Also This Month

1965. P.J. Proby cancels a number of U.K. shows officially because of difficulties with his work permit. In reality, he finds himself the subject of a dispute between two record labels both claiming they hold a valid contract with him.

1968. Swiss disc jockey Michael Jones, 24, claims the world record for spinning discs non-stop after 155 hours. At the same time, another DJ, Juergen Fischer, from West Germany is recovering in hospital after collapsing 141 hours into an attempt at the same record. Jones says he stayed awake by breaking plates and glasses.

1975. In recognition of the success of his hit, "You're Having My Baby", Paul Anka receives a presentation from the California Institute For Responsible Parenting - a voucher for a free vasectomy which can be used anywhere in the state.

1976. David Bowie files a $ 2 million lawsuit against his manager Michael Lippman alleging that Lippman has been taking 15% commission instead of the agreed 10% and that he froze $ 475,000 worth of the star's assets after he was fired.

1979. A claim in the "New York Post" that Bob Dylan has been baptised in Pat Boone's swimming pool is refuted by Dylan's pastor who says it was at Bill Dwyer's home.

1980. Emerson, Lake & Palmer announce they have split up. The news follows Carl Palmer's announcement a week previously that he has formed his own band.

1980. Sammy Hagar postpones this month's U.K. tour until April. His 11 year old son, Aaron, is being admitted to hospital for treatment on his kidneys.

1980. Despite several music papers running a story that Judas Priest have had the master tapes of their new album stolen from Coronet Studios in New York, neither the NYPD nor the city's press knows anything about the theft. According to reports, the band were being held to a ransom of £ 50,000 for the safe return of the tape which they eventually paid. Cynics among the media however, put the whole story down to a stunt by publicist Tony Brainsby to cover the fact that the new album has run past its release date.

1980. Styx have a few nasty moments flying into Washington for the last date of their U.S. tour. The plane skids in heavy rain, loses a chunk from a wing in a collision with a beacon and slides sideways down the runway. No-one is hurt.

1980. Bruce Wooley appears in court in Torquay on charges of possessing cannabis. The trial is adjourned to let him tour the U.S.

1983. Michael Jackson is in London to attend the British Record Industry Awards and record with Paul McCartney. During his stay, there is industrial action by water workers in the capital which prompts a scare about contaminated water. Michael arranges for large quantities of Perrier water to be delivered to his hotel suite, prompting the tabloid press to speculate that he is cooking, shaving and bathing with bottled water as well as merely drinking it.

1989. Bobby Brown is pulled off stage in Columbia, Georgia after complaints about the lewdness of his show. After spending an hour with police, he is allowed to return to finish his performance after agreeing to tone-down his behaviour and the content.

1989. Creation Records boss Alan McGee announces the launch of Creation Press, a book publishing company. The first publication will be James Havoc's "Raism" which contains illustrations by Jim Beattie formerly of Primal Scream.

1989. A Federal Court in New York finds in favour of Broadway producer Ashton Springer who sued Aretha Franklin for failing to turn up at rehearsals for the stage show "Sing Mahalia Sing". The singer had been cast in the role of Mahalia Jackson but refused to leave her home in Detroit and travel to New York citing her well documented fear of flying as reason. Ashton had been seeking $ 1 million in damages. A hearing next month will deceide the amount he should receive.

1989. An imposter, claiming to be Madness front man Suggs has been telephoning radio stations to tell them of secret gigs in their area. The hoaxer started by calling Radio One to tell them of a one-off show in Newcastle and gave genuine contact numbers for the band's studio and management. He's even been calling promoters to arrange the band's next tour!

1989. The Coroner records a verdict of accidental death on the two fans who were crushed to death at last year's Monsters Of Rock Festival. The Inquest at Loughborough heard that depite efforts to revive Alan Dick (18) and Landon Siggers (20) the two men died from traumatic asphyxia.

1990. New York based video company Midnight Blue have released a tape featuring Belinda Carlisle "wasted on some kind of substance" watching as a male groupie performs an obscene act. The tape dates from the Go-Gos period.

1990. Zambia's president Kenneth Kaunda teams up with soul singer Oliver Cheetham to record a single to raise funds for disabled charities.

1991. 61 year old unemployed machine operator Robert Cronley has issued a High Court writ against The Beatles for £ 10 million claiming he wrote such classics as "Hey Jude", "Strawberry Fields" and "Let It Be". Cronley claims to have written the songs in 1961. They were given to a friend who passed them to The Fabs.

1991. Toy makers Mattel launch an M.C. Hammer doll.

1992. A liquidator is appointed to overses the affairs of Mike Batt. The ex-womble is broke after losing everything on the staging of the musical, "The Hunting Of The Snark" which was panned by critics and closed after seven weeks. Batt owes £ 1 million to banks, recording studios and the London Philharmonic Orchestra.

1992. Tito Jackson is amazed when he has to audition for the part of himself in a TV movie about The Jacksons.

1993. Paul McCartney is censored by MTV. The song, "Big Boys Bickering" is edited out of Macca's "Unplugged" performance as it contains a swear word!

1993. Michael Jackson announces a $ 1.25 million programme to provide drug related services for children in the Los Angeles area.

1994. Apple Records wins a US High Court judgement prohibiting the use of the name The Beatles by cover bands. The ruling in Akron, Ohio was against a group previously known as 1964 As The Beatles. Apple sued the band after a 1991 concert that included carboard cut-outs of The Fabs as stage props.

