Funny

The Williams And Walker Company give a Command Performance of their hit African-American musical In Dahomey at Buckingham Palace, London, England, UK, in celebration of the Duke Of Windsor's eighth birthday. This is the first command performance at the Palace by a group of Negro theatrical entertainers.

One of the first recording royalty disputes is settled when Judge Carpenter decides that jazz clarinet player Alcide Nunez is not entitled to copyright on the recording of Livery Stable Blues by the Original Dixieland Jazz Band because, "No living human being could listen to that result on the phonograph and discover anything musical in it." Nunez had claimed that he co-wrote the song before leaving the group.

The Eddie Duchin Orchestra with vocalist Patricia Norman records a version of the Louis Armstrong-composed song Ol' Man Mose for Columbia Records in the USA. Miss Norman's vocal appears to use the words "Fuck it!" several times, which will boost the song's sales to 170,000 at a time when sales of 20,000 were considered massive. This is widely believed to have been the first time that the F-word was used on a recording which was for sale to the general public.

With Framingham, Massachusetts, USA, in the grip of a blizzard, a concert by Liberace at the 1200-seater Monticello Theater attracts an audience of just four people. Nevertheless, the flambouyant pianist performs his full show for them.

Rama Lama Ding Dong by The Edsels enters the Billboard Singles Chart in the USA, where it will peak at No21. This song will inspire the question - "Who put the ram in the rama-lama-ding-dong' - asked by Barry Mann in his hit single Who Put The Bomp?. The answer is, of course, George Jones Jr of The Edsels who composed the song.

Pierre Salinger, the US Presidential Press Secretary, officially denies that anyone danced The Twist in The White House, Washington DC, USA, during a party there on the previous Saturday night.

Elvis Presley adopts a chimpanzee and names him Scatter. Elvis's stormy relationship with Scatter will inspire the 2004 song Elvis's Chimp by The Extras.

When Bob Dylan plays at The Queen Elizabeth Theater, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, the poster for the event mis-spells his name as Bob Dylon.

A public school in Wrexham, North Wales, UK, asks parents to ensure that pupils attend in school uniforms after fans of The Rolling Stones begin showing up at the school clad in corduroy trousers, as worn by the band.

Little Jimmy Dickens performs his hit single May The Bird Of Paradise Fly Up Your Nose on the Bobby Lord Show on tv in the USA.

The University of California in Los Angeles, California, USA, announces that students taking music degrees will be expected to study The Rolling Stones as part of their curriculum.

Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band play a live session for deejay John Peel at the BBC in London, England, UK, Europe. Due to Musicians' Union restrictions on American rock bands playing live on UK radio, Peel's producer is obliged to dupe the Ministr y Of Labour into issuing a 'variety act' licence by describing the quintet as a touring group of magicians. During the session, Beefheart insists on performing while lying flat on his back, so a microphone has to be rigged up specially to catch the sound of his voice.

The Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band plays the first of two nights at The Showboat, Middlesbrough, Yorkshire, UK.

US President Richard Nixon takes part in a project to discover the causes of the generation gap. He and Vice President Spiro T. Agnew watch films of simulated acid trips and subject themselves to hours of protest music.

Lou Reed is bitten on the behind by a member of the audience during a show in Buffalo, New York State, USA.

A Russian language version of Conway Twitty's 1970 hit, Hello Darlin' is broadcast worldwide as part of the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project. Twitty had worked with a University of Oklahoma language professor to record a phonetic Russian version of the song, with the Russian title Privet Radost. The song is perceived as a "gesture of goodwill" from the Apollo crew to the Soviet Union's Soyuz crew.

Topper Headon, formerly drummer with The Clash, is arrested and charged with the theft of a bus stop.

In Sokolow, Czechoslovakia, Europe, a concert scheduled for the next day by folksy Canadian singer-songwriter Bruce Cockburn, is cancelled by East German government officials. It is stated that after seeing a publicity photograph of Cockburn wearing an earring, the officials decided he was too 'subversive' to be allowed to perform.

Bob Dylan is denied admission to a gig by Tanya Tucker at the Royal York Hotel, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, because his faded jeans are deemed too scruffy for the hotel's dress code. After some negotiation, however, Dylan is allowed to enter.

Nikki Sixx of Motley Crue is in bed with his lover Vanity at his home in Los Angeles, California, USA, when he hears voices and people moving around in his bathroom. He starts shouting and fires a .357 several times through the bathroom door. Vanity barricades herself into another room until Nikki finally realizes what he heard was just the radio. Sixx then shoots the rest of the gun's rounds into his JBL speakers.

