January 14th: On this day

1961,  Elvis Presley's  'GI Blues' started a seven-week run at No.1 on the UK chart. Also on this day Elvis was promoted to Acting-Sergeant in the US Army, receiving a pay increase of $22.94 per month.

1963, Charlie Watts made his live debut with  The Rolling Stones  at The Flamingo Jazz Club, Soho, London. Before joining the Stones, Watts played regularly with Blues Incorporated. 

1964,  The Beatles (minus  Ringo Starr who was fog-bound in Liverpool) departed from Liverpool for Paris, France for an 18-day run at the Olympia Theatre. Arriving in Paris, John, Paul, and George were met by 60 fans. Ringo, accompanied by roadie Neil Aspinall, arrived the next day.

1966, David Jones changed his name to  David Bowie to avoid confusion with Davy Jones from  The Monkees, just in time for the release of his single, 'Can't Help Thinking About Me'. He would later say that he chose "Bowie" because he liked that "big American bear-killin' knife."

1967, Over 25,000 people attend The Human Be-In-A Gathering Of The Tribes at San Francisco's Golden Gate Park. The event was a forerunner of major, outdoor rock concerts and featured The Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, Quicksilver Messenger Service and  Big Brother And The Holding Company.

1970, Diana Ross made her last appearance with  The Supremes at The Frontier Hotel, Las Vegas. During the show, Diana introduced her replacement, Jean Terrell, who would lead the group to seven more Top 40 hits, including the Top 10 entries 'Up The Ladder To The Roof' and 'Stoned Love' later in the year.

1977,  David Bowie released his eleventh studio album Low, the first of three collaborations with Brian Eno termed the "Berlin Trilogy". The track 'Sound and Vision' was released as a single and used by the BBC in the UK on trailers at the time, providing much needed exposure, as Bowie opted to do nothing to promote the single himself, and helped the song reach No.3 on the UK charts.

1978,  The Sex Pistols played their last show at the Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco where Johnny Rotten yelled to the crowd at the outset, “Ever get the feeling you’ve been cheated.” It was the last time the band played with bassist Sid Vicious.

1984,  Paul McCartney was at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Pipes Of Peace.' With this release McCartney made chart history by becoming the first artist to have a No.1 in a group,  (The Beatles),  in a duo, (with Stevie Wonder) in a trio, (with Wings) and as a solo artist.

1992, American rock drummer, Jerry Nolan from The New York Dolls died from a fatal stroke aged 45. The influential American band formed in 1972 and made just two albums, the 1973 New York Dolls and 1974 Too Much Too Soon. Nolan joined the New York Dolls in the autumn of 1972 to replace Billy Murcia, who had died of asphyxiation as a result of a failed attempt to revive him from a drug overdose while on tour in England, early in the band's career. Nolan left the Dolls together with Johnny Thunders in the spring of 1975. The two then placed a call to bassist Richard Hell, formerly of the Neon Boys and Television, to form The Heartbreakers.

1996,  Oasis went to No.1 on the UK album chart with '(What's The Story) Morning Glory', the group's second UK No.1 spent a total of 145 week's on the chart.

2001, Jennifer Lopez scored her first UK No.1 single with 'Love Don't Cost A Thing.' The track was taken from her album J.Lo.

2003, Linda Gail Lewis the sister of Jerry Lee Lewis, dropped a claim of sex discrimination against Van Morrison. Lewis had claimed that Morrison had 'publicly humiliated' her on stage and had tried to ruin her life by asking her for sex. She withdrew her claim after discussions with her lawyer. Morrison denied all the allegations.

2005, A $100,000 (£58,823) statue honouring the late punk guitarist  Johnny Ramone was unveiled by his widow Linda at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery. Johnny died from prostate cancer in September 2004 at the age of 55. Hundreds turned out for the ceremony, including Tommy Ramone the only surviving band member.  Dee Dee Ramone  died of a drugs overdose in 2002 and Joey died in 2001 of lymphatic cancer.

2007,  Amy Winehouse  started a two week run at No.1 on the UK album chart with 'Back To Black'. The album has sold over 3.58 million copies in the UK alone, becoming the UK's second best-selling album of the 21st century. Worldwide, the album has sold over 20 million copies.

2010, The BBC admitted coverage of the launch of  U2's album No Line On The Horizon in 2009 went too far - giving "undue prominence" to the band. RadioCentre, the trade body for commercial radio companies, had made a formal complaint over the coverage saying the BBC had given U2 "the sort of publicity money can't buy".

2010, Guitarist  Jimmy Page was honored with the United Nations' first ever Pathways To Peace Award. Pathways To Peace is an international peace building, educational and consulting organization which has consultative status with the United Nations.

