THIS DAY IN MUSIC

July 2nd: On this Day

1956, Elvis Presley  recorded 'Hound Dog' at RCA Studios, New York. Take 31 being the version they released. This was the first time The Jordanaires worked with Presley. The single sold over 10 million copies globally, became his best-selling song and topped the pop chart for 11 weeks, a record that stood for 36 years.

1962, Jimi Hendrix  was honourably discharged from the 101st Airborne Paratroopers, after breaking his ankle during his 26th and final parachute jump.

1966, Frank Sinatra went to No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Strangers In The Night'. The song was taken from the film 'A Man Could Get Killed'.

1966, David Bowie and The Lower Third appeared at The Lion Hotel in Warrington, England, (they were paid £30 for the gig). Also appearing was The Powerhouse which featured Eric Clapton, Jack Bruce, Steve Winwood and Paul Jones.

1969, Working on tracks for the Abbey Road album, Paul McCartney recorded ‘Her Majesty’. Then Paul, George, and Ringo record 15 takes of ‘Golden Slumbers/Carry That Weight’. John Lennon was absent, in hospital in Golspie, Scotland, following a car accident the previous day.

1969, Thunderclap Newman started a three week run at No.1 on the UK singles chart with the Pete Townshend produced track 'Something In The Air.' Featured on the soundtrack for the movie, 'The Magic Christian'. The band featured guitarist Jimmy McCulloch who went on to work with Wings.

1969, Bassist Noel Redding and drummer Mitch Mitchell quit The Jimi Hendrix Experience after completing the three-day Denver Pop Festival. Hendrix and drummer Mitch Mitchell would later team with bassist Billy Cox to form the short-lived Gypsy Sun and Rainbows, who played at the Woodstock Festival.

1971, Queen appeared at Surrey College, England. This was the group's first gig with the line-up of Freddie Mercury,  Brian May, Roger Taylor and John Deacon.

1979, Sony introduced the Walkman, the first portable audio cassette player. Over the next 30 years they sold over 385 million Walkmans in cassette, CD, mini-disc and digital file versions, and were the market leaders until the arrival of Apple's iPod and other new digital devices.

1980, Bob Weir and Mickey Hart from The Grateful Dead were arrested on suspicion of starting a riot at the San Diego Sports Arena after they tried to interfere in a drugs bust.

1982, Nicky Headon of The Clash was remanded on bail, charged with stealing a bus stop worth £30 from London's' Fulham Road.

1983, Rod Stewart started a three week run at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Baby Jane', his sixth UK No.1.

1988, Michael Jackson became the first artist to have five number one singles from one album when ‘Dirty Diana’ went to the top of the US charts. The other four chart-toppers from the LP ‘Bad’ were the title track, ‘I Just Can't Stop Loving You’, ‘The Way You Make Me Feel’ and ‘Man in the Mirror’.

1988, Tracy Chapman started a three-week run at No.1 on the UK album chart with her self-titled debut LP. Helped by her performance at the 'Nelson Mandela's 70th Birthday Tribute Concert' at Wembley Stadium, also No.1 in the US.

1991, Axl Rose caused a riot to break out during a Guns N' Roses gig after leaping into the crowd to remove a camera from a fan at the Riverpoint Amphitheatre, Maryland Heights. Over 50 people were injured and 15 fans were arrested.

2001, Liverpool Airport at Speke was renamed John Lennon  Airport. Yoko Ono was present to unveil a new logo that included the late Beatle's famous self- portrait and the words, 'Above Us Only Sky' taken from his 'Imagine' album.

2005, The world's biggest music stars united in concerts around the world to put pressure on political leaders ahead of the G8 summit to tackle poverty in Africa. Concerts in 10 cities, including London, Philadelphia, Paris, Berlin, Johannesburg, Rome and Moscow played to hundreds of thousands of people. A TV audience of several hundred million watched the gigs. In London Pink Floyd, The Who, Madonna, U2, Coldplay, Sting, The Scissor Sisters, Keane, and Paul McCartney performed. Philadelphia saw, Destiny's Child, Jay-Z and Bon Jovi, Canada, Bryan Adams and Neil Young headlined, Bjork headlined in Tokyo and Green Day played in Berlin.

2007, Lyricist Hy Zaret, who wrote the words for the song 'Unchained Melody' died at his home in Westport, Connecticut, aged 99. The song (which does not feature the word "unchained"), has been recorded over 300 times. Zaret co-wrote the song with film composer Alex North for the 1955 prison film Unchained. The Righteous Brothers' 1965 version was produced by Phil Spector.

2008, The gravestone of former Joy Division frontman Ian Curtis was stolen. Cheshire Police said his memorial stone was taken from where he is buried in Macclesfield Cemetery. Officers were appealing for anyone with information on its whereabouts, detectives said the stone, had the inscription ‘Ian Curtis 18 - 5 - 80’ and the words ‘Love Will Tear Us Apart’.

