Weird

Italian composer Ferruccio Busoni writes to his wife Gerda, in Berlin, Germany, Europe, telling her that he has just seen, in a Cologne variety theatre, a marionette performance which included an entire puppet orchestra. He describes the orchestral performance with the words, "the conductor conducted very exactly, according to the rhythm and even according to the character of the piece. And the marionettes' first violin and double bass players bowed with precision. I was charmed by it."

Karl Emil Heinrich Schwedler is born in Duisberg, Germany, Europe. He will attain a certain level of infamy during World War II as Charlie Schwedler, singer and leader of the Nazi propaganda jazz band Charlie And His Orchestra. The band's bizarre repertoire will include such songs as Let's Go Bombing and Submarines, along with Nazi-oriented parodies of popular American jazz hits of the day.

A report in the Georgetown Courier claims that the Boston Board of Health is considering making use of the idea that music can kill mosquitos. The report describes, "a new process for lessening the evil by means of musical sounds," and adds that, "The discoverer of the new process says, 'It has been found that practical application has been effected by raising to a great number of vibrations per second the particular note to which the mosquito is most sensitively attuned. This intensified note, produced by sudden electrical impulse upon a musical instrument, causes every mosquito near to plunge headlong to the instrument and die.'”

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.

Sister Rosetta Tharpe's 'wedding concert' takes place in Griffith Stadium, Washington DC, USA. In front of an audience of 20,000 fans, Sister Rosetta exchanges marriage vows with her third husband, Russell Morrison, former manager of The Ink Spots. The event is billed as "the most elaborate wedding ever staged" and also as the "world's greatest spiritual concert". Also performing are The Harmonizing Four Of Richmond, The Rosettes and The Sunset Harmonizers. This blessed occasion is later released as an LP - The Wedding Ceremony Of Sister Rosetta Tharpe - on Decca Records.

Elvis Presley rents Fairgrounds Amusement Park in Memphis, Tennessee, USA, after it closes to the public, for his private entertainment.

A package tour scheduled to begin tonight in Pensacola, Florida, USA, is cancelled because all of its major artists have suffered medical emergencies. Brenda Lee has developed cellulitis from a skating injury, Johnny Burnette is recuperating from a tonsillitis operation, Bob Beckham has burst a blood vessel in his throat and Gary Miles has contracted pneumonia.

The Rolling Stones play the second of two days at The Teen Fair, Freeman Coliseum, San Antonio, Texas, USA. Also on the bill are George Jones and Bobby Vee. The Stones are, reportedly, booed off stage and a troupe of performing Monkeys who had been on before the Stones are brought back on stage for another performance.

City authorities in Munich, Germany, Europe, begin action to extract an 'entertainment tax' from The Beatles, relating to their recent concerts in the city. Music is normally exempt from tax in Germany, but the authorities argue that in this case The Beatles' music is "incidental to the shouting and stamping of the audience, which it is designed to achieve."

Becoming increasingly deranged, unstable British record producer Joe Meek bursts into a friend's home, dressed entirely in black and claiming that he is possessed.

Textile mill worker Austin Wiggin Jr of Freemont, New Hampshire, USA, gets his three untutored daughters to record an album under the name The Shaggs, entitled The Shaggs' Philosophy Of the World. It will enter music biz mythology as one of the most magnificently awful albums ever recorded.

Les Harvey, guitarist for blues-rock band Stone The Crows, dies onstage at The Top Rank, Swansea, Wales, UK, Europe, after being electrocuted by touching a microphone that was not earth-grounded. It is a rainy day, and there are puddles on the stage.

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

Dr. Irving Root examines a charred and unreconisable body at Wiefels And Son Mortuary, Yucca Valley, California, USA. Dr. Root concludes that it is most probably the corpse of Gram Parsons of The Byrds and The Flying Burrito Brothers, upon which he had done an autopsy some days earlier. Parsons' body had subsequently been stolen and burned at Cap Rock in The Joshua Tree National Monument.

Tommy Tucker, whose only major hit was Hi Heel Sneakers in 1964, dies aged 48. While renovating the floors of his New York home he is overcome by poisonous fumes from the carbon tetrachloride he is using.

John Sharples of Preston, Lancashire, England, UK, sets a new world record by disco dancing from this day, for the next 371 hours.

At a press conference in New York City, USA, representatives of the Hell’s Angels deny the existence of a plot to kill Mick Jagger of The Rolling Stones.

During a gig in Berkeley, California, USA, the Grateful Dead sets aside an area within which fans can bootleg the show.

The one-off band playing at The Village Hall, Dunsfold, Surrey, England, UK, Europe, tonight features Eric Clapton, Mick Fleetwood, Albert Lee and Procol Harum's Gary Brooker.

At the peak of interest in the "Is Elvis Dead?" phenomenon, Priscilla Presley holds a press conference to confirm that her husband, Elvis Presley, did, indeed, pass on in 1977.

Bill Wyman, middle-aged bassist of The Rolling Stones announces his intention to marry 19 year old Mandy Smith.

Weird Paul Petroskey plays at The Sonic Temple, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA.

The People, a UK-based tabloid newspaper, runs a feature claiming that Chuck Berry's wife, Toddy, was recently enraged by finding a magazine spread featuring pictures of Chuck stark naked in the company of no less than eight women.