2012, English drummer, producer, journalist, music educator, and broadcaster Robbie France died aged 52. Born in Sheffield, England, France moved to Australia where he formed the jazz-fusion group, Carnival. He also worked with Stevie Wright of the Easybeats, Marty Rhone, Tim Gaze, and other major Australian artists as well as Skunk Anansie and Diamond Head in the UK. He amassed over 1,000 television, radio, and advertising credits, including eight documentaries and four film scores, including Band on the Run, one of the most successful surfing films ever made.

2014, Justin Bieber was questioned by police over the egging of his neighbour's house in Calabasas, California. Bieber spoke to police in relation to the incident, which saw him accused of throwing eggs at his neighbour's house while his neighbour and neighbour's daughter were on the balcony filming him. Billboard reports that a dozen vehicles arrived on Bieber's property with a search warrant, looking for evidence that Bieber was involved in the incident. Det. Dave Thompson commented: "We collected evidence related to that crime. Mr. Bieber was present and cooperative. He was not arrested."

2014, Police in Los Angeles were investigating an alleged battery incident involving rapper Kanye West after West punched a man who had targeted racist comments at his partner Kim Kardashian.

January 13th: On this Day
 
1962, Chubby Checker went back to No.1 on the US singles chart with 'The Twist'. The song first went to No.1 in Sept 1960 and became the only record in American chart history to top the charts on two separate occasions. 
 
1963,  The Beatles recorded a TV appearance on the ABC Television program "Thank Your Lucky Stars" in Birmingham playing their new single, 'Please Please Me' The show was broadcast on January 19. 

1965, The first day of recording sessions for  Bob Dylan's Bringing It All Back Home album were held at Studio A, Columbia Recording Studios in New York City. Dylan recorded  Subterranean Homesick Blues and 'It's All Over Now, Baby Blue'. 
 
1967,  Paul McCartney and  Ringo Starr both went to the Bag O'Nails Club, London, England to see the  Jimi Hendrix Experience.  
 
1968,  Johnny Cash  played a show, which was recorded, for his forthcoming live album at Folsom Prison, near Sacramento, California in front of 2,000 inmates. When released, the lead single, 'Folsom Prison Blues' (an update of his 1956 hit) became one of the most famous recordings of his career. 
 
1969,  Elvis Presley  began a ten day recording session that would produce his final US number one record, 'Suspicious Minds'. The tracks were laid down at American Sound Studios in Memphis and marked the first time Presley had recorded in his hometown since his Sun Records days in 1956. 
 
1970, Steel Mill, (featuring  Bruce Springsteen)  played at The Matrix in San Francisco, California. Boz Scaggs was the scheduled headliner but he cancelled at that last minute due to illness. Rock critic Philip Elwood, who turned up intending to review Scaggs ended up writing a highly favorable review of Steel Mill for The San Francisco Examiner. 
 
1973,  Eric Clapton made his stage comeback at the Rainbow Theatre, London, with Pete Townsend,  Ronnie Wood, Stevie Winwood, Rebop, Jim Capaldi and support from The Average White Band. The night's two shows were recorded for the 'Rainbow Concert' album. Pete Townshend from The Who had organised the concert to help Clapton kick his heroin addiction. 
 
1978, With a budget of only £1,500 borrowed from Stewart Copeland's brother Miles Copeland III,  The Police  started recording their debut album at Surrey Sound Studios, Surrey, England with producer Nigel Gray. The album 'Outlandos d'Amour' which was released in November of this year featured the hits 'So Lonely', 'Roxanne' and 'Can't Stand Losing You'. 
 
1979, American soul and gospel singer, songwriter Donny Hathaway committed suicide falling from a 15th floor New York hotel window. At the height of his career Hathaway was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia and was known to not take his prescribed medication regularly enough to properly control his symptoms. He scored the 1972 UK No.29 single with Roberta Flack 'Where Is The Love', (which won the Grammy Award for Best Pop Performance by a Duo in 1973) and the 1978 US No.2 single 'The Closer I Get’, also with Roberta Flack. 
 
1984, BBC  Radio 1 announced a ban on 'Relax' by Frankie Goes To Hollywood, after DJ Mike Read called it 'obscene', a BBC TV ban also followed. The song went on to become a UK No.1 and spent a total of 48 weeks on the UK chart. 
 
1986,  Sex Pistols  members John Lydon, Steve Jones and Paul Cook, as well as the mother of Sid Vicious, sued former manager Malcom McClaren for £1 million ($1.7 million). They later settled out of court. 
 
1990, New Kids On The Block had their second and last No.1 UK single with 'Hangin' Tough.' They had a further 7 Top 10 hits by the end of 1991. They broke up after that, but set the scene for numerous boy bands throughout the 90s. 
 
2003, Diana Ross appeared in a US court charged with driving while twice over the drink driving limit. Police in Tucson reported that Miss Ross could not walk in a straight line, touch her nose or count to 30 after she had been stopped for swerving across the road. 
 
