Today In Music, January 24th

From the Rockmine Almanac for today (Saturday, 24th January):

Birth

1941. Neil Diamond born Noah Kaminsky in Brooklyn, New York.

On Stage

1969. Lonnie Donegan takes over from Judy Garland in the middle of her 5-week season at London’s Talk Of The Town. The Hollywood star is described as “resting” in her suite at the Ritz Hotel with a nurse in attendance. Yesterday, she had walked off stage after cigarette packets were thrown at her following her late arrival.

In Custody

1980. Paul McCartney has his first meeting with the British Consul since being detained by Japanese authorities on January 16th. The meeting with D.W.F. Warren-Knott lasted about 15 minutes. During that time, the 37 year old singer said he had no complaints about the way he was being treated.

In Court

1978. The case involving Rod Stewart‘s tour band continues at Glasgow Sheriff Court. Two road managers with the group, Patrick Logue (27) and Malcolm Culmore (31), charged with possessing cannabis are found not guilty. Unfortunately, the tour secretary, 29 year old Doris Tyler, is found guilty of perverting the course of justice and is fined £ 130. Police giving evidence against her said that officers answering three different telephones heard her say, “It’s Doris. The drug squad are in the hotel. Ditch everything you’ve got”. Mrs. Tyler was unable to attend the court in person as she’s in Hollywood and unable to travel on health grounds.

On Television

1980. Top Of The Pops. (BBC-1, U.K.) Presented by Mike Read. Barbara Dickson; Boomtown Rats; Buggles; Dollar; Joe Jackson; Legs & Co / Bee Gees; Matchbox; Nolans; Pretenders; Regents; Sheila & B.Devotion; The Specials; Suzi Quatro. Here are the Regents with “7-Teen”.

Death

1970. James “Shep” Sheppard, leader of Shep And The Limelites, is found battered to death in his car on the Long Island Expressway.

Babble

For those of you who thought I’d gone AWOL the last few days, I do apologise. My New Year resolution to get the blog up in the wee small hours may seem to have been abandoned but that’s not really the case.

As you may know, I’m planning to publish a concise version of the Rockmine Almanac through Lulu next month. This has meant making sure it was up-to-date and working properly – which it wasn’t. So, come Monday morning, I decided to get things in order, going through each of my databases and rebuilding them line by line. Two hard-drive failures in the last year had seen me lose numerous source files. I’d tried everything from freezing them to dropping them but somehow, last weekend managed to rescue the last of what I thought was too important to lose.

This week, I’ve been totally focused on my TV database which had 13, 052 shows. That figure is now 19,176 and I still have probably another 5,000 shows on text files I need to check and rebuild.  I’ve spent ages sifting through daily TV listings in various libraries and trawling through Rockmine’s vast store of music papers for something approaching a definitive listing of pop and rock on U.K. TV but those files are the most corrupted. As a result, it’s going to take some time to add those.

That said, I’m relatively happy. What I do have, even now, is a wonderful snap-shot of what we were watching across the years. Here’s what the database throws up (so far) for January 24th:

 

1958 American Bandstand. (ABC, U.S.A.) Frankie Lyman and the Teenagers – “Goody-Goody”

1959. The Dick Clark Saturday Night Beechnut Show. (ABC, U.S.A.) Bill Parsons – “All-American Boy”; Joni James – “There Must Be a Way” & “Sorry for Myself”; The Wild Cats – “Gazachstahagen”

1961. American Bandstand. (ABC, U.S.A.) Johnny Burnette – “Little Boy Sad”

1964. Ready, Steady, Go! (Associated-Redifussion (ITV),U.K.) The Searchers – “Needles & Pins”; The Bachelors; Cloe; Susan Maughan; Tony Sheridan; Phil Spector

1964. The Mike Douglas Show. (Syndicated, U.S.A.) Louis Armstrong co-hosts and performs.

1965. The Ed Sullivan Show. (CBS, U.S.A.) The Animals – “Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood”

1966. Hullabaloo. (NBC, U.S.A.) Host: Dean Jones. Guests: The Bitter End Singers, Peter Nero, Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels, Bruce Scott

1966. Where The Action Is. (ABC, U.S.A.) Ben E. King: “Spanish Harlem; Dick and DeeDee: “The Mountain’s High; Paul Revere and the Raiders: “Searchin'”

1967. Where The Action Is. (ABC, U.S.A.) J.J. Jackson: “But It’s Alright” & “I Dig Girls; The Outsiders: “Time Won’t Let Me” & “Help Me Girl”.

