What Happened Today In Music

June 27th

1964 - Peter Asher

Peter and Gordon went to No.1 on the US singles chart with the John Lennon and Paul McCartney song 'A World Without Love', also a No.1 in the UK. Peter Asher went on to become James Taylor and Linda Ronstadt's manager.

1964 - The Rolling Stones

The Rolling Stones appeared as the entire panel on UK TV show 'Juke Box Dury'. The music panel show ran on the BBC between 1June 1959 and December 1967 attracting 12 million viewers weekly on Saturday nights. 

1966 - Frank Zappa

The Mothers of Invention released their debut studio album Freak Out! on Verve Records. Often cited as one of rock music's first concept albums, the album is a satirical expression of frontman Frank Zappa's perception of American pop culture and the nascent freak scene of Los Angeles. It was also one of the earliest double albums in rock music.

1967 - Mick Jagger

Mick Jagger was found guilty of illegal possession of two drugs found in his jacket at a party given by Keith Richards. He was remanded overnight at Lewes jail, England (prison number 7856). Jagger requested books on Tibet and modern art and two packs of Benson & Hedges cigarettes.

1968 - Elvis Presley

Elvis Presley appeared on an NBC TV show that was billed as his "comeback special". The show featured the king performing on a small, square stage, surrounded by a mostly female audience. Presley was outfitted in black leather and performed many of his early hits.

1970 - Queen

The newly formed Queen featuring Freddie Mercury (possibly still known as Freddie Bulsara) on vocals, guitarist Brian May, drummer Roger Taylor and Mike Grose on bass played their first gig at Truro City Hall, Cornwall, England. They were billed as Smile, Brian and Roger's previous band, for whom the booking had been made originally. Original material at this time included an early version of 'Stone Cold Crazy'.

1970 - Led Zeppelin

The 3-day Bath Festival of Blues and Progressive Music in Bath, England took place. The line-up included, Santana, The Flock, Led Zeppelin (headlining act), Hot Tuna, Country Joe McDonald, Colosseum, Jefferson Airplane (set aborted), The Byrds (acoustic set), Dr. John, Frank Zappa & the Mothers of Invention, Canned Heat, It's a Beautiful Day, Steppenwolf, Johnny Winter, John Mayall with Peter Green, Pink Floyd, (who premiered their new suite, "Atom Heart Mother", which at that time was announced as the "Amazing Pudding"), Pentangle, Fairport Convention, and Keef Hartley.

1970 - Jackson Five

The Jackson Five started a two week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'The Love You Save', the group's third No.1 of the year, it made No.7 in the UK.

1970 - The Trans-Continental Pop Festival

The Trans-Continental Pop Festival (better known as the The Festival Express) set off. The tour was unique in that rather than flying to each city, most of the acts travelled on a chartered CN train. Grateful Dead, Janis Joplin, The Band, The Flying Burrito Brothers and Buddy Guy Blues Band all travelled together on the train playing shows in Toronto, Winnipeg, Saskatoon and Calgary.

1980 - John Bonham

Led Zeppelin appeared at Messehalle, Nuremberg, Germany during their last ever tour. After the group had played just three songs, drummer John Bonham collapsed on stage, causing the remainder of the show to be cancelled.

1981 - Michael Jackson

Michael Jackson had his first solo UK No.1 with 'One Day In Your Life' a song recorded by Jackson for his 1975 album, Forever, Michael.

1981 - Motorhead

Motorhead scored their only UK No.1 album with 'No Sleep Til Hammersmith'. The live album was recorded at Leeds and Newcastle shows during their Short, Sharp Pain In The Neck tour in 1981. The name of the tour was a reference to the injury sustained by Phil Taylor when he was dropped on his head during some after-show horseplay. Despite the title of the album, the London venue the Hammersmith Odeon was not played on the tour.

1987 - Whitney Houston

Whitney Houston became the first women in US history to enter the album chart at No.1 with 'Whitney' she also became the first woman to top the singles chart with four consecutive releases when 'I Wanna Dance With Somebody' hit No.1.

