Music History On This Day

1 Apr 1965
The Who recorded an appearance for Top Of The Pops at the Manchester television studio. The band then played a gig supporting Donovan at The Town Hall, Wembley, with Rod Stewart and the Soul Agents appearing at the bottom of the bill.

1 Apr 1966
The Troggs recorded 'Wild Thing' at Regent Sound Studio in London. The song went on to be a No.1 US and No.2 UK hit in June the following year. The track was recorded in one complete take (take two).

1 Apr 1966
Pye Records released David Bowie's first solo single, 'Do Anything You Say'. Despite featuring Bowie’s backing band at the time, The Buzz, the single was to be the first simply credited to David Bowie (which failed to chart). Bowie had previously recorded as David Jones and The Lower Third.

1 Apr 1966
John Lennon bought a copy of Timothy Leary's The Psychedelic Experience and The Tibetan Book Of The Dead, where he read near the beginning of the book's introduction; "When in doubt, relax, turn off your mind, float downstream," which captured Lennon's imagination and became the first line of 'Tomorrow Never Knows' which he recorded 5 days later.

1 Apr 1969
The Beach Boys announced they were suing their record label Capitol for $2m in unpaid royalties.

1 Apr 1970
50 musicians recorded the orchestral scores for The Beatles tracks 'The Long And Winding Road' and 'Across The Universe' for the Phil Spector produced sessions. The bill for the 50 musicians was $1.914.

1 Apr 1970
Earls Court in London received over one million postal ticket applications for The Rolling Stones forthcoming six concerts as part of the group's European tour.

1 Apr 1970
As an April Fool's joke, John Lennon and Yoko Ono issued a statement to the press that they were having dual sex change operations.

1 Apr 1976
Making their live debut in the UK, AC/DC played at The Red Cow in Hammersmith, London.

1 Apr 1984
Marvin Gaye was shot dead by his father at his parent's home in Los Angeles, California. The argument started after his parents squabbled over misplaced business documents, Gaye attempted to intervene, and was killed by his father using a gun he had given him four months before. Marvin Sr. was sentenced to six years of probation after pleading guilty to manslaughter. Charges of first-degree murder were dropped after doctors discovered Marvin Sr. had a brain tumor.

1 Apr 1985
David Lee Roth quit Van Halen shortly after releasing his version of The Beach Boys 'California Girls', (which featured Carl Wilson on background vocals). He was replaced by Sammy Hagar later in the year.

1 Apr 1989
Madonna scored her third UK No.1 album with 'Like A Prayer.' Also a US No.1 the album spent 70 weeks on the UK chart.

1 Apr 1989
The Bangles went to No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Eternal Flame', also a No.1 in the UK and the biggest selling single of 1989 in Australia.

1 Apr 2001
It was reported that Spice Girl Mel B had been advised to sell her £3.5m Buckinghamshire mansion because she couldn't afford to run it. The singer told friends she had to take out a £500.000 bank loan.

1 Apr 2004
Paul Atkinson guitarist with The Zombies died aged 58 due to liver and kidney disease. They scored the 1964 US No.2 & UK No.12 single 'She's Not There'. He later became an artists and repertoire executive, working for Columbia and RCA discovering and signing such bands as ABBA, Bruce Hornsby, Mr. Mister, Judas Priest, and Michael Penn.

1 Apr 2005
During the first leg of their Vertigo World tour, U2 appeared at the Arrowhead Sports Arena in Anaheim, Southern California, with Kings Of Leon as the opening act. By the end of the 131 date tour, 4,619,021 tickets had been sold with a total gross of $389 million.

1 Apr 2007
Alanis Morissette released a tongue-in-cheek cover of The Black Eyed Peas's 'My Humps', which she recorded in a slow, mournful voice, accompanied only by a piano. The accompanying YouTube video, in which she danced provocatively with a group of men received over 15m views.

1 Apr 2013
A signed copy of The Beatles' album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band sold at Dallas-based Heritage Auctions for $290,500. The selling price far exceeded the $30,000 originally estimated for the rare LP record. The UK Parlophone copy of the album included a high gloss cover and vinyl gatefold sleeve.

1 Apr 2015
Cynthia Lennon, first wife of The Beatles' John Lennon died at her home in Spain following a short battle with cancer. At the height of The Beatles' early success, she was, at the insistence of the band's management, kept in the background so their legions of female fans were not aware of her existence. The couple divorced in 1968 after Cynthia discovered her husband's affair with Yoko Ono.

1 Apr 2017
After months of uncertainty and controversy, Bob Dylan finally accepted the 2016 Nobel Prize in literature at a jovial, champagne-laced ceremony. The academy, which awards the coveted prize, ended prolonged speculation as to whether the 75-year-old troubadour would use a concert stopover in Stockholm to accept the gold medal and diploma awarded to him back in October.

1 Apr 2019
Ed Sheeran's wildlife pond was given the all-clear by inspectors despite neighbors complaining that it was actually a swimming pool. A Suffolk Coastal District Council team visited the pop star's estate and found "no evidence that it is not a wildlife pond". Sheeran was given planning permission for the development on the basis it was used for wildlife and not for swimming or any other recreational leisure activity.

1 Apr 2020
American singer-songwriter, record producer and guitarist Adam Schlesinger, best known for his work with Fountains Of Wayne, died at the age of 52 as a result of health complications caused by COVID-19. Fountains Of Wayne formed in New Jersey in 1995 and were named after a lawn ornament store in the state. Over his career, Schlesinger earned nominations for an Oscar, a Golden Globe, Tonys, Grammys and Emmys, winning the latter two.