THIS DAY IN HISTORY OF MUSIC
THIS DAY IN HISTORY OF MUSIC
JANUARY 15
BIRTHS
1909: Gene Krupa
1929: Earl Hooker
1941: Captain Beefheart
1949: Ronnie Van Zant (Lynyrd Skynyrd)
1951: Charo
1952: Melvyn Gale (The Electric Light Orchestra)
DEATHS
1992: Dee Murray (The Elton John Band)
1994: Harry Nilsson
EVENTS
1955: A young singer named Elvis Presley performs at the Louisiana Hayride, Municipal Auditorium, Shreveport, LA, performing "Hearts Of Stone," "That's All Right, Mama" and "Tweedle Dee." In the audience is "Colonel" Tom Parker, who was witnessing Elvis for the first time.
1955: Billboard magazine reports that "music with an R&B beat is not longer regarded as a passing phase by major recording firms," citing the recent success of white pop covers of R&B hits.
1961: The Supremes sign with Motown Records.
1964: In Chicago, Capitol records obtains an injuction which prohibits Vee-Jay Records from manufacturing or distributing any further Beatles records. Vee-Jay files suit against Capitol and Swan, which owned the rights to "She Loves You."
1967: The film The Fastest Guitar Alive, starring Roy Orbison and Sheb Wooley, premieres in New York City.
1967: Ed Sullivan refuses to let the Rolling Stones sing their big hit "Let’s Spend the Night Together" on his CBS show of the same name unless they change the title and lyrics to "Let's Spend Some Time Together." The band does as it's told, but lead singer Mick Jagger mocks the censorship by making faces at the camera while he sings the cleaned-up line.
1973: The Rolling Stones announce an upcoming benefit concert for the people of Managua, Nicaragua, devastated by an earthquake the previous month. (Nicaragua was the birthplace of lead singer Mick Jagger's wife, Bianca.)
1974: The Fifties-nostalgia sitcom Happy Days premieres on ABC.
1982: Harry Casey (the KC in KC and the Sunshine Band) is partially paralyzed in a Miami car crash. His recovery takes the better part of a year.
1992: The Seventh Annual Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremonies are held in New York City. Inductees include Bobby "Blue" Bland, Booker T. and the MGs, Johnny Cash, The Isley Brothers, The Jimi Hendrix Experience, Sam and Dave, and The Yardbirds.
1998: James Brown is admitted to a South Carolina hospital for addiction to painkillers.
2003: In Albuquerque, New Mexico, Lou Rawls is arrested on one count of battery against his girlfriend.
RELEASES
1971: George Harrison, "My Sweet Lord"
1977: David Bowie, Low
RECORDING
1942: The Glen Gray Orchestra, "It’s the Talk of the Town"
1958: Elvis Presley: "Hard Headed Woman," "Trouble," "New Orleans," "King Creole," "Crawfish"
1967: The Buckinghams, "Don't You Care"
1968: Elvis Presley, "Too Much Monkey Business"
1969: Elvis Presley: "A Little Bit of Green," "Gentle on My Mind"
1971: Chase, "Get It On"
CERTIFICATIONS
1964: The King and I soundtrack album is certified gold
1966: The Rolling Stones' December's Children album is certified gold
1968: John Fred and the Playboy Band's "Judy in Disguise (With Glasses)" is certified gold
1974: Brownsville Station's "Smokin' in the Boys' Room" is certified gold
CHARTS
1966: The Supremes' "My World is Empty Without You" enters the pop charts
1972: Don McLean's "American Pie" hits #1
1977: Leo Sayer's "You Make Me Feel Like Dancing" hits #1
1977: The Eagles' Hotel California album hits #1
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EVENTS
1785 - Mozarts string quartet opus 10 premieres
1866 - Bedrich Smetana's opera "Branibori v Cechach," premieres in Prague
1915 - Sydney, Kern & Smith's musical "Love o' Mike," premieres in NYC
1919 - Pianist & statesman Ignace Paderewski becomes 1st premier of Poland
1981 - "Hill Street Blues" premieres on NBC-TV
BIRTHS
1730 - John Malchair, composer
1733 - Joseph Lederer, composer
1742 - Eugene Godecharle, composer
1845 - Heinrich Vogl, composer
1871 - Bertram Shapleigh, composer
