January 28 – Today in Music History

1927 Ronnie Scott, jazz musician. Formed his own nine-piece group in 1953 and opened the first Ronnie Scott’s night club in London in 1959 where he presented the cream of the world’s jazz musicians at the club. He died on December 23rd 1996.
1929 “Acker Bilk (Bernard Bilk) born in Somerset, England. UK Musician/Clarinetist had a hit with Stranger On The shore in 1962. (1962 US No.1 & UK No.2 single ‘Stranger On The Shore’). He died 2 November 2014, (aged 85)
In Bath, Somerset, England.”
1941 King Tubby, reggae producer who has worked with Robbie Shakespeare, Sly Dunbar and Carlton Barrett. He was killed on 6th February 1989 after being shot in the street outside his home.
1943 Richard Taylor born in Dartford, Kent, England. English musician, best known as the guitarist and founding member of the Pretty Things, who had the 1964 UK No.10 single ‘Don’t Bring Me Down’.
1945 Robert Wyatt multi instrumentalist who was a member of Soft Machine. As a solo artist Wyatt scored the 1983 UK No.35 single ‘Shipbuilding’. During an alcohol-fuelled party in London in 1983, an inebriated Wyatt fell from a fourth floor window. He was paralysed from the waist down and consequently uses a wheelchair.
1946 Rick Allen born in Little Rock, Arkansas). US Keyboard Player with The Box Tops. He joined the group in January 1968.
1948 Martin Fried born in Wayside, New Jersey. US Drummer with Cyrkle
1948 Corky Laing born in Montreal, Canada. Drummer with ‘Mountain’, a group originally co-founded by Corky and Leslie West.
1951 William Nelson from Funkadelic who had the 1978 US No.16 album ‘One Nation Under A Groove’.
1956 Peter Schilling born in Stuttgart, Germany. In 1983, Schilling released “Major Tom (Coming Home),” a synth pop retelling of Bowie’s 1969 classic “Space Oddity.” It became Schilling’s first and only entry in the U.S. charts
1956 Elvis Presley (with Scotty Moore and Bill Black), made his first National Television appearance on the Dorsey brother’s “Stage Show”. Elvis sang “Blue Suede Shoes” and “Heartbreak Hotel” and caused a sensation while swinging his hips. It was the first of six appearances on the show and the first of eight performances recorded and broadcast from CBS TV in New York City. After the success of their first appearance they were signed to five more in early 1956.
1959 Dave Sharpe, guitarist and singer with The Alarm who had the 1983 UK No.17 single ’68 Guns’.
1963 Touring the UK The Beatles played at the Majestic Ballroom in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Northumberland.
1963 The Rolling Stones cut five songs in their first recording session at the IBC Studios in London, but still lack a contract with a record company to release them.
1965 The Moody Blues were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘Go Now!’ the group’s only UK No.1.
1965 The Who made their first appearance on UK TV show Ready Steady Go! To project the desired image, the hand-picked audience consisted only of teens dressed in the current Mod fashion.
1967 “Tell It Like It Is” by Aaron Neville peaked at #2 on the US singles chart.
1967 Appearing live at London’s Royal Albert Hall, The Four Tops, The Dakotas, Madeline Bell, The Remo Four and Johnny Watson.
1967 Brian Poole left the Tremeloes. The UK group continued and had even greater success without Poole as the lead singer.
1967 “Nashville Cats” by The Lovin’ Spoonful peaked at #8 on the US singles chart.
1967 The Four Tops appeared at The Royal Albert Hall, London. Also on the bill, The Dakotas, Madeline Bell, The Remo Four and Johnny Watson.
1968 Sarah McLachlan born in Nova Scotia, Canada. Singer/Songwriter. (1997 US No.2 album ‘Surfacing’). Best know for the songs ‘Angel’ (’99) from the movie City Of Angels and ‘I Will Be There For You’ (’99)
1968 Lawrence Muggerud, DJ Muggs with Cypress Hill who had the 1993 UK No.15 single ‘I Ain’t Goin’ Out Like That’, and the 1993 US No.1 album ‘Black Sunday’.
1968 Jim Morrison of The Doors was arrested and charged with public drunkenness after harassing a security guard at a Las Vegas adult movie theatre.
