On This Day

March 24th

1958 - Elvis Presley

At 6.35am, Elvis Presley reported to the Memphis draft board. From there Elvis and twelve other recruits were taken by bus to Kennedy Veterans Memorial Hospital where the singer was assigned army serial number 53310761.

1965 - The Beatles

The Beatles continued filming 'Help!' at Twickenham Studios, England. They shot the interior temple scenes, including the one where they dive through a hollow sacrificial altar and into water. That scene was then cut to the swimming pool scene filmed in the Bahamas on February 23.

1965 - The Temptations

The Temptations released 'Its Growing', the follow-up to 'My Girl'. The track was the first to feature David Ruffin as the Temptations new lead singer. Interestingly both 'My Girl' and 'Its Growing' were the only Motown tunes ever covered by Otis Redding. 

1966 - Simon and Garfunkel

Simon and Garfunkel made their UK singles chart debut with 'Homeward Bound.' Simon is said to have written the song at Farnworth railway station, Widnes, England, while stranded overnight waiting for a train. A plaque is displayed in the station to commemorate this, although memorabilia hunters have stolen it many times. The song describes his longing to return home, both to his then girlfriend, Kathy Chitty in Brentwood, Essex, England, and to return to the United States. The song was also a No.5 hit in the US.

1973 - Lou Reed

During a Lou Reed show in Buffalo, New York, a fan jumped on stage and bit Lou on the bottom. The man was thrown out of the theatre and Reed completed the show.

1973 - O'Jays

The O'Jays went to No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Love Train.' The song's lyrics of unity mention a number of countries, including England, Russia, China, Egypt and Israel, as well as the continent of Africa.

1976 - Wayne County

Transvestite singer Wayne County appeared in court charged with assault after an incident at New York club CBGB's. County had attacked Dictators singer Handsome Dick Manitobe with a mike stand fracturing his collarbone.

1979 - Bee Gees

The Bee Gees started a two week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Tragedy', the group's eighth US No.1. and also No.1 in the UK.

1985 - Philip Bailey

'Easy Lover' by Philip Bailey and Phil Collins was at No.1 on the UK singles chart. Bailey was a former vocalist with Earth, Wind & Fire. Phil Collins produced, drummed and sang on the track. 'Easy Lover' won an MTV Video Music Award for Best Overall Performance in a Video.

1990 - Sinead O'Connor

Sinead O'Connor went to No.1 on the UK album chart with 'I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got', featuring the single 'Nothing Compares To You. Also No.1 in 13 other countries and six weeks at No.1 in the US.

1992 - Milli Vanilli

A Chicago court settled the Milli Vanilli class action suit by approving cash rebates of up to $3 (£1.76) to anyone proving they bought the group’s music before November 27 1990, the date the lip synching scandal broke. Milli Vanilli won the 1989 best new artist Grammy after hits like 'Blame it on the Rain' and 'Girl, You Know It's True,' selling 30 million singles and 14 million albums. But in late 1990, the performers were stripped of the award after it was revealed that neither actually sang on the Milli Vanilli album.

1997 - Harold Melvin

Harold Melvin singer with Philly soul group Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes, died aged 57. They dad the 1972 US No.3 & 1974 UK No.9 single 'If You Don't Know Me By Know' and 1973 hit ‘The Love I Lost.’

1998 - Mark Morrison

UK singer Mark Morrison was jailed for a year after trying to con his way out of doing community service. He sent his minder Gabriel Mafereka who wore sunglasses and hid his hair under a hat so he looked like the star.

2000 - Yoko Ono

A film company paid £635,000, ($1,079,500) for over nine hours of film shot during the 70s by Yoko Ono. The film contained shots of Lennon smoking hash and talking about his political beliefs.

2001 - The Allman Brothers Band

A stretch of road on Highway 19 in Macon, Georgia, was named Duane Allman Boulevard, near where The Allman Brothers Band guitarist died aged 24 in a motorcycle crash on October 29, 1971.

2002 - Gareth Gates

Gareth Gates became the youngest male solo artist to score a UK No.1 with his debut release 'Unchained Melody' Gates was 17 years and 255 days old and had won second place on TV's Pop Idol show. This was the fourth time that the song had been at No.1 in the UK.

2009 - Uriel Jones

Motown drummer Uriel Jones, died aged 74 after suffering complications from a heart attack. Jones played on many Motown classics including 'I Heard It Through the Grapevine' by Marvin Gaye, ‘Cloud Nine’ by the Temptations, ‘I Second That Emotion’ by Smokey Robinson & the Miracles and ‘For Once In My Life’ by Stevie Wonder.