1968. The Johnathan Winters Show. (CBS, U.S.A.) Guests include Nancy Sinatra – “Cryin’ Time”. The Young Saints – “Feelin’ Good”, “I Know a Place”.

1970. American Bandstand. (ABC, U.S.A.) Joe South – “Walk A Mile In My Shoes”; Biff Rose 

1971. Omnibus (BBC-1, U.K.) Chicago Blues

1971. The Barbara McNair Show. (Syndicated, U.S.A.) Hagood Hardy performs, “Eli’s Coming” Barbara sings “Softly, as I Leave You.”

1971. The Ed Sullivan Show. (CBS, U.S.A.) Musical guests: B.J. Thomas, Nancy Ames

1973. The Mike Douglas Show. (Syndicated, U.S.A.) Mike’s guests are The Corneilus Brothers.

1974. Top Of The Pops. (BBC, U.K.) Presented by Jimmy Savile. Andy Williams – Solitaire (Repeat); Golden Earring – Radar Love; Harold Melvin & The Bluenotes – The Love I Lost (Disc); Lulu – The Man Who Sold The World; Medicine Head – Slip & Slide; Mud – Tiger Feet; Stevie Wonder – Living For The City (Disc); Suzi Quatro – Devil Gate Drive; The Stylistics – Rockin’ Roll Baby (Disc); The Sweet – Teenage Rampage.

1975. The Midnight Special (NBC, U.S.A.) Hosts: The Marshall Tucker Band. Guests: Charlie Daniels; Charlie Daniels Band; Olivia Newton-John; Poco

1975. The Mike Douglas Show. (Syndicated, U.S.A.) Guests include singer-songwriter Paul Williams – “Family of Man”, “You and Me Against the World”.

1976. Hee-Haw. (Syndicated, U.S.A.) Guests: Cal Smith, The Statler Brothers and LaWanda Lindsey.

1976. Saturday Night Live (NBC, U.S.A.) Neil Sedaka

1976. Soul Train. (Syndicated, U.S.A.) The Jackson Five

1978. Rockpalast. (WDR, West Germany) Alberto Y Lost Trios Paranoias (WDR Studio-L Köln)

1978. The Mike Douglas Show. (Syndicated, U.S.A.) Paul Anka co-hosts and sings “Nights on Broadway.”

1980. The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (NBC, U.S.A.) Sarah Vaughan; Jim Stafford

1980. Top Of The Pops (BBC, U.K.) Presented by Mike Read. Barbara Dickson – Caravan Song; Boomtown Rats – Someones Looking At You; Buggles – The Plastic Age; Dollar – I Want To Hold Your Hand; Joe Jackson – Its Different For Girls (Repeat);  Legs & Co / Bee Gees – Spirits Having Flown; Matchbox – Buzz-Buzz-A-Diddle It; Nolans – Im In The Mood For Dancing; Pretenders – Brass It Pocket (Repeat);  Regents – 7 Teen; Sheila & B.Devotion – Spacer (Promo); The Specials – Too Much Too Young (Promo); Suzi Quatro – Mamas Boy.

1981. Hee-Haw. (Syndicated, U.S.A.) Bruce Jenner; Reba McEntire – “Up In Heaven”; T.G. Sheppard – “I Feel Like Loving You Again”.

1981. Rockpalast. (WDR, West Germany) Michael Schenker Group (Markthalle Hamburg)

1981. Saturday Night Live. (NBC, U.S.A. ) Joe “King” Carrasco & The Crowns; 14 Karat Soul

1981. Soul Train. (Syndicated, U.S.A.) Bar-Kays; Yarbrough & Peoples; Robert Winters

1985. Top Of The Pops. (BBC, U.K.) Presented by Mike Smith, Steve Wright. Ashford & Simpson – Solid (Promo); Chaka Khan – This Is The Night; Foreigner – I Want To Know What Love Is (Promo); James Ingram – Yah Mo B There; King – Love & Pride; Strawberry Switchblade – Since Yesterday.

1987. American Bandstand. (ABC, U.S.A.) The Beastie Boys – “(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (to Party)!”