2003, Who guitarist Pete Townshend was arrested on suspicion of child porn offences. Police officers impounded seven computers from his £15 million ($25.5 million) home in Richmond, Surrey. 
 
2005, A report showed that more songs had been written about  Elvis Presley  than any other artist. It listed over 220 songs including: ‘Graceland’ by  Paul Simon, ‘A Room At The Heartbreakhotel’ by  U2, ‘Calling Elvis’, Dire Straits, ‘Happy Birthday Elvis’, Loudon Wainwright III, ‘There's A Guy Works Down The Chip Shop Swears He's Elvis’, Kirsty MacColl, ‘I Saw Elvis in a UFO’, Ray Stevens. ‘Elvis Has Left the Building’ by Frank Zappa and 'My Dog Thinks I'm Elvis' by Ray Herndon. 
 
2010, Soul singer Teddy Pendergrass died at the age of 59 following a difficult recovery from colon cancer surgery. Pendergrass enjoyed early success with Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes, whose hits included If You Don't Know Me By Now, before going solo in 1976. He was the first black male singer to record five consecutive multi-platinum albums in the US. 
 
2010, Beyonce and Jay-Z were named Hollywood's top-earning couple by Forbes magazine. The pair earned an estimated $122m (£75.1m) between June 2008 and June 2009 - more than any other couple married or unmarried. 
 
2010, A plaque of The Beatles iconic yellow submarine, which was stolen six months ago from Liverpool's Albert Dock, was set to be replaced by a new creation. The 5ft (1.5m) design featured the faces of  John Lennon,   Paul McCartney,   Ringo Starr and  George Harrison  peering through its portholes. The new submarine would hang outside the museum dedicated to the band, The Beatles Story. 
 
2016,  The Rolling Stones first manager, Giorgio Gomelsky, passed away at the age of 82. He owned the Crawdaddy Club in London where The Rolling Stones were the house band. After he was replaced by Andrew Loog Oldham in May, 1963, Gomelsky went on to manage The Yardbirds, Julie Driscoll and Brian Auger before moving to New York in 1978 and opening The Green Door nightclub. 
 
2016, Ed Sheeran's new singles 'Shape of You' and 'Castle On The Hill' entered the UK singles chart at No.1 and No.2 respectively. The Official Charts Company said it was the first time in history an artist had taken the top two chart positions with brand new songs. 
 
2017, Magic Alex (Alexis Mardas) a Greek electronics engineer died aged 74. He is best known for his close association with the Beatles. His nickname was given to him by John Lennon when he was involved with the group between 1965 and 1969, during which time he became head of Apple Electronics. Mardas often said that the Abbey Road studio was "no good", much to producer George Martin's annoyance. He allegedly said that he could build a 72-track tape machine and was then given the job of designing the new Apple Studio in Savile Row, London. His schemes lost Apple at least £300,000 (£3 million in 2017 pounds). 

1926, Born on this day  Ray Price, singer, songwriter and guitarist. His wide-ranging baritone has often been praised as among the best male voices of country music. Price died on 16th Dec 2013 aged 87 at his ranch outside Mount Pleasant, Texas. 
 
1932, Born on this day, Des O'Connor, UK singer, comedian, TV presenter, (1968 UK No.1 single 'I Pretend'. Plus seven other UK Top 40 singles). Toured the UK with Buddy Holly  in 1958. 
 
1939, Born on this day, William Lee Gordon, Oak Ridge Boys, (1981 US No.5 single 'Elvira'). 
 
1941, Born on this day, Long John Baldry, vocals, Bluesology and solo artist, (1967 UK No.1 single 'Let The Heartaches Begin'). Baldry died of a chest infection on 21st July 2005. 
 
1945, Born on this day, Maggie Bell, singer, The Power, Stone The Crows & solo, (UK No.11 solo single 'Hold Me'). 
 
1945, Born on this day, Abe Tilmon, Detroit Emeralds, (1973 UK No.7 single 'Feel The Need In Me'). Died of a heart attack in 1982 
 
1946, Born on this day, Cynthia Robinson, vocals, Sly and The Family Stone who had 1971 US No.1 & 1972 UK No.15 single 'Family Affair', and her voice and presence were featured in the hit 'Dance To The Music'. She died on November 23, 2015. 

1951, Born on this day, Chris Bell, American singer, songwriter and guitarist with Big Star. Bell was killed in a car accident on 27/12/78. 
 
1954, Born on this day, Felipe Rose, vocals, The Village People, (1978 US No.2 & 1979 UK No.1 single 'YMCA'). 
 
1959, Born on this day, Blixa Bargeld, Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds, (1996 UK No.36 single with PJ Harvey,' Henry Lee'). 
 
1960, Born on this day, Charlie Gillingham, keyboards, Counting Crows, (1994 UK No.28 single 'Mr Jones', 1996 US No.1 album 'Recovering The Satellites'). 
 
