THIS DAY IN MUSIC

June 15th: On this Day

1958, The first teenage all-music TV show Oh Boy!, was broadcast for the first time in the UK. Each week Oh Boy! featured resident artists plus a selection of special guests. The residents included Cuddly Dudley, who sang on 21 shows, Cliff Richard (20 shows), The Drifters (Later to become The Shadows) (17 shows) and Marty Wilde (17 shows). Guests included Billy Fury, Tony Sheridan, Shirley Bassey and Lonnie Donegan; with occasional US stars, such as The Inkspots, Conway Twitty and Brenda Lee.

1963, Kyu Sakamoto started a three week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Sukiyaki', the first-ever Japanese song to do so. It made No.6 on the UK chart in 1963 and was also a No.10 UK single for Kenny Ball in the same year.

1969, During a short 5 date UK tour Led Zeppelin appeared at The Free Trade Hall, Manchester, England supported by Blodwyn Pig and The Liverpool Scene. The flyer for the tour stated: 'Come & take off, levitate with the Led Zeppelin album'.

1974, ABBA's second album (but first UK release), 'Waterloo' entered the UK chart for the first time peaking at No.28. The album's title track won ABBA the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest.

1977, The Sex Pistols held a party on a boat as it sailed down The River Thames in London. The Pistols performed 'Anarchy In The UK' outside The Houses Of Parliament resulting in members from the party being arrested when the boat docked later that day.

1985, Dire Straits started a nine-week run at No.1 on the US album chart with, 'Brothers In Arms'. The album is the seventh best-selling album in UK chart history and won two Grammy Awards at the 28th Grammy Awards, and also won Best British Album at the 1987 Brit Awards.

1988, During Bruce Springsteen's stay in Rome during a world tour a photographer took a shot of Bruce in his underpants sharing an intimate moment with his backing singer Patti Scialfa. The picture confirmed the rumours that Bruce and Patti were having an affair.

1989, Nirvana's debut album 'Bleach' was released in the US. The title for the album came from a poster 'Bleach Your Works' urging drug users to bleach their needles. Kurt Cobain  claimed that most of the lyrics on the album were written the night before recording while he was feeling "pissed off", and that he did not regard them highly.

1996, US jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald died in Beverly Hills, California, aged 79. Already blinded by the effects of diabetes, Fitzgerald had both her legs amputated in 1993. Winner of 13 Grammy Awards, the 1956 'Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Cole Porter Songbook' was the first of eight "Songbook" sets. Appeared in the TV commercial for Memorex, where she sang a note that shattered a glass while being recorded on a Memorex cassette tape. The tape was played back and the recording also broke the glass, asking "Is it live, or is it Memorex"

2002, A rare autographed copy of The Beatles' album Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band sold at auction for £34,000 ($57,800), more than five times the estimated price.

2003, Radiohead scored their fourth UK No.1 with their sixth studio album 'Hail To The Thief'. The title Hail to the Thief – a phrase used by anti-George W. Bush activists during the controversy surrounding the 2000 US presidential election was a play on 'Hail to the Chief', a march played to announce the arrival of the President of the United States.

2005, Coldplay went straight to No.1 on US album chart with their third album 'X&Y', having already entered at number one in the UK. The last time a British artist had a simultaneous US and UK number one was in November 2000 with '1', a compilation of hits by The Beatles. The last studio album to reach number one on both sides of the Atlantic was Radiohead's 'Kid A' in October 2000. 'X&Y' went on to top over 30 global charts.

2008, Liverpool was voted England's most musical city in a national campaign set up by the Arts Council. The home of The Beatles Frankie Goes To Hollywood, OMD and The Zutons took 49% of the vote in an online poll set up by the funding body. Sheffield - which brought the world the Arctic Monkeys and Pulp - came second, while Manchester with Oasis, Stone Roses and The Smiths came third.

2010, A case against a man accused of threatening Elton John's life was withdrawn just hours before his trial was due to begin. Neal Horsley had responded to Elton's suggestion that Jesus Christ was gay in a Parade magazine interview by writing an angry online response entitled "Why Elton John Must Die". After being held in an Atlanta, Georgia jail since last March, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Kimberly Esmond Adams dismissed the case against Horsley because his actions did not warrant criminal charges.

2011, Two men from Manchester were held on suspicion of conspiracy to rob and murder after being arrested close to the Devon home of the singer Joss Stone. The men, aged 33 and 30, were arrested after residents reported a suspicious looking vehicle in the Cullompton area. A UK police source said they were found with swords, and a body bag, as well as detailed maps and aerial photos of Stone's property.

2013, A 24-year-old woman died in hospital after falling at the Stone Roses concert in Glasgow. The woman was among 50,000 fans who attended a gig at Glasgow Green to hear the Manchester indie band. Police also Police made a total of 24 arrests during and after the concert for anti-social and drugs offences.

