ANNIVERSARIES
1958-John Lennon's mother, 44-year-old Julia Lennon, was struck and killed by a car driven by an off-duty policeman while she was crossing Menlove Avenue towards a bus stop. 24-year-old Constable Eric Clague was later acquitted of the offence by a jury who attributed Julia's demise to "death by mis-adventure." He was however suspended from duty and later resigned from the Liverpool Constabulary to take a job as postman. John, who was 17 at the time and living with his Aunt Mimi, was overcome by grief and would later say "I was in a blind rage for two years. I was either drunk or fighting."
1972-Elton John started a five week run at #1 on the Billboard album chart with "Honky Chateau", his first US chart topper.
1973-Ray Davies announces he's leaving The Kinks. His decision is brought on by exhaustion and his wife recently leaving him. He returned to the group within a week.
1988-MTV bans Neil Young's video "This Note Is For You", which parodied corporate Rock by showing a Michael Jackson look-alike whose hair catches fire. The ban would soon be lifted and the video was put into heavy rotation, resulting in it eventually winning the MTV Video Music Award for Best Video of the Year in 1989.
1989-The Doobie Brothers return to the US Top Ten for first time in nine years as "The Doctor" climbs to #9.
1999-A couple of American radio stations got their hands slapped by Capitol Records for playing a bootlegged Paul McCartney single called "I Got Stung". The song was taken from a BBC broadcast and distributed over the Internet.
1999-The Rolling Stones reported that they had an intake of over $337 million from the previous two years. The average nightly take on the 147 shows was over $2 1/4 million, as the band played to more than 5.6 million people, selling out all but 20 shows.
2009-Paul McCartney took time out from his current tour to stop by The Late Show with David Letterman where he and his band thrilled the crowd by performing at the outdoor stage of the Ed Sullivan Theater.
2012-Jon Lord, who founded Deep Purple and co-wrote their biggest hit, "Smoke On The Water", died of pancreatic cancer at the age of 71.
2015-Neil Young announced on his Facebook page that he intended to remove his music from all streaming services because he was unsatisfied with the quality of the sound. Young said his songs have been "devalued by the worst quality in the history of broadcasting."
2017-The first Eagles concert since Glenn Frey passed away in January, 2016, took place at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. Detroit rocker Bob Seger joined Don Henley, Timothy B. Schmit, Joe Walsh and Vince Gill for "Heartache Tonight".
BORN TODAY
1947-Peter Banks
guitarist, Yes, (1968-70), and Flash. After playing with bassist Chris Squire in the Syn, Banks and Squire helped form Yes in 1968. Banks died aged 65 on March 7th, 2013.
1947-Roky Erickson
singer, songwriter, harmonica player, and guitarist who was a founding member of the 13th Floor Elevators and a pioneer of the psychedelic rock genre. Erickson died on May 31, 2019 age 71.
1948-Artimus Pyle
drummer with Lynyrd Skynyrd from 1974 to 1977 and from 1987 to 1991.
1952-Jeff Carlisli
38 Special
1952-Johnny Thunders, (John Genzale)
guitar, vocals, The New York Dolls. Died April 23rd, 1991.
1956-Joe Satriani
nstrumental rock guitarist and multi-instrumentalist
1966-Jason Bonham
drummer and son of Led Zeppelin drummer John Bonham.
