1953
Mantovani and his Orchestra were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘Song From The Moulin Rouge’, (from the film of the same name). The first ever instrumental No.1 on the UK chart.
August 9, 1957
Rebel Without a Cause Actor, Nick Adams and his mother Catherine Adamshock visit Elvis Presley at Graceland


1964
Bob Dylan and Joan Baez share the stage for the first time, singing “With God On Our Side” at the Newport Folk Festival.
1968
Janis Joplin performs at Kiel Auditorium in St. Louis, Missouri.
1975
Janis Ian’s biting “At Seventeen” was #1 on the Adult Contemporary chart.
Olivia Newton-John was crossing over from country to pop on a regular basis as “Please Mr. Please” was #3 in the USA
Elton John’s classic “Someone Saved My Life Tonight was 5
Elton John’s amazingCaptain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy album was at #4.
August 9, 1976
Abba released the single “Fernando”.
1980
ABBA scored their eighth UK No.1 single with ‘The Winner Takes It All’. Taken from their ‘Super Trouper’ album. By this time, both couples were divorced.
The Soundtrack to “Urban Cowboy” was at #4 while Queen’s The Game was fifth.
Olivia Newton-John had one of her biggest hits as “Magic” was #1 for a third week on the Adult Contemporary chart.
Diana Ross had one of the hottest up-and-coming songs in the nation as “Upside Down” moved from 49 to 10.
1983
22-year-old Thomas Reilly is shot and killed by a British soldier in Belfast. He was a friend of the band Spandau Ballet, and sold merch on their True tour. His death would inspire the band’s song “Through The Barricades” and the Bananarama song “King Of The Jungle.”
1986
Queen gave what would be their last ever ‘live’ performance when they appeared at Knebworth Festival. Queen ended their Magic European tour at Knebworth Park, Stevenage, England, with over 120,000 fans witnessing what would be Queen’s last ever live performance. The last two songs they played for the 120-thousand fans in attendance were “We Are the Champions” and “God Save the Queen.” On this, their final tour, Queen played to legions of established fans, plus many new ones gained as a result of their show-stealing performance at Live Aid the previous year. The support acts were Belouis Some, Big Country and Status Quo.
250 Gary Numan fans picketed BBC Radio 1 in London, demanding more airtime for their favourite pop star.
1997
Spice by the Spice Girls was #3