On This Day

July 28th

1956 - Gene Vincent

Gene Vincent made his first appearance on national TV in the US on The Perry Como Show. Vincent had released ‘Woman Love’ the previous month, but it was the B-side, ‘Be-Bop-A-Lula,’ that eventually made the top 10. The song had been purchased from a fellow hospital patient when Vincent was recovering from leg injuries. A demo of the song made its way to Capitol Records as part of an Elvis sound-alike contest and a re-recorded version gave Vincent a hit.

1960 - Roy Orbison

Roy Orbison entered the UK chart with 'Only The Lonely', which went on to give Roy his first of three UK chart toppers. As an operatic rock ballad, it was a sound unheard of at the time, and is seen as a seminal event in the evolution of Rock and Roll. Released as a 45rpm single by Monument Records in May, 1960, 'Only The Lonely' went to No. 2 on the United States. The song was turned down by The Everly Brothers and Elvis Presley, so Orbison decided to record the song himself.

1964 - The Beatles

On their second visit to Sweden, The Beatles played two shows at an ice hockey arena, the Johanneshovs Isstadion, Stockholm. During the first show, both Paul McCartney and John Lennonreceived mild electrical shocks from ungrounded microphones. Supporting acts included The Kays, The Moonlighters, and The Streaplers.

1966 - Chris Farlowe

Chris Farlowe and the Thunderbirds were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with the Mick Jagger and Keith Richards song 'Out Of Time'.

1969 - Electric Guitars

Police in Moscow reported that thousands of public phone booths had been vandalised after thieves were stealing parts of the phones to convert their acoustic guitars to electric. A feature in a Russian youth magazine had shown details on how to do this.

1973 - Watkins Glen Outdoor Summer Jam

The Watkins Glen outdoor summer jam was held outside of Watkins Glen, New York with The Allman Brothers Band, The Grateful Dead and The Band. Over 600,000 rock fans attended. Many historians claimed the event was the largest gathering of people in the history of the United States. 150,000 tickets were sold for $10 each, but for all the other people it was a free concert. The crowd was so huge that a large part of the audience was not able to see the stage.

1979 - Boomtown Rats

'I Don't Like Mondays' gave The Boomtown Rats their second UK No.1 single. Bob Geldof wrote the song after reading a report on the shooting spree of 16-year-old Brenda Ann Spencer, who fired at children playing in a school playground across the street from her home in San Diego, California. She killed two adults and injured eight children and one police officer. Spencer showed no remorse for her crime, and her full explanation for her actions was "I don't like Mondays, this livens up the day."

1987 - Kylie Minogue

Kylie Minogue released a cover version of the Gerry Goffin and Carole King penned song 'The Loco-Motion' in Australia, as her debut single. Minogue had first performed the song at an impromptu performance at an Australian rules football charity event with the cast of the Australian soap opera Neighbours. The song reached No.1 in Australia and the success in her home country resulted in her signing a record deal with PWL Records in London, England.

1990 - Partners In Kryme

Partners In Kryme started a four-week run at No.1 with 'Turtle Power' the first rap chart topper in the UK. The One Hit Wonderstrack was featured in the film Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

1992 - Ice T

Rapper Ice T announced that Warner Brothers Records would pull the controversial song 'Cop Killer' from all future copies of his "Body Count" album. The song had been the target of protests by law enforcement groups who said it encouraged the killing of police. Ice T said he would give away recordings of 'Cop Killer' at his concerts. In an ironic twist, he would later join the cast of the NBC police drama, Law and Order.

1996 - Marge Ganser

Marge Ganser from The Shangri-Las died of breast cancer. The group scored over ten hits during the 60s including the 1964 US No.1 'Leader Of The Pack.'

2003 - Cliff Richard

The wine Sir Cliff Richard made from his Algarve estate started a UK supermarket battle. Fans were asking all the stores when the wine would go on sale with the Tesco chain saying they would be the first, but the Waitrose shops had been selling the £8.49 a bottle red for the last week.

2004 - Justin Timberlake

Justin Timberlake obtained a restraining order against a photographer who allegedly stalked him. A judge in Santa Monica, California, granted the order against photographer Artemus Earl Lister.

2004 - George Williams

American soul singer George Williams from The Tymes died of cancer. Had the 1963 US million seller ‘So Much in Love’ and the 1975 UK No.1 single 'Ms Grace'.

2006 - Prince

Prince second wife Manuela Testolini Nelson filed for divorce. His first marriage, to dancer Mayte Garcia, took place in 1996 but only lasted two years.

2008 - Amy Winehouse

Amy Winehouse was rushed to hospital after she started to have fits at her home in Camden North London. A spokesman said it appeared the singer had suffered a reaction to medication she was taking to help her off hard drugs.

2011 - Meat Loaf

63-year-old singer Meat Loaf, passed out onstage at Pittsburgh's Trib Amphitheater during an apparent asthma attack. After about ten minutes he regained his composure and finished the show.