1970 “Venus” single by Shocking Blue was certified Gold by the RIAA
1971 “Plastic Ono Band” album by John Lennon was certified Gold by the RIAA
1972 “Killer” album by Alice Cooper was certified Gold by the RIAA
1974 “Johnny Winter Live” album by Johnny Winter was certified Gold by the RIAA
1975 Lee Latchford-Evans born in Chester, England. UK English singer-songwriter, dancer, stage actor, kickboxer and a celebrity personal trainer, most famous for being a member of the British pop group Steps.1998 UK No.1 single ‘Heartbeat / Tragedy’.
1975 No. 1 Billboard Pop Hit: “Laughter in the Rain,” Neil Sedaka.
1977 Joseph Fatone, singer with American boy band *NSYNC. Scored the 2000 US No.1 single ‘It’s Gonna Be Me’, and the 1999 UK No.5 single ‘I Want You Back’.
1977 Pink Floyd’s tenth studio album ‘Animals’ entered the UK charts at #2. The sleeve concept was that of Roger Waters, who lived at the time near Clapham Common, and regularly drove past Battersea Power Station. A view of the imposing but disused former power station building was chosen for the cover image, complete with massive inflatable pig suspended between two of the towers.
1978 The Fleetwood Mac album ‘Rumours’ went to No.1 on the UK album chart, also a No.1 in the US. The album went on to sell over 15 million copies world- wide and spent over 440 weeks on the UK chart.
1978 “Short People” by Randy Newman peaked at #2 on the US singles chart.
1978 “Slip Slidin’ Away” by Paul Simon peaked at #5 on the US singles chart.
1978 Ted Nugent (“Cat Scratch Fever”, also member of the Amboy Dukes) autographed a fan’s arm with his knife.
1978 “Come Sail Away” by Styx peaked at #8 on the pop singles chart.
1980 Nicolas Carter born in New York. Vocalist with The Backstreet Boys, (1997 US No.2 single ‘Quit Playing Games With My Heart’, 1999 UK No.1 single ‘I Want It That Way’).
1980 “Babe” single by Styx was certified Gold by the RIAA
1980 “One Voice” album by Barry Manilow was certified Gold and Platinum by the RIAA
1982 “Tonight I’m Yours” album by Rod Stewart was certified Platinum by the RIAA
1983 “Standing Hampton” album by Sammy Hagar was certified Gold by the RIAA
1983 British Rock & Roll singer Billy Fury died of heart failure. 1961 UK No.3 single ‘Halfway To Paradise’, plus 25 other Top 40 UK singles. His ‘We Want Billy’ (released 1963, with The Tornados) was one of the first live albums in British rock history. Played rock ‘n’ roller “Stormy Tempest” in the film That’ll Be The Day along side David Essex and Ringo Starr.
1983 Billy Fury Died. Je jad kist ;aimcjed a comeback when he suffered a heart attack. Born 17th April. 1941.
1983 The first Narara Music Festival was held near Somersby, NSW over the Australia Day weekend, the line-up included Men At Work, The Church, The Choirboys, Cold Chisel and INXS. The following year saw Simple Minds, Talking Heads, Def Leppard, Eurythmics and The Pretenders all appearing.
1984 Frankie Goes To Hollywood started a five-week run at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘Relax!’ BBC Radio 1 DJ Mike Read expressed on air his distaste for both the record’s suggestive sleeve and its lyrics, he announced his refusal to play the record, not knowing that the BBC had decided that the song was not to be played on the BBC anyway. Produced by Trevor Horn the song remained on the chart for 48 weeks.
1984 “I Guess That’s Why They Call It The Blues” by Elton John peaked at #4 on the US singles chart.
1984 “Talking In Your Sleep” by Romantics peaked at #3 on the US singles chart.
1984 Backstage after a Motley Crue show in Buffalo, New York, Tommy Lee found out that his girlfriend has posed for the current issue of Penthouse magazine without his knowledge, after a fan passed comment on the pictures. Tommy punched the fan unconscious with one hit, Motleys manager Doug Thaler later convinced the fan not to press any charges.
1984 “Holiday” by Madonna peaked at #16 on the US singles chart.
1985 The recording took place for ‘We Are The World’ the US equivalent of Band Aid. The recording began at 10pm and by 8am the next day the vocals were completed. Written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie the all star cast included Stevie Wonder, Tina Turner, Bruce Springsteen, Diana Ross, Bob Dylan, (who contributed four lines to the charity single), Ray Charles, Daryl Hall, John Oates, Cyndi Lauper, Steve Perry and Bob Geldof. The session was produced by Quincy Jones.