1963, Born on this day, Guy Chambers, singer, songwriter, producer, member of The Waterboys, World Party, The Lemon Trees. Worked with Robbie Williams from 1997 as co-songwriter and producer penning tracks including 'Angels', 'Rock DJ', 'Millennium' and 'Let Me Entertain You'. 
 
1965, Born on this day, Greg Kriesel, bass, The Offspring, (1999 UK No.1 & US No. 59 single 'Pretty Fly, (For A White Guy'), 1999 US No.6 & UK No.10 album 'Americana'). 
 
1968, Born on this day, Raekwon, Wu-Tang Clan, (1997 US & UK No.1 album 'Wu-Tang Forever'). 
 
1970, Born on this day, Zack de la Rocha, vocals, Rage Against The Machine, (1996 US No.1 album 'Evil Empire', 1993 UK No.16 single 'Bullet In The Head'). 
 
1974, Born on this day, Melanie Chisholm, Mel C, Sporty Spice, The  Spice Girls who scored the 1996 UK No.1 & 1997 US No.1 single 'Wannabe'. Her first solo attempt was collaborating with Bryan Adams on a hit "When You're Gone". She then released her debut solo studio album, Northern Star in 1999, which sold four million copies. 
 
1975, Born on this day, Jason Freese, American musician, songwriter, record producer who has performed on over 50 albums by more than 35 different artists, including multiple albums by the Goo Goo Dolls, Green Day and Jewel. 
 
1991, Born on this day, Pixie Lott, British singer, 2009 UK No.1 with her debut single 'Mama Do (Uh Oh, Uh Oh)'. 
 
1993, Born on this day, Zayn Malik from English-Irish pop boy band One Direction who formed after finishing third in the seventh series of The X Factor in 2010. Scored the 2011 UK No.1 single 'What Makes You Beautiful' and the 2013 No.1 'One Way or Another (Teenage Kicks)'. 
 
1996, Born on this day, Ella Henderson, British singer-songwriter. She was a finalist on the ninth series of The X Factor in 2012. Her debut single, 'Ghost' went to No.1 in 2014. 

1964,  The Beatles appeared on the ATV show Sunday Night At The London Palladium performing ‘I Wanna Hold Your Hand’, ‘This Boy’, ‘All My Loving’, ‘Money’ and ‘Twist And Shout’. The compere for the evening was Bruce Forsyth. When The Beatles appeared on this show on October 13, 1963, their fee had been £250, now, just three months later, their fee was £1,000. 
 
1969,  Led Zeppelin's debut album was released in the UK. Recorded at Olympic Studios in Barnes, London, the album took only about 36 hours of studio time to complete at a cost of just £1,782, most of the tracks being recorded 'live' in the studio with very few overdubs. The album spent a total of 71 weeks on the UK chart. 

1974, The Steve Miller Band were at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'The Joker', the group's first of three No.1's. It reached No.1 on the UK chart in 1990. 
 
1975, The first night of a UK tour kicked off under the banner of The Warner Brothers Music Show. It featured Little Feat, Montrose, Tower Of Power, The Doobie Brothers and Graham Central Station. Also released was an album sampler featuring all the acts that was priced at 69p ($1.17). 
 
1977, EMI Records issued a statement saying it felt unable to promote  The Sex Pistols  records in view of the adverse publicity generated over the last two months. 
 
1977, Rolling Stone  Keith Richards was fined £750 ($1,275) for possession of cocaine found in his car after the guitarist had been involved in a car crash. 
 
1977,  The Police  had their first rehearsal, held at drummer's Stewart Copeland's London flat, with Henri Padovani on guitar. 
 
1981, It was reported that the White House had expanded its record library by including albums by  Bob Dylan,  KISS and the  Sex Pistols. 
 
1983, Swedish percussionist with Traffic, Reebop Kwaku Baah died from a brain haemorrhage in Stockholm, Sweden. Also worked with  Eric Clapton, Steve Winwood, Ginger Baker's Air Force, Can and  The Rolling Stones. 
 
1992, Bob Geldof was arrested after a disturbance on a Boeing 727, which had been grounded for 5 hours at Stansted Airport. 
 
1993, Van Morrison failed to turn up at the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame induction dinner, making him the first living inductee not to attend. 
 
1995, Snoop Doggy Dogg was charged in Los Angeles with possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia. 
 
1996,  AC/DC  played the first date on their Ballbreaker World Tour in Greensboro, North Carolina. The world tour would last for 11 months finishing on November 30, 1996 in Christchurch, New Zealand. 
 
2001, British Airways staff complained about  Oasis singer Liam Gallagher after he had grabbed a stewardess' bottom, refused to stop smoking and threw objects around the cabin during a flight from London to Rio De Janeiro. 
 
