1958 - Alan 'Moondog' Freed was indicted today, for inciting unlawful destruction of property in Boston, the result of a rock'n'roll concert riot. Freed was an American disc-jockey who became internationally known for promoting African-American rhythm and blues music on the radio in the United States and Europe, and he called it rock'n'roll. His career was destroyed by the payola scandal that hit the broadcasting industry in the early 1960s. For full details of this much maligned hero of early rock'n'roll music, and videos of him and his movies, check out our search engine, and type in his name.
1962 - The man who managed the Beatles on their journey from obscurity to global phenomenon was Liverpool record store manager, Brian Epstein, who met with EMI record producer, almost half a century ago today. Martin subsequently signed the Beatles to record demos on June 4, 1962. It was their first recording contract. This first of the following videos is of Epstein, talking about how he met the so-called 'mop tops'; the second video of the Beatles performing live at the iconic Cavern Club in 1962, just after they met Epstein. This was supposedly Ringo's first gig with the band, and both film clips remain very rarely seen.
1964 - Chuck Berry began his first British tour today, and same day 12 months later, and at the other end of the musical scale, Vladimir Horowitz played his first public concert in 12 years at Carnegie Hall in New York City. Vladimir Samoylovich Horowitz was a Russian-American classical virtuoso pianist and minor composer. His technique and use of tone color and the excitement of his playing were and remain legendary. He is widely considered one of the greatest pianists of the 20th century. You can find plenty of info and videos of Chuck Berry through our archive search section, but here now is the magnificent Horowitz.
1973 - Mick Jagger added $150,000 of his own money to the $350,000 raised by the Rolling Stones' January benefit concert for victims of a Nicaraguan earthquake. And so he bloody should have, he was a multi-millioanire.
1988 - Prince's 10th album was released entitled Lovesexy. Some stores refused to sell the album due to the nude portrait that was on the cover. Two years later, and Sinead O'Connor refused to perform on American TV's premiere comedy show, Saturday Night Live, after Andrew Dice Clay was named as host. The sexist comedian raised the wrath of all and sundry at the time, and time has shown that he was nothing but a flash; 21 years later and Andrew Dice Clay has been firmly placed on the lower levels of the giantic pop cult junk pile. Wanna taste of Clay? This video may give you an indication of why Sinead pulled out of the show.
1998 - Puff Daddy and Jimmy Page were musical guests on the same aforementioned NBC's Saturday Night Live. They performed their collaboration Come To Me. Did they ruin Kashmir?
2000 - A U.S. federal appeals court upheld a $5.4 million jury decision that Michael Bolton had plagiarized parts of the song Love is a Wonderful Thing. The original song, of the same name, was released in 1966 by the Isley Brothers. Bolton's song a rip-off? What do you think? Here are both versions, so you can decide.