2016, Led Zeppelin's guitarist Jimmy Page denied stealing the riff to 'Stairway To Heaven' when he took the stand at a copyright trial in the US. The band were accused of lifting the opening guitar line from 'Taurus', a 1968 track by the band Spirit. Page testified that he had never heard the song until people started posting comparisons online a few years ago. Page admitted to owning several Spirit albums, but only remembered buying two of them, neither of which contained Taurus. Under questioning, he conceded that he did own a copy of the band's self-titled debut, on which the track appears, but could not recall how it came to be part of his collection.

June 15th: Born on this day

1929, Born on this day, Nigel Pickering, from American 1960s sunshine pop band Spanky And Our Gang, who had the 1967 US No.9 single 'Sunday Will Never Be The Same Again'.

1933, Born on this day Waylon Jennings. Jennings worked as a DJ, played bass with Buddy Holly, Jennings unintentionally missing flying with Holly, The Big Bopper and Ritchie Valens on the flight on which they died. In 1976 he released the album Wanted! The Outlaws with Willie Nelson, Tompall Glaser and Jessi Colter, which became the first platinum country music album, and he was also a member of the country supergroup The Highwaymen with Willie Nelson, Kris Kristofferson and Johnny Cash. Jennings, who died on 13th February 13, 2002, was also the narrator for the TV show the Dukes of Hazzard.

1941, Born on this day, American singer-songwriter Harry Nilsson, who had the 1972 UK & US No.1 single with his version of The Badfinger song 'Without You', and the 1969 US No.6 single 'Everybody's Talkin' from the film Midnight Cowboy'. The Monkees, Three Dog Night & Ronettes all covered his songs. He died on January 14th 1994 after he suffered a massive heart attack.

1943, Born on this day, Johnny Halliday, 'the French Elvis', major star in Europe.Jimmy Page, Peter Frampton and Foreigner's Mick Jones have played on his records.

1943, Born on this day, Muff Winwood, The Spencer Davis Group, who scored 1966 UK No.1 single 'Keep On Running' and the 1967 US No.7 single 'Gimme Some Lovin'. He became a producer and A&R man for Sony Records.

1946, Born on this day, Noddy Holder, guitar, vocals with English rock band Slade who scored 17 consecutive top 20 hits and six No.1's on the UK Singles Chart becoming the most successful British group of the 1970s based on sales of singles. Holder is now a TV actor, (The Grimleys) and radio and TV presenter.

1947, Born on this day, Greek singer Demis Roussos, who had the 1976 UK No.1 EP, featuring 'Forever And Ever'. In the 1970s he was a member of Aphrodite's Child, a progressive rock group that also included Vangelis. Roussos died on 25 January 2015 from stomach cancer, pancreatic cancer and liver cancer.

1949, Born on this day, Australian musician Russell Hitchcock singer for the soft rock band Air Supply who scored the 1980 UK No.11 single 'All Out Of Love' and the 1981 US No.1 single 'The One That You Love'.

1951, Born on this day, Steve Walsh, from American rock band Kansas, who scored the 1978 US No.3 single 'Dust In The Wind', and the 1978 hit single 'Carry On Wayward Son'. which was the second-most-played track on US classic rock radio in 1995 and No.1 in 1997.

1956, Born on this day, David Hinds from roots reggae group Steel Pulse who had the 1978 UK hit single 'Prodigal Son'. Steel Pulse were the first non-Jamaican act to win the Grammy Award for Best Reggae Album.

1958, Born on this day, Neil Arthur, from English synth-pop band Blancmange, who had the 1982 UK No.7 single 'Living On The Ceiling'.

1965, Born on this day, British guitarist Mark Thwaite who has worked with The Mission, Gary Numan, Roger Daltrey, P.J. Harvey, Alanis Morissette, Sex Gang Children.

1966, Born on this day, Michael Britt, guitarist, with American country group Lonestar who had the 2000 US No.1 & UK No.21 single 'Amazed'. Lonestar has charted more than 20 singles on the Hot Country Songs chart, including 9 that reached No.1.

1969, Born on this day, American rapper and actor Ice Cube, rapper, who had the 1992, US No.1 US album The Predator.

1976, Born on this day, Gary Lightbody, guitar, vocals, from Northern Irish rock band Snow Patrol, who scored the 2006 UK No.1 album Eyes Open and the 2006 UK No.6 single ‘Chasing Cars’.

1981, Born on this day, Billy Martin, guitarist, from American rock bandGood Charlotte, who had the 2002 US No.7 album, The Young And The Hopeless, and the 2003 UK No.6 single 'Girls and Boys'.

1985, Born on this day, Nadine Coyle, from English-Irish pop girl group Girls Aloud, which was created through the ITV talent show Popstars: The Rivals in 2002. They scored the 2002 UK No.1 single 'Sound Of The Underground' and over 20 UK Top 20 singles. They hold the record for "Most Consecutive Top Ten Entries in the UK by a Female Group.