1878 - Johanna Muller-Hermann, composer
1892 - Frank Hutchens, composer
1893 - Ivor Novello (David Ivor Davies, Cardiff Wales, composer/writer/actor (Truth Game)
1896 - Jacobo Ficher, composer
1906 - Rezso Kokai, composer
1908 - Roberta Bitgood, composer
1909 - Elie Siegmeister, NYC, composer (Plough & the Stars)
1909 - Enrique Sasal y Chapi, composer
1909 - Gene Krupa, Benny Goodman's drummer (Sing Sing Sing)
1913 - Miriam Hyde, Australian composer (d. 2005)
1925 - Ruth Slenczynska, Sacramento, California, pianist
1927 - Francis Routh, composer
1929 - "Queen Ida" Guillory, Ziadaco music
1929 - Eva Badura-Skoda, composer
1931 - Murad Kazhlayev, composer
1932 - Enrique Raxach, composer
1935 - Malcolm Frager, St Louis, Missouri, pianist
1939 - Charles Christopher Steel, composer
1941 - Captain Beefheart, [Don Van Vliet], rocker (Bongo Fury, Shiny Beast)
1942 - Edward "Sonny" Bivins, US singer (Manhattans-Kiss & Say Goodbye)
1947 - Pete Waterman, rocker (Stock Aitken & Waterman-Road Block)
1948 - Ronnie Van Zant, rocker (Lynyrd Skynyrd)
1950 - David Lynn Jones, Bexar Ark, country singer (Bonnie Jean)
Actress CharoActress Charo (1951)
1951 - Charo [Maria Baeza], Spanish-American actress, comedienne and flamenco guitarist (Chico and the Man, Love Boat)
1951 - Martha Davis, California, vocalist/guitar (Motels-Only the Lonely, Shame)
1952 - Melvyn Gale, rocker (ELO)
1953 - Boris Blank, rocker (Yello)
1959 - Pete Trewavas, Middlesbrough, bassist, (Marillion-Clutching at Straws)
1960 - Aaron Jay Kernis, American composer
1961 - Iris DeMent, Paragould Ar, country singer (Our Town)
1962 - Conrad Lant, English musician
1964 - Osmo Tapio Räihälä, Finnish composer
1965 - Derek B, rocker (Bullet from a Gun)
1967 - Lisa Lisa, [Velez], rock vocalist (& Cult Jam)
1971 - Max Beesley, English musician and actor
1979 - Young Dro, American rapper
1979 - Ken Chu, Taiwanese singer-actor and taichi champ
1981 - Howie Day, American singer
1987 - Aria C Jalali, American musician
DEATHS
1744 - Charles-Hubert Gervais, composer, dies at 72
1755 - Azzolino Bernardino Della Ciaia, composer, dies at 83
1765 - Carlmann Kolb, composer, dies at 61
1775 - Giovanni Battista Sammartini, composer, dies
1788 - Gaetano Latilla, composer, dies at 77
1812 - Johannes Herbst, composer, dies at 76
1816 - Henry Harington, composer, dies at 88
1844 - Joseph Mazzinghi, composer, dies at 78
1864 - Isaac Nathan, UK-Australian composer (b. 1792)
1904 - Eduard Lassen, composer, dies at 73
1909 - Ernest Reyer, composer, dies at 85
1911 - Wilhelm Berger, composer, dies at 49
1915 - Guillaume Couture, composer, dies at 63
1924 - Geza Zichy, composer, dies at 74
1926 - Enrico Toselli, composer, dies at 42
1953 - Viktor Patrick Vretblad, composer, dies at 76
1961 - Francesco Maria Saraceni, composer, dies at 49
1964 - Weldon John "Jack" Teagarden, US jazz trombonist/singer, dies at 58
1967 - Albert Szirmai, composer, dies at 86
1973 - Jef Alpaerts, Flemish pianist/conductor, dies at 68
1974 - Karel Salmon, composer, dies at 76
1987 - Dolores Hawkins, singer (Guy Mitchell Show), dies at 58
1987 - Ray Bolger, actor/dancer (Wizard of Oz), dies at 83
1992 - Dee Murray, English bassist (b. 1946)
1993 - Sammy Cahn, American songwriter (b. 1913)
1994 - Gyorgy Cziffra, Hungarian/French pianist (Chopin/Liszt), dies at 72
1994 - Harry Nilsson, rock vocalist (Everybody's Talkin'), dies at 52
1994 - Philippe Brun, jazz trumpeter, dies at 85
1995 - Sollie McElroy, singer, dies at 61
1996 - Les Baxter, singer/orchestra leader/composer (Born Again), dies at 73
1998 - Amos "Junior" Wells, blues musician, dies at 63
1998 - Junior Wells, blues harpist, dies at 63
2003 - Doris Fisher, American singer and songwriter (b. 1915)
2005 - Victoria de los Angeles, Catalan soprano (b. 1923)
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EVENTS
1958, The Everly Brothers made their debut on British TV appearing on The Perry Como Show.
