THIS DAY IN MUSIC

September 7th: On this Day

1959, Craig Douglas was at No.1 on the UK singles chart with his version of the Sam Cooke hit 'Only Sixteen'. Born Terence Perkins, he was employed as a milkman before becoming a professional singer and was known as the 'Singing Milkman'.

1963, The Beatles recorded an appearance on the BBC radio program ‘Saturday Club’, at the Playhouse Theatre in London. They performed ‘I Saw Her Standing There’, ‘Memphis’, ‘Happy Birthday Saturday Club’ (arrangement credited to John Lennon), ‘I'll Get You’, ‘She Loves You’, and ‘Lucille’.

1968, The Doors played the first of two nights at The Roundhouse, London, playing 2 shows a night on their first UK visit. Granada TV filmed the sold out gigs (later shown as "The Doors Are Open"), which were attended by members of The Rolling Stones and Traffic.

1968, Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, John Paul Jones and John Bonham made their live debut as Led Zeppelin but billed as The New Yardbirds at Teen Club in Gladsaxe (a suburb in the outskirts of Copenhagen, Denmark). Around 1,200 youngsters attended the show at Egegard School. Teen Club President Lars Abel introducing 'The New Yardbirds' on stage introduced Robert Plant as Robert Plat. A local review stated; 'Their performance and their music were absolutely flawless, and the music continued to ring nicely in the ears for some time after the curtains were drawn after their show. We can therefore conclude that the new Yardbirds are at least as good as the old ones were'.

1974, The 101ers made their performing debut at the Telegraph pub in Brixton. The pub rock band featured singer, guitarist Joe Strummer who would later join The Clash.

1976, ABBA were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Dancing Queen', the group's fourth UK No.1 single and their only US No.1 chart topper. The song was a No.1 hit in over a dozen countries and stayed at the top of the Swedish charts for 14 weeks.

1976, The first Buddy Holly week was held by UK fans in London, England.

1978, Keith Moon drummer with The Who, died of a overdose of heminevrin prescribed to combat alcoholism. A post-mortem confirmed there were 32 tablets in his system, 26 of which were undissolved. Moon had attended a party the night before organised by Paul McCartney for the launch of the  The Buddy Holly Story movie. He played on all The Who albums from their debut, 1965's My Generation, to 1978's Who Are You, which was released two weeks before his death.

1985, David Bowie and Mick Jagger were at No.1 on the UK singes chart with their version of the Martha Reeves and The Vandellas 1964 hit 'Dancing In The Street.' The song had been recorded as part of the Live Aid charity appeal. The original plan was to perform a track together live, with Bowie performing at Wembley Stadium and Jagger at the JFK Stadium, until it was realised that the satellite link-up would cause a half-second delay that would make this impossible.

1985, John Parr started a two week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'St Elmo's Fire', taken from the film of the same name a No.6 hit in the UK.

1996, Michael Jackson played the first date on the HIStory World Tour, his third solo world concert tour, at Letna Park, Prague in the Czech Republic. The tour consisted of 82 concerts and was attended by approximately 4.5 million fans, beating his previous Bad Tour with 4.4 million and grossing a total of over $163.5 million.

1997, Fleetwood Mac went to No.1 on the US album chart with 'The Dance'. The album went on sell over 5 million copies in the US alone.

2001, Michael Jackson was reunited onstage with the Jackson Five at his 30th Anniversary Celebration in New York City's Madison Square Garden. It ended Jackson's 11-year hiatus from performing in the U.S. Jackson was joined by Eminem, Whitney Houston, Gladys Knight, Britney Spears and Destiny's Child to celebrate the 30th anniversary of his singing career.

2002, The Frankie Miller tribute concert was held at Barrowlands in Glasgow, Scotland with all profits going to the Drake Music Project. The Sensational Alex Harvey Band, Nazareth, Gallagher & Lyle, Hamish Stuart, former Thin Lizzy, guitarist Brian Robertson, ex-Genesis singer Ray Wilson and Joe Walsh all appeared. Miller attended the show, but was still recovering from a 1994 brain hemorrhage, and so was unable to join in.

2003, US singer, songwriter, Warren Zevon died. He had worked as a session musician, was the piano player and band leader for the Everly Brothers. His 1969 song 'She Quit Me' was included in the soundtrack for the film Midnight Cowboy. Jackson Browne, The Eagles and Linda Ronstadt all appeared on his albums. He recorded over 15 solo albums, had the 1978 US No.21 single 'Werewolves Of London'.

2003, Black Eyed Peas started a six-week run at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Where Is The Love.' The best selling single of 2003. (with an un-credited Justin Timberlake on the recording).

