This Date in Rock Music History: January 28

1956:  Elvis Presley appeared on national television for the first time on The Dorsey Brothers Stage Show on CBS, performing "Shake, Rattle And Roll," "Flip, Flop And Fly" and "I Got A Woman".  Comedian and Stage Show producer Jackie Gleason said afterward, "He can't last. I tell you flatly, he can't last."

1956:  The Platters controlled the R&B chart with the classic song "The Great Pretender", #1 for a fourth week.
1963:  Elvis Presley began working on the movie Fun In Acapulco at Paramount Studios in Hollywood, California.
1963:  The Beatles performed at the Majestic Ballroom in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Northumberland, England.

1965:  The Moody Blues reached #1 in the U.K. with "Go Now!".
1966:  Brian Poole and the Tremeloes broke up.

1966:  The Cavern Club in Liverpool, England, famous for hosting the Beatles in numerous appearances, closed its doors after running up huge debt.  Fortunately for history, it would reopen later.








1967:  Fans in London caught the Four Tops at the Royal Albert Hall.
1967:  Aaron Neville had what it took on the R&B chart, presiding over the rest for a fourth week with "Tell It Like It Is".
1967:  The Rolling Stones found a song that was popular as "Ruby Tuesday" moved from 78 to 43.  








      
                                                   The Blues Magoos caught the train to the Top 10...

1967:  The Monkees held on to the top spot for a fifth week with "I'm A Believer".  Aaron Neville edged one step closer but he would peak at #2 with "Tell It Like It Is".  The Royal Guardsmen provided comic relief with "Snoopy Vs. The Red Baron" while the Seekers were up strong (7-4) with "Georgy Girl".  The rest of the Top 10:  "Words Of Love" from the Mamas and the Papas, the Four Tops remained at #6 with "Standing In The Shadows of Love", Boise, Idaho's Paul Revere  the Raiders were on their way down with "Good Thing", "Nashville Cats" from the Lovin' Spoonful, the Buckinghams moved from 15 to 9 with "Kind Of A Drag" and Blues Magoos reached the Top 10 with "(We Ain't Got) Nothin' Yet".
1968:  The Supremes and Tom Jones were on Sunday Night at the London Palladium on BBC-TV.
1968:  The troubles were just beginning for Jim Morrison, who was beginning to think he was more important than everyone else.  Morrison was arrested and charged with public drunkenness after harassing a security guard at an adult movie theater in Las Vegas, Nevada.

1969:  The Beatles continued working on "Get Back" and "Don't Let Me Down" for their next single release.
1971:  The Bee Gees recorded "How Can You Mend A Broken Heart" at International Broadcasting Company Studios in London.



1974:  Paul McCartney & Wings released the single "Jet".
1976:  Chris Kenner ("Land Of 1,000 Dances") died at the age of 46 of a heart attack in New Orleans, Louisiana.










1978:  A new heavy metal band with an amazing lead guitar player first caught our ears on this date.  It was a remake of the Kinks' biggest hit "You Really Got Me" but what was really impressive was the guitar solo that preceded the song called "Eruption" that clued us in that this was one of the best ever.  Van Halen debuted on the chart with their first single "You Really Got Me".

1978:  The Doobie Brothers were on the ABC-TV show What's Happening.
1978:  After a concert, a fan asks Ted Nugent to sign his arm.  With a bowie knife.  The weird Nugent does.  When you're a star, you're not supposed to be as big a nut as the fruitcakes out there.
1978:  Rumours by Fleetwood Mac finally hit #1 on the U.K. aAbum chart.
1978:  Billy Joel remained on top of the Adult chart with "Just the Way You Are".






                                   The incredible family talent included younger brother Andy...