2002, Aaliyah had the posthumous UK No.1 single with 'More Than A Woman'. Aaliyah was killed in Aug 2001 in a plane crash in the Bahamas aged 22. The Cessna plane crashed a few minutes after take off killing everyone on board. Aaliyah had been filming a video on the island for her latest release 'Rock The Boat'. 
 
2003, Singer-songwriter Maurice Gibb from  The Bee Gees died aged 53 in Miami Hospital, Florida following a heart attack during abdominal surgery. The Bee Gees released over 20 albums and had the 1979 world-wide No.1 album 'Spirits Having Flown', and 'How Deep Is Your Love, 'Stayin' Alive', and 'Night Fever' from the soundtrack 'Saturday Night Fever' were all US No.1 singles. Gibb was married to the Scottish singer Lulu from 1969 to 1973. In 2002, Maurice was made a Commander of the British Empire (CBE), along with his brothers. 
 
2004, American songwriter and guitarist Randy VanWarmer died from leukaemia aged 48. (1979 US No.4 & UK No.8 single 'Just When I Needed You Most'). Also wrote The Oak Ridge Boys No.1 US Country hit 'I Guess It Never Hurts to Hurt Sometimes.' VanWarmer's had arranged for a space burial and his cremated remains were sent into space in 2007. 
 
2005, It was announced that the Strawberry Field children's home immortalised by  The Beatles was to close. The home in Woolton, Liverpool was made famous when  John Lennon  wrote 'Strawberry Fields Forever' after playing there as a child. 
 
2007, Toni Braxton filed a lawsuit at the U.S District Court in Manhattan against her former manager Barry Hankerson for $10 million, alleging "fraud, deception and double dealing." According to Braxton, Hankerson placed his own personal financial interests ahead of hers by using "double-talk" to compromise the relationship between Braxton and her former recording label, Arista Records. 
 
2010, Shakin' Stevens was found guilty of hitting a press photographer with a microphone stand during a concert at a hotel in Ballymena. The Welsh singer who scored No.1's in the 80's was fined £300 for assault and criminal damage and ordered to pay the photographer £479 to compensate for his damaged camera lens. 
 
2013, The 1974 Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow used by  Freddie Mercury  until his death in November 1991, sold at auction for £74,000 to a Russian businessman. The 62,000-mile classic Rolls-Royce which had a guide price of just £9,000-£11,000 featured grey leather, wood trim, electric windows, automatic gearbox, a car phone and radio cassette player and a 6.75-litre V8 engine. It was sold as part of the Coys auction at Autosport International. 
 
2017, Richard Carpenter said he was owed at least $2m (£1.6m) in royalties for the hits he recorded in The Carpenters. He claimed Universal Music had only paid the band a "minuscule fraction" of the money they were owed from downloads on sites like iTunes and Amazon. The musician was suing for compensation, according to legal documents filed in Los Angeles. 

Born Today In Music

Today In Music 11 01 2018

Today In Music 10 01 2018

Born Today In Music 10 01 2018

BornToday In Music 09 januari 2018

Today In Music 09-01-2018

Today Peter Van Dam Died...R.I.P. Peter

Born This Day In Music

This Day In Music

1937, Born on this day, John Gorman, singer, The Scaffold, (1968 Christmas UK No.1 single 'Lily The Pink'). 
 
1942, Born on this day in Doncaster, England, John McLaughlin, who formed the Mahavishnu Orchestra and has also worked with Carlos Santana, Stanley Clark and Jaco Pastorius. Prior to the Mahavishnu Orchestra, in the 1960s, he played with Alexis Korner, Georgie Fame and the Blue Flames, the Graham Bond Organisation and Brian Auger. In 1969 he moved to New York to join Tony Williams' Lifetime. On March 25th of that year he jammed with Jimi Hendrix  at the Record Plant, recalling ‘we played from 2 until 8 in the morning. In 2010, Jeff Beck called McLaughlin ‘the best guitarist alive’. 
 
1946, Born on this day, Arthur Conley, US soul singer, (1967 US No.2 & UK No.7 single 'Sweet Soul Music). He died of cancer on 17th November 2003. 
 
1955, Born on this day, Clive Gregson, singer, songwriter, and leader of late 70's  Stiff Records band Any Trouble, one half of Gregson & Collister folk duo. 
 
1955, Born on this day, American session musician, guitarist, bassist, singer–songwriter and musical director, Brian Ray, best known for his work as a rhythm guitarist and bassist with  Paul McCartney. 
 
1956, Born on this day, Bernard Sumner, guitar, vocals, Warsaw,  Joy Division,  (1980 UK No.13 single 'Love Will Tear Us Apart'), New Order, (1983 UK No.9 single 'Blue Monday'), Electronic, (1991 UK No.8 single 'Get The Message'), 
 
1956, Born on this day, Nels Cline, guitarist, songwriter, Wilco, (2004 album 'A Ghost Is Born'). 
 
