THIS DAY IN MUSIC

October 25th: On this Day

1958, Cliff Richard made his British radio debut on the BBC's 'Saturday Club.' The show had started life as Saturday "Skiffle" club in 1957 hosted by Brian Matthew and was broadcast from 10am to 12noon Saturday mornings on the BBC Light Programme.

1963, The Beatles kicked off their first tour of Sweden by playing two shows at Nya Aulan, Sundstavagen, Karlstad, Sweden. The local pop reviewer was not impressed, saying The Beatles should be grateful to their screaming fans for drowning out the group's terrible performance, adding that The Beatles "were of no musical importance whatsoever and that their local support group, The Phantoms, decidedly outshone them."

1964, The Rolling Stones appeared for the first time on The Ed Sullivan Show from New York, performing ‘Around And Around’ and ‘Time Is On My Side’. A riot brook out in the studio, prompting Sullivan’s infamous quote, ‘I promise you they’ll never be back on our show again.’ The Rolling Stones went on to make a further five appearances on Sullivan’s show between 1965 and 1969.

1966, Aged 7 months old, Jeff Healey had his right eye surgical removed (and subsequently his left eye, 4 months later), and replaced with artificial ones, necessitated by a form of cancer of the eyes called retinoblastoma. Three years later Healey was given his first guitar by his father. At the age of 13, the Canadian guitarist formed his first band, Blue Direction.

1968, Led Zeppelin played a gig at Surrey University, England. Although there are unconfirmed reports of earlier shows, this appears to be the band's first gig with their new name after initially performing as The New Yardbirds. In 2003 a poster for the Surrey gig (billing the group as The New Yardbirds) sold at auction for £2,400.

1968, The double album 'Electric Ladyland' by the The Jimi Hendrix Experience was released. It was also made available as two albums with changed artwork after complaints about the naked women who were pictured on the sleeve. The female models were each paid £5 for the photo shoot and another £5 if they posed completely naked.

1968,

1969, 'Sugar Sugar' by The Archies was at No.1 on the UK singles chart. It stayed at the top for eight weeks, and was also No.1 in the US, selling over six million copies worldwide. The Archies were a rock group based on comic book characters.

1970, Speaking at a US radio conference, President Nixon asked programmers to ban all songs containing drug references.

1975, Art Garfunkel was at No.1 on the UK singles chart with his version of 'I Only Have Eyes For You.' Written in 1934 for the film Dames the song was a No.2 hit for Ben Selvin in 1934 and most notably a hit for The Flamingos in 1959.

1980, Barbra Streisand scored her fourth US No.1 album with 'Guilty.' Also on this day Streisand started a three week run at No.1 on the UK singles chart with a song written by the Bee Gees, 'Woman In Love', the singers only UK No.1.

1985, Actor and singer Gary Holton died of a drug overdose. Member of The Heavy Metal Kids, and one half of the duo Casino Steel. Holton appeared in the film Quadrophenia and UK TV's Auf Wiedersehen Pet.

1985, R.E.M. The Smiths and Tom Waits all appeared on The Tube  at Tyne Tree Television Studios, Newcastle, England.

1986, Bon Jovi went to No.1 on the US album chart with 'Slippery When Wet'. Featuring two US No.1 singles, 'You Give Love A Bad Name' and 'Livin' On A Prayer'. The album went on to sell over 8 million copies world wide.

1986, For the first time in the history of the Billboard Hot 100, the top three spots were held by female solo acts. Cyndi Lauper's 'True Colors' held down the No.1 position, followed by Tina Turner's 'Typical Male' at No.2 and Janet Jackson's 'When I Think Of You' at No.3.

1986, Dire Straits guitarist, singer Mark Knopfler broke his collarbone after crashing in a celebrity car race before the Australian Grand Prix.

1989, Nirvana and Tad appeared at the Duchess Of York, Leeds, England. The two acts were on the third night of their debut European tour.

1992, Roger Miller died of died of lung and throat cancer in hospital in Los Angeles. Scored the 1965 UK No.1 & US No.4 single 'King Of The Road’. Miller won eleven Grammy Awards as a songwriter and seven Tony awards for writing the music and lyrics for 'Big River'. The Proclaimers had the 1990 UK No.9 hit with their version of 'King Of The Road.'

1997, After falling over on stage when reaching for a guitar pick, Johnny Cash announced during a gig in Michigan that he was suffering from Parkinson's disease.

1997, The Spice Girls went to No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Spice Up Your Life'. Taken from their second album 'Spiceworld' the single set new record, making them the only act to have their first five singles reach No.1.