2015, Buddy Holly's widow, Maria Elena Holly, announced that she had entrusted the publishing rights to her late husband's influential catalog to the artist's performance rights group, BMG. The company was now authorised to administer royalties worldwide of nearly all of Buddy Holly's recordings.

July 2nd: Born on this day

1925, Born on this day, Marvin Rainwater, singer, 1957 US No.18 single 'Gonna Find Me A Bluebird', 1958 UK No.1 single 'Whole Lotta Woman.' He died on October 18, 1994.

1926, Born on this day, Lee Allen, saxophonist, worked with Fats Domino, Little Richard Shirley & Lee.

1936, Born on this day, Tom Springfield, from the British pop-folk vocal trio The Springfields who had the 1962 US No. 20 single 'Silver Threads And Golden Needles', and the 1963 UK No.5 single 'Island Of Dreams'. The Springfields included singer Dusty Springfield and her brother Tom Springfield.

1937, Born on this day, David Palmer the keyboard player for Jethro Tull between 1969 and 1980. He played on all the Tull classics including 'Thick As A Brick' and 'Aqualung.' Palmer changed his name to Dee Palmer after a successful sex change operation during the nineties.

1940, Born on this day, American singer Paul Williams, who with The Temptations had the 1971 US No.1 & UK No.8 single 'Just My Imagination' and the re-issued 'My Girl' which was a UK No.2 hit in 1992 Died on 17th August after shooting himself.

1942, Born on this day, Leapy Lee, UK singer, (Lee Graham), 1968 UK No.2 single 'Little Arrows'.

1945, Born on this day, Peter Cruickshank, bass, The Groundhogs, (1971 UK No.5 album 'Split').

1949, Born on this day, American keyboardist Roy Bittan, "The Professor", with Bruce Springsteen E Street Band which he joined on August 23, 1974. He has also worked with David Bowie, Jackson Browne, Dire Straits, Peter Gabriel, Meat Loaf,Stevie Nicks, Bob Seger.

1950, Born on this day, Duncan Mackay, keyboards, with English group Cockney Rebel who scored the 1975 UK No.1 single 'Make Me Smile, Come Up And See Me'.

1952, Born on this day, Johnny Colla, guitar, sax, from Huey Lewis and the News who had the 1985 UK No.11 & US No.1 single 'The Power Of Love'. Their third, and best-selling, album was the 1983 Sports, and they contributed to the soundtrack of the 1985 feature film Back to the Future.

1954, Born on this day, Pete Briquette, bass, vocals, The Boomtown Rats, (1979 UK No.1 single 'I Don't Like Mondays', plus 10 other UK Top 40 singles).

1955, Born on this day, Jerry Hall, US model, actress. Married Rolling Stone Mick Jagger in 1990.

1956, Born on this day, Jeffrey Cooper singer from American group Midnight Star who had the 1986 UK No.8 single 'Midas Touch' and a string of hits in the 1980s.

1957, Born on this day, Mike Anger from British new wave group The Blow Monkeys who had the 1986 hit 'Digging Your Scene' and the 1987 UK No.5 single 'It Doesn't Have To Be This Way'.

1961, Born on this day, Annie Ruddock, vocals, Amazulu, (1986 UK No.5 single 'Too Good To Be Forgotten').

1964, Born on this day, Roy Boulter, drummer of Liverpool-based group The Farm who had the 1990 UK No.4 single 'All Together Now'.

1966, Born on this day, Dave Parsons, bassist with English group Transvision Vamp who had the 1989 UK No.3 single 'Baby I Don't Care'. He later worked with Bush who had the 1997 UK No.7 single 'Swallowed'.

1970, Born on this day, Monie Love, UK female rapper, (1990 UK No. 12 single 'It's A Shame', plus eight other UK Top 40 singles).

1974, Born on this day, Rocky Gray, drummer, Ewith American rock band Evanescence who had the 2003 UK No.1 & US No.5 single ‘Bring Me To Life’, and the 2003 UK No.1 & US No.3 album Fallen. Also a member of Living Sacrifice and Soul Embraced.

1983, Born on this day, Daron Malakian, guitarist with Armenian-American heavy metal band System of a Down who had the 2001 US No.1 album Toxicity and the 2005 US No.1 & UK No.2 album Mezmerize.

1985, Born on this day, Ashley Michelle Tisdale, actress and singer from High School Musical, as part of the cast had the 2006 US No.1 ‘High School Musical’ album and 2007, US No.1 ‘High School Musical 2’ album. Over 17 million viewers in the United States watched the TV premier of High School Musical; making it the highest rated basic cable broadcast in U.S. history. Released her debut album ‘Headstrong’ in 2007.