Bob Welch, guitarist and vocalist for Fleetwood Mac, is born, as is singer Gary Lewis. (1946)

Bill Berry, guitarist and vocalist for R.E.M., is born. (1958)

Another Rolling Stones concert and another riot is provoked. However, this time the show in Belfast, Northern Ireland is stopped after only 12 minutes. (1964)

A London Appeals Court throws out Keith Richard’s drug conviction of last month, describing the evidence against him as flimsy. At the same time, the court reduced Mick Jaggers sentence on a related conviction to conditional discharge with probation. Chief Justice Lord Parker admonishes Jagger to remember his responsibilities as a pop idol. (1967)

A Moscow police chief reports that thousands of Moscow telephone booths have been made inoperable by thieves who have stolen phone parts in order to convert their acoustic guitars to electric. (1969)

To fill a contractual obligation, the Rolling Stones hand over the disc, “C***sucker Blues” to Decca Records. They are now free to form Rolling Stones Records. (1970)

The second night of the Who’s first of two ’71 U.S. tours is marked with tragedy when a 22 year old security guard is stabbed at New York’s Forest Hills Stadium. (1971)

James Taylor’s “You’ve Got A Friend” hits #1 on the chart. (1971)

The group Chicago receives a gold record for its first number one album, “Chicago V.” One of the songs,”Saturday in the Park,” reaches number three in September. (1972)

Blue Oyster Cult’s “Don’t Fear The Reaper” and Orleans’ “Still The One” are released. (1976)

James Taylor plays a free concert in New York’s Central Park to help the city’s campaign to restore the park’s Sheep Meadow. (1979)

Elvis Presley makes his professional debut in Memphis. It’s his first concert to be advertised. (1954)

Remember the Power Ridge Rock Festival in Connecticut that was cancelled by local authorities? Over 30,000 people show up even though police have barricaded all roads leading up to the fesitval for two hours. Utilities to the site are cut off and the crowd parties on. Doctors report over 800 cases of bad drug reactions. (1970)

The Rolling Stones fire Allen Klein as their manager. (1970)

The Charlie Daniels Band, one of the U.S.’ popular exponents of Southern style boogie rock, earns it first gold record for “Fire on the Mountain.” (1975)

David Bowie plays the first show of his “Glass Spider” tour in Philadelphia. (1987)

Many Motown stars gathered for a memorial service for Mary Wells, who died of cancer at the age of 49. Smokey Robinson sang a medley of Wells’ hits. (1992)

REO Speedwagon keyboardist Neal Doughty is born. (1946)

Geddy Lee, bassist and vocals for Rush, was born (1953)

Bruce Springsteen’s wife, E Street Band guitarist and vocalist Patty Scialia celebrates a birthday. (1956)

The Isley Brothers record “Shout.” (1959)

Dick Clark premieres his summer stage show, the Dick Clark Caravan of Stars, at the Steel Pier in Atlantic City. (1961)

After a four year hiatus, the Newport Folk Festival in Newport, Rhode Island reopens. Those getting thumbs-up from the crowd include Joan Baez, Peter, Paul & Mary and Bob Dylan. (1963)

Peter, Paul and Mary’s “Blowin’ In The Wind” is released. (1963)

The Beatles film “Help!” debuts at London’s Pavillion Theatre. Another sell-out crowd attends while critics are bemused. (1965)

Bob Dylan crashes his Triumph 55 motorcycle while riding near Woodstock, New York. He is sent to Middletown Hospital with several broken neck vertebrae, a concussion and cuts on his face and scalp. He remains in serious condition for a week suffering mild amnesia, paralysis and internal injuries for about a month. The rumor mill begins with Dylan in a coma, becoming a vegetable, never performing again, dodging the draft, passing on or lost his mind due to drug use. (1966)

The Temptations’ “You’re My Everything” is released. (1967)

The Byrds leave on their tour of South Africa without Gram Parsons. He refuses to set foot in a country where apartheid is official policy. (1968)

The Rolling Stones’ contract with Decca Records has expired and they’re talking about starting their own label. They inform their business manager, Allen Klein, that “neither he nor ABKCO Industries have any authority to negotiate recording contracts on their behalf.” (1970)

