January 29th:
On this Day
1942, BBC radio
aired a new program 'Desert Island Discs' presented by Roy Plomley, which went
on to become the longest running UK radio show.
1961, Bob Dylan
achieved his dream of meeting his idol Woody Guthrie when Guthrie was on
weekend release from hospital where he was being treated for Huntington's
Chorea. Dylan told him; ‘I was a Woody Guthrie jukebox’. Guthrie gave Dylan a
card which said: ‘I ain't dead yet’.
1964, The
Beatles spent the day at Pathe Marconi Studios in Paris, France, The Beatles'
only studio recording session for EMI held outside the UK. They recorded new
vocals for ‘She Loves You’, ‘I Want to Hold Your Hand’ and ‘Can't Buy Me Love’,
after EMI's West German branch persuaded Brian Epstein that they would be
unable to sell large quantities of records in Germany unless they were recorded
in the German language. A translator coached John, Paul, and George, although
their familiarity with the German language from their Hamburg days made things
much easier.
1967, Jimi
Hendrix and The Who appeared at The Saville Theatre, London, England. 20
year-old future Queen guitarist Brian May was in the audience.
1968, During a
tour of Australia and New Zealand, The Who, The Small Faces and Paul Jones
appeared at the Town Hall, Wellington in New Zealand.
1968, The Doors
appeared at The Pussy Cat A Go Go, Las Vegas.
After the show singer Jim Morrison taunts a
security guard in the parking lot by pretending to smoke a joint, resulting in
a fight. The police arrive who arrest Morrison and charge him with vagrancy,
public drunkenness, and failure to possess sufficient identification.
1969, Fleetwood
Mac had their only UK No.1 single with the instrumental 'Albatross.'
1972, The
triple album 'The Concert For Bangladesh' went to No.1 on the UK album chart.
Organised by George Harrison to raise funds for the people caught up in the war
and famine from the area. The set featured; Bob Dylan, Ringo Starr, Billy
Preston, Eric Clapton, Ravi Shankar and members from Badfinger.
1977, Gwen
Dickey former backing band for The Temptations, went to No.1 on the US singles
chart as Rose Royce with 'Car Wash', a No.9 hit in the UK.
1979,
16-year-old Brenda Spencer killed two people and wounded nine others when she
fired from her house across the street onto the entrance of San Diego's Grover
Cleveland Elementary School. Spencer fired the shot's from a .22-caliber rifle
her father had given her for Christmas. When asked why she did it, she answered
'I don't like Mondays.' The Boomtown Rats went on to write and recorded a song
based on the event.
1982, Shakin'
Stevens was at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Oh Julie', the Welsh singers
third UK No.1. Barry Manilow covered the song in the US.
1982, Flying
Back from Cannes, France, Gary Numan made a forced landing after running low on
fuel at an RAF base outside Southampton, the press ran stories that he had in
fact crash landed on the A3057.
1983, Australian
group Men At Work went to No.1 on the British and American singles and album
charts simultaneously with 'Down Under' and 'Business As Usual'. The last
artist to achieve this was Rod Stewart in 1971.
1989, Marc
Almond started a four-week run at No.1 on the UK singles chart with
'Something's Gotten Hold Of My Heart' with guest vocals from Gene Pitney, (who
had a hit with the song in 1967.
1992, American
blues singer and guitarist Willie Dixon died of heart failure. Wrote the
classic songs: ‘You Shook Me’, I Can’t Quit You Baby’, ‘Hoochie Coochie Man’,
‘I Just Want to Make Love to You’, ‘Little Red Rooster.’ Dixon was a major
influence on The Rolling Stones, Cream, Yardbirds and Led Zeppelin.
1994, The
Supremes' Mary Wilson was injured when her jeep crashed on a freeway and turned
over just outside of Los Angeles, California. Wilson's 14-year old son was
killed in the accident.
1996, George
Michael had the UK No.1 single with 'Jesus To A Child', the singers sixth UK
No.1 as a solo artist and the first single from his come-back album 'Older',
(after lengthy litigation with his record company).
2001, A New
York based data company issued a chart listing sales of posthumous albums. The
idea came about after radio stations wanted to distinguish between proper
recordings when the artists were alive and CD's released after they died. Mike
Shalett founder of SoundScan said there was only one problem. What to call the
chart. The Top 5 chart had The Doors at No.5, Eva Cassidy at 4, Jimi Hendrix at
3, Bob Marley at 2 and 2Pac at No.1.
