July 4th

1910. Bluesman Champion Jack Dupree born William Thomas Dupree in New Orleans, Louisiana.

1911. Jazz player, arranger and record producer Mitch Miller born in Rochester, New York.

1934. Gilbert Lopez (of U.S. one-hit wonders The Tune Weavers) born. The group sold more than 2 million copies of their 1957 song, "Happy, Happy Birthday Baby" which Lopez co-wrote with Margo Sylvia. Having left the music business to become a mental health worker, he lives in San Francisco.

1938. Bill Withers born in Slab Fork, West Virginia.

1941. Dick Addrisi (The Addrisi Brothers) born in Winthrop, Massachussetts.

1943. Alan "Al" Wilson (Canned Heat) born in Boston, Massachusetts.

1948. Jeremy Spencer (Fleetwood Mac) born in Hartlepool, England.

1951. Ralph Johnson (Earth, Wind & Fire) born in California.

1954. John Waite (The Babys) born in Lancashire, England.

1958. Kirk Pengilly (INXS) born in Sydney, Australia.

1959. Bill McCorvey (Pirates Of The Mississippi) born in Montgomery, Alabama.

1963. Andy (Snuff) born in London, England.

1963. Matt Malley (Counting Crows) born.

1963. Live at the Marquee Club: Cyril Davies All-Stars.

1964. Harley Farr (The Darling Buds) born in Singapore.

1965. The Beatles return to London Airport after their tour of Spain to be greeted by at least 1,000 screaming fans lining the spectator's gallery. Their scheduled flight from Barcelona was delayed for 40 minutes while officials checked their baggage which was found to be 16cwt overweight. They were ordered to pay £ 200 in excess fees for their 66 pieces of luggage.

1966. The Beatles are expected to call on the wife of the President of The Philipines who's waiting at the presidential palace. Her three children are with her along with 200 friends who are obviously big fans. The Fabs are tight for time with an afternoon and evening show to play in Manila and never make it. Little do they know it nearly sparks an international incident.

1966. Live at the Marquee Club: Graham Bond Organisation and The Soul Agents.

1967. It's announced that the appeals against the convictions of Mick Jagger and Robert Fraser, who were sentenced on June 29th, will be heard by the Criminal Division of the Court Of Appeal on July 31st.

1967. Live at the Marquee Club: Alan Bown and Night People.

1968. Elvis Presley's 1964 Rolls Royce is auctioned in Los Angeles to raise money for SHARE a children's charity.

1968. Live at the Marquee Club: The Nice, The House Of Lords and The Span.

1969. John Lennon releases "Give Peace A Chance"/"Remember Love" (Apple 13) in the U.K. It goes on to reach number 2 in the chart.

1969. Scott Walker (real name Scott Engel) is injured in car crash near Sharpthorne, Essex. He was being driven to Brighton by his road manager, Bobby Hamilton, when a tyre burst causing the car to swerve, hitting a tree. No other vehicles were involved. He was taken to the Queen Victoria Hospital in East Grinstead for treatment for cuts and shock before being discharged in the evening. Tonight's concerts in Brighton have been cancelled as a result.

1969. Live at the Fillmore East: Iron Butterfly, Blues Image and Man.

1969. Live at the Marquee Club: Taste and Groundhogs.

1970. Between midnight and 3 a.m. this morning, Pirate Radio Geronimo previews the new album by Eric Clapton. Given the working title of "Slunky" (the title of track one), it will be called simply, "Eric Clapton" by the time it's released in August.

1970. Jefferson Airplane had hoped to give a free concert today in London's Hyde Park. During the week a change to Alexandra Palace on a different date was considered but both the Home Office and the Musicians' Union said there were regulations requiring them to give a minimum notice of a performance. As this had not been done, there would be no gig - anywhere, yet.

1970. "A Progressive Extravaganza" is held at Portsmouth Stadium from mid-day until 11 p.m. Among those taking part are East Of Eden, Heaven, Gentle Giant, Gypsy, Hookfoot, The Strawbs, Uriah Heep and The Keef Hartley Band.

1970. Live at the Marquee Club: Custer's Track.

1971. Andrew Creggan (Barenaked Ladies) born.

1971. Don McPherson (The Main Ingredient) dies of leukemia.

1971. Sunday. This weekend's Newport Jazz Festival is brought to a halt when 2,000 gate-crashers riot. Police use tear gas to quell the disturbances and arrest a large number of people.

1971. Live at the Marquee Club: Sandham's Village and Bram Stoker.

1972. 61 people are arrested at Washington's RFK Stadium during The Rolling Stones concert. Half the arrests are for drug offences while the others are for disorderly conduct. About 60 people suffer minor injuries as a result of fireworks being tossed into the crowd.

