April 19th: The Biggest Music Headlines

2020
Michael Ball and Captain Tom Moore went to No.1 on the UK singles chart with their version of “You’ll Never Walk Alone”. The charity single made Moore – six days short of his one hundredth birthday – the oldest person to achieve a No.1 (he was at the top of the charts on his 100th birthday), beating the previous record-holder Tom Jones.

2014
The White House refused to comment on a campaign to deport Justin Bieber from the US. Around 275,000 people had signed a petition on its website calling for the Canadian singer to be removed from the country. The campaign had been set up in January of this year when the 20-year-old was arrested on suspicion of drink and drug-driving and illegal drag racing.

2012
Levon Helm, died of throat cancer aged 71. A drummer, singer and multi-instrumentalist, Helm formed his own high school band, the Jungle Bush Beaters, at 17, he later joined The Hawks (who became Bob Dylan’s backing group) who then became known as The Band. He sang on Band classics like ‘The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down,’ ‘Up on Cripple Creek,’ ‘Rag Mama Rag,’ and ‘The Weight.’

2012
Leonard Cohen’s former manager was jailed for 18 months for harassing the singer-songwriter. Kelley Lynch was found guilty by a Los Angeles court after a sending a torrent of expletive-strewn emails and letters to the star. She was also sentenced to five months probation and ordered to attend anger-management courses. Cohen thanked the court for the “even-handed and elegant manner in which these proceedings have unfolded”.

2005
It was announced that two 30-second television commercials designed to attract vacationing families to Graceland to experience the “real” Elvis Presley would air nationally in the US starting in April 2006. It was the first time in the history of Elvis Presley Enterprises, Inc. that the company has used television advertising to promote Graceland tourism.

2002
“Jeepster” by T. Rex becomes the first song successfully identified by Shazam in a pre-launch version of the service that requires the user to call a number and receive a text message with the name of the song.

2002
Police were investigating how tracks from the forthcoming Oasis album ‘Heathen Chemistry’ had been illegally circulated on the Internet. They thought the person responsible had access to their private recording sessions.

1998
Robbie Williams started a two-week run at No.1 on the UK album chart with his debut solo album Life Thru A Lens. The album spent a total of 218 weeks on the UK chart, with sales of 2.4 million copies.

1986
George Michael was at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘A Different Corner’, the singers second solo No.1. Michael became the first solo act in the history of the UK chart to reach No.1 with his first two releases. The song was also credited with being the second No.1 (after ‘I Just Called To Say I Love You’ by Stevie Wonder), which was written, sung, played, arranged and produced by the same person.

1982
Simon & Garfunkel reunite for a world tour, but split up again in the midst of it.

1980
R.E.M. played their first gig as R.E.M. at the 11:11 Koffee Club, Athens, Georgia to 150 people. The show ended at 2am when police closed it down due to the venue being unlicensed.

1980
Blondie went to No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘Call Me’, featured in the Richard Gere movie ‘American Gigolo’, the track was also a No.1 in the UK.

1980
32 year old English singer Brian Johnson joined Australian group AC/DC, replacing Bon Scott who had died after a drinks binge in February 1980. Johnson’s first band was the Gobi Desert Canoe Club. He was also in a band called Fresh. From 1970, Johnson played with cabaret/club band The Jasper Hart Band, performing songs from the musical Hair. He and other members of the band went on to form Geordie.

1980
For the first time ever the Top five artists on the US country chart were all female, Crystal Gayle who was at No.1, with Dottie West, Debbie Boone, Emmylou Harris and Tammy Wynette making up the rest of the Top 5.

1969
Smile (later to be known as Queen ) appeared at the Revolution Club in London, England.

1969
“Good Times, Bad Times,” the first Led Zeppelin single, reaches its chart peak of #80 in America.

1968
George Harrison and John Lennon, fearing that their instructor, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, is a fraud and has been preying on women at his meditation camp in India, leave the retreat two weeks early and distance themselves from the Maharishi. Harrison though, remains dedicated to the concept of Transcendental Meditation.

1965
The film T.A.M.I. (Teen-Age Music International) Show featuring The Rolling Stones, Supremes, Four Tops, James Brown, The Beach Boys and Smokey Robinson & The Miracles opened in London, England under the title Teenage Command Performance.