2005, Ciara
feat Petey Pablo Goodies went to No.1 on the UK singles chart with her debut
single. The eighteen year old R&B singer from Atlanta, Georgia, was just
the eighteen years old.
2006, Arctic
Monkeys went to No.1 on the UK album chart with their debut album 'Whatever
People Say I Am That's What I'm Not'. The Sheffield-based bands album became
the fastest-selling debut in chart history after shifting more than 360,000
copies in its first week of release.
2009,
Singer-songwriter John Martyn died in hospital in Ireland at the age of 60. The
folk, blues and funk artist was widely regarded as one of the most soulful and
innovative singer-songwriters of his generation and had been cited as an
influence by artists as varied as U2, Portishead and Eric Clapton.
2009, Former
American Idol winner Kelly Clarkson made the largest ever leap to number one in
US chart history, rising 96 places. Her single, My Life Would Suck Without You,
rose from 97 to the top of the Billboard chart after selling 280,000 downloads
in its first week of release. A clip from the video for the single was
premiered in the commercial break of that week's episode of American Idol.
2010, Sly Stone
filed a $50m (£30.9m) legal claim against his former manager, alleging fraud
and 20 years of stolen royalties. The 66-year-old funk musician of the 1970s
group Sly and the Family Stone, claimed in the Los Angeles Superior Court that
Jerry Goldstein diverted millions in royalties to fund a lavish lifestyle.
January 29th:
Born on this Day
1929, Born on
this day, Bernard Stanley Bilk, (Acker Bilk), bandleader who had the 1962 US
No.1 & UK No.2 single 'Stranger On The Shore'.
1933, Born on
this day, French singer and guitarist Sacha Distel who had the 1970 UK No.10
single 'Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head.' Distel died after a long battle
with deteriorating health on 22nd July 2004.
1938, Born on
this day, James Jamerson, bassist played with The Funk Brothers on many Motown
hits by The Temptations, Marvin Gaye, The Four Tops, Martha And The Vandellas
and others. Jamerson died of a heart attack on 2nd August 1983 aged 45.
1943, Born on
this day, Tony Blackburn, DJ on Radio Caroline and the first D.J. on BBC Radio
One. (The first song played was 'Flowers In The Rain by The Move'). Blackburn was
crowned 'King of the jungle' in 2003 after winning on the UK TV show 'I'm A
Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here' set in the Australian outback.
1944, Born on
this day, Andrew Loog Oldham, producer, manager and the first Rolling Stones
manager. Oldham launched the Immediate label in 1965 which enjoyed 24 UK Top 50
hits. Also worked with Small Faces, John Mayall, Rod Stewart, The Nice, Jimmy
Page, Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton and the Amen Corner.
1947, Born on
this day, David Byron, singer, with Uriah Heep who had the 1975 UK No.7 album
'Return To Fantasy'. Byron died on 28th February 1985.
1952, Born on
this day, Thomas Erdelyi, (Tommy Ramone), Hungarian drummer with the Ramones,
who had the 1977 UK No.22 single 'Sheena Is A Punk Rocker'. Erdelyi also worked
as a record producer and was an assistant engineer for the production of the
Jimi Hendrix album Band of Gypsys.
1953, Born on
this day, Louie Perez, American songwriter, percussionist and guitarist with
Los Lobos who had the 1987 UK & US No.1 single 'La Bamba'.
1954, Born on
this day, Rob Manzoli singer from Right Said Fred who had the 1991 US No.1
& UK No.2 single 'I'm Too Sexy', 1993 UK No.1 album 'Up'.
1961, Born on
this day, Dave Baynton-Power, drummer withs James who had the 1991 UK No.2
single 'Sit Down'. Also worked with The Alarm.
1961, Born on
this day, Eddie Jackson bassist with American progressive heavy metal band
Queensryche. Their 1994 album 'Promised Land' went top 3 in the US,
1961, Born on
this day, Pauline Henry, singer. who had the 1993 UK solo No.12 single with the
Bad Company song 'Feel Like Making Love', and the 1990 UK No.6 single with The
Chimes, 'I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For'.
1962, Born on
this day, Marcus Verne from British group Living In A Box, who had the 1987 UK
No.5 single 'Living In A Box'.
1964, Born on
this day, Roddy Frame, guitarist, singer, songwriter with British group Aztec
Camera, who had the 1988 UK No.3 single 'Somewhere In My Heart'.
