THIS DAY IN MUSIC

February 25th: On this Day

1956, Elvis Presley  had his first national hit when 'I Forgot To Remember To Forget' went to No.1 on the Billboard Country & Western chart.

1957, Buddy Holly recorded a new version of 'That'll Be The Day', at Norman Petty Recording Studio in Clovis, New Mexico. The title being taken from a phrase used by John Wayne in the film 'The Searchers.'

1964, The Beatles finished recording their next single 'Can't Buy Me Love', at Abbey Road studios, London, (they had first recorded the song on 29 January 1964 at Path Marconi Studios in Paris). They also recorded the B-side, 'You Can't Do That' and another new song 'I Should Have Known Better'.

1967, Pink Floyd appeared at the Ricky Tick Club, Hounslow, England. The Yardbirds were filmed performing in a re-creation of the club built at MGM Studios in Borehamwood for Michelangelo Antonioni's 1966 film Blowup.

1972, Led Zeppelin appeared in front of over 25,000 fans at the Western Springs Stadium, Auckland, New Zealand, the group's first ever gig in New Zealand, (and the largest crowd ever to attend a concert on the island). A special train was chartered from Wellington to bring fans to the concert. News reviews the next day reported the band could be heard over five miles from the Stadium.

1977, The Jam signed to Polydor Records UK for £6,000 ($10,200). They went on to have 18 consecutive Top 40 singles in the UK, from their debut in 1977 to their break-up in December 1982, including four No.1 hits. As of 2007, 'That's Entertainment' and 'Just Who Is the 5 O'Clock Hero?' remained the best-selling import singles of all time in the UK.

1981, Winners at this year's Grammy Awards included Bob Seger who won Best Rock performance for 'Against The Wind', Pat Benatar won Best female performance for 'Crimes Of Passion' and Christopher Cross won Best new artist and Best song for 'Sailing.'

1984, 'Jump', by Van Halen started a five-week run at No.1 on the US singles chart, (a No.7 hit in the UK). Singer David Lee Roth wrote the lyrics after seeing a television news report about a man who was threatening to commit suicide by jumping off a high building. Roth thought that one of the onlookers of such a scene would probably shout "go ahead and jump".

1989, Simple Minds were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Belfast Child.' At 6 minutes 39 seconds it became the second-longest running No.1 after The Beatles'Hey Jude.'

1995, Madonna started a seven week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Take A Bow', the track which was co-written with Babyface became a No.16 hit in the UK.

1995, At a private party for 1,200 select guests on the closing night of the Frank Sinatra Desert Classic golf tournament, Frank Sinatra sang before a live audience for the very last time. His closing song was 'The Best is Yet to Come'.

1998, At Radio City Music Hall, Bob Dylan was handed three Grammys, including one for Best Album for 'Time Out Of Mind'. During Dylan's performance of the song, Michael Portnoy, hired as a background dancer, ripped his shirt off and jumped in amongst the band, revealing the words 'Soy Bomb' painted on his chest. Also in the evening, during Shawn Colvin's acceptance speech, Ol Dirty Bastard grabbed the microphone and made various observations such as "Puffy is good, but Wu-Tang is the best" and "Wu-Tang is for the children". He was then escorted from the stage.

2000, The five original Spice Girls were facing a bill of up to £1 million ($1.7 million) after losing a legal battle against the sponsors of their 1988 world tour. The Aprilia Scoter Company had claimed the girls knew of Geri's impending departure.

2004, The Rolling Stones topped a US Rich List of music's biggest money makers. The list was based on earnings during 2003 when the band played their 'Forty Licks' tour, which made them $212 million, (£124.7m) in ticket, CD, DVD and merchandise sales. The three million fans who went to the shows spent an average of $11 (£6.47) each on merchandise. Bruce Springsteen was listed in second place and The Eagles in third.

2006, George Michael was found slumped over in a car in Hyde Park, London. A concerned person spotted the singer and called police who after being checked by paramedics was arrested on suspicion of possessing drugs and then released on bail. Michael made a public statement about the incident and said "I was in possession of class C drugs which is an offense and I have no complaints about the police who were professional throughout." He also said that the event was "my own stupid fault, as usual."

2009, President Obama honoured Stevie Wonder his musical hero, with America's highest award for pop music, the Library of Congress' Gershwin prize at a ceremony at the White House. The president said the Motown legend had been the soundtrack to his youth and he doubted that his wife would have married him if he hadn't been a fan. Wonder's song 'Signed, Sealed, Delivered' had been the theme song during Obama's presidential campaign.

2009, Winners at the 2009 NME Awards, held at London's O2 Academy included Oasis who won best British band, Elbow won the outstanding contribution to British music award. The Killers won best international band and Kings of Leon won best album for "Only by the Night" and The Cure won the godlike genius award.

2011, Susan 'Suze' Rotolo, died from lung cancer. She was the one time girlfriend of Bob Dylan, and the inspiration of some of his early songs. Susan appeared in one of the decade's signature images, walking with Dylan arm-in-arm for the cover photo of his breakthrough album Freewheelin Bob Dylan.

2015, On what would have been George Harrison's 72nd birthday, a new tree was planted in his memory in Griffith Park Los Angeles to replace one that was earlier killed by a beetle infestation. This new yew tree had been chosen to replace the original, as it was far less susceptible to insects.

February 25th: Born on this day

1937, Born on this day, American keyboard player, bandleader and songwriter Don Randi. He was a member of the Wrecking Crew, as well as releasing his own jazz records. In the early 1960s, he was a major contributor, as musician and arranger, to record producer Phil Spector's Wall of Sound. He also played piano on 'These Boots Are Made For Walkin'', and every album by Nancy Sinatra. He played on The Beach Boys' 'Good Vibrations' and has appeared on over three hundred hit records, working with musicians such as Linda Ronstadt, Quincy Jones, Herb Alpert, Sarah Vaughan and Frank Zappa.

1943, Born on this day, George Harrison  guitarist and vocalist with The Beatles The all-time bestselling album in the UK is The Beatles’ 'Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band', with over 4.5 million copies sold. Harrison wrote the 1969 US No.1 & UK No.4 Beatles single ‘Something’. As a solo artist he had the 1971 US No.1 album 'All Things Must Pass' and the 1970 worldwide No.1 single ‘My Sweet Lord’. He was also a member of the Traveling Wilburys with Tom Petty and Bob Dylan. Harrison died of cancer on November 29th 2001.

1948, Born on this day, Elkie Brooks, (Elaine Bookbinder), English singer who had the 1977 UK No.8 single 'Pearl's A Singer'. Brooks was also a member of Vinegar Joe with Robert Palmer.

1957, Born on this day, Stewart Wood from Scottish group Bay City Rollers who had the 1975 UK No.1 single 'Bye Bye Baby' plus 11 other UK Top 20 singles' and the 1976 US No.1 single 'Saturday Night'.

1957, Born on this day, American drummer Dennis Diken who co-founded The Smithereens. Diken has also played drums for former Kinks guitarist Dave Davies' solo band.

1959, Born on this day, Mike Peters, guitarist and vocalist with The Alarm, who had a 1983 UK No.17 single with '68 Guns'. Solo and member of Dead Men Walking with Kirk Brandon, (ex Spear Of Destiny), Slim Jim Phantom, (Stray Cats), Glen Matlock (Sex Pistols) and Bruce Watson (Big Country).

1971, Born on this day, Daniel Powter, Canadian singer, songwriter who had the 2005 UK No.2 single 'Bad Day'. The song had been featured in a Coca-Cola ad campaign in Europe.