2000, William Martin drummer with Sam The Sham & the Pharaohs died of a heart attack. The quintessential Tex-Mex band of the 1960s, had the 1965 US No.2 & UK No.11 single 'Wooly Bully'.

2001, 13 law firms were still involved in claims to Grateful Dead's guitarist Jerry Garcia's $10m estate six years after his death. Former wives & girlfriends continued to fight on how to distribute his estate and annual royalties of $4.6m.

2002, Richard Harris, who had the 1968 US No.2 & UK No.4 hit 'MacArthur Park' died of cancer. The 72-year-old Irish-born actor had been undergoing chemotherapy at a private clinic in London. Though he charted three other times, Harris was better known for his acting roles on stage and film, most recently playing Albus Dumbledore in two Harry Potter films.

2003, Johnny Cash's step-daughter, Rosey Nix Adams and her fiddle player Jimmy Campbell were found dead on their tour bus in Clarksville, Tennessee from Carbon monoxide poisoning. Heaters that had been left on were blamed for the accident.

2004, John Peel died in Cuzco, Peru of a heart attack, aged 65. He was BBC’s longest-serving radio DJ and the first DJ to introduce the Ramones, The Smiths, Rod Stewart, Blur, the Sex Pistols, T Rex and others to the masses. He founded Dandelion Records in 1969, and was also known for his ‘Peel Sessions’, releases of live radio sessions. Peel was appointed an OBE in 1998.

2007, Three workers building the set for an Akon outdoor show at Emory University in Atlanta were taken to hospital after a canopy fell on top of them. The concert was later cancelled

2012, Forbes magazine reported that Michael Jackson topped their list of highest-earning dead musical celebrities by earning $145 million in the past year. Elvis Presley ranked No.2 with $55 million in earnings, and Bob Marley at No.3 with $17 million.

2014, Jack Bruce, best known as one third of Cream died of liver disease aged 71. Bruce played bass, sang and was the principal songwriter in Cream, and his CV reads like a comprehensive guide to the British blues boom, with spells in Alexis Korner’s Blues Inc, the Graham Bond Organisation, John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers and Manfred Mann.

October 25th: Born on this day

1941, Born on this day, Helen Reddy, Australian singer, songwriter, (1975 US No.1 & UK No.5 single 'Angie Baby'). Cher had previously turned down the song.

1944, Born on this day, Jon Anderson, vocals, Warriors, Yes, (1983 UK No.28 & US No.1 single 'Owner Of A Lonely Heart').

1944, Born on this day, Taffy Danoff, Starland Vocal Band, (1976 US No.1 & UK No.18 single 'Afternoon Delight').

1947, Born on this day, John Hall, The Equals, (1968 UK No.1 & US No.32 single 'Baby Come Back').

1948, Born on this day, Glenn Tipton, guitar, Judas Priest, (1980 UK No.12 single 'Living After Midnight', 1980 UK No.4 album 'British Steel').

1950, Born on this day, Chris Norman, Smokie, (1975 UK No.3 single 'If You Think You Know How To Love Me').

1951, Born on this day, Richard Lloyd, guitar, vocals, Television, (1977 single and album 'Marquee Moon').

1955, Born on this day, Matthias Jabs, The Scorpions, (1991 UK No.2 single 'Wind Of Change').

1960, Born on this day, Christina Amphlett, vocals, The Divinyls, (1991 US No.4 & UK No.10 single, 'I Touch Myself'). Amphlett died on 21st April 2013 after battling breast cancer and multiple sclerosis.

1962, Born on this day, Chad Smith, drummer, Red Hot Chili Peppers, (1992 UK No.26 single 'Under The Bridge', 2002 UK No.1 album 'By The Way').

1963, Born on this day, John Leven, Europe, (1986 UK No.1 single 'The Final Countdown').

1965, Born on this day, Nick Thorp, Curiosity Killed The Cat, (1989 UK No.14 single 'Name And Number').

1968, Born on this day, Todd Thomas, (speech, Arrested Development, 1992 UK No.2 single 'People Everyday').

1970, Born on this day, Ed Robertson, guitar, Barenaked Ladies, (1998 US No.1 & UK No.5 single 'One Week').

1984, Born on this day, Katy Perry, American singer-songwriter, who scored the 2008 single ‘I Kissed a Girl’ which was a worldwide hit topping the charts in over than 20 countries. Her 2013 single 'Roar' gave the singer her eighth non-consecutive US No.1 hit.

1985, Born on this day, Ciara Princess Harris, US singer, songwriter, record producer, (2004 US No.1 single ‘Goodies’, 2006 US No.1 album Ciara: The Evolution).