THIS DAY IN MUSIC

January 4th: On this Day

1936, Billboard Magazine introduced the first ever-pop music chart that ranked records on national sales; big band violinist Joe Venuti was the first No.1.

1954, Elvis Presley  made his second visit to the Memphis recording service and cut two songs onto a 10 acetate, 'Casual Love Affair 'and 'I'll Never Stand In Your Way'. Studio boss Sam Phillips asked Presley to leave his phone number.

1957, Elvis Presley had his pre-induction medical check up at Kennedy Veterans Hospital, a preliminary to his call up from the US Army.

1960, Marty Robbins started a two week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'El Paso'. A No.19 in the UK.

1962, Liverpool's Mersey Beat published its first popularity poll, with The Beatlescoming in first place and Gerry and the Pacemakers voted second.

1965, The Fender guitar company was bought by CBS for $13 million (£7.6 million).

1967, The Jimi Hendrix Experience played the first of what would be over 240 gigs in this year when they appeared at the Bromel Club, Bromley. (Many of the concerts were two shows per night).

1967, The Doors released their self-titled debut album The Doors. Unique packaging of the album included each band members bio.

1968, The University of California, Los Angeles announced that students taking music degrees would have to study the music of The Rolling Stones saying they had made such an important contribution to modern music.

1969, UK music weekly Disc and Music Echo reported that The Beatles were to release five new albums. One would be their first ever live album plus four separate LP's, each one the choice of Lennon, McCartney, Harrison and Starr.

1970, Chauffeur Neil Boland was accidentally killed when The Who's drummer Keith Moon  ran over him. Moon was trying to escape from a Gang of skinheads after a fight broke out at a pub in Hatfield, England. Moon had never passed his driving test.

1970, The Beatles (without John Lennon) re-record vocals and a new guitar solo on the Paul McCartney song 'Let It Be' at Studio Two, EMI Studios, London. This session will be the final studio appearance for The Beatles, as a group. (The final date that all four of The Beatles were in the studio together is August 20, 1969).

1974, Bruce Springsteen played the first of a three night run at Joes' Place in Cambridge Massachusetts. Supported by Peter Johnson & The Manic Depressives. On the ticket it stated: Because of the energy crisis all our outside lights except for one will be shut off.

1975, Elton John started a two week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with his version of The Beatles 'Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds'. His third US No.1, the song featured John Lennon on guitar.

1977, The Sex Pistols shocked passengers and airline staff at Heathrow Airport when they spat and vomited boarding a plane to Amsterdam.

1986, Irish singer, songwriter and bassist Phil Lynott of Thin Lizzy died of heart failure and pneumonia after being in a coma for eight days following a drug overdose. Had the 1973 hit 'Whiskey in the Jar', (their version of the traditional Irish song), 1978 album 'Live and Dangerous' spent 62 weeks on the UK chart. A life-size bronze statue of Phil Lynott was unveiled on Harry Street in Dublin in 2005.

1986,

1992, Simply Red went back to No.1 on the UK album chart for a five week run with 'Stars' making it the third time it had been at the top of the charts.

2001, Courtney Love filed a lawsuit against her alleged stalker claiming that Lesley Barber, the ex-wife of her current boyfriend Jim Barber, drove over her foot. This had forced her to forfeit her role in a forthcoming film and lost her the £200,000, ($340,000) fee that went with it.

2001, Madame Tussaud's waxworks in London revealed that Oasis singer Liam Gallagher had come third in 'The Most Hated Characters' list of exhibits, behind Adolf Hitler and Slobodan Milosevic.

2001, US rapper Vanilla Ice spent the night in jail after allegedly ripping out some of his wife's hair. Ice (born Robert Van Winkle) told police he pulled out some of his wife's hair to prevent her from jumping out of their truck's window. He was released the following morning from Broward County Jail in Fort Lauderdale on $3,500 bail.

2004, Britney Spears had her surprise marriage annulled less than 55 hours after tying the knot at the Little White Wedding Chapel in Las Vegas with childhood friend Jason Alexander. They couple married on Saturday morning, during a night out in Las Vegas, but immediately her lawyers filed for an annulment, saying Spears 'lacked understanding of her actions to the extent that she was incapable of agreeing to the marriage.'

2005, The owner of a recording studio where Eminem recorded his 'Slim Shady' LP was found shot dead. AJ Abdallah, who was 36, was discovered by a business colleague at the Detroit studio, it was thought he had been dead for at least two days. Police suggested that a robbery may also have taken place. Mr Abdallah had lived in a apartment above the studio on Eight Mile Road, the Detroit street which inspired the title of Eminem's 2002 film '8 Mile.'

2006, The house where Johnny Cash  lived for 35 years was bought by Bee Gees singer Barry Gibb. The rustic house near Nashville, Tennessee went on the market in June 2005 with an asking price of $2.9m (£1.7m). Gibb said he planned to preserve the house to honour the Cash memory. Unfortunately Gibb's ownership of the house was short-lived. In April 2007, the house burned to the ground. Gibb was having the house renovated when a flammable spray sealer caused fire to break out during construction.

