this day in music

June 6th: On this Day

1960, Bing Crosby was presented with a Platinum disc to commemorate his 200 millionth record sold. The sales figures were a combined total of 2,600 recorded singles and 125 albums. Crosby's global lifetime sales on 179 labels in 28 countries totaled 400 million records.

1962, The first Beatles recording session took place at Abbey Road studios. The group recorded four tracks, one of which was 'Love Me Do', the four musicians received payments for the session of £7.10 ($12.07) each. More on Love Me Do

1966, Roy Orbison's first wife, Claudette, was killed when a truck pulled out of a side road and collided with the motorbike that she and her husband were riding on in Gallatin, Texas, she was 25. More on Roy Orbison

1968, Screaming Lord Sutch appeared at the Freehold Hullabaloo in Freehold, New Jersey, (Sutch was touring the East Coast in a old custom-painted Rolls Royce ‘hearse’). Support band was The Castiles (with Bruce Springsteen on vocals).

1970, Christie were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Yellow River'. Written by band leader Jeff Christie, the song was offered to The Tremeloes, who recorded it with the intention of releasing it as a single. However, they considered it too pop-orientated for their future direction. Producer Mike Smith therefore took their vocals off the recording and added those of Jeff Christie.

1970, Colosseum, Taste, Atomic Rooster, Matthews Southern Comfort, Brinsley Schwarz, The Strawbs and Daddy Longlegs all appeared at this years Buxton Festival in Derbyshire, England.

1970, Syd Barrett played his first gig since leaving Pink Floyd at the Extravaganza 70, at London's Olympia Hall, England, backed by a band that included his old friend Floyd guitarist David Gilmour. Barrett baffled the audience (and his musicians) when he abruptly took off his guitar during the fourth number and walked off stage. More on Syd Barrett

1971, John & Yoko jammed live on stage with Frank Zappa at The Filmore East in New York. Some of these recordings were released in 1972, on John Lennon's third post-Beatles album, Some Time in New York City.

1979, Def Leppard played at Crookes Workingman's Club in Sheffield. The gig was reviewed in UK music paper 'Sounds' and led to a recording contract with Phonogram Records.

1982, Tom Petty, Crosby Stills & Nash, Bob Dylan, Stevie Wonder, Stevie Nicks and Jackson Browne all appeared at The Rose Bowl, Pasadena, California to a crowd of 85,000 fans at the six hour Peace Sunday, We Have A Dream antinuclear concert. Dylan was joined onstage with Joan Baez and duetted with her on Blowin’ In The Wind and With God On Our Side. The show was partly broadcast on ABC TV’s Entertainment Tonight program on the same day.

1986, A&R man Dick Rowe died of diabetes. Rowe became famous for not signing The Beatles to Decca records and made the classic quote 'Nobody cares about guitar group's anymore.' He did however sign The Rolling Stones to Decca.

1987, Kim Wilde went to No.1 on the US singles chart with 'You Keep Me Hanging On', a No.2 hit in the UK. The song had been a 1966 hit for The Supremes.

1987, Whitney Houston had her second UK No.1 single with 'I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)'. It reached No.1 in over a dozen other countries and won a Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance in 1988. More on Whitney Houston  Google Tag Manager End Google Tag Manager I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me) Whitney Houston 4:51

1987, Michael Jackson announced that he was breaking all ties with the Jehovah's Witnesses. Jackson had been raised as a Jehovah's Witness and would don disguises and go door to door with the Watchtower message in cities where he was performing. More on Michael Jackson

1998, B*Witched scored their first UK No.1 single with 'C'est La Vie', making them the seventh act in chart history to debut at No.1. Also today, Boyzone scored their third UK No.1 album with 'Where We Belong', it was also the first time in chart history that both the No.1 positions were by Irish acts.

1998, Brandy & Monica started an 11 week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'The Boy Is Mine'.

1999, Australian filmmaker Baz Luhrmann went to No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Everybody's Free (To Wear Sunscreen)'. Actor Lee Perry read the narrative. The backing is the choral version of 'Everybody's Free (To Feel Good)', a 1991 song by Rozalla, used in the film William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet.

1999, Plans were announced for Elvis Presley to tour the UK almost 23 years after his death with a virtual version of the 'King' performing with a live orchestra and members of his band.

2003, Keyboard player with The Animals Dave Rowberry died aged 62. He replaced Alan Price who left in 1965. The Animals had the 1964 UK & US No.1 single 'House Of The Rising Sun'.

2003, A High court judge in London ruled that rap lyrics should be treated as a foreign language after admitting that he was unsure of the meaning of 'shizzle my nizzle' and 'mish mish man.' The court battle was over a copyright issue between the Ant'ill Mob and the Heartless Crew who had used the lyrics on a remix.