1958, Born on this day, Macel King, singer, Sweet Sensation, (1974 UK No.1 single 'Sad Sweet Dreamer'). 
 
1960, Born on this day, Michael Stipe, American singer, songwriter, musician,  R.E.M. The band was pivotal in the creation and development of the alternative rock genre. They scored the 1991 UK No.6 & US No.10 single 'Shiny Happy People' plus over 20 Top 40 UK singles, and the 1992 UK No.1 & US No.2 album Automatic For The People. 

1962, Born on this day, Martin Mcaloon, bass, Prefab Sprout, (1988 UK No.7 single 'The King Of Rock 'N' Roll'). 
 
1962, Born on this day, Robin Guthrie, guitar, keyboards, programming, Cocteau Twins, (1984 UK No.29 single 'Pearly- dewdrops' Drops'). 
 
1962, Born on this day, Till Lindemann poet, lead vocalist for the German rock band Rammstein. 
 
1965, Born on this day, Beth Gibbons, vocals, Portishead, (1995 UK No.13 single 'Glory Box'). 
 
1965, Born on this day, Cait O'Riordan, bass, The Pogues, (1987 UK No.8 single 'The Irish Rover'). 
 
1965, Born on this day, David Glasper, Breathe, (1988 US No.2 & UK No.4 single 'Hands To Heaven'). 
 
1967, Born on this day, Ben Darvill, harmonica, Crash Test Dummies, (1994 UK No.2 & US No.4 single 'MMM MMM MMM MMM'). 
 
1977, Born on this day, Timothy Wheeler, guitar, vocals, Ash, (1995 UK No.11 single 'Girl From Mars').

January 4th: On this Day
 
1954, Four days before his 20th birthday  Elvis Presley  made his second visit to the Memphis recording service and cut two songs onto a 10 acetate, 'Casual Love Affair 'and 'I'll Never Stand In Your Way'. Studio boss Sam Phillips asked Presley to leave his phone number. 
 
1962, Liverpool's Mersey Beat published its first popularity poll, with  The Beatles coming in first place and Gerry and the Pacemakers voted second. 
 
1967, The Jimi Hendrix Experience  played the first of what would be over 240 gigs in this year when they appeared at the Bromel Club, Bromley. (Many of the concerts were two shows per night). 
 
1967,  The Doors released their self-titled debut album The Doors. The album features their breakthrough single 'Light My Fire' and the lengthy song 'The End' with its Oedipal spoken word section. The album was recorded at Sunset Sound Studios in Hollywood, California over six days and unique packaging of the album included each band members bio. 
 
1968, The University of California, Los Angeles announced that students taking music degrees would have to study the music of  The Rolling Stones  saying they had made such an important contribution to modern music. 
 
1969, UK music weekly Disc and Music Echo reported that  The Beatles were to release five new albums. One would be their first ever live album plus four separate LP's, each one the choice of Lennon, McCartney, Harrison and Starr. 
 
1970, Chauffeur Neil Boland was accidentally killed when The Who's drummer  Keith Moon  ran over him in his Bentley. Moon was trying to escape from a Gang of skinheads after a fight broke out at a pub in Hatfield, England. Boland got out to try to protect the car, but left it in gear. He fell under the car and it started moving with Moon at the wheel as he tried to escape the fight. The drummer had never passed his driving test. 
 
1970,  The Beatles (without  John Lennon)  re-record vocals and a new guitar solo on the  Paul McCartney song 'Let It Be' at Studio Two, EMI Studios, London. This session will be the final studio appearance for The Beatles, as a group. (The final date that all four of The Beatles were in the studio together is August 20, 1969). 
 
1974,  Bruce Springsteen  played the first of a three night run at Joes' Place in Cambridge Massachusetts. Supported by Peter Johnson & The Manic Depressives. On the ticket it stated: Because of the energy crisis all our outside lights except for one will be shut off. 
 
1975,  Elton John  started a two week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with his version of The Beatles  'Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds'. His third US No.1, the song featured  John Lennon  on guitar. 
 
1977,  The Sex Pistols  shocked passengers and airline staff at Heathrow Airport when they spat and vomited boarding a plane to Amsterdam. 
 
1986, Irish singer, songwriter and bassist Phil Lynott  of Thin Lizzy died of heart failure and pneumonia after being in a coma for eight days following a drug overdose. With Thin Lizzy he had the 1973 hit 'Whiskey in the Jar', (their version of the traditional Irish song) and hits with ‘The Boys Are Back in Town’, ‘Jailbreak’ and ‘Waiting for an Alibi’. The groups 1978 album 'Live and Dangerous' spent 62 weeks on the UK chart. Lynott fronted several bands as a lead vocalist, including Skid Row alongside Gary Moore. A life-size bronze statue of Phil Lynott was unveiled on Harry Street in Dublin Ireland in 2005. 
 