1987. Hee-Haw. (Syndicated, U.S.A.) John Schneider (co-host). Guests: Louise Mandrell; The New Grass Revival.

1987. Saturday Night Live. (NBC, U.S.A.) Debbie Harry

1990. The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. (NBC, U.S.A.) Hoyt Axton

1991. The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. (NBC, U.S.A.) Garth Brooks

1991 Top Of The Pops BBC U.K. Presented by Simon Mayo. 2 In A Room – Wiggle It (Promo); A Tribe Called Quest – I Can Kick It (Promo); Off-Shore – I Cant Take The Power; Queen – Innuendo (Promo); Rick Astley – Cry For Help; Robert Palmer – Mercy Mercy Me-I Want You (Repeat);  The Simpsons – Do The Bartman (Promo); Tongue N Cheek – Forget Me Nots.

1992. The Word. (Channel 4, U.K.) Musical guests:  Boy George, Jah Wobble, Sinead O’Connor, Ride, Jagdeep.

1993. Taratata. (France 4, France) Recorded 21 janvier 1993. Solos: Véronique Sanson; Kezia Jones; Les Négresses Vertes; Jocelyne Beroard. Duos: Véronique Sanson & William Sheller; Véronique Sanson & Dany Brillant

1996. Late Show With David Letterman. (CBS, U.S.A.) Musical guest: Joe Ely

1997. Never Mind The Buzzcocks. (BBC-2, U.K.) Peter Hook, Ace, Clare Grogan, Alan Davies

1997. TFI Friday. (Channel 4, U.K.) Musical guests: Gabrielle, Candyskins, Audioweb

1997. The Rosie O’Donnell Show. (Syndicated, U.S.A.) Guests include Tori Amos.

1997. Top Of The Pops (BBC, U.K.) Presented by Phil Daniels. Byron Stingily – Get Up (Everybody); En Vogue – Don’t Let Go (Love) (Promo); Ginuwine – Pony; Outhere Brothers – Let Me Hear You Say Ole’ Ole’; Reef – Come Back Brighter; Suede – Saturday Night; U2 (Disc);otheque (Promo); White Town – Your Woman (Promo).

1998. Soul Train. (Syndicated, U.S.A.) H-Town; Kimberly Scott; Mic Geronimo

2002. Last Call with Carson Daly. (NBC, U.S.A.) Guests include JaRule.

2002. The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. (NBC, U.S.A.) Guests include Chuck Berry; Little Richard 

2003. The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. (NBC, U.S.A.) Guests include Sheryl Crow 

2003. Top Of The Pops (BBC, U.K.) Presented by Richard Bacon.  – Year 3000; Daniel Bedingfield – If You’re Not The One; David Sneddon – Stop Living The Lie; Feeder – Just The Way I’m Feeling; Jaimeson ft Angel Blu – TRUE; Libertines – Time For Heroes; Panjabi MC – Mundian To Bach KE; The Everly Brothers – Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots.

2004. Austin City Limits. (PBS, U.S.A.) Keith Urban followed by Rodney Crowell  

2005. The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson. (CBS, U.S.A.) Guests include: Population One

2006. Last Call with Carson Daly. (NBC, U.S.A. ) Guests include The Constantines.

2006. The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. (NBC, U.S.A. ) Jamie Foxx performs “Unpredictable” from album Unpredictable

2007. Late Show With David Letterman. (CBS, U.S.A.) Rosanne Cash performing “Black Cadillac.”

2007. The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. (NBC, U.S.A. ) Branford Marsalis performs “Fate” from his CD Braggtown

2008. Late Show With David Letterman. (CBS, U.S.A.) Super Furry Animals perform “Neo-Consumerism.”

2008. Never Mind The Buzzcocks (BBC-2, U.K. ) Sophie Ellis Bextor, Yannis, Tim Minchin, James Lance

2008. The Ellen DeGeneres Show. (Syndicated, U.S.A.) Guests include Natasha Bedingfield

2008. The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson. (CBS, U.S.A.) Guests include:  Ringo Starr

2008. The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. (NBC, U.S.A. ) Buckcherry performs from the CD “15”

 

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Today In Music, November 8th

From the Rockmine Almanac for today (Saturday 8th November):

Birth

1944. Bonnie Bramlett (Delaney And Bonnie) born Bonnie Lynn O’Farrell in Acton, Illinois.

On Tour

1969. The Rolling Stones set a new world record for the highest grossing one-night stand in pop history. Tonight’s two shows at the Inglewood Forum in Los Angeles raised $260,000 of which the band receives $ 108,000 (£ 71,000). The first of the evening’s two performances was two hours late in starting due to the over-run of an ice-hockey match. The 7 o’clock show started at 9 p.m. and the 10 o’clock show began at 1 a.m. The Stones didn’t leave the arena until 5 a.m.

