March 5th
1948, Born on this day, Eddy Grant, singer, The Equals, (1968 UK No.1 single 'Baby Come Back',) and solo (1982 UK No.1 single 'I Don't Wanna Dance').
1951, Born on this day, Elaine Page, singer, (1985 UK No.1 single 'I Know Him So Well').
1952, Born on this day, Alan Clark, keyboards, Dire Straits, (1985 US No.1 single 'Money For Nothing', 1986 UK No.2 single 'Walk Of Life').
1955, Elvis Presley made his TV debut when he appeared on the weekend show 'Louisiana Hayride' on KWKH TV
1956, Born on this day, Teena Marie, US singer, 1980 UK No. 6 single 'Behind The Groove').
1957, Born on this day, Mark E Smith, singer, The Fall, (1987 UK No.30 single 'There's A Ghost In My House').
1958, Born on this day, Andy Gibb, younger brother of The Bee Gees. He had a 1978 UK No.10 single with ‘An Everlasting Love’ and a 1978 US No.1 single with ‘Shadow Dancing’, which spent seven weeks at the top, plus two other US No.1 singles. Gibb died on March 10th 1988.
1962, Born on this day, Craig and Charlie Reid, The Proclaimers, (1987 UK No.3 single 'Letter From America', 1988 UK No.6 album 'Sunshine Over Leith', 2007 UK No.1 single with Comic Relief charity hit I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles).
1963, Country singer Patsy Cline was killed in a plane crash at Dyersburg, Virginia, along with The Cowboy Copas and Hawkshaw Hawkins. They were traveling to Nashville to appear at a benefit concert for DJ 'Cactus' Jack Call, who'd died in a car crash. Cline was the first country singer to cross over as a pop artist. Two days later Country singer, Jack Anglin was killed in a car crash on his way to Cline's funeral.
1963, The Beatles recorded what would be their third single ‘From Me to You’ just five days after John Lennon and Paul McCartney wrote the song. Originally planned as the B-side of the record, it was switched to the A-side during the recording session, with ‘Thank You Girl’ demoted to the B-side.
1965, The Mannish Boys released their debut single 'I Pity The Fool', featuring a young David Bowie.
1965, The Rolling Stones kicked off their fifth UK tour at The Regal Theatre, Edmonton, London. A 14-date package tour with The Hollies, The Konrads and Dave Berry and the Cruisers.
1966, Herb Alpert And The Tijuana Brass went to No.1 on the US album chart with 'Going Places.'
1966, Staff Sergeant Barry Sadler started a five week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Ballad Of The Green Berets', it made No.24 in the UK.
1970, Born on this day, John Frusciante – guitarist with Red Hot Chili Peppers, (1992 UK No.26 single with ‘Under The Bridge’, 1991 US No.3 album Blood Sugar Sex Magik and a 2002 UK No.1 album 'By The Way').
1971, Led Zeppelin started a 12-date 'thank you' tour for British fans appearing at the clubs from their early days and charging the admission price from 1968. The first show was at The Ulster Hall, Belfast, Northern Ireland.
1971, UK band Badfinger kicked off their first US tour appearing in Toledo, Ohio.
1973, the former US manager of Jimi Hendrix, Michael Jeffrey was one of 68 people killed in a plane crash in France. Jeffery was en-route to a court appearance in London related to Hendrix.
1975, during a UK tour 10CC and all girl group Fancy appeared at Leeds University, tickets £1.25.
1975, Rod Stewart met Swedish actress, Britt Ekland at a party in Los Angeles, the couple went on to have a high profile love affair.
1977, Barbra Streisand started a three week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘Love Theme From A Star Is Born’, her second US No.1. It made No.3 in the UK. The Eagles were at No.2 with ‘New Kid In Town’ and The Steve Miller Band was at No.3 with ‘Fly Like An Eagle’
1979, Japan gave their first live concert in the land of the rising sun when they played the first of two nights at Tokyo's Budokan Hall.
1982, actor and singer John Belushi died from an overdose of cocaine and heroin. Belushi was one of the original cast members on US TV's Saturday Night Live, played Joliet 'Jake' Blues in The Blues Brothers and also appeared in the film Animal House. His tombstone reads "I may be gone, but rock n roll lives on."
1982, Born on this day, Russell Leetch, bass guitarist, Editors, (2007 UK No.1 album album 'An End Has A Start').
1983, Michael Jackson started a 7 week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Billie Jean', his fourth solo US No.1, also No.1 in the UK. And on this day Jacksons album 'Thriller' went to No.1 for the first time on the UK album chart, it went on to become the biggest selling album of all time with sales over 50 million.
1983, Fun Boy Three kicked off a 13-date UK tour at Leeds University.
1992, R.E.M. cleaned up in The Rolling Stone Music Awards winning Album of the year, for 'Out Of Time', Artist of the year, Best single for 'Losing My Religion', Best video for 'Losing My Religion' and Best band, Best guitarist and Best songwriter awards.
1995, Viv Stanshall of The Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band was killed in a house fire.
1999, Sir Elton John won a court case against The Daily Star, after they had published long-lens photographs of Spice Girl Victoria Adams and footballer David Beckham while they were staying at Elton's home.
2000, former rap artist MC Hammer became a preacher at the Jubilee Christian Centre in San Jose. Hammer had been declared bankrupt in 1996 after squandering his $50 million (£29.4 million) fortune.
2000, Madonna went to No.1 on the UK singles chart with her version of the Don McLean 1972 hit 'American Pie'. It was her 50th UK hit and the singers ninth UK No.1.
2000, Oasis went to No.1 on the UK chart with their fourth album 'Standing On The Shoulders Of Giants.'
2002, the first episode of 'The Osbournes' TV show was aired on MTV in the US. Focusing on the madman and his family (his wife Sharon, and two of their three children). Oblivious to the camera, they bicker, squabble, curse and hang out backstage at Ozzy shows.
2004, Guitarist John McGeoch died in his sleep aged 49, member of Magazine, (1978 UK No.41 single 'Shot By Both Sides'). Also worked with Siouxsie And The Banshees, Armoury Show, Public Image Ltd.
2006, Corinne Bailey Rae went to No.1 on the UK album chart with her debut album 'Corinne Bailey Rae.' Rae became only the fourth female British act in history to have her first album debut at No.1 on the UK chart.
2007, records by the Rolling Stones and Paul Simon were chosen for preservation by the US Library of Congress. The Stones' Satisfaction and Simon's Graceland album entered the National Recordings Registry, which preserves historic works for future generations. Other recordings chosen this year included Carl Perkins' Blue Suede Shoes, Be My Baby, The Ronettes, A Change Is Gonna Come, Sam Cooke and the album The Velvet Underground and Nico
2008, Lou Pearlman, the man behind boy bands 'N Sync and the Backstreet Boys was set to plead guilty to a $300m (£152m) fraud scheme. Music mogul Lou Pearlman admitted to a court in Florida of running scams that defrauded investors and major banks for more than 20 years. The charges carried a maximum of 25 years in prison and a $1m (£506,000) fine.
