ON THIS DAY
January 1st
1953 - Country's greatest songwriter Hank Williams dies in the back seat of a Cadillac en route to a concert in West Virginia. He was only 29, but through drink and drugs, he looked a lot older.
1964 -The very first Top Of The Pops, broadcast at 6.36pm, was introduced by DJ Jimmy Saville. The opening band was The Rolling Stones, who had just made No.13 in the chart with 'I Wanna Be Your Man'.
1965 - Nashville Teens and the Zombies arrive in New York but the US Government denies them visas forcing the groups to cancel their tours.
1967 - Because of their support of the Sunset Strip rioters, Sonny and Cher were barred from the Tournament of Roses in Pasadena, CA,
1967 -The Grateful Dead and Big Brother & the Holding Company perform at the New Year's Wail/Whale in San Francisco. Hell's Angels hosts the bash to thank Haight-Ashbury hippies for bailing Angel Chocolate George from jail.
1968 - The Blue Velvets changed the name of their band to Creedence Clearwater Revival.
1971 - Radio Luxembourg played over seven hours of continuous Beatles music, from their singles & LPs, plus tracks from solo albums, to celebrate the group's tenth year in the music business.
1972 - Marc Bolan signed a deal with EMI to release records in the UK on his own T Rex Wax co. label.
1982 - Abba made their final live appearance as a group when they played in Stockholm, Sweden.
1985 - VH-1 premiered as an adult contemporary music video channel with Marvin Gaye's "Star Spangled Banner" video.
1988 - Prince played an after midnight New Years Eve charity gig in aid of the homeless in Minnesota. Miles Davis joined him on stage.
1990 - New radio station WKRL in Florida played the Led Zeppelin track 'Stairway To Heaven' for 24 hours, as a prelude to an all Zeppelin format
1998 - A mystery buyer paid £31,000 ($52,700) for the car number plate 'OAS 15', at auction in Cheltenham. It was rumoured that a member from Oasis had bought the plate.
2002 - Welsh singer Shakin' Stevens spent several hours in police custody after being arrested for drink driving. The 80's singer was charged and released to appear before magistrates on January 16th.
January 2nd:
1926 - The first issue of The Melody Maker went on sale priced at 3d. The monthly magazine was for 'all who are interested in the production of popular music'. In the first issue, Dance Band news, about Ukuleles and how to read music by sight.
1955 - Five thousand people attend Johnny Ace's funeral in Memphis. The R&B star accidentally killed himself in a game of Russian roulette. His pallbearers include Little Junior Parker, and Roscoe Gordon.
1965 - The first Dutch Top 40 is launched. Most poopular single, Zorba's Dance by Trio Hellenique, spends 37 consecutive weeks on chart.
1969 - Led Zeppelin played the first of four nights at the Whisky A Go-Go, Los Angeles during the bands first US tour, with the Alice Cooper band as support.
1971 - BBC TV aired the first of a 13-week series, 'Its Cliff Richard' featuring resident guests singer and actress Una Stubbs and Shadows guitarist Hank Marvin.
1975 - In efforts to defend himself from deportation, John Lennon and his lawyers are granted access to Department of Immigration files. The pop star wants to find out if he's been barred from the U.S. because of drug use, or his remarks about President Richard Nixon.
1978 - Ozzy Osbourne rejoins Black Sabbath.
1979 - The trial of ex-Sex Pistol, Sid Vicious for the murder of his girlfriend Nancy Spungen (October 1978), opened in New York City. Vicious had died of a heroin overdose before the trial started.
1983 - The musical "Annie" closed on Broadway at the Uris Theatre after 2,377 performances.
1988 - Michael Jackson and U2's Bono shared first place in an American poll of 'The Most Beautiful Lips.'
1993 - Suede's Brett Anderson said in a Melody Maker interview 'I honestly think lack of sex is vital to my writing process. I don't know if the same goes for Aerosmith.'