1994. Cypress Hill donate $ 10,000 to the "Goods For Guns" project in New York's South Bronx district. The project encourages gang members to hand in their guns in return for vouchers to buy goods with.

1994. House Of Pain rapper Everlast is sentenced to six months house arrest after being found guilty of carrying an offensive weapon last Fall. He is tagged and can only move within the grounds of his Los Angeles home apart from a two hour "laundry-break" every week. The band are meanwhile finishing their new album. Everlast is adding his vocals at home or in a nearby studio during his "laundry-break". The band's management are campaigning for the rapper's early release from sentence on grounds of good behaviour so he will be available to promote the new album.

1994. Michael Jackson finally reaches a settlement with Jordy Chandler in one court case. In another in Denver, Colorado, he is also cleared of stealing the song, "Dangerous" from songwriter Crystal Cartier who had been demanding $ 40 million in damages.

1994. Van Morrison's ex-tour manager, Alan Morris, issues a High Court writ against the singer seeking £ 32,000 in unpaid earnings. The writ alleges that Morrison agreed to pay Morris 5% of the receipts from a number of U.S. and European concert dates after hiring him in the spring of 1992. Within six months, Morris had been sacked without having been paid a percentage for any of the agreed shows.

1994. Pink Floyd start secret rehearsals for their world tour in a disused aircraft hanger near Palm Springs, California.

1994. Tupac Shakur is found guilty on two counts of assault and battery by a court in Los Angeles following an attack on film director Allen Hughes (co-director of "Menace II Society") last March. Sentencing has been scheduled for March 10th. Meanwhile, Shakur is still on remand folling an incident in Atlanta when two off-duty policemen were shot and wounded and is awaiting trial in New York charged with the forcible sodomy of a young woman.

1995. Supermodel Helena Christensen calls off her engagement to Michael Hutchence after the INXS star spent three nights in a hotel with Paula Yates. Yates announced she was splitting up from husband Bob Geldof earlier in the month and moved out of the couple's Chelsea home.

1995. A New York court orders Latoya Jackson to pay £ 350,000 to the Moulin Rouge in Paris after walking out on a contract in 1991. The 38 year old singer was contracted to the club for a year and promised £ 3.1 million but she walked out after only four months. The club sought damages in the French courts claiming they had invested £ 1 million in her. Now the U.S. courts have becked up their ruling.

1995. Documents filed as a result of child abuse allegations confirm that Michael Jackson is suffering from the skin conditions discoid lupus and vitiligo. They also state he has had two scalp operations and has severe acne.

1995. Mark Knopfler is divorced from his wife Lourdes having left her for 32 year old actress Kitty Aldridge.

1996. The three surviving members of The Beatles turn down a guaranteed pay-out of £ 150 million for a 22 date world tour from German and American promoters. It would have meant £ 2,272,727 and 27 pence each for every show but they said they couldn't do it without John Lennon.

1997. James Brown phones his girlfriend Rolanda while she's busy taping her TV talk-show. Brown is heard by the studio audience asking if she'll make an honest man of him. Rolanda says she'll have to think about it. Tune in next week, folks...

1933. Mariah Carey launches her own record label, Crave Records, promising that signings will not be subject to the usual hassle from label bosses.

1997. White Town's surprise U.K. number one, "Your Woman" becomes the most played record on K-ROQ, L.A.'s number one radio station - even although it's not been released in the U.S.

1998. Officials in Warsaw, Poland have given Michael Jackson the go ahead for his $ 500 million theme park in the city.

Talking of Michael Jackson, it seems the singer is having problems keeping a manager. He's just announced that he will be handling his own affairs after firing Tarak Ben Ammar. Ammar is very well connected. He's right-hand-man to Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud of Saudi Arabia who just happens to be Jackson's partner in the joint theme park venture.

1998. Country singer Tracy Lawrence has been suspended by his label, Atlantic Records, until he gets counselling following his conviction last September for spousal abuse.

1998. Courtney Love is down $ 27,543 after winning a court case in Orange County, Florida. She'd been charged with assaulting two fans at a gig in 1995 but the judge ruled that the two had not been exposed to any more violence than could be expected at a rock concert. The county has offered £ 1,900 towards Love's costs.

1998. Lewis Peter Morgan, a 52 year old who's spent the last ten years impersonating Randy Meisner (The Eagles) is arrested on charges of fraud, grand theft and possession of stolen property. He is jailed pending $ 50,000 bail.

1998. Sade and her partner, Bobby Morgan, are being sued by her Jamaican lawyer, Victor Robinson, for fees relating to his appearance on the singer's behalf in the Montego Bay Magistrates Court four times last year. Robinson claims they never returned to Jamaica to settle the account and hired another lawyer to handle affairs on the island.

1998. Frank Sinatra's publicist of 19 years, Susan Reynolds, is fired following press speculation that the family are disinterested in Frank's health. The singer's wife will take over the job with help from Frank's old friend Jim Mahoney.

1998. One of India's best known classical dancers has launched a campaign to stop The Spice Girls performing at an archaeological site in the town of Khajuraho in November. The site is world famous for its erotic sculptures are it's feared that the girls will debase their religious and cultural significance.

1998. Barbra Streisand plays at The White House for President Bill Clinton. When Hilary Clinton lets it be known that Barbra will not be allowed to share a room with her lover, James Brolin, Barbra heads for the nearest hotel.