While Van Halen are playing their set at Great Woods Center, Mansfield, Massachusetts, USA, a June bug lodges itself in Eddie Van Halen's ear. Woken by pain in his head during the night at The Four Seasons Hotel, he squirts saline solution in his ear and an inch-long live, wriggling bug falls out into the sink. He requires treatment at Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston.

Varg Vikernes, aka Count Grishnackh of Norwegian death metal band Burzum, is arrested for the murder by stabbing of another Burzum member, Oystein Aarseth, aka Euronymous.

Garth Brooks refuses to accept the American Music Awards' Favorite Artist of the Year honour, insisting that the award should have gone to Hootie And The Blowfish. Brooks does, however, accept two other awards.

When Kiss headline at The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion, Houston, Texas, USA, their opening act Ted Nugent verbally attacks Latin-American immigrants, yelling, "If you’re not gonna speak English, get the fuck out of America." Understandably, he gets himself banned from the venue.

Emil Laghia, 36 year old guitarist of Romanian rock group Compact is stabbed to death by his girlfriend, making him the second Compact group member to be killed in six months.

A woman in Northam, near Perth, Western Australia, Oceania, stabs her husband repeatedly with a pair of scissors for driving her to distraction by repeatedly playing Burning Love by Elvis Presley.

Carlos Santana proposes to his drummer, Cindy Blackman, onstage during a concert at the Midwest Bank Amphitheatre, Tinley Park, Chicago, Illinois, USA. Cindy accepts.

It is revealed that a Michael Jackson-lookalike zombie character in the game Plants Vs Zombies is being removed from the game because Jackson's estate objected to manufacturer PopCap's inclusion of the character in the game.

Gogol Bordello and P.I.L. play at The Festival Of Peace, Kazan, Russia, Europe. Gogol Bordello's performance is stopped by the arrival of a platoon of machine-gun bearing soldiers, who then bring the Russian premier, Dmitry Medvedev, on stage. He thanks the band, then goes down to the front of the stage and ejoys the show.

Michael Edward 'Mikey' Welsh, best-known as the former bassist of Weezer, makes a post on Twitter stating, "dreamt i died in chicago next weekend [heart attack in my sleep]. need to write my will today". This was then followed by "correction - the weekend after next". Eerily, he will be found dead on October 8, in a room at The Raffaello Hotel, Chicago, Illinois, USA, from a suspected drug overdose leading to a heart attack. Welsh was aged 40.

In heavy winds outside a recording studio in rural Michigan, USA, a tree falls on top of Taking Back Sunday singer Adam Lazzara shattering his leg. The fire department is called and has to cut the tree into pieces in order to extricate Lazarra. His leg is broken and he spends the next few weeks in a cast.

When Killing Joke come to the end of a UK tour with a show at The O2 Academy, Oxford, frontman Jaz Coleman makes several announcements. First comes a statement of his Rosicrucian philosophies and beliefs; this is followed by a renunciation of drugs, alcohol, money and smoking, and he closes the occasion with an announcement that he is to marry Yutta, the ex-wife of deceased Killing Joke bassist Paul Raven.

During her Born This Way Ball Tour, Lady Gaga is obliged to cancel tonight's sold-out show at the Gelora Bung Karno Stadium, Jakarta, Indonesia, Asia. The cancellation comes in the wake of threats from the Islamic Defenders Front that they would disrupt the show because it amounts to "satanic worship".

Mattesons Fridge Raiders begin a new tv advertising campaign in the UK based on instantly recognisable bespectacled guitarist Hank Marvin of The Shadows, playing on the fact that 'Hank Marvin' has long been a Cockney Rhyming slang term for very hungry [ie Hank Marvin = starvin']

Speaking on Australian news and current affairs programme Sunday Night, Sir Elton John rekindles his public feud with Madonna, claiming that her recent album MDMA was a "disaster". He also states that "she looks like a f*cking fairground stripper." He completes his tirade by predicting the end of her career, while saying, "it couldn't happen to a bigger c***."

Minister Keith Hudson, the father of pop star Katy Perry, tells a congregation at the Freedom Christian Center in Santa Fe Springs, California, USA, that his daughter is a 'devil child'.

Carols by Kindlelight, featuring performances by Annie Lennox, Imelda May, Alfie Boe and others is held at Abbey Road Studios, London, UK. The event, in which the studio is illuminated only by Kindle screens, is filmed in order to be made available exclusively for Amazon Prime members.

A listening session for the Wu-Tang Clan album Once Upon A Time In Shaolin is held at The Museum Of Modern Art, New York City, USA. The album exists as one single copy, and is to be sold to the highest bidder. The group claims to have already received offers as high as $5m, but the eventual sale price will turn out to be considerably less.

It is reported that convicted paedophile Rolf Harris has written a song while in jail criticising his victims and describing them in insulting terms. The lawyers for his victims have now called for Harris to be denied parole.

It is reported that Justin Bieber has given away Todd - a chow puppy he acquired just six months earlier - claiming that he can't look after it properly because of his hectic work schedule. Bieber, who earned $56m in 2016, has given the pup to one of his dancers, C.J. Salvador, who immediately found himself faced with an $8000 vet's bill for corrective surgery and had to start a charitable fund to be able to afford it. Bieber did not contribute.

Following the recent controversy about radio stations banning the 1944 classic Baby, It's Cold Outside on grounds that its lyric might constitute 'sexual harassment' the sixty-year old song enters the Top 10 of Billboard magazine's digital sales list with a 70% increase in downloads.