ON THIS DAY IN MUSIC

October 30th

1961 - The Beatles

Two days after Beatles fan Raymond Jones asked for The Beatles' German single ‘My Bonnie’ (recorded with Tony Sheridan) at Brian Epstein's NEMS record store in Liverpool, two girls asked for the same record. Epstein's difficulty in locating the record was due to him not knowing that the record was released, not by The Beatles, but by Tony Sheridan and 'The Beat Brothers' ('Beatles' resembles a vulgar slang word in German, so The Beatles' name was changed for this single).

1967 - Brian Jones

Rolling Stones guitarist Brian Jones admitted in court to possession of cannabis and allowing his flat to be used for the smoking of the drug. His plea of 'not guilty' to the charge of possessing methedrine and cocaine was accepted. Jones was sentenced to nine months in Wormwood Scrubs prison. He was released on bail the following day.

Prince Stanislas Klossowski de Rola and Brian Jones - May 11, 1967

1967 - Tyrannosaurus Rex

Tyrannosaurus Rex recorded a session for the UK Radio 1 'Top Gear' show, the first group to do so without a recording contract.

1970 - Hotlegs

Hotlegs made their live debut supporting The Moody Blues at the Festival Hall, London. Their only hit 'Neanderthal Man' made No. 2 in July 1970. The members from the group went on to become 10cc.

1970 - Jim Morrison

Jim Morrison of The Doors was fined and sentenced to six months in jail after being found guilty of exposing himself during a gig in Miami.

1971 - John Lennon

John Lennon and The Plastic Ono Band went to No.1 on the UK album chart with Imagine. The album contained two tracks attacking Paul McCartney, 'How Do You Sleep' and 'Crippled Inside.' Early editions of the LP included a postcard featuring a photo of Lennon holding a pig, in mockery of McCartney's similar pose with a sheep on the cover of Ram. The front cover photo was a Polaroid taken by Andy Warhol.

1971 - Pink Floyd

Pink Floyd released their sixth studio album Meddle in the US. The album features 'One Of These Days' and the 23-minute track 'Echoes' which took up all of side 2 on the vinyl record. The cover image was photographed by Bob Dowling. The image represents an ear, underwater, collecting waves of sound, represented by ripples in the water.

1978 - Blondie

Blondie released the single 'Hanging on the Telephone', as the second single from the album Parallel Lines. Written by Jack Lee from US West Coast power pop trio The Nerves. The song gave Blondie their first UK Top 10 hit.

1982 - Men At Work

Australian band Men At Work went to No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Who Can It Be Now'' the group's first US No.1, a No.45 hit in the UK.

1990 - Axl Rose

Guns N' Roses singer Axl Rose was released on $10,000 bail, after being arrested for allegedly hitting a neighbour over the head with a bottle. The incident happened after a complaint to the police about loud music coming from the singer's house.

1998 - Black Sabbath

All four original members of Black Sabbath reunited momentarily to play 'Paranoid' on US TV's David Letterman Show.

2000 - Britney Spears

A new web site was launched to help teach children basic Physics. www.britneyspears.ac featured the singer to illustrate mathematical equations. Visitors could access physics theories generously interspersed with photos of Britney Spears.

2006 - Arctic Monkeys

Winners at the 2006 Q Awards included The Arctic Monkeys who had four nominations, the Sheffield group won the best album and the people's choice awards, while U2 picked up the prize for innovation. Smokey Robinson was honoured with his first ever UK award for his outstanding contribution to music, and Boy George won the classic song award for Karma Chameleon. Muse won best live act, The Who received the Q legend award and Primal Scream won the Q groundbreaker award and Corinne Bailey Rae won best new act.

2015 - Adele 

Adele went to No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Hello', the lead track from her third album 25. The track was streamed 7.32 million times in its first week. The song also debuted at No.1 in Belgium, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Lebanon, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Scotland, Slovakia and Switzerland.

2016 - Curly Putman 

American songwriter Curly Putman died aged 85. He wrote 'Green, Green Grass of Home' which was covered by many artists including: Elvis Presley, Johnny Darrell, Gram Parsons, Joan Baez, Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash, Porter Wagoner, Merle Haggard, Joe Tex and Tom Jones. He also co-wrote (with Bobby Braddock), 'D-I-V-O-R-C-E' made famous by Tammy Wynette.

BIRTHDAYS

1939 - Grace Slick

American singer-songwriter Grace Slick from Jefferson Airplane is 80 today!, doyenne of the counter culture and intergalactic traveler on the Starship. Slick provided vocals on a number of iconic songs, including 'Somebody to Love', 'White Rabbit', 'We Built This City' and 'Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now'. 

with thanks to On This Day in Music