This Date in Rock Music History: January 3

1955:  Elvis Presley performed in Booneville,Virginia.

1957:  Fats Domino recorded "I'm Walkin'".
1960:  Bobby Darin and Connie Francis performed together on The Ed Sullivan Show.










1963:  The Beatles began a four-date tour in Scotland at the Two Red Shoes Ballroom in Elgin to promote their debut single "Love Me Do".  The tour was to have begun the previous night, but the date was canceled due to a snowstorm.  (Note:  many websites incorrectly state that the tour began on January 1.  The first scheduled date was January 2, and it was canceled, so the tour actually began on January 3.)









1964:  The Beatles re-released the single "Please Please Me" in the United States on Vee Jay Records, a little over a week after Capitol finally released their first Beatles song, "I Want To Hold Your Hand".
1964:  The Beatles appeared on television in the United States for the first time as a performance of "She Loves You" in Bournemouth, England was shown on The Jack Paar Show. 









1966:  The Beatles appeared on Hullabaloo, performing "Day Tripper" and "We Can Work It Out".  
1967:  Carl Wilson of the Beach Boys refused to be sworn in after receiving a draft notice from the United States Army, saying he was a conscientious objector.
1968:  For the fourth consecutive week, Marvin Gaye held on to #1 on the R&B chart with "I Heard It Through The Grapevine".
1970:  The Beatles recorded the song "I Me Mine", the final song they recorded together.
1970:  Davy Jones, lead singer of the Monkees, announced he was leaving the group, a year after Peter Tork quit.
1969:  B.J. Thomas owned the #1 Adult song for a fourth week with "Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head".

1970:  Thomas moved to #1 overall with "Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head" as "Someday We'll Be Together" by Diana Ross & the Supremes slipped to third.  Peter, Paul & Mary remained in between those two while CCR's double-sided smash--"Down On The Corner"/'Fortunate Son" was fourth again.  Steam's former #1 was still at 5--"(Na Na Hey Hey) Kiss Him Goodbye" while Led Zeppelin reached #6 with "Whole Lotta' Love".  The rest of the Top 10:  "I Want You Back" from the Jackson 5, the Shocking Blue moved from 19 to 8 in their fourth week of release with "Venus", Neil Diamond was at #9 with "Holly Holy" and Bobby Sherman hopped in with "La La La (If I Had You)".
1974:  Bob Dylan and the Band began a tour at Chicago Stadium in Illinois, Dylan's first American tour in eight years.  Don't worry--he more than made up for it by doing a tour every year for the next 50.  Just funnin', Bob.
1976:  Paul Anka continued his comeback by landing the #1 song on the Adult chart with "Times Of Your Life".

1976:  Former Temptation David Ruffin scored a #1 R&B solo hit with "Walk Away From Love".










1976:  The Bay City Rollers hit #1 with their first single release--"Saturday Night".  

 

 

 

 

 

    "Questions 67 & 68" from Chicago's compilation album...

1976:  Chicago IX, the group's greatest hits package, was #1 for a fourth week on the Album chart.  The great live album Gratitude from Earth, Wind & Fire remained #2 while History, America's Greatest Hits was #3.  Joni Mitchell was a strong #4 with The Hissing of Summer Lawns and Paul Simon was Still Crazy After All These Years.  








1979:  Although the song didn't appear on the chart until six weeks later, a new wave group released their first single on this date.  Blondie released "Heart Of Glass".
1979:  The Hype appeared at McGonagils in Dublin, Ireland.  We know them better by the name they took on later--U2.







1981:  Kool & the Gang were flying high as "Celebration" remained #1 on the R&B chart for the third straight week.
1981:  John Lennon remained at #1 with the song released just weeks before his death--"(Just Like) Starting Over".
















1983:  The Greg Kihn Band released the single "Jeopardy".













1983:  The group After the Fire released the single "Der Kommissar".









1984:  Huey Lewis & the News released the single "I Want A New Drug".







 


1987:  Aretha Franklin was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the first woman to be so honored.  Then when you have the induction of acts like the Beastie Boys and others, it really cheapens Aretha's selection.
1987:  Billy Ocean continued to have the #1 Adult Contemporary song with "Love Is Forever".







