1959 – The first edition of Juke Box Jury aired on the BBC. The show’s host, David Jacobs, lead a revolving panel of guests in critiquing the week’s top record releases.
Although the songs were never played in their entirety, the four judges gave a verdict on whether each would be a “hit” or a “miss”.
1961 – Chuck Berry opened ‘Berry Park’, an amusement complex near St Louis. The park had its own zoo, golf course and ferris wheel.
1974 – Bernadette Whelan a 14 year old David Cassidy fan died of heart failure four days after attending a UK concert of his. Over 1,000 other fans had to be given first aid during the singers White City Stadium show.
1977 – Alice Cooper’s boa constrictor, a co-star of his live act suffered a fatal bite from a rat it was being fed for breakfast. Cooper held auditions for a replacement and a snake named ‘Angel’ got the gig.
1987 – David Bowie kicked off his 87-date Glass Spider world tour at the Feyenoord Stadium, Rotterdam, Holland. The tour’s set, described at the time as “the largest touring set ever,” was designed to look like a giant spider.
It was 60 feet high, 64 feet wide and included giant vacuumed tube legs that were lit from the inside with 6,096m of color changing lights.
1993 – Mariah Carey married the President of Sony Music, Tommy Mottola in Manhattan, guests included Billy Joel, Bruce Springsteen, Barbra Streisand and Ozzy Osbourne.
1994 – Wet Wet Wet started a fifteen week run at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘Love Is All Around’, from the film ‘Four Weddings & A Funeral’. The song was written by Reg Presley of The Troggs and was a former Top 10 hit for his band in 1967.
1997 – Jeff Buckley’s body was discovered floating in the Mississippi River. Buckley had disappeared when swimming on May 29th in Wolf River Harbor, while wearing boots, all of his clothing, and singing the chorus of ‘Whole Lotta Love’ by Led Zeppelin. A roadie in Buckley’s band had remained on shore.
2002 – It was reported that Paul McCartney had thrown his fiance’ Heather Mills’ engagement ring out of a hotel window during a row. Guards at Miami’s Turnberry Isle Resort combed the grounds using metal detectors and later found the £15,000 ring.
2003 – Barry Manilow suffered a broken nose after he accidentally walked into a wall at his home in Palm Springs, California and knocked himself unconscious.
Although he passed out for four hours, he didn’t endure any lasting effects as doctors determined that surgery was not necessary and in the same year a Grandfather who set up his own pirate radio station in Wakefield, Yorkshire was under investigation by local broadcasting authorities.
The man known as Ricky Rock had erected a 32ft transmitter in his garden and had been playing hits by The Beach Boys, The Beatles and Elvis Presley. Ricky said he set the station up because ‘talent-less boy bands and dance music’ featured on local stations did not cater to the tastes of his generation.
2005 – Crazy Frog was at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘Axel F’. It started as a mobile phone ringtone, the single is based on Harold Faltermeyer’s film theme, which reached No.2 in 1985.
