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ON THIS DAY IN MUSIC

February 18th

1959 - Ray Charles

Ray Charles recorded 'What'd I Say', in New York City. The song had evolved in concert as a call-and-response between Charles and his female back-up singers. It became Charles' biggest hit to date, reaching No.1 on the R&B and No.6 on the pop charts.

1965 - The Kinks

The Kinks were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Tired Of Waiting For You', the group's second UK No.1. According to Ray Davies, the music for 'Tired of Waiting for You' was written on the train to the recording studio and the words were written at a coffee shop during a break in the session. Yeah,. you got it when it came up and still have it in it's original sleeve

1965 - The Beatles

Working at Abbey Road studios in London, The Beatles recorded two new songs: John Lennon's 'You've Got to Hide Your Love Away' and a new Paul McCartney song 'Tell Me What You See'.

1966 - Brian Wilson

Beach Boy Brian Wilson recorded the future classic song 'Good Vibrations', which went on to become the band's third US number-one hit. As a child, his mother told him that dogs could pick up "vibrations" from people, so that the dog would bark at "bad vibrations" Wilson turned this into the general idea for the song.

1969 - Lulu

Three thousand uninvited guests showed up to see Lulu and The Bee Gees Maurice Gibb get married at St. James' Church, Gerrard's Cross, England. Brother Barry was the best man.

1972 - Led Zeppelin

On their first Australian tour, Led Zeppelin rescheduled to the following night their concert at the Memorial Drive, Adelaide, after heavy rain left the stage and equipment unsafe. Zeppelin had brought to Adelaide the largest PA system seen in Australia to produce what was expected to be the loudest rock show ever heard. It sure as heck didn't look it . . . . . . .

1990 - Freddie Mercury

Freddie Mercury made his final public appearance on stage when he joined the rest of Queen to collect the Brit Award for Outstanding Contribution to Music, held at the Dominion Theatre, London, England.

1998 - Noel Gallagher

Oasis' Noel Gallagher's Epiphone Supernova guitar raised £4,600 ($7,820) in aid of Children In Need at a Bonhams auction held in London, England.

2000 - John Lennon

An American court ordered the release of FBI files relating to John Lennon's interests and activities including his support for the Irish Republican cause and the Workers Revolutionary Party. The British Government told the US that it wanted the files to remain secret. MI5 also had files on Lennon, which they had passed on the FBI during the 70s.

2004 - Dido

Dido entered a Top 10 of the music world's biggest earners after making £15.8 million ($26.9 million) in 2003. The singer's second album Life For Rent was the previous years biggest selling UK album. The Rolling Stones topped the Heat magazine rich list having earned £55.3 million ($94 million) in 2003.

2004 - Marilyn Manson

A court case accusing Marilyn Manson of sexual assault was dismissed after the two sides reached a settlement. Security guard Joshua Keasler had sued Manson after the star allegedly put his legs around Keasler's neck and gyrated against him on stage at a gig in Detroit, Michigan in 2001. Manson was ordered to pay $4,000 (£2,091) in fines and costs in the criminal proceedings.

2005 - Britney Spears

Britney Spears attacked a US magazine after it published photographs of her honeymoon without permission. Weekly publication Us printed five pages of pictures of Spears and husband Kevin Federline on holiday in Fiji. A statement from US said: "Britney should start her own magazine if she'd like to dictate her own coverage."

2008 - Carpenters

Carpenters fans were objecting to plans to have pop duo's former family home in Downey, south of Los Angeles knocked down. The current owners of the house, said they objected to fans looking in the windows and leaving floral tributes. The five-bedroom house was immortalised when it featured on the cover of The Carpenters' 1973 hit album Now & Then.

2012 - Whitney

Whitney Houston had an invitation-only memorial at the New Hope Baptist Church in Newark, New Jersey. Among those who performed at the funeral were Stevie Wonder, Alicia Keys and R. Kelly. Kevin Costner read a moving and personal Eulogy.

BIRTHDAYS

1955 - Brian James

Brian James, from British punk group The Damned, who had the 1986 UK No.3 single 'Eloise', James was also a member of Lords Of The New Church.

1954 - John Travolta

John Travolta, actor, singer, who had the 1978 UK & US No.1 single with Olivia Newton John, 'You're The One That I Want'. The track topped the UK Singles Chart for nine weeks in the summer of 1978 and as of 2008, is still the sixth best-selling single ever in the UK where it has sold over 2,015,000 copies. His mother and his sister Ann appeared as extras in Saturday Night Fever and his sister Ellen appeared as a waitress in Grease.

1952 - Randy Crawford

Randy Crawford, US female singer who had the 1980 UK No.2 single 'One Day I'll Fly Away' and with the Crusaders the 1979 UK No.5 & US No.36 single 'Street Life

1939 - Bobby Hart

Bobby Hart, singer, songwriter who had the 1968 US No 8 single with Tommy Boyce, 'I Wonder What She's Doing Tonite', also wrote 'Last Train To Clarksville', 'I'm Not Your Stepping Stone' and 'Scooby Doo Where Are You.' Has sold over 40m records.

1934 - Skip Battin

Skip Battin, The Byrds, who had the 1965 US & UK No.1 single 'Mr Tambourine Man'. In 1959-60 he sang in a duo, Skip & Flip, with Gary Paxton when they had two US hits that each went to No.11, Paxton later formed the Hollywood Argyles, who had the No.1 hit, 'Alley Oop'. Battin was in the Byrds from 1970 to 1973. Member of New Riders Of The Purple Sage and The Flying Burrito Brothers. Battin died on July 6th 2003.

1933 - Yoko Ono

Yoko Ono (小野洋子 (born February 18, 1933) is a Japanese multimedia performance artist, early FLUXUS member, conceptual artist, vocalist, songwriter, filmmaker, and peace activist. A partial list of musicians and artists who have collaborated with her includes third husband John Lennon, Eric Clapton, Klaus Voormann, Cornelius (Keigo Oyamada, Naoki Shimizu and Yoko Araki), Frank Zappa, Yuka Honda, Jim Keltner, Earl Slick, Peaches, John Cage, David Tudor, George Maciunas, Ornette Coleman, Charlotte Moorman, George Brecht, Jackson Mac Low, Sonic Youth, Jonas Mekas, Fred DeAsis, Yvonne Rainer, La Monte Young, Richard Maxfield, Zbigniew Rybczyński, Flaming Lips, Meredith Monk and Andy Warhol. Ono moved to New York City from Tokyo aged 14 and first met John Lennon in London in 1966, the couple married in 1969. I loved Yoko as an independent artist and second in terms of who she ws married to . . . . .still do. I bought Grapefruit when it came out and carried it with me everywhere