Weird

Entertainment trade magazine Variety reports that movie-goer Earl Shanks was recently jailed for throwing a cowbell at the screen during a showing of the Elvis Presley film Jailhouse Rock in the Brunson Theatre, Baytown, Texas, USA. Shanks is later released on $500 bail but faces charges of malicious destruction of property.

Chuck Willis, best known for his version of C.C.Rider, dies in hospital, aged 30, in Chicago, Illinois, USA. He had suffered from stomach ulcers for many years, and died of peritonitis during surgery in a Chicago hospital. Ironically, his current single on the day he died was entitled What Am I Living For?.

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.

"PROBABLY THE ONLY BANJO-PLAYING UNICYCLIST IN DENVER". The Denver Post in Denver, Colorado, USA, applauds the talent of local sixteen year old student Otis Taylor, hailing him as 'probably the only banjo-playing unicyclist in Denver.' He will go on to make a name for himself internationally as a blues multi-instrumentalist, songwriter and recording artist.

Black Sabbath play at The Paramus Theatre, Paramus, New Jersey, USA. The event, intriguingly, is a benefit concert sponsored by St Matthew’s Episcopal Church.

When Pink Floyd, with the exception of keyboardist Rick Wright, boycott a press reception for their album Dark Side Of The Moon, at the London Planetarium, London, England, UK, guests are presented with life-sized cardboard cut-outs of the band.

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.

During a concert in Spokane, Washington, USA, a member of the audience pulls a .44 Magnum gun on guitarist Ted Nugent. The incident ends without injury when the man is wrestled to the ground by security.

The Bay City Rollers reach No1 in the RPM Singles Chart in Canada with Saturday Night. Some months later, pioneering punk rock band The Ramones will attempt to learn how to play it but fail because they are muysically inept. Nevertheless, they are inspired by Saturday Night to use a simplified version of its structure for their song Blitzkrieg Bop.

The Clash play ‘A Night Of Pure Energy’ at The ICA, London, England, UK, Europe, supported by The Subway Sect. Shane MacGowan, not yet a member of The Pogues, is in the crowd and is bitten on the earlobe by Jane Crockford of The Modettes.

On the Never Say Die! tour, Black Sabbath are scheduled to play at The Municipal Auditorium, Nashville, Tennessee, USA, supported by Van Halen. Unfortunately, Sabbath vocalist Ozzy Osbourne fails to turn up forcing the show to be cancelled, resulting in an audience riot. It transpires that the exhausted Osbourne had fallen asleep in the wrong hotel room and slept the clock round, waking up at 6.00am the next morning.

Motorhead and The Plasmatics are rehearsing a version of the Tammy Wynette hit Stand By Your Man, at SIR rehearsal studios in New York City, USA. The track will be recorded in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, a few days later.

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.

It is reported that Michael Jackson has offered $1m to purchase the remains of Joseph Merrick, aka The Elephant Man.

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.

During a bizarre plagiarism trial in Los Angeles, California, USA, John Fogerty, former leader of Creedence Clearwater Revival, demonstrates with his guitar that he has not copied one of his own songs, whose copyright is owned by his former record company boss, Saul Zaentz.

The Astronomical Union's Minor Planet Centre announces that Asteroids 4147-4150, are to be named Lennon, McCartney, Harrison and Starr after the four members of The Beatles.

Bob Dylan plays his anti-war protest Masters of War at a concert in the Eisenhower Hall Theater, West Point, New York State, USA. West Point is, of course, famed as a US Military training Academy.

After the KLF perform 3AM Eternal at the 11th Annual BRIT Awards in London, UK, they leave a dead sheep at the door to the aftershow party, with a note attached stating, 'I died for you.' Other highlights include R.E.M. collecting Best International Group award.

Steve Holy sings his No1 Country hit single Good Morning Beautiful for the couples' first dance when forty couples are married in a mass Valentine's Day ceremony in Newport News, Virginia, USA.

During a private visit to Berlin, Germany, Europe, Michael Jackson shocks fans gathered outside the Adlon Hotel, when he dangles his nine month old son, Prince Michael Jackson II, aka Blanket, over the balcony outside his fifth floor room.

In an online poll conducted by Yahoo, Ozzy Osbourne is named as the UK's favourite ambassador to welcome aliens to planet earth. Ozzy secures 26% of the vote, while music biz entrepreneur Simon Cowell, who came last on the list, had just 3%.