1972. Live at the Marquee Club: Vinegar Joe.

1972. On television: The Old Grey Whistle Test (BBC-2) featuring The Impressions and Todd Rundgern.

1973. David Bowie holds his retiral party at The Cafe Royal in London's Regent Street. In attendance are Jeff Beck, Sonny Bono, Pete Cook and Dudley Moore, Britt Ekland, Mick and Bianca Jagger, Lulu, Paul and Linda McCartney, Lou Reed, Ringo Starr, Cat Stevens, Barbra Streisand and a handful of movie stars.

1973. Don Powell is seriously injured in a car crash when his Bentley crashes through a hedge, a wall and into a tree. He and his girlfriend, Angela Morris, are rushed to Wolverhampton's Royal Hospital where Angela dies soon after. Don has multiple injuries including a fractured skull. He will remain in hospital for six weeks. The accident which took place in the early hours of the morning did not involve any other cars. The couple were returning to Don's luxury flat in Bilston after an evening at the Dix Nightclub in Wolverhampton.

1973. Live at the Marquee Club: Stray Dog.

1974. Live at the Marquee Club: Jonathan Kelly's Outside.

1975. The Rolling Stones are warned by the Memphis Police Vice Squad that playing the song "Starfucker" at tonight's gig in the city's Memorial Stadium will get them arrested for obscenity. Jagger refuses to comply and police in full riot gear surround the stage during the show. The band's U.S. lawyer, Bill Carter, tells the police department that the band will sue and the fans will riot if anything is done. He also points out that the local radio station has been playing the song all week, and they haven't been busted.

1975. Live at the Marquee Club: Tim Hardin.

1976. Brian Wilson appears onstage with The Beach Boys for the first time in seven years. His appearance in Anaheim, California is due to the work of psychologist Eugene Landy who has been gradually coaxing Brian back to something approaching normality.

1976. Live at the Marquee Club: Sam Apple Pie and Razorbacks.

1977. Live at the Marquee Club: The Damned and Blast Furnace & The Heatwaves.

1978. Mrs. Mills, the pianist who died in February, aged 55, left £ 113,197 in her will published today.

1978. Live at the Marquee Club: The Movies.

1980. 4be2 release their first single on WEA, "Frustration" b/w "I Can't Explain". As it's Independence Day, the band decide it would be nice to celebrate with a gig outside the U.S. Embassy in London's Grosvenor Square. Word of mouth and some flyers supposedly produced by the American Embassy Punk Section, ensure the media and a gathering of punks are there for the event - long before the band arrive. The day begins with the band, their manager and various others meeting at the flat which front-man, Jimmy Lydon (yes, that is Johnny's older brother), shares with his dad and two brothers in Finsbury Park. Then it's off to a nearby Irish pub for a few drinks while they wait for the lorry they've hired to turn up. It doesn't, and as it was to be transport and stage, they have a few more beers while they try and organise another. Manager, Jock McDonald comes up with another (bad) idea - there's a building site across from the embassy; they'll slip the foreman a few quid and play there instead. WEA call the pub and say they've got a lorry outside their office. McDonald panics and orders some mini-cabs. Jimmy gets on the phone, calls his dad and gets a lorry from his yard. Jimmy's dad's lorry arrives followed closely by the mini-cabs ("We never ordered any cabs") and the lorry from outside WEA. That lorry gets told to go away and charge the hire to one Malcolm McLaren. So, at long last, the band gets on the road. They stop off briefly in Camden to check the generator and have a sound check but move on quickly when a policeman shows too much interest. Manager McDonald has been bound over to keep the peace following a previous run in with the law and decides that a cheap publicity stunt isn't worth ending up in prison for, so he opts to travel the rest of the journey in a different van ("Nothin' to do with me guv!"). When the lorry finally arrives at Grosvenor Square, they find the embassy is closed (it's an American holiday, after all) but it doesn't stop them playing. That job was saved for the police who soon close in and close the event down. Having got into the swing of things, the band headed home stopping off in Piccadilly and Oxford Circus to bash out a few numbers. When the police try to bring things to a halt they're assured that the GLC (Greater London Council) had authorized the events and are allowed to continue. Needless to say, things didn't quite go according to plan as the band's fun is finally stopped when a member of their party exposed himself in Piccadilly.

1980. Live at the Marquee Club: Heavy Metal Special with Iron Maiden.

1980. New releases: Any Trouble's new album, "Where Are All The Nice Girls?".

1982. John "Ozzy" Osbourne marries his manager, Sharon Arden (daughter of legendary rock publicist, Don) on the Hawaiian island of Maui. Best man is drummer "Crazy" Tommy Aldridge. The wedding cake was to Ozzy's recipe and contained 2 bottles of Henessy brandy which helped to get him refuelled after a 48 hour stag night that included a drunken meal at a Korean restaurant cum brothel. Music for the reception was provided by a local Hawaiian band until the groom handed out their instruments to his band. The assembled gathering was then treated to drunken acoustic versions of 'Paranoid' and a selection of Beatles hits.