In Custody

1988. Ranking Dread (real name Errol Codling) is escorted by police to Heathrow airport outside London and deported from the U.K. The expulsion is officially as a result of immigration offences but he is returning to Jamaica to face questioning over the death of a policeman. Codling was arrested earlier this year after a raid on an illegal drinking club when he was found in possession of drugs but no action was taken by the Crown Prosecution Service. The singer, who had a UK Top 10 hit in 1980 with “Fatty Bum Bum”, is reported to have been on Scotland Yard’s list of most wanted Yaries for some time. The Yardies, a Mafia-style organisation, are said to be heavily involved in drugs and prostitution in London.

In Court

1968. At the Court Of Session in Edinburgh, The Small Faces are ordered to pay £ 2,000 in damages for breach of contract. Lord Thompson, presiding, granted a decree in absence to promoter Albert Bonici of Elgin. Bonici claimed the group breached a contract to appear in Aberdeen, Nairn, Montrose and Perth during August of last year. None of the Small Faces were in court and they were not represented by counsel. No defences were lodged against the action.

On Television

1974. The Midnight Special (NBC, U.S.A.) 90. Guests: Golden Earring; Little Anthony and the Imperials; Orphan. Here are Golden Earring with “Radar Love”. The camp introduction by Little Richard is quite amusing.

Death

1968. Blues singer and bottleneck guitarist James “Kokomo” Arnold dies in Chicago, Illinois aged 67.

 

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Today In Music, September 6th

From the Rockmine Almanac for today (Saturday 6th September):

Birth

1946. Eric Hine (Simon Dupree And The Big Sound) born in Portsmouth, England.

On Tour

1979. Just hours before Siouxsie And The Banshees are due on stage in Aberdeen, drummer Kenny Morris and guitarist John McKay quit the band without warning. Their departure is as a result of arguements during the afternoon at a record signing in a local shop. Polydor underestimated local interest in the band and only sent 50 copies of the album to the store. Those were eagerly grabbed by some of the hundreds of fans that turned out. Luckily, the band’s manager had a stock in the back of his car which he agreed to sell to the shop’s owner. Before the deal was complete, Morris and Mckay were handing the albums out for free to the fans.

Both the manager and the shop owner complained and that sparked a refusal from the pair to continue the signing. Then, the row intensified and the two stormed off. By the time the rest of the band returned to their hotel, they had caught atrain to London and left their tour passes pinned to their pillows. That night, the support band (The Cure) extended their set and sat in with Siouxsie and Steve Severin for several Banshees numbers. The rest of the tour is cancelled.

In Court

1972. Paul Pawlowski and William Dwyer, joint promoters of the pop and sex festival staged at Windsor Great Park, two weeks ago, appear at South West London Magistrates Court charged with cultivating cannabis at their south London home. Pawlowski, head of the free-love Church of Aphrodite, based in Tooting, refused to plead and stood in the dock with his back to the judge. The court entered a plea of not guilty on his behalf. In his evidence, a police officer said that Pawlowski admitted the plants were cannabis but said they were sacred and could not be interfered with as they had religious uses. He was found guilty and remanded in custody until September 19th for reports. Dwyer was found not guilty and released.

Under The Hammer

1988. The three day auction at Sotheby’s of Elton John‘s personal collection of memorabilia and antiques starts in London. Estimated to make at best £ 3 million, the auction actually makes £ 4,838,022. Even the banners hung outside the auction rooms are sold for £ 550 each. The lavish catalogues, available for £ 60 soon become collector’s items themselves. All this for a sale that was prompted when Elton started to clear rooms out for redecorating!

On Television

1974. The Midnight Special (NBC, U.S.A.) 82. Host and only guest: Marvin Gaye. Here he is with, “Let’s Get It On” 4m 39s.

Death

1990. Tom Fogerty (Creedence Clearwater Revival) dies in Scottsdale, Arizona from tuberculosis, aged 48.

 

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Today In Music, August 19th

From the Rockmine Almanac for today (Tuesday 19th August):

Birth

1943. Billy J. Kramer born William Howard Ashton in Bootle, Lancashire.

On Tour

1965. As The Beatles arrive at Houston Airport in Texas, 5,000 fans break through police lines and rush towards their chartered plane. Luckily, a catering truck is backed up to the aircraft and the boys are ferried to safety. Promoter Bill Weaver said that the security force assembled to ensure the group’s safety was larger than that used by President Johnson when he was in the city. Sell out audiences of 12,000 at each of tonight’s shows will earn The Beatles £ 30,050. The city authories, who own the Coliseum where the concerts are taking place, have demanded a $ 10,000 (£ 3,500) damage bond from the promoter.