2001, Courtney Love filed a lawsuit against her alleged stalker claiming that Lesley Barber, the ex-wife of her current boyfriend Jim Barber, drove over her foot. This had forced her to forfeit her role in a forthcoming film and lost her the £200,000, ($340,000) fee that went with it. 
 
2001, Madame Tussaud's waxworks in London revealed that  Oasis singer Liam Gallagher had come third in 'The Most Hated Characters' list of exhibits, behind Adolf Hitler and Slobodan Milosevic. 
 
2001, US rapper Vanilla Ice spent the night in jail after allegedly ripping out some of his wife's hair. Ice (born Robert Van Winkle) told police he pulled out some of his wife's hair to prevent her from jumping out of their truck's window. He was released the following morning from Broward County Jail in Fort Lauderdale on $3,500 bail. 

2005, The owner of a recording studio where Eminem recorded his 'Slim Shady' LP was found shot dead. AJ Abdallah, who was 36, was discovered by a business colleague at the Detroit studio, it was thought he had been dead for at least two days. Police suggested that a robbery may also have taken place. Mr Abdallah had lived in a apartment above the studio on Eight Mile Road, the Detroit street which inspired the title of Eminem's 2002 film '8 Mile.' 
 
2006, The house where  Johnny Cash  lived for 35 years was bought by  Bee Gees singer Barry Gibb. The rustic house near Nashville, Tennessee went on the market in June 2005 with an asking price of $2.9m (£1.7m). Gibb said he planned to preserve the house to honour the Cash memory. Unfortunately Gibb's ownership of the house was short-lived. In April 2007, the house burned to the ground. Gibb was having the house renovated when a flammable spray sealer caused fire to break out during construction. 
 
2008, Beyonce won a long-running legal wrangle over claims her hit song 'Baby Boy' infringed the copyright of another artist's work. The appeals court in Houston, Texas upheld a 2006 decision which dismissed musician Jennifer Armour's claims that its lyrics were based on her work. Ms Armour claimed she had posted 'I Got A Little Bit Of Love For You' to Beyonce's manager and record company in early 2003. 
 
2008,  Britney Spears  was carried out of her home on a stretcher and taken into custody after police were called in a dispute involving her children. Police were called to Spears' home over a family custodial dispute that they tried to resolve, after nearly three hours, Spears handed over her children, two-year-old Sean Preston and one-year-old Jayden James, to her ex-husband Kevin Federline. 
 
2009,  Led Zeppelin singer Robert Plant was voted the Greatest Voice In Rock by listeners of radio station Planet Rock. Plant beat Queen's  Freddie Mercury,   Free's Paul Rodgers and  Deep Purple's Ian Gillan to the top spot in the UK poll. 

New Year in Minsk 2016

1926, Born on this day, Sir George Martin, English record producer, arranger, composer, conductor, audio engineer and musician. He worked as EMI records in-house record producer and became the so-called fifth Beatle. Martin produced all but one of  The Beatles albums giving him 30 No.1 hit singles in the UK and 23 No.1 hits in the US. He also worked with comedy acts The Goons and Beyond The Fringe. Martin received a Knighthood in 1996. He died on March 8 2016 aged 90. 
 
1943, Born on this day, Van Dyke Parks, US songwriter, producer. Worked with Brian Wilson on the 'Smile' album, played keyboards on The Byrds 'Eight Miles High', produced Ry Cooder, Randy Newman, Judy Collins. 
 
1945, Born on this day, Stephen Stills, guitar, vocals, Buffalo Springfield, Crosby Stills Nash & Young, Manassas. 1969 UK No.17 single 'Marrakesh Express' & 1970 US No.1 album Deja Vu plus 1971 solo UK No.37 single 'Love The One Your With.' 
 
1946, Born on this day, John Paul Jones, bass, keyboards, producer with  Led Zeppelin who had the 1969 US No.4 single Whole Lotta Love. The bands fourth album released in 1971 featuring the rock classic  Stairway To Heaven, has sold over 37 million copies. As a session player in the 1960s he worked with  The Rolling Stones, The Yardbirds, Donovan, Jeff Beck, Hermans Hermits, Lulu, Tom Jones. In recent years Jones has worked with R.E.M. on 1992 Automatic For The People album and is a member of Them Crooked Vultures. 

1964, Born on this day, Raymond McGinley, guitar & vocals, Teenage Fanclub, 1992 UK No.31 single 'What You Do To Me.' 
 
1975, Born on this day, Thomas Bangalter, French electronic musician with Daft Punk, 1997 UK No.5 single 'Around The World', remixed Gabrielle, Chemical Brothers. Scored the 2013 UK No.1 hit 'Get Lucky' featuring Pharrell Williams. 

1955,  Elvis Presley  appeared in Boonesville, Virginia. The 20 year-old singer was still a regional star, but by the end of 1956 he had become a national sensation, recording two albums, (which included  'Heartbreak Hotel' and 'Blue Suede Shoes'), appeared on national television 11 times, played over 100 concerts and signed a seven year contract with Paramount Pictures. 