1988 - Fat Boys

The Fat Boys filed a $5 million (£2.94 million) lawsuit against The Miller Beer Company following a TV commercial featuring three overweight rappers clad in Fat Boys-style Davy Crockett hats.

1992 - Michael Jackson

Michael Jackson played the first night on his Dangerous World tour at the Olympic Stadium in Munich, Germany. The tour consisted of 69 concerts to approximately 3.9 million fans across three continents. All profits made from the tour were donated to various charities including the Heal the World Foundation, Jackson's main reason for conducting the tour.

1994 - Aerosmith

Aerosmith became the first major band to let fans download a full new track free from the internet.

1997 - Sheryl Crow

Radiohead, Cast, The Bluetones, Manson, The Chemical Brothers, Ash, The Seahorses, Smashing Pumpkins, The Prodigy, Beck, Sheryl Crow, Sting, Dodgy, Travis, Ray Davies, Kula Shaker, Steve Winwood all appeared at the 3-day Glastonbury Festival.

1998 - Corrs

After spending 30 weeks on the UK album chart The Corrs went to No.1 with 'Talk On Corners'. It went on to be the best selling UK album of 1998 spending 142 weeks on the chart.

1998 - Walk of Fame

Anne Murray, Gordon Lightfoot and Bryan Adams each officially received a granite star on Canada's Walk of Fame, on King Street in Toronto. They were the first three pop artists to be honoured into the newly recognized group of Canadian stars.

1999 - Brian O'Hara

Brian O'Hara, singer and guitarist with The Fourmost hung himself aged 56. The Liverpool group who were managed by Brian Epstein had the 1964 UK No.6 single 'A Little Loving'.

2002 - John Entwistle

One day before the scheduled first show of The Who's 2002 US tour, bass player John Entwistle, died aged 57 in his hotel room at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. Entwistle had gone to bed that night with a stripper, who woke at 10am to find Entwistle cold and unresponsive. The Las Vegas medical examiner determined that death was due to a heart attack induced by an undetermined amount of cocaine.

2003 - Mystikal

Rapper Mystikal pleaded guilty to charges that he forced his hairstylist to perform sex acts on him and two bodyguards. Mystikal, (real name Michael Tyler), had been charged with aggravated rape. He agreed to plead guilty and was sentenced to five years' probation.

2004 - Beastie Boys

Beastie Boys were at No.1 on the US album chart with 'To The 5 Boroughs' the rappers fourth US No.1. Mike Skinner scored his first UK No.1 album when The Streets album 'A Grand Don't Come For Free' went to the top of the charts.

2008 - Glastonbury Festival

Kings of Leon, The Fratellis, Editors, The Gossip, The Feeling, KT Tunstall, Kate Nash, Jay Z, Amy Winehouse, The Raconteurs, James Blunt, Crowded House, Seasick Steve, Martha Wainwright, The Verve, Leonard Cohen, The Ting Tings, Goldfrapp, Neil Diamond, Pete Doherty, Scouting for Girls, Mark Ronson, Duffy, The Zutons, Groove Armada and John Mayer all appeared at this years 3 day UK Glastonbury Festival.

2009 - Black Eyed Peas

Black Eyed Peas went to No.1 on the US album charts with ‘The E.N.D.’ the group’s fifth studio album. The album's lead single, 'Boom Boom Pow' topped the Billboard Hot 100 for 12 consecutive weeks, the second single, 'I Gotta Feeling' replaced 'Boom' and spent 14 weeks at No.1. giving the group 26 consecutive weeks at the top of the charts.

2012 - The Beatles

The chief medical officer of Russia said that The Beatles were to blame for the country's drug problem. Yevgeny Bryun, the nation's medical chief, said that the country's youth first got introduced to the idea of drug-taking when The Beatles traveled to India to "expand their minds". Bryun added that it was after this news entered public consciousness that people in Russia realised you could make money from the sale of drugs. When business then realised it was possible to make money from this, goods associated with pleasure, that was when the growth in the demand for drugs started."

2015 - Chris Squire

Chris Squire, the bass guitarist and co-founder of 1970s British progressive rock band Yes, died at the age of 67 after battling leukemia. He was the only member to appear on each of their 21 studio albums, released from 1969 to 2014.