In Shops

1981. Neil Tennant meets Chris Lowe for the first time in an electronics shop in London’s Kings Road. Finding a common interest in dance music, the pair start writing together, eventually forming a duo called West End. That name soon gets dropped in favour of Pet Shop Boys, a name they had jokingly used to refer to some friends who worked in an Ealing pet shop.

In The Press

1976. Glasgow’s Evening Times runs a headline, “Ramones In Teenage Glue Death Outrage”. The paper claims that the band advocates the habit of sniffing glue. A local member of parliament, James Dempsey, tries to have the band’s first album banned from Scottish stores.

On Television

1972. The Midnight Special (NBC, U.S.A.) Pilot show. Host: John Denver. Guests: Argent; Harry Chapin; David Clayton Thomas; ‘Mama’ Cass Elliot; The Everly Brothers; The Isley Brothers. Here’s Argent with “Hold Your Head Up”.

Death

1996. Gospel-rock drummer Steve Marsh (Elim Hall, One Hundred Days) dies of liver cancer, first diagnosed in June.

Music Paper From Today

Record Mirror from 19th August 1972. A copy taken from Rockmine’s almost complete run of U.K. music papers from the last 45 years.

Babble

The first thing I have to do today, is apologize. Somehow, I managed to put today’s blog (i.e. Tuesday 19th August) up in place of yesterday’s. I didn’t realise until late last night and decided to leave it for the morning. So, here I am correcting a rather idiotic mistake.

Apart from that, there’s little to report today. The Ballerina Ballroom Blog is getting a lot of interest. Whether that’s as a result of my flyer and poster blitz of Nairn remains to be seen. I have started to feature the regular bands that played there and have reworked it so it’s easier to navigate. The trouble is it just keeps giving me more work! All the video clips I’ve added to it will now have to be added to the index of clips on the Rockmine TV pages. No rest for the wicked. Oh well, I better get on…

 

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© Copyright 1995 – 2008 Rockmine Archives. Use of this content is prohibited unless licensed by Rockmine Archives.From the Rockmine Almanac for today (Monday 19th August):

Today In Music, August 18th

From the Rockmine Almanac for today (Monday 18th August):

Birth

1941. Johnny Preston (singer of “Running Bear”) born John Preston Courville in Port Arthur, Texas.

On Tour

1980. Half an hour before The Police are due onstage at the Parc des Sports d’Aguilerra in Biarritz, France, Stewart Copeland is hit with a severe attack of food poisoning. His place at the drum stool is taken by his drum roadie, Jeff Seitz. No-one in the audience seems to notice.

In Custody

1965. Three members of Herman’s Hermits are delayed at Manchester Airport on their return from a U.S. tour. The three were held for two hours by customs men who confiscated the gold watches they’d been given by their American agent. Derek Leckenby, Karl Green and Keith Hopwood said they didn’t realise that they had to declare gifts. The watches were valued at £ 50 each.

In Reality

1967. Mr. Washa Ngwanamashala, an official with the Tanzanian national dance troupe, claims that the music of The Beatles is taken from the rhythms of the Wasukuma tribe in the Lake Victoria region of northern Tanzania. He said Beatles music was so popular in Tanzania because people recognised the “twang beat” as their own.

On Television

1966. Top Of The Pops (BBC-1, U.K.) Introduced by Pete Murray. Chris Andrews, Cliff Bennett and the Rebel Rousers; Ken Dodd (promo film); Manfred Mann; Napoleon XIV; The Alan Price Set; The Beatles (on disc) The Mamas & The Papas (promo film); The Small Faces. Here are The Mamas and the Papas with the promo film for “I Saw Her Again” which was screened tonight.

Death

2007. Recording engineer Roy Wallace dies in London, aged 80. He developed stereophonic sound for the Decca Recording Company in the fifties.

 

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© Copyright 1995 – 2008 Rockmine Archives. Use of this content is prohibited unless licensed by Rockmine Archives.

Today In Music, July 29th

From the Rockmine Almanac for today (Tuesday 29th July):

Birth

1953. Geddy Lee (Rush) born Gary Lee Weinrib in Toronto, Canada.

On Stage

1996. The Pogues play their last ever gig in front of 300 mourning fans at The Dome in London. In deference to the occasion Shane MacGowan is poured onto the stage with the band that sacked him. He manages one song before stumbling off stage with the words, “Goodbye forever, thank Christ for that”.

