Wednesday, January 20, 2016

This Date in Rock Music History: January 21

1956:  It was week number three at #1 on the R&B chart for "The Great Pretender" from the Platters.  And it wasn't even close to done.

1957:  Elvis Presley began filming his second movie Loving You.












1959:  The Coasters released the single "Charlie Brown".
1959:  Jimmie Rodgers was a guest on This Is Your Life on NBC-TV.
1962:  Jackie Wilson performed "My Heart Belongs To Only You" on The Ed Sullivan Show.
1962:  Gene Chandler made his U.S. television debut on American Bandstand.







1963:  The 4 Seasons released the single "Walk Like A Man".
1963:  The Beatles recorded "Please Please Me" and "Ask Me Why" at EMI House for the program The Friday Spectacular on Radio Luxembourg.  The program was broadcast January 25.
1965:  The Byrds finished recording the song "Mr. Tambourine Man" at the Columbia Recording Studios in Hollywood, California.  (Note:  websites list either January 20 or 21 as the date the song was recorded; the truth is that the Byrds spent both days on the song, according to the book 'Icons of Rock:  An Encyclopedia of the Legends Who Changed Music Forever' by Scott Schinder and Andy Schwartz.) 
1966:  George Harrison married Patricia Boyd at the Leatherhead Registry Office in Epsom, Surrey, England.  Boyd later left Harrison for so-called "friend" Eric Clapton.
1967:  Aaron Neville held a grasp on the #1 spot on the R&B chart with "Tell It Like It Is".





1967:  The Buckinghams were in business with "Kind Of A Drag", which moved from 42 to 15.
1967:  "I'm A Believer" by the Monkees continued to outdistance the competition, remaining at #1 for a fourth week.  
1967:  The Monkees, the debut album from the group, spent an 11th week at #1, at the time tying them for second with the album Meet the Beatles.  Only A Hard Day's Night by the Beatles (14 weeks) was ahead in most weeks at #1.





1968:  Jimi Hendrix recorded Bob Dylan's song "All Along The Watchtower", with help from Brian Jones of the Rolling Stones and Dave Mason of Traffic, at Olympic Studios in London.









1975:  Olivia Newton-John released the single "Have You Never Been Mellow".












1975:  Earth, Wind & Fire released the single "Shining Star".










1978:  Billy Joel remained at #1 on the Adult chart for a third week with "Just The Way You Are".
1978:  Newcomer Natalie Cole reached #1 on the R&B chart with "Our Love".








   They didn't make 'em much better than "Come Sail Away"...

1978:  Player continued to hold on to #1 with "Baby Come Back" in a great Top 10.  The Bee Gees were at #2 with "How Deep Is Your Love" with Dolly Parton's big hit "Here You Come Again" third and Rod Stewart remaining at #4 with "You're In My Heart".  Randy Newman has written a lot of great songs, and he decided to keep one for himself with "Short People", so his dues had paid off as the song rose from 15-5.  The rest of the Top 10:  "Slip Slidin' Away" from Paul Simon, although it was much higher in most markets, Shaun Cassidy had #7 with "Hey Deanie", Queen rose up with "We Will Rock You/We Are The Champions", Styx was at 9 with the great song "Come Sail Away" and the Bee Gees had another entry in the Top 10 with "Stayin' Alive".





1978:  Both the movie and Soundtrack to "Saturday Night Fever" were all the rage, and on this date the album rose from 10 to 1.  It would dominate the chart throughout the spring and at various times in the Rock Era, has been the #1 seller of all-time.
1979:  Robert Plant, lead singer of Led Zeppelin, and his wife Maureen celebrated the birth of son Logan.
1980:  Art Garfunkel was a guest on Laverne & Shirley on ABC-TV.
1982:  B.B. King donated his entire record collection, including about 7,000 rare blues records he had accumulated while working as a DJ, to the University of Mississippi's Center for the Study of Southern Culture.




1984:  Jackie Wilson died at age 49 in Mount Holly, New Jersey after being in a coma for eight years.  Wilson had suffered a massive heart attack in 1976 while performing for a  Dick Clark show at the Latin Casino in New Jersey .







   
    "Middle of the Road", as the Pretenders released one of the top albums of the year...

1984:  The Pretenders released the amazing album Learning To Crawl.
1984:  Tina Turner debuted on the chart with her first solo release "Let's Stay Together".
1984:  Howard Jones debuted on the chart with his first single called "New Song".






1984:  Yes achieved the only #1 of their career--"Owner Of A Lonely Heart".  











1984:  Thriller by Michael Jackson passed the Soundtrack to Saturday Night Fever with its 25th week at #1 on the Album chart.  That placed Jackson second at the time to Fleetwood Mac's Rumours (31 weeks).  Could Jackson hang on for six more weeks to get the record?
1987:  Aretha Franklin was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the first woman so honored.  Also inducted were Marvin Gaye, Eddie Cochran, Jackie Wilson, Roy Orbison, Bill Haley, Bo Diddley, Carl Perkins, Clyde McPhatter, Ricky Nelson plus a whole lot of other people that have no business in a "Hall of Fame". 