2009 - Phil Spector

The prosecutor in the Phil Spector murder retrial told the jury he was a 'demonic maniac' when he drinks and 'a very dangerous man' around women. Deputy District Attorney Truc Do urged jurors to find the music producer guilty of murdering Hollywood actress Lana Clarkson in 2003. During her closing argument, she also accused Mr Spector of demonstrating a 'conscious disregard for human life'.

2013 - The Beatles

Pictures of The Beatles' 1965 Shea Stadium concert, taken by an amateur photographer who bluffed his way backstage, sold for £30,000 at auction. Marc Weinstein used a fake press pass to get next to the stage for the historic New York show. His 61 black and white images with copyright fetched £30,680, the successful bidder was a South American gentleman currently living in Washington who is a huge collector of Beatles memorabilia.

2013 - Deke Richards

American songwriter and record producer Deke Richards died of esophageal cancer aged 68. He is notable for being a member of both The Clan and The Corporation, the latter being a hitmaking production team that wrote and produced The Jackson 5's early hits, including 'I Want You Back', 'ABC', and 'The Love You Save'. He produced Diana Ross and the Supremes after Holland, Dozier and Holland left Motown in 1968 and co-wrote the US No.1 hit 'Love Child' for the Supremes, and was solely responsible for 'I'm Still Waiting', a UK No.1 hit, for Diana Ross.

Born On This Day

March 24th

1935 - Carol Kaye

Carol Kaye one of the most prolific and widely heard bass guitarists, who has played on an estimated 10,000 recordings in a career spanning over 50 years. Kaye was the bassist on many Phil Spector and Brian Wilson productions in the 1960s and 1970s. She is credited with the bass tracks on several Simon & Garfunkel hits and many film scores by Quincy Jones and Lalo Schifrin. She contributed to The Beach Boys' Pet Sounds. Kaye also performed on many American TV themes including The Streets of San Francisco, Mission: Impossible, M*A*S*H and Kojak.

1937 - Billy Stewart

Born on this day American rhythm and blues singer and pianist Billy Stewart who had the 1966 US No.10 single with his version of the George Gershwin song 'Summertime'. Stewart and three of his band were killed on 17 January 1970 when the Ford Thunderbird that Stewart was driving crashed off a bridge and plunged into the Neuse River near Smithfield, North Carolina.

1938 - Don Covay

Don Covay, American R&B, rock and roll and soul singer and songwriter. His most successful recordings included 'Mercy, Mercy' (1964), and 'See-Saw' (1965). He wrote 'Chain of Fools', a Grammy-winning song for Aretha Franklin. Covay died on Jan 30th 2015.

1938 - Holger Czukay

German musician, Holger Czukay, best known as a co-founder of the krautrock group Can. Czukay is notable for creating early important examples of ambient music, for exploring 'world music' well before the term was coined, and for being a pioneer of sampling.

1946 - Lee Oskar

Danish harmonica player Lee Oskar from American funk band War. Their album The World Is a Ghetto was the best-selling US album of 1973. They also scored the 1973 US No.2 single 'Cisco Kid'. In 1983 Oskar formed a company Lee Oskar Harmonicas to manufacture high-quality harmonicas.

1949 - Nick Lowe

English singer-songwriter, musician, and producer Nick Lowe who was a member of the pub rock group Brinsley Schwarz and Rockpile and is now a solo artist. Lowe had the 1978 UK No.7 single 'I Love The Sound Of Breaking Glass' and 1979 UK No.12 single 'Cruel To Be Kind'.

1949 - Steve Lang

Canadian musician Steve Lang best known for his role as a bassist in the rock band April Wine from 1976 to 1984. Their 1976 album The Whole World's Goin' Crazy reached No.1 in Canada and was the first in Canadian history to have platinum advanced sales orders. He died on 4 February, 2017 aged 67.

1951 - Dougie Thompson

Scottish musician, Dougie Thompson who was the bassist with progressive rock band Supertramp. Thomson played with Supertramp on all of their most famous albums: Crime of the Century, Crisis? What Crisis?, Even in the Quietest Moments, Breakfast in America.

1960 - Nena

German singer-songwriter, actress, and comedian Nena, who became a UK One Hit Wonder with the 1984 UK No.1 '99 Red Balloons'.

1970 - Sharon Corr

Sharon Corr, vocals, violin, with Irish band The Corrs, who had the 1998 UK No.3 single 'What Can I Do'. Talk On Corners was the best selling UK album of 1998 spending 142 weeks on the UK chart. The Corrs have sold 40 million albums worldwide.

1970 - Pasemaster Mace

Pasemaster Mace, from American hip hop trio De La Soul who had the 1990 UK No.7 single 'The Magic Number'.

1974 - Chad Butler

Chad Butler drummer with Switchfoot. Their 2014 album Fading West reached No.6 on the US album chart.