). 1978, Born on this day, Nelly Furtado, singer, (2001 UK No. 5 single 'I'm Like A Bird'). 1978, Born on this day, Brian Chase, drummer, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, (2006 UK No. 18 single 'Gold Lion'). 1981, Born on this day, Britney Spears, US singer, (1999 US & UK No.1 single ''Baby One More Time', 1999 album 'Baby One More Time', spent 82 weeks on the UK chart. Biggest selling teenage act in the world with album sales over 40m). Died on this day   1982, US folk singer David Blue died of a heart attack aged 41 while jogging in New York's Washington Square Park. Member of Bob Dylan's Rolling Thunder Revue during the late 70's. He wrote 'Outlaw Man' covered by The Eagles on their 1973 Desperado album. 1997, A man died after falling from a balcony during a Rolling Stones concert at Pontiac Silverdome, Michigan.   2001, Singer Valerie Jones died aged 45. One-third of the sister group The Jones Girls, who sang back-up vocals with Lou Reed, Diana Ross, Aretha Franklin, Lou Rawls, Teddy Pendergrass and Betty Everett.   2006, David Mount the drummer with Mud died in London. They had the 1974 UK No.1 single 'Tiger Feet' (best-selling single of 1974). Plus 14 other UK Top 40 singles.   2006, Dutch singer Mariska Veres from Shocking Blue died of cancer at the age of 59. Had the 1970 US No.1 & UK No.8 single 'Venus', (later covered by girl group of Bananarama).