1961, The Supremes signed a world wide recording contract with Motown Records. Originally founded as the Primettes, they became the most commercially successful of Motown's acts and are, to date, America's most successful vocal group with 12 No.1 singles on the Billboard Hot 100.
1964, The Beatles performed live at the Cinema Cyrano, Versailles, France, before an audience of 2,000. The show was a warm-up for a three-week engagement at the Olympia Theatre that would start the next day in Paris.
1965, The Who released their first single 'I Can't Explain'. With Jimmy Page on guitar and The Ivy League on backing vocals, it went on to reach No.8 on the UK chart.
1967, The Rolling Stones were forced to change the lyrics of 'Let’s Spend The Night Together' to Let’s Spend Some Time Together when appearing on the US TV The Ed Sullivan Show, after the producers objected to the content of the lyrics. Jagger ostentatiously rolled his eyes at the TV camera while singing the changed lyrics, resulting in host Ed Sullivan announcing that The Rolling Stones would be banned from performing on his show ever again.
1969, George Harrison had a five-hour meeting with John, Paul and Ringo where he made it clear that he was fully prepared to quit The Beatles for good. Harrison wasn't happy with plans for live performances and the current Let It Be film project.
1972, Don McLean's 'American Pie' started a four week run at No.1 in the US singles chart.
1972, Led Zeppelin's 'Black Dog' made its debut on the US singles chart. The group's third single peaked at No.15 and spent 8 weeks on the chart.
1976, Pink Floyd’s Wish You Were Here was on the UK album chart. The album's packaging, designed by Storm Thorgerson, featured an opaque black sleeve inside which was hidden the album artwork.
1977, Abba scored their second UK No.1 album when 'Arrival' went to the top of the charts.
1977, The Eagles went to No.1 on the US album chart with 'Hotel California' the group's third US No.1 album.
1977, UK singer Leo Sayer went to No.1 on the US singles chart with 'You Make Me Feel Like Dancing', it was the first of two US No.1's for the singer.
1982, The Police kicked off the North American leg of their 119-date Ghost In The Machine world tour at Boston Garden, Boston, Massachusetts, supported by The Go-Go's.
1983, A new pop music show was launched by Channel 4 TV called 'Gastank' hosted by ex Yes keyboard player Rick Wakeman and Tony Ashton from Ashton Gardner & Dyke.
1983, Men At Work started a four week run at No.1 in the US singles chart with 'Down Under' the Australian act group's second US No.1, also a No.1 in the UK.
1983, Phil Collins had his first UK No.1 single with his version of 'You Can't Hurry Love,' a hit for The Supremes in 1966. Collins' version was the first track on the very first Now That's What I Call Music CD.
1991, Sean Lennon's updated version of his father John's 'Give Peace A Chance' was released to coincide with the United Nation's midnight deadline for Iraq to withdraw from Kuwait.
1992, Dee Murray bass player with the Elton John band died after suffering a stroke aged 45. He first appeared with Elton on the 1970 album Tumbleweed Connection and the milestone albums Goodbye Yellow Brick Road and Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy.
2002, 1980's British pop legend Adam Ant was admitted to a mental ward 24 hours after being charged by police with pulling a gun on staff in a London pub.
2004, It was announced that album sales in the UK rose by 7.6% in 2003 to a record high. Almost 121 million artist albums were sold, according to Official UK Charts Company. The Top five albums of 2003: 1. Dido, 'Life For Rent'. 2. Justin Timberlake, 'Justified', 3. Christina Aguilera, 'Stripped', 4. Daniel Bedingfield, 'Gotta Get Thru This', 5. Norah Jones, 'Come Away With Me'. UK singles sales continued to drop, down 30% on the previous year. The Black Eyed Peas had the biggest selling single of 2003 with sales over 625,000.