1957, Guy Mitchell was at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Singing The Blues.' (Tommy Steele and Marty Robbins had also released versions and Steele would replace this version at No.1). Also a US No.1. 
 
1963, Cliff Richard was at No.1 on the UK singles chart with his sixth UK No.1 'The Next Time / Bachelor Boy.' Both songs were taken from the film Summer Holiday. 
 
1964,  The Beatles were seen for the second time on US TV when a clip from the BBC's 'The Mersey Sound' showing the group playing 'She Loves You' was shown on The Jack Paar Show. The first US airing showing The Beatles was on Nov 18, 1963, on the NBC news program "The Huntley-Brinkley Report" (albeit pre-recorded) of The Beatles in concert. 
 
1967, Having received a US army draft notice, The Beach Boys, Carl Wilson refused to be sworn in, saying he was a conscientious objector. 
 
1969, Appearing live on The Lulu show on UK TV, The Jimi Hendrix Experience  were booked to perform two songs, Voodoo Child, (which was performed in full), then Hendrix stopped performing his new single 'Hey Joe' after a verse and chorus and instead launched into a version of the Cream song 'Sunshine Of Your Love' as a tribute to the band who had split a few days earlier. Hendrix then proceeded to continuing jamming, running over their allocated time slot on the live show, preventing the show's host Lulu from closing the show properly. 
 
1970, B J Thomas started a four week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head.' The song was featured in the film Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. 
 
1970, Working on the Get Back sessions at Studio Two of EMI Studios, London, in what would prove to be The Beatles' final recording session, three Beatles (Paul, George, and Ringo) record 16 takes of the George Harrison song 'I Me Mine'. John Lennon was away in Denmark at the time. A decade later it became the title of  George Harrison's  auto-biography. 

1972, Two weeks of rehearsals for Pink Floyd's  The Dark Side of The Moon  tour began at the Bermondsey in London, England, (the venue was owned by  The Rolling Stones). 
 
1976, The Bay City Rollers went to No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Saturday Night.' At the height of their US success, the Scottish group signed a deal to promote breakfast cereal. 

1976,  Bob Dylan's song, 'Hurricane', peaked at No.33 on the Billboard singles chart, helping to cause enough publicity to eventually get former boxer Rubin 'Hurricane' Carter released from jail. The song promoted Carter's innocence and a movie about Carter's life, starring Denzel Washington, was released in 2000. 
 
1980, American rhythm and blues singer Amos Milburn died aged 52. Famous for his drinking songs including, 'Let Me Go Home, Whiskey' and 'One Scotch, One Bourbon, One Beer.' 
 
1981,  David Bowie made his final appearance as the Elephant Man at The Booth Theatre, Broadway in New York City. 
 
1987, Aretha Franklin became the first woman inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. 
 
2000, Luciano Pavarotti agreed to pay the Italian authorities £1.6 million ($2.72 million) after losing an appeal against tax evasion charges. It was reported that the singer was worth £300 million ($510 million) at the time. 
 
2002, Zak Foley bassist with British group EMF died aged 31 of a drug overdose. EMF had the 1990 world wide hit single 'Unbelievable' which reached No.3 on the UK singles chart, and was a No.1 hit on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart. The name EMF is believed to be an abbreviation of Epsom Mad Funkers. 
 
2002, Liam and Noel Gallagher topped a poll of celebrities you would least like to live next to, getting 40% of the vote. Readers of Your Home magazine voted the brothers from  Oasis  as 'Neighbours From Hell'. 
 
2012, British musician Bob Weston died age 64. He had a brief role as guitarist and songwriter with Fleetwood Mac in the early 1970s. He also recorded and performed with a number of other musicians, including Graham Bond, Long John Baldry, Murray Head, Sandy Denny and Danny Kirwan. 
 
2014, Phil Everly, one half of the Everly Brothers, died of complications from lung disease aged 74, in California. In their heyday between 1957 and 1962, the Everly Brothers had 19 Top 40 hits, including 'Bye Bye Love', 'Wake Up Little Susie' and 'All I Have to Do Is Dream' and influenced acts such as  The Beatles and The Beach Boys. The Everly Brothers had 35 Billboard Top-100 singles, 26 in the top 40. They hold the record for the most Top-100 singles by any duo. In the UK, they had 30 chart singles, 29 in the top 40, 13 top 10, and 4 at No. 1 between 1957 and 1984 
 
2017, Vinyl sales topped three million last year, the highest UK total in 25 years. More than 3.2 million records were sold in 2016, a rise of 53% on the previous year, according to the BPI, which represents the music industry.  David Bowie's Blackstar was the most popular album on vinyl, selling more than double the number of copies of 2015's biggest-seller,  Adele's  25. 

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