In Custody

1973. Shortly before Led Zeppelin are due onstage at New York’s Madison Square Gardens, road manager Richard Coles discoveres that $ 180,000 is missing from their safety deposit box at the city’s Drake Hotel. After the gig, the band are taken to a party hosted by Atlantic Records boss Ahmet Ertegun where they are presented with gold discs for “Houses Of The Holy”. When they do get back to the hotel, manager Peter Grant is arrested for assaulting New York Daily News photographer Charles Ruppermann.

In Court

1986. Boy George appears at Marylebone Magistrates’ Court, charged with possessing an unspecified quantity of heroin. He’s fined £ 250. Mr. Geoffrey Neil, presiding, told him, “I think it’s right to say that you faced up to this charge manfully. It is quite clear that you started to attempt to act on this matter long before the police raid”.

During a live TV interview later in the day, George said, “I have had letters from kids that made me feel so ashamed. I don’t want to say I have an excuse, I don’t … I started taking it a long, long time ago, casually. One day you wake up and you realise it is a problem”. He told another television interviewer that he pleaded guilty so that police could convict the dealers that supplied him.

On Television

1977. The Midnight Special (NBC, U.S.A.) 210. Hosts: KC & The Sunshine Band. Guests: The Bay City Rollers, The Emotions, Peter McCann, Willie Nelson (Tribute) Flora Purim, Cat Stevens (music video). Here are KC & The Sunshine Band with “I’m Your Boogie Man”. 3m 58s.

Death

1988. Country session guitarist Pete Drake dies aged 55.

 

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© Copyright 1995 – 2008 Rockmine Archives. Use of this content is prohibited unless licensed by Rockmine Archives.

Today In Music, July 18th

From the Rockmine Almanac for today (Friday 18th July):

Birth

1946. Tim Lynch (The Flamin’ Groovies) born in San Francisco, California.

On Tour

1972. The Rolling Stones arrive in Boston but after a scuffle at the airport, Mick Jagger, Marshall Chess and film-maker Robert Frank are charged with obstructing police officers and Keith Richards is charged with assaulting a photographer and a journalist. With the band playing Boston’s Garden Theater tonight, the city’s mayor, Kevin White, bails them out of jail. The band hits the stage two hours late but no-one seems to care. The mayor is given a standing ovation by the audience.

In Politics

1972. Frank Sinatra appears before the U.S. House Crime Select Committee in Washington, D.C. and accuses it of irresponsibly letting a convicted felon “bandy his name about”. He told the packed hearing that it was “character assassination” and said they should have immediately refuted claims, made during the testimony of Joseph “The Baron” Barboza, that the singer was a front-man for the Mafia in the Fontainbleau and Sands hotels in Miami and Las Vegas. Joseph Phillips, counsel for the committee, said that Barboza made the allegations when he was being asked about unrelated matters, without any prompting.

In Court

1966. William Oliver Smedley, 54, an accountant and former vice-president of the Liberal Party, appears in court at Saffron Walden, Essex, charged with the murder of Reginald Calvert, 37, head of the Radio City pop radio station. Smedley is reported to have sparked the incident on the night of 19th June, when he and a boarding party visited the old wartime fort at Shivering Sands, where the radio station is based. They immobilized the transmitter and left some men to guard it. It’s thought the action was taken to stop the sale of the radio station to an American company. As a result, Calvert had visited Smedley at home on June 21st. Smedley said he feared for his life and admitted to police that he shot Calvert. Mr. Peter Palmes, prosecuting, said that the only weapon Calvert carried was a small tear gas pen. The hearing continues tomorrow.

On Television

 

 

1975. The Midnight Special (NBC, U.S.A.) 125. Host: Helen Reddy. Guests: Mac Davis; Minnie Riperton; Waylon Jennings; Steve Martin; Joe Simon. Here’s Minnie Riperton with “Lovin’ You”.

Death

1966. Bobby Fuller‘s body is found in his parked car in Los Angeles. He had been badly beaten and had been forced to swallow gasoline which killed him. Strangely, the police put the 22 year old’s death down to suicide and a coroner’s report, which ignored the bruising, agreed. It was only later after an investigation that details of the true circumstances were revealed. Rumours circulating at the time suggested that he’d been having an affair with the wife of a mafia gangster.

 

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