At 2.15am, when Mariah Carey arrives at Baglione’s Hotel, Kensington, London, England, UK, Europe, she refuses to leave her limo until a red carpet lined with white candles is laid out, enabling her to enter the establishment without walking on the pavement.

Christina Aguilera is paid £1.2m to perform for less than an hour at the marriage of Russian billionaire businessman Andrey Melnichenko and model Alexandra Koktovic in Antibes, France, Europe. Whitney Houston, Julio Iglesias and Enrique Iglesias also perform at the wedding.

The last day of a three day long Bruce Springsteen Symposium takes place at Monmouth University, West Long Branch, New Jersey, USA. The event includes over 150 academic papers including 'A Marxist perspective On Darkness On the Edge Of Town' and 'The Boss And The Bible'.

Former 60s pop idol Wayne Fontana arrives at the Crown Court, Derby, England, UK, Europe, dressed as Liberty, The Lady Of Justice, to face charges of having set light to a debt collector's car while the man was inside. Judge Andrew Hamilton sentences him to jail, declaring, "He has come dressed as a fool and he wants to act like a fool. I hope they give him a prison uniform at Nottingham Prison to keep him warm."

Former 60s pop star Wayne Fontana is given an eleven months sentence at Nottingham Crown Court, Nottingham, England, UK, Europe, on charges of having set fire to a bailiff's car in a row over an unpaid congestion charge. Doctors had previously diagnosed Fontana as suffering from a paranoid illness and depression but now believe he is no longer a danger to himself or others. On an earlier court appearance, Fontana had appeared dressed as Liberty, The Lady Of Justice.

The Oklahoma State Legislature announces that The Flaming Lips' song Do You Realize?? has been chosen as the official rock song of the band's home state, Oklahoma, USA. Over 21,000 Oklahomans took part in a state-wide poll to choose the song.

Actor Mark Lester, a close friend of Michael Jackson, claims in a News Of The World interview that he was the sperm-donor responsible for the birth of Jackson's daughter Paris.

Canned Heat headline the Woofstock Festival - a dog-oriented music festival - at Halvorsen Park And Waterfront, Eureka, California, USA.

Former Busted singer/guitarist/songwriter Charlie Simpson earns a Guinness World Record by playing the world's coldest gig ever - a fifteen minute solo acoustic set in the remote Siberian village of Oymyakon, Siberia, Europe, also known as the 'Pole of Cold'. Now the frontman of Fightstar, Simpson endures temperatures as low as minus 30 degrees Celsius and is only allowed breaks of 30 seconds between each song.

Rapper Tim Dog dies aged 46 of complications caused by diabetes in Dekalb County, Georgia, USA. In a bizarre twist, he will be accused of faking his own death to avoid charges of grand larceny but, eventually, his death will be confirmed by his death certificate.

It is reported that San Francisco-based singer Rupa Marya is taking the Warner/Chappell Publishing group to court in an effort to have the song Happy Birthday To You taken out of copyright. When Rupa recorded a live concert with her band The April Fishes on the night before her birthday earlier in the year, the audience sang Happy Birthday to her. Warner/Chappell sent her a bill claiming that she owed them $455 for the usage of the song, written in the 1890s, on which they are reported to be making over $2m every year.

Bob Dylan plays a gig for an audience of just one person - superfan Fredrik Wikingsson - at The Academy Of Music, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. The concert is part of an ongoing Swedish film series called Experiment Ensam (Experiment Alone), in which people experience, completely alone, things that are usually reserved for large crowds.

Five piece band Joanna Gruesome win The Welsh Music Prize for their debut LP Weird Sister, in a ceremony held at The Sherman Theatre, Cardiff, Wales, UK.

When Say Anything play at The House Of Blues, West Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA, lead singer Max Bemis is unexpectedly taken ill and projectile vomits over an unfortunate security guard who was standing in the line of fire.

On their Get Weird tour, Little Mix play at Sheffield Arena, Sheffield, England, UK, Europe.

Continuing the recent controversy in which radio stations have been banning the 1944 classic Baby, It's Cold Outside on grounds that its lyric might constitute 'sexual harassment', San Francisco radio station KOIT restores the song to its playlist. The station had removed the song a week earlier, but after asking its listeners for opinions, the result was that 77% were opposed to the ban.