A new main-belt asteroid is discovered by E. W. Elst of the European Southern Observatory, Chile, South America. The asteroid is named 7934 Sinatra in honour of singer Frank Sinatra.

On a rare day off during a European tour, the members of Nirvana visit the Coliseum and the Vatican, in Rome, Italy, Europe.

When controversial rap band 2 Live Crew perform at The Ozone Club outside of Atlanta, Georgia, USA, they are warned by police that they will be arrested if they perform their vulgar songs. So the group encourages the crowd to sing the obscene lyrics for them, resulting in about 500 people singing, "that’s the way we like to fuck" as hapless police officers look on. No arrests are made.

It is announced that The Southland Corporation, owner of the 7-Eleven and Hoagy's Corner Delis store chains, has introduced a policy of trying to chase away undesirables - i.e. teenagers hanging out in their store parking lots - by loudly playing music by easy-listening artists including Mantovani from loudspeakers outside the stores.

Shock waves rock the UK music business when it is learned that some of Elisabeth Fraser's lyrics on the new Cocteau Twins album, Four-Calendar Cafe, are actually intelligible. The band is now signed to a major label, Polygram, so accusations of selling-out are rife.

Just before the encore of U2's show at Vallehovin, Oslo, Norway, Europe, the band's four members find themselves trapped, Spinal Tap-style, inside a 40ft-high metallic lemon-shaped 'pod' high above the stage. The device was supposed to open and let the group emerge but on this night, the mechanism failed.

A new main-belt asteroid (i.e. a minor planet) is discovered by I.P. Griffin at Auckland, New Zealand. He names it 23990 Springsteen in honour of Bruce Springsteen.

It is announced that a dog-sized dinosaur, whose remains were recently discovered on the island of Madagascar, has been named Masiakasaurus knopfleri in honour of guitarist and songwriter Mark Knopfler, whose music inspired the team of palaeontologists who made the discovery.

Michael Jackson reveals during an interview that he doesn't like pop music. The revelation comes in the wake of Jackson having purchased some classical music CDs during a shopping trip in Berlin, Germany, Europe.

Record producer and musician Roger Greenawalt performs his "Beatles Complete On Ukulele" concert for the first time, by playing all 185 original songs written by The Beatles in one day on ukulele with sixty guest singers at Elizabeth Streb's SLAM Action Lab in Brooklyn, New York City, USA.

During The 47th annual Grammy Awards, Kanye West stages a performance in which he appears to die, but is resurrected, complete with angel wings to the sound of a full gospel choir. He had, apparently, been feeling persecuted by the media. His album, College Droput is given the Best Rap Album award.

The marching band of McCord Middle School, McCord, Michigan, USA, is forbidden from playing Louie Louie at their Grand Floral Parade, because of the song's allegedly obscene lyrics. This act of censorship is all the more bizarre, given that the band had been planning to play an instrumental version of the classic 1963 hit by The Kingsmen.

New York City's legendary punk rock night club CBGB's (home to The Ramones, Blondie, Television, Talking Heads etc) launches its own commemorative chocolate bar, plus a 16-piece truffle collection – the CBGB's Punk Rock Box.

Tom Jones raises £500 for cancer research by doing a twenty minute busking set outside The Royal Festival Hall, London, England, UK, Europe.

On her Circus tour, Britney Spears plays at The HP Pavilion, San Jose, California, USA. Her usually adoring audience, however, is less than impressed when she mistakenly shouts out "Hello, Sacramento!" at the start of the show.

State Governor Brad Henry declares today to be Flaming Lips Day in the band's home state of Oklahoma, USA.

The Australian newspaper reports that US singing star Katy Perry is suing Australian fashion designer Katie Perry. The legal action is intended to prevent Katie Perry (yes, that's the name she was born with) from trademarking her own name for her clothing label.

When her flight is delayed in Buenos Aires, Argentina, South America, Cyndi Lauper entertains fellow travelers with an impromptu performance of Girls Just Wanna Have Fun.

It is announced that a newly-discovered species of spiky sea-snail has been named Alviniconcha strummeri, after the late Joe Strummer, frontman of The Clash.

The Word release their second LP, Soul Food, on Vanguard Records in the UK. (The band, whose debut LP was released fourteen years earlier, includes members of the North Mississippi Allstars)

When Justin Bieber is asked by TMZ if he enjoys The Weeknd's music, he responds, ""Hell nah. That s**t's wack!" His opinion is thought to be somewhat influenced by the fact that his former girlfriend Selena Gomez is now dating The Weeknd.