2006, James Blunt was at No.1 on the UK album chart with his debut album and biggest selling UK album of 2005 'Back To Bedlam.'
2008, Ronnie Wood was recovering following an operation for a hernia after he sustained the injury during the band's recent Bigger Bang tour. The 60-year-old Rolling Stones guitarist was told to rest for two months after the procedure.
2010, N-Dubz were dropped as ambassadors of anti-bullying charity Beatbullying after band member Dappy sent a woman threatening text messages. Chloe Moody texted The Chris Moyles Radio 1 Show while the band were being interviewed, calling them "losers" and labelling Dappy "repulsive", Dappy had sent a text back to her the following day saying "Your gonna die".
BIRTHS
1893, Born on this day, Ivor Novello, songwriter & actor. Annual British music awards are named after him. Died 6th March 1951.
1941, Born on this day, Don Van Vliet, (Captain Beefheart), American musician, singer-songwriter and artist. Released the albums 'Safe As Milk', 'Trout Mask Replica', and 'Strictly Personal' with his Magic Band. His expressionist paintings and drawings have been exhibited in art galleries and museums across the world. Beefheart died on 17th Dec 2010 aged 69 from complications from multiple sclerosis.
1942, Born on this day, Edward Bivens, vocals, The Manhattans, (1976 US No.1 & UK No.4 single 'Kiss And Say Goodbye').
1947, Born on this day, Pete Waterman, producer, TV presenter and part of the Stock, Aitken & Waterman team. Booked the first ever tour for The Bay City Rollers, signed Musical Youth and Nik Kershaw, during the 70's was promotion consultant for John Travolta. Had 1987 UK No.13 hit with 'Roadblock.' Dominated UK pop in the mid-to-late 1980s. as part of S.A.W. the most successful pop writers & producers of all time producing Bananarama, Kylie Minogue, Rick Astley, Jason Donovan. Judge on UK TV's Pop Stars.
1948, Born on this day, Ronnie Van Zant, vocalist with Lynyrd Skynyrd who had the 1974 US #8 single 'Sweet Home Alabama' and the 1982 UK #21 single 'Freebird'. Van Zant died in a plane crash between shows from Greenville, South Carolina to Baton Rouge, Louisiana on October 20th 1977 along with bandmates Steve Gaines and Cassie Gaines. Remaining band members survived, although all were seriously injured.
1951, Born on this day, Martha Davis, vocals, The Motels, (1981 UK No.41 single 'Days Are OK').
1952, Born on this day, Melvyn Gale, cello, Electric Light Orchestra, (1979 UK No.3 & US No.4 single 'Don't Bring Me Down', plus 26 other Top 40 hits).
1953, Born on this day, Boris Blank, Yello, (1988 UK No.7 single 'The Race').
1953, Born on this day, Douglas Elwin Erikson, Garbage, (1996 UK No. 4 single 'Stupid Girl').
1959, Born on this day, Peter Trewavas, bass, Marillion, (1985 UK No.2 single 'Kayleigh').
1961, Born on this day, Damian O'Neill, guitar, The Undertones, (1980 UK No.9 single 'My Perfect Cousin').
1965, Born on this day, Adam Jones, guitarist, Tool, (2001 US No.1 album 'Lateralus').
1967, Born on this day, Lisa Velez, vocals, Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam, (1987 US No.1 single 'Head To Toe').
1975, Born on this day, Belinda Chapple, Bardot, winners of the Australian Popstars reality show, (2000 Australian No.1 single 'Poison', and 2000 Australian No.1 self-titled album).
DEATHS
1994, American singer songwriter Harry Nilsson died in his sleep of heart failure after spending the previous day in the recording studio. He recorded 'Everybody's Talkin' from the film 'Midnight Cowboy' and wrote hits for Three Dog Night and The Monkees. Had the UK & US No.1 single with his version of Badfinger Evans & Ham song 'Without You.' When John Lennon and Paul McCartney held a press conference in 1968 to announce the formation of Apple Corps, John was asked to name his favorite American artist. He replied, "Nilsson". Paul was then asked to name his favorite American group. He replied, "Nilsson".
1998, Harmonica player Junior Wells died, (born Amos Blakemore). Worked with Muddy Waters, Van Morrison, Carlos Santana, Bonnie Raitt and The Rolling Stones.