1989:  Six days after his death, The Legendary Roy Orbison topped the U.K. Album chart.
1989:  Surprisingly, Phil Collins remained at #1 for a fifth week at #1 on the Adult Contemporary chart with "Two Hearts".  It was a time of little competition.






         
                            Def Leppard was on fire...

1989:  "Two Hearts" by Phil Collins rose to #1, with Taylor Dayne' "Don't Rush Me" and "Armageddon It" by Def Leppard the closest challengers.  The hottest song in the Top 10 was Sheriff, rising 12 to 5--"When I'm With You".









1995:  Tony Bennett sang at half time of Super Bowl XXIX in Miami, Florida.










 
  The Eagles were back in a big way with "Get Over It".

1995:  The Hits from Garth Brooks remained #1 on the Album chart for a third week.  II by Boyz II Men was up to #2, trading placed with Pearl Jam's Vitalogy, while the Eagles had #4 with Hell Freezes Over.
1995:  For the seventh week, TLC dominated the R&B chart with "Creep".







                   Etheridge with her unique style...

1995:  Boyz II Men achieved a fourth straight week at #1 and sixth overall with "On Bended Knee".  Counting their previous hit "I'll Make Love To You", the group had spent 20 weeks at the top out of the last 22.  TLC was second with "Creep" while Real McCoy remained at #3 with "Another Night".  The top new entry was Melissa Etheridge, who jumped to #8 with "I'm the Only One".
1997:  Jesse Levine, songwriter who penned "Tie A Yellow Ribbon Round The Ol' Oak Tree" and "Knock Three Times" for Dawn, and was a renowned violinist and conductor, died of kidney failure after a long fight with pancreatic cancer in New Haven, Connecticut at age 68.
1997:  Colonel Tom Parker, manager of Elvis Presley, died of a stroke in Las Vegas at the age of 87.
1998:  James Brown was released from the hospital where he had received treatment for his addiction to painkillers.
1999:  Gary Glitter ("Rock and Roll, Part II from 1973) appeared in court in Bristol, England to face charges for eight sexual offenses dating back to 1976 and 50 charges related to indecent photographs of minors.

1999:  Charles Brown ("Please Come Home For Christmas") died of congestive heart failure in Oakland, California at the age of 76.









2002:  Peggy Lee ("Fever" from 1958) died at age 81 from complications of diabetes and a heart attack in Bel Air, California.









2005:  Journey was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
2006:  The plane carrying Bon Jovi skidded off the runway at Hamilton International Airport in Canada.  Fortunately no one was hurt.
2007:  Omarion led the way on the Album chart with 21.







Born This Day:

1938:  Famous DJ Wolfman Jack (real name Bob Smith) was born in Brooklyn, New York; died of a heart attack on July 1, 1995 in Belvedere, South Carolina.









1941:  Placido Domingo ("Perhaps Love" with John Denver), one of the top opera stars the world has ever known, was born in Madrid, Spain.









1941:  Richie Havens, who famously kicked off Woodstock with a two-hour performance, was born in Brooklyn, New York; died April 22, 2013 of a heart attack in Jersey City, New Jersey.
1941:  Keith Barbour of the New Christy Minstrels ("Sleigh Ride")







1942:  Mac Davis ("Baby Don't Get Hooked On Me" from 1972), who also wrote "In the Ghetto" and "Don't Cry Daddy" for Elvis Presley, was born in Lubbock, Texas.









1942:  Edwin Starr ("War") was born in Nashville, Tennessee; died April 2, 2003 of a heart attack in Bramcote, Nottinghamshire, England.
1945:  Chris Britton, guitarist of the Troggs, was born in Watford, Hertfordshire, England.
1947:  Jim Ibbotson of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band ("Mr. Bojangles") was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.







1950:  Billy Ocean (real name Leslie Sebastian Charles) was born in Fyzabad, Trinidad and Tobago.
1950:  Richie Ranno, guitarist with the highly-underrated Starz ("Cherry Baby" and "Sing It, Shout It"), was born in the Bronx, New York.
1956:  Rob Brill, drummer of Berlin ("Take My Breath Away" from 1986), was born in New York City.
1965: Jam Master Jay (real name Jason Mizell) of Run-DMC was born in Brooklyn, New York; murdered on October 30, 2002 in Queens, New York.
1970:  Mark Trojanowski, drummer of Sister Hazel ("All For You")  (Note:  we can find no credible sources for his birthdate, with websites showing January 21, 26 and 27.  Our best research shows he was born on January 21.)
1973:  Chris Kilmore, keyboardist of Incubus, was born in Dillsburg, Pennsylvania.




1976:  Emma Bunton, Baby Spice of the Spice Girls, was born in Finchley, London.
1979:  Nokio of Dru Hill

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