Led Zeppelin, in the middle of a very successful U.S. tour, are the victims of one of the largest cash thefts in New York City. $180,000 is taken from the band’s deposit box at the Drake Hotel. The money is mostly cash receipts from the first of two night at Madison Square Garden. (1973)

Mama Cass Elliot, a one-time member of the Mama’s & Papa’s, dies in London. A postmortem the following day shows she died as a result of choking on a sandwich and from inhaling her own vomit. It’s later revealed that she suffered a heart attack. She was 32. (1974)

Eric Clapton begins his first tour of Britain in five years. He stays three weeks, starting off at Hempstead’s Pavillion Theatre. (1976)

Earth, Wind & Fire enter the soul chart with their version of the Beatles “Got to Get You into My Life,” from the “Sgt. Pepper” soundtrack. It makes it to number one for a week in September. (1978)

Kenny Loggins “Whenever I Call You Friend” is released. (1978)

David Bowie makes his theatrical debut as the title role in “The Elephant Man.” Bowie will leave the Denver production and take the lead role in the New York production on Broadway. The critical reaction was favorable. (1980)

Unemployment Extension benefits Tier 5 for 99ers need of the hour. Long at last the unemployment benefits have been approved. But the passage of the bill has been torturous with Republicans trying to block it. For more than six months there was standoff of on the issue between the Democrats and Republicans.

Republicans had wanted more time on it whereas the Democrats were not willing to budge. They were in a rush to get it passed as soon as possible.

They were under intense pressure to act on this important front because they had come to power by making the promise to sort out unemployment. They knew that a delay will only hamper their popularity. That is why the effort to get it passed was being spearheaded by President Barack Obama.

He kept on his work to convince the Senate about the importance of this bill that would help some 2 million workers who had lost job in the last six months following recession. During the voting, two Republicans also sided with the Democrats.

The bill now has been turned into a law and now jobless Americans are eligible for up to 99 weeks of unemployment benefits until early June. The time has come for different states to dispatch the money to the needy people. Unemployment extensions were first introduced in 1958 and since then it has been granted six times.

Richard Wright, keyboardist for Pink Floyd, is born. (1945)

Simon Kirke, drummer for Bad Company and Free, is born (1949)

Jerry Lee Lewis makes his television debut on “The Steve Allen Show.” Lewis is booked for two more appearances. (1957)

Billboard reports on a claim from the Esso Research Center “…tuning in rock & roll music on a car radio can cost a motorist money,” because the rhythm can cause a driver to unconsciously jiggle the gas pedal, thus wasting fuel. (1958)

Tommy Roe’s “Sheila” enters the Hot 100 at #93. It will top the charts by September 1. (1962)

Mick Jagger makes his acting debut in the title role of “Ned Kelly.” The film opens today. (1970)

One of the largest rock festivals of all time is held at the Watkins Glen raceway. More than 600,000 show up for one day of music with the Grateful Dead, the Band and the Allman Brothers. (1973)

Grand Funk Railroad’s “We’re An American Band” is released. (1973)

Steve Miller Band’s “Fly Like an Eagle” goes gold, on its way to platinum. The album features huge hits as the title track (which makes it to number two), “Rock’n Me” (goes number one later in the year), “Jet Airliner” (#8 in 1977) and “Take the Money and Run” (#11 this month). (1976)

Ted Nugent, Journey, Aerosmith and Thin Lizzy headline the World Series of Rock at Cleveland Stadium. (1979)

The Beatles sue Nike and Capitol Records over the use of “Revolution” in shoe commercials. (1987)

10,000 Maniacs play their last show with lead singer Natalie Merchant. Merchant leaves the group to pursue a solo career. (1993)

Jimi Hendrix’ father James Al Hendrix wins back the rights to his son’s name, likeness, image and music after a number of compaines had profited from them over the years. (1995)

Singer Marguerite Ganser Dorste of the Shangri-Las dies of breast cancer. She was 48. (1996)

Pete Townshend plays at the Supper Club in New York to showcase his upcoming album, Pete Townshend Live: A Benefit For Maryville Academy. Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder joins Townshend on stage to perform a number of songs including “Magic Bus,” “Heart To Hang Onto” and the Pearl Jam classic, “Better Man.” (1999)

Ever since Ringo Starr vowed, on a well-known cover of Buck Owens’s hit “Act Naturally,” that he’d become “the biggest fool to ever hit the big time,” the renowned rock ’n’ roll drummer has done all right for himself. As a member of the Beatles and as a solo artist, Mr. Starr has sold more than a few records, won some Grammy Awards and even had a minor planet named for him. But on Wednesday Mr. Starr will reach a very special milestone: he turns 70 years old.