1985 The recording took place for We Are The World the US equivalent of Band Aid at A&M Studios in Hollywood, Los Angeles. Written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie the all star cast included Stevie Wonder, Tina Turner, Bruce Springsteen, Diana Ross, Bob Dylan, (who contributed four lines to the charity single), Ray Charles, Daryl Hall, John Oates, Cyndi Lauper, Steve Perry and Bob Geldof. The session was produced by Quincy Jones.
1987 Rowan Harrington better known by his stage name Secondcity, American-born British DJ and producer, best known for his 2014 song ‘I Wanna Feel’, which peaked at No.1 on the UK Singles Chart.
1988 Eleven years after it was released, The Sex Pistols album ‘Never Mind The Bollocks, Here’s The Sex Pistols’ went Gold in the US with sales over 500,000.
1989 “Something’s Gotten Hold Of My Heart” by Mark Almond and Gene Pitney peaked at #1 on the U.K. pop singles chart.
1989 “Holding On” by Steve Winwood peaked at #11 on the US singles chart.
1990 Paul Abdul started a 10-week run at No.1 on the US album chart with ‘Forever Your Girl’. Abdul spent sixty-four consecutive weeks on the Billboard 200 before hitting number one, making it the longest time for an album to reach the number one spot.
1991 Hammer won five American Music Awards…Janet Jackson took home three…and Aerosmith, Phil Collins, Reba McEntire, Bell Biv DeVoe and Vanilla Ice won two each. The awards ceremony featured the comeback performance by Gloria Estefan following her injuries in a traffic accident the previous March.
1991 “Crazy World” album by Scorpions was certified Gold by the RIAA
1991 “Heartbreak Station” album by Cinderella was certified Gold by the RIAA
1991 “Tripping The Live Fantastic – Highlights!” album by Paul McCartney was certified Gold by the RIAA
1991 Court papers obtained by Rolling Stone magazine revealed that the marriage of Guns N’ Roses lead singer Axl Rose and Erin Everly had been annulled.
1992 “Addams Groove” single by Hammer was certified Gold by the RIAA
1993 “Little Earthquakes” album by Tori Amos was certified Gold by the RIAA
1994 Paul and Linda McCartney attended the premiere of Wayne’s World II in London. The couple then went on to Hard Rock Cafe, where the film star Mike Myers presented them with a cheque for LIPA (the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts) for £25,000 ($42,500) from the sale of Linda’s vegetarian burgers.
1994 “August & Everything After” album by Counting Crows was certified Gold by the RIAA
1995 TLC started a four week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘Creep’ the group’s first US No.1, it made No.6 in the UK the following year.
1997 “Odelay” album by Beck was certified Platinum by the RIAA
1997 Pat Boone released an album of heavy metal tunes
1997 “I Believe I Can Fly” single by R. Kelly was certified Gold and Platinum by the RIAA
1998 Oasis guitarist Noel Gallagher played a 20-minute solo gig at the King Head, an English pub in Santa Monica in front of 250 fans.
1998 “Social Distortion” album by Social Distortion was certified Gold by the RIAA
1998 “Whatever And Ever Amen” album by Ben Folds Five was certified Gold by the RIAA
1998 Megadeth’s Dave Mustaine became a father for the second time when his wife, Pam, gave birth to a daughter in Phoenix. The couple also had a six-year-old son.
1999 The Beastie Boys and Rage Against The Machine headlined a benefit concert for convicted cop killer Mumia Abu-Jamal (moo-MEE’-ah AH’-boo jah-MAHL’). New Jersey police officers called for a boycott of both the concert and the bands.
2000 Saxophonist and bandleader Thomas ‘Beans’ Bowles died of prostate cancer aged 73. Played on many Motown sessions including Marvin Gaye’s, ‘What’s Going On’, Martha and the Vandellas’ ‘Heat Wave’ and The Supremes ‘Baby Love’ and wrote the melody on Stevie Wonder’s ‘Fingertips Pt. 2.’
2001 Jennifer Lopez started a two-week run at No.1 on the US album chart with ‘J.Lo.’
2001 Shaggy feat Ricardo Rikrot started a two week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘It Wasn’t Me’. Also a No.1 in the UK.