1978:  Player snuck in amongst the giants and held on to #1 for a third week with "Baby Come Back".  People "got it" about Randy Newman's spoof "Short People" and it climbed to #2.  On Randy's heels, though, was the trio that was beginning to take the world by storm and for good reason.  The Bee Gees were producing outstanding, infectious music and "Stayin' Alive" rose from 10 to 3.  Rod Stewart was in the #4 position with "You're In My Heart" while "Slip Slidin' Away" by Paul Simon edged up.  The rest of the Top 10:  Queen with one of their biggest career hits--"We Will Rock You/We Are The Champions", the Bee Gees' previous #1 "How Deep Is Your Love", Styx's great song "Come Sail Away", Billy Joel reached the Top 10 for the first time in his career with "Just the Way You Are" and Andy Gibb moved up with "(Love Is) Thicker Than Water", giving the Gibb family three of the week's Top 10 songs.  
1980:  Adam and the Ants marched their separate ways.
1982:  Jackson Browne and wife Lynne became the parents of son Ryan Daniel Browne.






1983:  Billy Fury died at the age of 42 in a hospital in London after collapsing at his home from heart trouble.
1984:  Barry Manilow controlled the Adult Contemporary chart for a sixth week with "Read 'Em And Weep".
1984:  Genesis reached the Top 10 with "That's All!"
1984:  John Cougar Mellencamp hoisted another album into the Top 10 as Uh-Huh reached #9.







1985:  More than 40 artists got together, put egos aside, and recorded "We Are The World" at A&M Recording Studios in Los Angeles for the greater good of the world.  The song was co-written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie.  Proceeds went towards worldwide hunger prevention and were focused on Africa.  
1988:  To promote their new album A Momentary Lapse of Reason, Pink Floyd floated a giant inflatable bed down the Thames River in London.  Yep, that qualifies.
1989:  Karyn White celebrated a third straight week at #1 on the R&B chart with "Superwoman".







                                    "Armageddon It" was helping Def Leppard make Rock Era history...

1989:  Phil Collins remained at #1 with "Two Hearts" but Sheriff challenged with "When I'm With You".  Def Leppard was enjoying historic success for a heavy metal act with "Armageddon It", Taylor Dayne took a dive with "Don't Rush Me" and White Lion was up to #5 with "When The Children Cry".  The big story, however, was former Los Angeles Lakers cheerleader Paula Abdul, who went "Straight Up" from 13-6.  The rest of the Top 10:  Bon Jovi with their big hit "Born To Be My Baby", Tone Loc and his "Wild Thing" while Tiffany moved "All This Time" to #10.
1989:  Fleetwood Mac had another #1 in them, as they placed "As Long As You Follow" at the top of the AC chart.





1990:  Aaron Neville had the honor of singing the U.S. national anthem at Super Bowl XXIV at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans.
1991:  Gloria Estefan performed at the American Music Awards in Los Angeles, her first public appearance since a serious bus accident.












1992:  Richard Marx released one of the best songs of his career--"Hazard".
1992:  This was a treat for fans in Zurich, Switzerland.  Roxette was joined onstage by Frida Lyngstad for a performance of ABBA's "Money Money Money".
1995:  TLC was relentless in keeping the #1 spot on the R&B chart as "Creep" remained there for an eighth week.







1995:  People everywhere were beginning to realize what R&B fans already knew--"Creep" by TLC was a great song and finally it reached #1 overall.  This meant that for only the third week in the last 23, Boyz II Men didn't have the #1 song as "On Bended Knee" finally buckled.  Real McCoy remained in contention with "Another Night" while Bon Jovi had their 22nd hit and 11th Top 10 with "Always".  The rest of the Top 10:  "Take A Bow" from Madonna, Ini Kamoze was still at 6 with "Here Comes The Hotstepper", Des'ree moved from 12 to 7 with "You Gotta' Be", Blackstreet and "Before I Let You Go", yet another remake of "Sukiyaki", this time by 4 P.M. (For Positive Music) and "I'm the Only One" by Melissa Etheridge.
1996:  Cris Isaak appeared on Friends on NBC-TV.

1996:  Diana Ross was the featured halftime performer at Super Bowl XXX at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Arizona.
1997:  Pat Boone released an album of heavy metal songs which lost him his Christian television program.
1999:  Pat Boone started the Gold Records label, which would only sign artists 45 years of age and older.
2000:  Thomas "Beans" Bowles, saxophonist and bandleader, who played on Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On", "Heat Wave" by Martha & the Vandellas and "Baby Love" by the Supremes, died of prostate cancer at age 73.
2001:  The Backsteet Boys sang the national anthem at Super Bowl XXXV at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa bay, Florida.  Ray Charles sang "America The Beautiful".
2001:  Shaggy prevailed at #1 with "It Wasn't Me".