As you’d expect, he plans to mark the occasion with a little help from his friends, and anyone else he can round up. Finding himself in New York on the big day, he is celebrating with a private event in the morning at the Hard Rock Cafe in Times Square; Hard Rock International is honoring the day at locations around the world. (Details are at ringostarr.com.)

In the evening he will perform a concert at Radio City Music Hall with his All Starr Band, which includes Edgar Winter, Gary Wright and Rick Derringer.

COOPERSTOWN _ John Fogerty threw a curveball at the Clark Sports Center.

The Rock ‘N Roll legend merely paid lip service to the estimated 10,000 fans who showed up Sunday for the National Baseball Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony. Fogerty performed his 1985 classic Centerfield … sort of.

Responding to a reporter’s question following the ceremony, Fogerty admitted to lip syncing the song.

“I was worried that at least two or three things could go wrong: We wouldn’t play good or their sound guy wouldn’t get it right,” said Fogerty, who did the same thing at the new Yankee Stadium for their opening day festivities on April 16, 2009. “I was fairly nervous about getting it right, I guess. I usually am that way for any concert.”

At a brief media conference inside the Hall, Fogerty said he came up with the name of his album Centerfield before he wrote one song for the album, which marked a comeback for the former Creedence Clearwater Revival singer. Fogerty said he then decided he should devote a song on that album to the sport he loved as a child as well.

“I was going to name the album Centerfield because that’s where I wanted to be, the sort of ‘I’m back’, bravado kind of thing,” the 65-year-old said. “Some time went by and I decided ‘Why don’t you make a song? Once I had a guitar lick that was pretty cool, it just seemed like the song (and) the emotion of spring became the song. How I feel about baseball and especially springtime when it’s all brand new, it became the emotion of the song.”

As for the bat-shaped guitar he walked on stage with Sunday, that’s staying in Cooperstown.

Fogerty inspected his exhibit, near the Buck O’Neil statue on the first floor, shortly after the Induction Ceremony. The guitar, named Slugger, has tuners in the back rather than the front.

“I just felt so special about the whole concept of what Centerfield is because baseball meant so much to me and there was just a lot to tell (and) at some point the idea of a guitar that looked like a bat that would play Centerfield came to me,” Fogerty said.

The musician said he then contacted guitar manufacturer Phil Kubicki in Santa Barbara, Calif., to set in motion the idea of the bat guitar.

“He was really the perfect choice,” Fogerty said of Kubicki. “He had worked at Fender for a long time (and) he knew all of the standard stuff and he had his own ideas. When I told him what I wanted to do, he was really fired up about that. It was obvious that he and I were passionate about this. We had several meetings where he would think about it, I’d think about it. It had to be a real guitar and it had to sound good. He worked it out. It plays really good, it sounds great and it looks like a bat.”

The guitar almost did not make it to Cooperstown. Almost all of Fogerty’s equipment, including Slugger, was damaged during a flood this past May in Nashville, Tenn.

“All my guitars and amplifiers were ruined,” Fogerty said. “I took it with a grain of salt. (Slugger) was worth refurbishing because this one’s iconic, so I had a fellow named Joe Glazer in Nashville (refurbish it).”