1983. New releases: Yazoo's debut album, "You And Me Both".

1986. New Releases: Love And Money's debut album, "All You Need Is ... Love And Money"
Run DMC's new single, "My Adidas".

1987. Island Records celebrates its 25th birthday with an all-star party at Pinewood Studios.

1987. Live at the Marquee Club: Heavy R&B 6th Anniversary Gig - DRN and Monterrez.

1988. Live at the Marquee Club: Soul Asylum (debut).

1988. New Releases: Patti Smith's first album for nine years, "Dream Of Life".
Def Leppard's new single, "Love Bites".
Hothouse Flowers's new single, "I'm Sorry"
The Lilac Time re-release the single, "Return To Yesterday".
Michael Jackson's new single, "Dirty Diana" (a limited edition of the seven inch comes complete with a 6 inch high cardboard cut-out of Michael).
The Pogues' new single, "Fiesta".
The Soup Dragons' new single, Kingdom Chairs".
Stump's new single, "Charlton Heston".
Was Not Was' new single, "Anything Can Happen".
"Weird" Al Yankovic's new single, "Fat" (a take-off of Michael Jackson's "Bad").
The Wonder Stuff's new single, "A Wish Away".

1990. Driving into New York, Paul Stanley (Kiss) is involved in a massive pile-up. His car is a write-off but he escapes without serious injuries. However, as he's still recovering from the broken ribs he got running into some metal work onstage in June, the band cancel some more shows to let him recover properly.

1990. Live at the Marquee Club: Marshall Law and Lady Luck.

1995. Cast are quite happily getting snapped during a photo session at 8 am in London's Battersea Park when they're disturbed by a large Japanese monk running screaming from the bushes at them. It seems the monk was objecting to the photographer climbing on a statue of Buddha to get just the right shot. The police arrive to check things out but no action is taken.

1995. Michael Jackson launches a virtual museum on the world wide web. Designed to promote his latest album, the "Museum Of HIStory". The online museum will feature seven "floors" dedicated to the singer's solo career. Only one "floor" is currently open but Sony hope to open a new floor every month until the project is completed.

1995. Courtney Love assaults Kathleen Hanna (Bikini Kill) backstage during Sonic Youth's set at the Lollapalooza show in Washington State. Love is later formally charged and will appear in court on August 14th.

1996. A late licence for an appearance by Boy George at the Ministry nightclub in Aberdeen is refused by councillors in the city today. George, who DJ'd at the club on a number of ocassions was hoping to lend his support to its fight for survival. The Ministry has recently been forced by the council to close at 11pm instead of 2am, which has effectively stopped it being a nightclub. In an effort to keep open, owner Mike Wilson has enlisted the help of several celebrities and has taken his case to The Court Of Session. He hopes to have the court overturn the council ruling and save the 60 jobs which would otherwise be lost.

1997. Stanley V. House (Bone Thugs-N-Harmony) is arrested at his home in the San Fernando valley after neighbours report hearing gunshots in his back yard. Although they can find no evidence of anyone being shot, police do find a cache of explosives and an arsenal of weapons including AK-47 assault rifles. The 24 year old rapper, along with his 19 year old brother-in-law Jamar Tarik Cole are charged with possessing explosives. They are remanded in custody pending an appearance in court on the 7th of July.

1998. Rapper Ol' Dirty Bastard is served with a summons to appear in court on July 28th. It's alleged that ODB walked out of a shoe store in Virginia Beach, Virginia wearing a $ 50 pair of Nike shoes he hadn't paid for.

1998. Stereophonics bess player Richard Jones suffers a broken nose, broken rib and is knocked unconscious after an unprovoked attack outside his local pub in Aberdare, Wales.

1999. Rapper Luther Campbell, former front man with 2 Live Crew is arrested at the nightclub, Club Zen in Miami Beach in the early hours of this morning. It's alleged that Campbell smashed a bottle of Jack Daniels whiskey into the face of Mathieu Fabrice who was blocking his view. The rapper was taken to Miami's Dade County Jail but later released.

2000. Sir Elton John's solicitors, Eversheds, lodge a complaint with the Press Complaints Commission on behalf of Elton's ex-wife, Renate. They claimed that an article titled "Renate Blauel - Elton John's ex-wife opts for quiet life" published in "Hello!" magazine today, intruded into har privacy and breached Clause 3 of the PCC Code Of Practice. The complaint was not upheld.