     
          
                                                                     "Love Don't Cost a Thing"...

2001:  Jennifer Lopez was just beginning to become a superstar as J. Lo was #1 on the Album chart.
2003:  Kevin Conner, co-founder and vocalist of H-Town ("Knockin' Da' Boots" from 1993) was killed in a car crash in Houston, Texas at age 28.

2004:  The problems of James Brown were just beginning.  He was arrested and charged with domestic violence after pushing his wife to the floor during an argument at their home in South Carolina.

2004:  In today's Dangerous Inmates Run Rap Music episode, Turk of Cash Money was arrested in Memphis, Tennessee for attempted murder related to an incident in which two policemen were injured.
2005:  Ryan Vikedal, drummer with Nickelback for ten years, was fired, according to an interview Vikedal gave to the newspaper The Edmonton Sun.






2005:  Jim Capaldi, drummer with Traffic, who also worked with George Harrison, Jimi Hendrix and Eric Clapton, died of stomach cancer in London at the age of 60.
2009:  Billy Powell, keyboardist of Lynyrd Skynyrd, died of a heart attack in Orange Park, Florida at age 56.  He had missed a doctor's appointment the previous day for which he was supposed to have his heart checked.
2014:  On the heels of the announcements that guitarists Derek Trucks and Warren Haynes were leaving the group, Duane Allman announced that the Allman Brothers would stop touring at the end of the year.
2014:  The members of Motley Crue signed a "Cessation of Tour" agreement which set a retirement for them after a final world tour ending in 2015.

Born This Day:

1929:  Mr. Acker Bilk (Bernard Bilk), who had the huge hit "Stranger on the Shore" in 1962, was born in Pensford, Somerset, England; died November 2, 2014 in Bath, Somerset, England.
1932:  Neil Levang, who played guitar, mandolin, violin and banjo for artists such as Elvis Presley, Neil Diamond, Bobby Darin, Dean Martin, Bobbi Gentry, and Frank Zappa, was born in Adams, North Dakota; died January 26, 2015 in Canyon Country, California.  (Note:  some websites report that Levang was born on January 3, but according to his mortuary, Eternal Valley Memorial Park in Newhall, California, he was born on January 28.)

1943:  Dick Taylor, guitarist for the Rolling Stones in their early years as well as for the Pretty Things, was born in Dartford, Kent, England.

1943:  Brian Keenan, drummer of the Chambers Brothers and Manfred Mann, was born in New York City; died October 5, 1985.

1944:  Marty Fried, drummer for the Cyrkle ("Red Rubber Ball"), was born in Neptune, New Jersey.  (Note:  some websites show his birthplace as Wayside, New Jersey.  Fried is now a bankruptcy lawyer and his law firm lists his birthplace as Neptune.)

1946:  Rick Allen, bassist for the Box Tops, was born in Little Rock, Arkansas.

1949:  Eddie Bayers, drummer for Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band, was born in Patuxent, Maryland.
1951:  William Nelson, the original bassist of Funkadelic ("One Nation Under A Groove", was born in Plainfield, New Jersey.

1956:  Peter Schilling ("Major Tom (Coming Home)") was born in Stuttgart, Germany.
1959:  Dave Sharp, guitarist of the Alarm ("Strength" from 1988), was born in Salford, England. 
1963:  Dave Spitz, former lead guitarist of Anthrax and brother of Black Sabbath's Dan Spitz, was born in Rockland County, New York.





1968:  Sarah McLachlan was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.

1968:  DJ Muggs (real name Lawrence Muggerud) was born in Queens, New York.

1968:  Rakim was born in Wyandanch, New York.

1977:  Joey Fatone, baritone of N' Sync, was born in Brooklyn, New York.

1976:  Raphael "Tweety" Brown of Next ("Too Close" from 1998) was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

1980:  Nick Carter of the Backstreet Boys was born in Jamestown, New York.