Chuck Berry’s first hit record, “Maybellene” enters the R&B chart. (1955)

Billboard claims that only two singing stars can be considered guaranteed hitmakers these days: Nat King Cole and country star Webb Pierce. (1955)

The Bobbette’s first and only Top Forty single, “Mr. Lee” enters the pop charts. The tune is about the trio’s high school principal. (1957)

Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Sweet Home Alabama” is released. (1974)

Bruce Springsteen sues his manager Mike Appel in Manhatten’s U.S. Distrcit Court for fraud and breach of contract. The lawsuit is over his lack of artistic and financial freedom.Two days later, Appel counters with a suit in New York Supreme Court. Lititgation drags on for a year, putting a temporary halt on Springsteen’s rock & roll career. (1976)

John Lennon receives his green card, granting him permanent residency status in the U.S. His fight to obtain the card had begun four years earlier. (1976)

Tina Turner files for divorce from Ike. (1976)

Led Zeppelin’s U.S. tour ends abruptly with seven dates to go when vocalist Robert Plant’s six year old son Karac dies unexpectedly of a respiratory ailment in England. (1977)

Alice Cooper’s Indian art store in Scottsdale, Arizona is hit by a firebomb. Gone are $200,000 worth of artifacts and some of Cooper’s gold records, which were stored in the back. Cooper said maybe a “disco-music freak” was responsible because he had been making some anti disco remarks. (1979)

Prince’s first movie, “Purple Rain” opens nationally. (1984)

Tier 5 Unemployment Extension Bill Petition Rises: 99ers Want Unemployment Benefits – The clamor for the passage of a Tier 5 Unemployment Extension Bill in the Congress continues. The recent HR 4213 Unemployment Extension Bill does not involve unemployment benefits for those 99ers or those that have received 99 weeks of their unemployment benefits. What will happen to these unemployed individuals now?

Without a Tier 5, these unemployed Americans will have to rely on federal TANF or the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program which offers just over $500 each month. However, before you can avail this benefit, you must first prove that you’re capable of paying your rent. Apart from it, the only benefit available to those 99ers are food stamps.

Aside from the usual argument of the Republicans that the costs associated with the passage of a Tier 5 Unemployment Extension Bill will just add to the current huge deficit of the government, it is also being said that it creates a disincentive for a job seeking behavior. That means, if an unemployed individual is expecting to get unemployment benefits, then they will be less likely to get motivated to find a job. While some maybe in this kind of attitude, the majority are actually looking for jobs but there are just no work available in the market. In effect, they are continuously losing their homes, their resources, their food, and their dignity.

Several groups and organizations have set up various petition sites for 99ers. Change.org has this “The 99ers need a Tier 5 added to Unemployment Benefits“; The Petition Site has this “We need a Tier 5 Federal Unemployment Extension“; and Saver 99ers has this “Petittion to Save the 99ers”

Our politicians, especially the Republicans, need not to wait for crime rates to increase before they can address this issue immediately. Participate in any of these petitions for 99ers and let your voices be heard. Keep sending letters, emails, and phone calls to your senators. You can also contact the White House directly here and send your concerns to President Obama. America needs to take care of America.

Jim McCarty, drummer for the Yardbirds, was born. (1943)

Billboard reports England has a hot new band. The Animals debut single “House of the Rising Sun” entered the U.K. chart at #16. The next week, it’s at #3 and seven days later it’s number one. To promote the group in the U.S., disc jockeys were sent boxes of animal crackers wrapped with special promotional material. (1964)

Bob Dylan breaks out his electric guitar and “plugs-in” for the very first time at the Newport Jazz Festival. His reception is, let’s just say, less than enthusiastic. (1965)

In San Francisco, the Rolling Stones perform their last U.S. concert with Brian Jones. (1966)

The Beatles and other U.K. rock groups urge the British government to legalize marijuana. Their comments are made in a London Times advertisement signed by all four of the Beatles. (1967)

Neil Young makes his first appearance with Crosby, Stills and Nash at New York’s Fillmore East. (1969)

Chicago’s “25 or 6 to 4″ is released. (1970)

The Beach Boys make a return with the release of their album “Surf’s Up.” It hits #29 which is their highest charting LP in four years. (1971)

KISS introduce their new drummer, Eric Carr, at a concert at the Paladium in New York City. Carr, who wears fox make-up, replaces Peter Criss, who was made up as a cat. (1980)

AC\DC releases “Back In Black,” their first album with Brian Johnson as lead singer. (1980)

Bruce Springsteen and Patti Scialfa become parents to son Evan James. (1990)