2001 Limp Bizkit started a two-week run at No.1 on the UK album chart with ‘Chocolate Starfish’.
2002 Kylie Minogue went to No.1 in the Australian Singles Chart with ‘In Your Eyes’. Staying at the top spot for 1wk.
2003 H-Town singer Keven Conner was killed in a car crash in Houston aged 28. Conner died when an SUV ran a red light and crashed into the car he was a passenger in, which had just picked him up from the recording studio.
2004 Elvis Presley fans expressed their anger at plans to cut up a rare tape of the singer’s early songs and sell the snippets at auction. The tape, which featured a recording made by Presley during the early 1950s, was now too fragile to play. US firm Master Tape Collection said the tape would be cut into two-inch snippets and sold for £270 ($460) each.
2004 R&B singer Faith Evans appeared before an Atlanta judge after being arrested on drug possession charges. Evans and her husband-manager, Todd Russaw, were charged with possession of marijuana and cocaine.
2005 English drummer and singer songwriter Jim Capaldi died of stomach cancer aged 60. He was a member of Traffic, (1967 UK No.2 single ‘Hole In My Shoe’) and had the solo 1975 UK No.4 single ‘Love Hurts’. Capaldi also worked with Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton and George Harrison.
2007 Dreamgirls: Music from the Motion Picture was at No.1 on the US album chart. The musical based on the history of Diana Ross and the Supremes featured Jamie Foxx, Beyonce Knowles, Eddie Murphy, Jennifer Hudson, Anika Noni Rose and Keith Robinson.
2008 Madonna topped the list for the richest female musician, according to Forbes.com. Its first-ever list focusing on women in the music industry estimated the 49-year-old banked $72m (£36m) between June 2006 and June 2007. Madonna earned much of that from her Confessions tour – the highest-grossing tour for a female artist – earning $260m (£130m) worldwide. Barbra Streisand came second, with $60 million (£30 million) followed by Celine Dion with $45 million (£23.6), mainly from her recent concerts at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas
2009 Lynyrd Skynyrd keyboard player Billy Powell died at the age of 56 of a suspected heart attack in Florida. Powell called police saying he was having trouble breathing and emergency services tried to resuscitate him, but he was pronounced dead an hour later. Powell had missed a doctor’s appointment on the day before his death; the appointment was for a checkup on his heart. He played piano on Kid Rock’s ‘All Summer Long’ (which sampled the Lynyrd Skynyrd song ‘Sweet Home Alabama’).
2015 Funk legend Sly Stone was awarded $5m (£3.3m) in missed royalties by a Los Angeles court. The singer claimed his former manager, Gerald Goldstein, and lawyer, Glenn Stone, had cheated him out of earnings dating back more than 20 years. In 2011, it was reported he was homeless and living in a camper van after falling on hard times and fighting drug addiction problems.
2015 Black Sabbath bassist Geezer Butler was arrested after officers were called to the Corkscrew Saloon on the Furnace Creek Ranch in Death Valley National Park, California. The 65 year-old bassist was arrested for misdemeanour assault, public intoxication and vandalism after a fight broke out in the bar.
2016 American guitarist, singer and songwriter, Paul Kantner died in San Francisco at the age of 74 due to multiple organ failure and septic shock after he suffered a heart attack days earlier. He was known for co-founding Jefferson Airplane, the leading psychedelic rock band of the counterculture era, and its more commercial spin-off band Jefferson Starship. With Jefferson Airplane, Kantner was among the performers at the Monterey Jazz Festival in 1966 and the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967 and the Woodstock Festival in 1969.
2016 American singer Signe Toly Anderson died aged 74. She was one of the founding members of the American rock band Jefferson Airplane. She sang on the first Jefferson Airplane album, Jefferson Airplane Takes Off, most notably on the song ‘Chauffeur Blues’.
2017 British musician and keyboardist, and longtime member of the heavy metal band Black Sabbath, Geoff Nicholls died aged 68. Until his death, Nicholls played keyboards with former Black Sabbath singer Tony Martin, in his band Tony Martin’s Headless Cross.
2018 American Keyboardist Bob Nave died age 75. He was a member of psychedelic rock band The Lemon Pipers who scored the 1968 US number one hit ‘Green Tambourine’. The song has been credited as being the first bubblegum pop chart-topper.