1987:  The Bangles were at their peak with "Walk Like An Egyptian", holding on to #1 for the third week.
1992:  Jim Kerr, lead singer of Simple Minds, married Patsy Kensit at the Kensington & Chelsea Registry Office in London.
1992:  Whitney Houston was at #1 for the fifth week with "I Will Always Love You".
1995:  Byron MacGregor ("The Americans") died from pneumonia in Detroit, Michigan at age 46.
2001:  In today's edition of Dangerous Inmates Run Rap Music, Vanilla Ice was arrested and thrown in jail in Broward County, Florida after a fight with his wife.  Better just to not be with him in the first place, sweetheart.

2003:  Joe Strummer, co-founder, lyricist, rhythm guitarist and lead vocalist of the Clash, was cremated.  The funeral procession took his remains by the Elgin pub in West London where the group played some of their early shows.
2012:  Bob Weston, guitarist for Fleetwood Mac, Graham Bond and Long John Baldry, died of a gastrointestinal hemorrhage in Barnet, London at the age of 64.



2013:  Phil Everly, half of one of the greatest duos in music history as the Everly Brothers, died of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (a combination of emphysema and bronchitis) in Burbank, California at age 74 after a lifetime of smoking.  Phil and brother Don churned out 38 hits, more than any other duo ever, and enjoyed 15 Top 10 hits and four #1 songs.


Born This Day:

1926:  George Martin (second from left, above), producer of the Beatles, was born in Holloway, London.  (Note:  some websites claim Martin was born in Highbury, but according to the newspaper 'The Guardian', the book 'Tune In:  The Beatles:  All These Years' by Mark Lewisohn, 'MTV', and the magazine 'Salon', George was born in Holloway, London.)
1941:  Van Dyke Parks, lyricist on the Beach Boys album Smile, who also wrote, arranged and produced with the Byrds, Ringo Starr, Harry Nilsson, Ry Cooder and Keith Moon, was born in Hattiesburg, Mississippi.

1945:  Stephen Stills, vocalist and elite guitarist of Buffalo Springfield and Crosby, Stills & Nash and a solo artist, was born in Dallas, Texas.








1946:  John Paul Jones, bassist of Led Zeppelin, who also played on and arranged songs for the Rolling Stones, the Yardbirds and Jeff Beck, was born in Sidcup, Kent, England.
1955:  Helen O'Hara of Dexy's Midnight Runners ("Come On Eileen" from 1983) was born in Bristol, England.  (Note:  websites claim she was born on either November 5 or 8 of 1956, but the 'BBC' states she was born on January 3.)

A "Late Bloomer" Is Next in The Top 100 Female Artists*

A woman who has put out a lifetime of great music, but wasn't really recognized and fully appreciated until the 1990's.  We'll hear her story tomorrow--she is The #57 Female Artist of the Rock Era*.

Brandy, The #58 Female Artist of the Rock Era

Brandy Norwood was born in McComb, Mississippi, where she started singing for her father as part of the church choir.  She is the first cousin of rapper Snoop Dogg.  Brandy sang her first solo at church at age two.   In 1983, the family moved to Carson, California and Brandy enrolled in the Hollywood High Performing Arts Center.   Brandy entered talent shows at age 11 and joined a local singing group.

In 1990, Brandy became a backing vocalist for the group Immature and recorded a demo tape.  Three years later, she auditioned for Darryl Williams, the A&R man for Atlantic Records, and subsequently signed a recording contract with Atlantic.  

In 1993, Brandy acted in the ABC sitcom Thea for one year and then worked on her debut album.  Producer Keith Crouch helped her complete the self-titled release, which produced three Top 10 songs and sold over six million copies worldwide.  Her debut single, "I Wanna' Be Down", was a #1 R&B smash and #6 overall and sold over one million copies. 

"I Wanna' Be Down" won Billboard Music Awards for Best New Clip, Rap and Best New Clip, R&B/Urban, and it was nominated for Best Rap Video at the MTV Video Music Awards.  Brandy also won Billboard Awards for Best R&B Female and Best New R&B Artist.  The next single, "Baby", went Platinum in the U.S., was her second #1 on the R&B chart and #4 overall, and reached #4 in New Zealand.