2007, A report showed that two-thirds of young people who regularly used MP3 players faced premature hearing damage. The Royal National Institute for Deaf People said its findings were alarming with research showing that 72 out of 110 MP3 users tested in the UK were listening to volumes above 85 decibels. Some MP3 players at full volume registered at 105 decibels, an aircraft taking off measured at 110 decibels.

2007, A new study revealed that rock stars were twice as likely to die early as the rest of us. Researchers said that the problem was so bad the industry should be labeled a 'high risk' profession.

2010, Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody was voted the greatest ‘lighter in the air song of all time’ by lighter company Zippo. Led Zeppelin’s 'Stairway To Heaven', was voted in at No. 2 and Meat Loaf's ‘I Would Do Anything For Love (But I Won’t Do That)’ was at No. 3 in the survey.

2016, The Chainsmokers featuring American singer Halsey were at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Closer'. The song stayed at the top spot for 12 consecutive weeks and topped the charts in more than ten countries. The song went on to become the first song to spend 26 weeks in the top five of the Billboard Hot 100 chart. It also became only the second song in the history of the Hot 100 chart to spend 32 weeks in the top ten of the chart.

September 7th: Born on this day

1934, Born on this day, Little Milton, US blues singer guitarist, (1965 US No.25 single 'We're Gonna Make It'). Milton died on 4th August 2005.

1936, Born on this day, Buddy Holly singer, songwriter, The Crickets, (1957 US No.1 'That'll Be The Day', 1959 UK No.1 single 'It Doesn't Matter Anymore', plus over 15 other UK Top 40 singles). Influenced The Beatles and The Rolling Stones. Holly was killed in a plane crash on 3rd February 1959. The Big Bopper and Ritchie Valans were also killed in the crash.

1940, Born on this day, Ronnie Dove, (1965 US No.14 single 'One Kiss For Old Times' Sake').

1946, Born on this day, Alfa Anderson, Chic, (1978 US No.1 & UK No.7 single 'Le Freak').

1948, Born on this day, Dennis Thompson, drummer from American rock band MC5 (Motor City 5) who formed in 1964. Best known for their energetic live performances, one of which was recorded as their 1969 debut album Kick Out the Jams. Thompson was given the nickname "Machine Gun" because of his "assault" style of fast, hard-hitting drumming.

1949, Born on this day, Gloria Gaynor, US singer, (1979 UK & US No.1 single 'I Will Survive').

1951, Born on this day, Chrissie Hynde, best known as a founding member of English-American rock band The Pretenders, who had the 1980 UK No.1 single with ‘Brass In Pocket’ and the solo 1985 UK No.1 single 'I Got You Babe' with UB40.

1954, Born on this day, Benmont Tench, keyboards, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, (1977 single 'American Girl', 1989 UK No.28 single 'I Won't Back Down', 1991 UK No.3 album 'Into The Great Wide Open'). Also worked with Bob Dylan, U2, Roy Orbison, Stevie Nicks.

1957, Born on this day, Margot Chapman, from American pop group Starland Vocal Band, who had the 1976 US No.1 & UK No.18 single 'Afternoon Delight' one of the biggest-selling singles of 1976.

1957, Born on this day, Jermaine Stewart, singer, Shalamar, (1986 UK No.2 single 'We Don't Have To...Take Our Clothes Off'). Also worked with Shalamar, The Temptations and Boy George. Stewart died of cancer on 17th March 1997.

1958, Born on this day, Hamilton Lee, from British new wave band Furniture, who had the 1986 UK No.21 single 'Brilliant Mind'.

1960, Born on this day, Brad Houser, Edie Brickell & the New Bohemians, (1989 UK No.31 single 'What I Am', also a 1999 hit for Spice Girl Emma Bunton).

1961, Born on this day, LeRoi Moore, saxophonist and founding member of the Dave Matthews Band. He co-wrote many of the band's songs, notably 'Too Much' and 'Stay (Wasting Time)'. Moore was injured on June 30, 2008, in an accident on his farm outside Charlottesville, Virginia, he was re-hospitalised in mid-July for complications related to the accident and died on August 19, 2008.

1964, Born on this day, Eazy-B, rapper, NWA, (1990 UK No.26 single 'Express Yourself'). Died on 26th March 1995.

1966, Born on this day, Chris Acland, drummer of the British alternative rock band Lush who had the 1996 UK No.21 single 'Single Girl'. Acland committed suicide by hanging himself on 7 September 1996.

1986, Born on this day, Spectacular Blue Smith, singer, from American R&B/hip hop group Pretty Ricky who scored the 2007 US No.1 album Late Night Special.