2007, Nikki Bacharach the daughter of songwriter Burt Bacharach and actress Angie Dickinson committed suicide by suffocation using a plastic bag and helium. She had suffered from Asperger's disorder. 40 year old Nickki who was the couple's only child died at her home in California.

2008, Beyonce won a long-running legal wrangle over claims her hit song 'Baby Boy' infringed the copyright of another artist's work. The appeals court in Houston, Texas upheld a 2006 decision which dismissed musician Jennifer Armour's claims that its lyrics were based on her work. Ms Armour claimed she had posted 'I Got A Little Bit Of Love For You' to Beyonce's manager and record company in early 2003.

2008, Britney Spears was carried out of her home on a stretcher and taken into custody after police were called in a dispute involving her children. Police were called to Spears' home over a family custodial dispute that they tried to resolve, after nearly three hours, Spears handed over her children, two-year-old Sean Preston and one-year-old Jayden James, to her ex-husband Kevin Federline.

2009, Led Zeppelin singer Robert Plant was voted the Greatest Voice In Rock by listeners of radio station Planet Rock. Plant beat Queen's Freddie Mercury,  Free's Paul Rodgers and Deep Purple's Ian Gillan to the top spot in the UK poll.

2010, MP3 players given as presents helped boost UK single sales to an all-time high in the week after Christmas. According to Official Charts Company figures, 4.22m singles were sold in the last week of 2009, beating the previous record of 4.03m over Christmas 2008. The Christmas chart battle between X Factor and Rage Against the Machine had helped boost sales.

2011, Scottish singer songwriter Gerry Rafferty died aged 63 after a long illness. Rafferty had been a member of Stealers Wheel, who had the 1973 US No.3 & UK No.8 single 'Stuck In The Middle With You' and had the solo 1978 UK No.3 and US No.2 single 'Baker Street.'

January 4th: Born on this day

1937, Born on this day, John Gorman, singer, The Scaffold, (1968 Christmas UK No.1 single 'Lily The Pink').

1942, Born on this day in Doncaster, England, John McLaughlin, who formed the Mahavishnu Orchestra and has also worked with Carlos Santana, Stanley Clark and Jaco Pastorius. Prior to the Mahavishnu Orchestra, in the 1960s, he played with Alexis Korner, Georgie Fame and the Blue Flames, the Graham Bond Organisation and Brian Auger. In 1969 he moved to New York to join Tony Williams' Lifetime. On March 25th of that year he jammed with Jimi Hendrix at the Record Plant, recalling ‘we played from 2 until 8 in the morning. In 2010, Jeff Beck called McLaughlin ‘the best guitarist alive’.

1946, Born on this day, Arthur Conley, US soul singer, (1967 US No.2 & UK No.7 single 'Sweet Soul Music). He died of cancer on 17th November 2003.

1955, Born on this day, Clive Gregson, singer, songwriter, and leader of late 70's Stiff Records band Any Trouble, one half of Gregson & Collister folk duo.

1955, Born on this day, American session musician, guitarist, bassist, singer–songwriter and musical director, Brian Ray, best known for his work as a rhythm guitarist and bassist with Paul McCartney.

1956, Born on this day, Bernard Sumner, guitar, vocals, Warsaw, Joy Division, (1980 UK No.13 single 'Love Will Tear Us Apart'), New Order, (1983 UK No.9 single 'Blue Monday'), Electronic, (1991 UK No.8 single 'Get The Message'),

1956, Born on this day, Nels Cline, guitarist, songwriter, Wilco, (2004 album 'A Ghost Is Born').

1958, Born on this day, Macel King, singer, Sweet Sensation, (1974 UK No.1 single 'Sad Sweet Dreamer').

1960, Born on this day, Michael Stipe, vocals, R.E.M. (1991 UK No.6 & US No.10 single 'Shiny Happy People' plus over 20 Top 40 UK singles. 1992 UK No.1 & US No.2 album 'Automatic For The People').

1962, Born on this day, Martin Mcaloon, bass, Prefab Sprout, (1988 UK No.7 single 'The King Of Rock 'N' Roll').

1962, Born on this day, Robin Guthrie, guitar, keyboards, programming, Cocteau Twins, (1984 UK No.29 single 'Pearly- dewdrops' Drops').

1962, Born on this day, Till Lindemann poet, lead vocalist for the German rock band Rammstein.

1965, Born on this day, Beth Gibbons, vocals, Portishead, (1995 UK No.13 single 'Glory Box').

1965, Born on this day, Cait O'Riordan, bass, The Pogues, (1987 UK No.8 single 'The Irish Rover').

1965, Born on this day, David Glasper, Breathe, (1988 US No.2 & UK No.4 single 'Hands To Heaven').

1967, Born on this day, Ben Darvill, harmonica, Crash Test Dummies, (1994 UK No.2 & US No.4 single 'MMM MMM MMM MMM').

1977, Born on this day, Timothy Wheeler, guitar, vocals, Ash, (1995 UK No.11 single 'Girl From Mars').