"Brokenhearted" was a #2 R&B hit and #9 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Brandy was nominated for Best New Artist and Best Female R&B Vocal Performance at the Grammy Awards, and she won the Favorite New Artist Soul/R&B at the American Music Awards (also nominated for Favorite Soul/R&B Female Artist.

 In 1995, she opened for Boyz II Men on their tour of the United States.  She contributed songs to the "Batman Forever" Soundtrack and the "Waiting To Exhale" Soundtrack.  "Sittin' Up In My Room" from the latter gave Brandy a #2 smash on both the R&B and overall charts, helping the "Waiting To Exhale" Soundtrack get a Grammy nomination for Album of the Year.  "Sittin' Up In My Room" also earned Brandy a Grammy nomination for Best R&B Female Vocal Performance.  The video was also nominated for Best Video from a Film at the MTV Video Music Awards.

In 1996, Monica enrolled at Pepperdine University, and shared a short relationship with Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers, accompanying him to his prom at Lower Merion High School in Ardmore, Pennsylvania.  Between 1997 and 1998, Brandy dated Wanya Morris of Boyz II Men.

Brandy recorded "Missing You" with Gladys Knight, Chaka Khan and Tamia, which earned a Grammy nomination for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals.

In 1997, producer Whitney Houston hand-picked Brandy to play the title character in the television version of Cinderella in a cast that also included Houston, Jason Alexander and Whoopi Goldberg.  The two-hour Wonderful World of Disney special was seen by 60 million viewers, giving the network its highest ratings in the time period in 16 years.

Next, she hooked up with another new artist, Monica, whom we've already saluted in The Top 100 Female Artists of the Rock Era*, for the smash "The Boy Is Mine".  The single hit #1 in the U.S., New Zealand, the Netherlands, #2 in the U.K. and France, #3 in Sweden and Switzerland and #5 in Germany.  It topped the American chart for a record-breaking 13 weeks.

The song won a host of awards:  the Grammy for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal (it also earned Grammy nominations for Record of the Year and Best R&B Song), Hot 100 Sales Single of the Year, R&B Sales Single of the Year and Dance Maxi Sales Single of the Year at the Billboard Music Awards.  It was nominated for Video of the Year and Best R&B Video at the MTV Video Music Awards.

"The Boy Is Mine" was the lead single from Brandy's second album, Never Say Never, released in 1998.  The album sold over five million units in the U.S. and 16 million worldwide, and was nominated for Best R&B Album at the Grammys.  "Top of the World" was not released in North America, but it was a European hit, reaching #2 in the U.K.

"Have You Ever" gave Brandy her second U.S. #1, also reaching #1 in New Zealand and #8 in Australia.  It earned Brandy another nomination at the MTV Video Music Awards for Best R&B Video.  

"Almost Doesn't Count" also earned Brandy a Grammy nomination for Best R&B Female Vocal Performance.

Brandy was nominated for two World Music Awards on the strength of the Never Say Never album:  World's Best Selling Female Artist and World's Best Selling R&B and Hip Hop Artist.

Brandy starred in the movie remake I Still Know What You Did Last Summer, and won a Blockbuster Entertainment Award and an MTV Movie Award nomination for Best Breakthrough Female Performance.  In 1999, Brandy co-starred with Diana Ross in the television drama Double Platinum.

After a lengthy break, Brandy returned in 2001 with the album Full Moon.  "Another Day In Paradise", which also appears on the Phil Collins tribute album, hit #2 in Germany, #3 in Switzerland and #5 in the U.K.

The next single was "What About Us", which was a #3 R&B hit and #7 overall in the United States, reached #4 in the U.K. and was a Top 10 in three other countries.  It earned an MTV Video Music Award nomination for Viewers Choice.

But Brandy has not returned to the Top 10 since, despite the release of three albums:  Afrodisiac (2004), Human (2008) and Two Eleven (2011).

 Brandy has sold over eight million albums in the U.S. and over 30 million worldwide.  She has won a Grammy Award, three American Music Awards and seven Billboard Music Awards.  Brandy has 17 career hits to her credit, with five Top 10 songs and two #1's.