2016 - Mack Rice

Mack Rice, the composer who wrote 'Mustang Sally' died in Detroit at the age of 82. Rice originally recorded 'Mustang Sally' himself in 1965, but the song was not initially a hit. It became a chart success two years later, after Rice's former Falcons bandmate Wilson Pickett asked if he could record it. Rice was also known for co-writing one of the Staple Singers' biggest hits, 'Respect Yourself'.

2020 - Pete Carr

American guitarist Pete Carr died age 70. He was lead guitarist for the famed Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section and recorded extensively at FAME Recording Studio in Muscle Shoals, Alabama and Muscle Shoals Sound Studio in Sheffield, Alabama. He recorded with Joan Baez, Bob Seger, Joe Cocker, Boz Scaggs, Paul Simon, The Staple Singers, Rod Stewart, Barbra Streisand, Wilson Pickett, Hank Williams, Jr., among many others.

Born Today In Music

June 27th

1935 - Doc Pomus

American songwriter and Blues singer Doc Pomus. He is best known as the lyricist of many rock and roll hits with Mort Shuman including, ‘A Teenager in Love’, ‘Save The Last Dance For Me’, ‘Sweets For My Sweet’, ‘Can't Get Used to Losing You’, ‘Little Sister’, ‘Suspicion’, ‘Surrender’ and ‘Viva Las Vegas.’He died from lung cancer aged 65 on March 14th 1991.

1944 - Bruce Johnston

Bruce Johnston, vocals, guitar, The Beach Boys. In 1965, Johnston joined the band for live performances, filling in for the group's co-founder Brian Wilson. He wrote the No.1 Barry Manilow hit 'I Write the Songs and also sang on the recordings for Elton John's 'Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me' and several songs on Pink Floyd's album The Wall.

1945 - Joey Covington

American drummer Joey Covington, best known for his involvements with Jefferson Airplane, Hot Tuna and Jefferson Starship. Covington died in an automobile accident in Palm Springs, California, on June 4, 2013.

1947 - Jim Fuller

American guitarist Jim Fuller from The Surfaris who had the 1963 US No.2 & UK No.3 single 'Wipe Out'. Fuller was known as the "Godfather" of surf music, a Californian instrumental music and with his Fender guitar contributed to the popularity of Leo Fender's instruments. Fuller died on 3 March 2017 aged 69.

1951 - Gilson Lavis

English drummer Gilson Lavis who has worked with Chuck Berry, Jools Holland, Jerry Lee Lewis and Dolly Parton. He was working in a brickyard when he noticed the advertisement in Melody Maker for Squeeze who he joined in the seventies.

1958 - Lisa Germano

Lisa Germano, American singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, 1994 album ‘Geek the Girl.’ Also worked with John Mellencamp, Simple Minds, David Bowie, Neil Finn, Sheryl Crow, Iggy Pop, Jewel and Eels.

1958 - Jeffrey Lee Pierce

Jeffrey Lee Pierce, American singer, songwriter and guitarist and founding member and guitarist with The Gun Club. Pierce died from a blood clot on his brain on 31st March 1996 aged 37.

1962 - Michael Ball

Michael Ball, UK singer, radio presenter, actor. He had the 1989 UK No.2 single 'Love Changes Everything'. In April 2020, Ball & Captain Tom Moore scored a UK No.1 with their version of "You'll Never Walk Alone" raising money for charity during the COVID-19 pandemic. This made Moore – six days short of his one hundredth birthday – the oldest person to achieve a No.1 (he was at the top of the charts on his 100th birthday), beating the previous record-holder Tom Jones. 

1970 - Laurence Colbert

Laurence Colbert, drums, Ride, (1992 UK No.9 single 'Leave Them All Behind').

1976 - Leigh Nash

Leigh Nash, singer, Sixpence None The Richer, (1999 UK No.4 single, 'Kiss Me', 1999 US No.8 single 'There She Goes').

1983 - Evan David Taubenfeld

Evan David Taubenfeld, guitarist and singer with Avril Lavigne and The Black List Club.