2005, John Bonham was voted at No. 1 in Classic Rock Magazine's '50 Greatest Drummers in Rock' listing Moby Dick as Bonham's defining moment. During live sets with Zeppelin his drum solo Moby Dick would often last for half an hour and regularly featured the use of his bare hands. More on John Bonham

2006, Billy Preston died of kidney failure. The Grammy-winning keyboard player collaborated with some of the greatest names in the music industry, including the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Nat King Cole, Little Richard, Ray Charles, George Harrison, Elton John, Eric Clapton and Bob Dylan.

2008, Ki McPhail and Owen Doyle from Busted lost their £10m royalties battle. The former band members claimed they were forced to sign away their rights before being sacked from the band in October 2001. They pair said they wrote songs with the two other band members James Bourne and Matt Willis, including 'Year 3000' and 'What I Go To School For', when the group formed in 2001, but the judge in the case, Mr Justice Morgan, dismissed their claims and criticised the evidence they gave.

2010, Marvin Isley, the youngest member of the American R&B band, the Isley Brothers, died, aged 56. Marvin Isley, who was the group's bass player, stopped performing in 1996 because of complications from diabetes, including the loss of his legs.

2012, Adam Clayton's former personal assistant and housekeeper went on trial, accused of stealing almost 3m euros (£2.4m) from the U2 bass player. Carol Hawkins, from Dublin, pleaded not guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to 181 counts of theft. She was accused of stealing money from two of Clayton's bank accounts over a four year period from 2004 to 2008. According to the latest Sunday Times Rich List, Bono, the Edge, Larry Mullen, Mr Clayton and their manager had a combined fortune of €628m, ($788m).

June 6th: Born on this day

1936, Born on this day, Levi Stubbs, vocals, The Four Tops, (1965 US No.1 single 'I Can't Help Myself', 1967 UK No.6 single 'Standing In The Shadows of Love').

1939, Born on this day, Gary U.S. Bonds, singer, (1961 US No.1 single 'Quarter To Three', 1981 UK No.43 single 'This Little Girl').  Google Tag Manager End Google Tag Manager This Little Girl Gary U.S. Bonds 3:43

1942, Born on this day, Howie Kane, Jay and the Americans, (1969 US No.6 single 'This Magic Moment plus nine other US Top 30 hits).

1944, Born on this day, Clarence White, guitar, The Byrds, (1965 UK & US No.1 single 'Mr Tambourine Man'). White died on July 14th 1973.

1944, Born on this day, Edgar Ffoese, keyboards, guitar, Tangerine Dream, (1974 UK No.15 album 'Phaedra').

1944, Born on this day, Peter Albin, Janis Joplin Band, (1971 US No.1 single 'Me And Bobby McGee', 1971 US No.1 album 'Pearl').

1955, Born on this day, Michael Wallace, keyboards, Third World, (1978 UK No. 10 single 'Now That We've Found Love'). Wallace was shot dead on 6th July 1999.

1959, Born on this day, Robert Hodgens, guitar, vocals, The Bluebells, (1993 UK No.1 single with the re-issued 'Young At Heart').

1960, Born on this day, Steve Vai, guitarist, Frank Zappa, David Lee Roth, Whitesnake, (1987 US No.1 & UK No.9 single 'Here I Go Again').

1961, Born on this day, D.C. Lee, singer, Wham! Style Council, (1983 UK No.3 single 'Long Hot Summer') Solo (1985 UK No.3 single 'See The Day').

1961, Born on this day, Tom Araya, vocals, bassist with American thrash metal band Slayer who released the 1986 album 'Reign in Blood'.

1965, Born on this day, David White, Brother Beyond, (1988 UK No.2 single 'The Harder I Try').

1966, Born on this day, Gary Newby, The Railway Children, (1991 UK No.24 single 'Every Beat Of The Heart').

1970, Born on this day, James Shaffer, guitar, Korn, (1998 UK No.23 single 'Got The Life', 1998 US No.1 album 'Follow The Leader').

1978, Born on this day, Carl Barat, singer, The Libertines, (2004 UK No.1 album ‘The Libertines’). Dirty Pretty Things, (2006 UK No.3 album ‘Waterloo to Anywhere’).

1978, Born on this day, Canadian drummer, Jeremy Gara from Arcade Fire who scored the 2010 UK No.1 album 'The Suburbs'.

1987, Born on this day, Kyle Falconer, lead vocalist, guitarist, The View, (2007 UK No.1 album ‘Hats Off to the Buskers’).