2014 - Linda Ronstadt

Linda Ronstadt was honored with a National Medal of Arts at the White House in Washington, D.C. The honor was a particularly special moment for Ronstadt, who didn't make it to her induction to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (in April of this year), since Parkinson's disease limited her ability to travel. The singer was brought into the East Room by wheelchair, but she walked onto the stage to receive her award.

Born On This Day

July 28th

1935 - Simon Dee

Simon Dee (Cyril Nicholas Henty-Dodd), British TV and radio presenter, hosted a twice-weekly chat show 'Dee Time' during the 1960’s, with musical guests including Jimi Hendrix and Lulu. Dee died on 29th August 2009.

1938 - George Cummings

George Cummings, steel guitar, with American rock band Dr Hook who had the 1970s hits 'The Cover of Rolling Stone', 'A Little Bit More', 'When You're in Love with a Beautiful Woman' and 'Sylvia's Mother'.

1943 - Mike Bloomfield

American guitarist Mike Bloomfield who was a member of the Paul Butterfield band and Electric Flag. He played on Bob Dylan's album Highway 61 Revisited. Bloomfield's Telecaster guitar licks were featured on Dylan's ‘Like a Rolling Stone’, and he appeared onstage with Dylan at the Newport Folk Festival, where Dylan used Bloomfield and the Butterfield Band which marked Dylan's first use of an electric band in a live performance. Bloomfield was found dead in his car in San Francisco from an accidental heroin overdose on 15 February 1981 aged 37.

1943 - Rick Wright

Richard Wright keyboards, vocals, Pink Floyd (1973 US No.1 & UK No.2 album 'Dark Side Of The Moon', spent a record breaking 741 weeks on the US chart. 1979 UK and US No.1 single 'Another Brick In The Wall (Part 2)'. Wright died on 15th Sept 2008 aged 65 from cancer. Wright appeared on the groups first album, The Piper at the Gates of Dawn, in 1967 alongside Syd Barrett, Roger Waters and Nick Mason.

1948 - Gerald Casale

Gerald Casale, vocalist, bass guitar/synthesizer player, and a founding member of the new wave band Devo. He also directed most of Devo's videos and has also directed videos for The Cars, Rush, Foo Fighters and Soundgarden.

1949 - Peter Doyle

Peter Doyle, singer, from The New Seekers who had the 1972 UK No.1 and US No.7 single 'I'd Like To Teach The World To Sing' and hits with 'You Won't Find Another Fool Like Me' and 'Beg, Steal or Borrow'. Doyle died on 13th October 2001.

1949 - Simon Kirke

Simon Kirke, drums, Free, (1971 UK No.2 & US No.4 single 'All Right Now'). Bad Company (1974 UK No.15 single 'Can't Get Enough').

1949 - Steve Took

Steve Took, percussionist, best known for his membership of the duo Tyrannosaurus Rex with Marc Bolan. Took died on 27th October 1980. His death certificate records the cause of death as being asphyxiation after inhaling a cocktail cherry.

1962 - Rachel Sweet

Rachel Sweet, singer, (1978 UK No.35 single 'B-A-B-Y').

1963 - Beverley Craven

Beverley Craven, (1991 UK No.3 single ‘Promise Me’, 1991 UK No.3 self-titled album).

1965 - Nick Banks

Nick Banks, drummer from English rock band Pulp, who had the 1995 UK No.2 single 'Common People'. He quit the band in January 1997. Pulp were regarded among the Britpop "big four", along with Oasis, Blur and Suede.

1965 - Texas Axile

Texas Axile, keyboards, with English group Transvision Vamp who had the 1989 UK No.3 single 'Baby I Don't Care'.

1972 - Dan Warton

Dan Warton, drums, Neds Atomic Dustbin, (1991 UK No.16 single 'Happy').

1974 - Afroman 

American rapper, multi-instrumentalist Joseph Edgar Foreman, better known by his stage name Afroman known for his singles ‘Because I Got High’ and ‘Crazy Rap’. In October 2014, Afroman released a remix of his song ‘Because I Got High,’ to highlight the usefulness of marijuana as part of the fight to legalize its sale across the United States.

1980 - Noel Sullivan

Welsh singer and actor Noel Sullivan from Hear'Say who had the 2001 UK No.1 single 'Pure and Simple'. Sullivan played the lead role of Galileo Figaro in the 2011 UK tour of We Will Rock You and later took over from Alex Gaumond in the lead role of Galileo in We Will Rock You in the London West End Production of the musical at the Dominion Theatre.

1986 - Jacoby Dakota Shaddix

Jacoby Dakota Shaddix, lead singer with Papa Roach.

1990 - Soulja Boy

DeAndre Cortez Way (Soulja Boy), American rapper. 2007 US No.1 single ‘Crank That (Soulja Boy).'