2003 - 50 Cent was arrested by police in New York after a .25-calibre handgun and a .45-calibre pistol were found in his vehicle, officers said both guns were loaded.
January 3rd:
1960 - Bobby Darin and Connie Francis performed together on the "Ed Sullivan Show."
1964 - Beatles appear on US TV for the first time in a short clip on the Jack Parr Show.
1967 - Beach Boy, Carl Wilson refused to be sworn in after receiving a U.S. Army draft notice. He said he was a conscientious objector.
1969 - 30,000 copies of the John Lennon/Yoko Ono album Two Virgins, were confiscated by police in Newark, New Jersey. The nude photo of John and Yoko on the cover violated pornography laws in Jersey.
1970 - Davy Jones announced he was leaving the Monkees.
1973 - Two thousand international fashion editors and experts voted Mick and Bianca Jagger two of the top dozen best-dressed men and women of 1972.
1974 - Bob Dylan and The Band started a 39 date US tour, Bob Dylan's first live appearance for over 7 years. There were more than 5 million applications for the 660,000 tickets for sale.
1981 - David Bowie made his final appearance as the Elephant Man in the Broadway show.
1987 - Aretha Franklin was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame along with Bill Haley and 14 others. Franklin was the first woman to be inducted.
1997 - Spirit guitarist Randy California bravely saved his 12-year-old son's life from the undertow off the coast of Hawaii's Molokai Island, sadly Randy drowned in the process. He was 45.
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 - Readers of Your Home magazine voted the Gallagher brothers from Oasis as 'Neighbours From Hell'; getting 40% of the vote, Liam and Noel topped a poll of celebrities you would least like to live next to.
January 4th:
1935 - All-around entertainer Bob Hope ("Thanks for the Memories") makes his first network radio appearance.
1936 - The first pop music chart based on national sales was published by "Billboard" magazine.
1957 - "Tonight on The Steve Allen Show", boxer Joe Louis introduces soul singer Solomon Burke, who performs one of Louis' own compositions "You Can Run, But You Can't Hide."
1965 - Leo Fender sold the Fender Guitar Company to CBS for $13 million.
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 2 shows per night.
1976 - A former roadie and bodyguard of the Beatles, Mal Evans was shot to death by police at his Los Angeles apartment. Evans alledgedly pointed a loaded rifle at officers forcing them to fire upon him.
1977 - The Sex Pistols shocked passengers and airline staff at Heathrow Airport when they spat and vomited boarding a plane to Amsterdam.
1979 - Star Club in Hamburg reopens amid a resurgence of interest in Beatle's early history.
1993 - Paul Simon became a father, his wife Edie Brickell gave birth to a son.
2004 - Britney Spears had her surprise marriage annulled less than 55 hours after tying the knot at the Little White Wedding Chapel in Las Vegas with childhood friend Jason Alexander.
2006 - Bee Gees singer, Barry Gibb bought the house where Johnny Cash lived for 35 years, near Nashville, Tennessee, with an asking price of $2.9m (£1.7m). Gibb said he planned to preserve the house to honour the Cash memory.
January 5th:
1963 . . Bob Dylan flies from London to Rome in pursuit of his girlfriend Suze Rotolo. He's accompanied by the folksinger Odetta. Once in Italy, Dylan discovers that Rotolo has returned to the United States. He scores a gig at a folk club in Rome and writes both "Girl from the North Country" and "Boots of Spanish Leather."
1966 . . The Beatles record overdubs onto the film The Beatles at Shea Stadium. That night, John Lennon goes nightclubbing with '50s rocker P.J. Proby.
2004 . . Kinks singer Ray Davies was shot in the leg while on holiday in New Orleans. The 59-year-old singer-songwriter was shot when running after two men who stole his girlfriend's purse at gunpoint.
January 6th:
1956 - Lonnie Donegan debuts on UK chart with Rock Island Line.
1958 - Gibson patents its Flying V guitar.
1966 - Duke Ellington's concert recorded at 5th Avenue Presbyterian Church in New York City, was broadcast on CBS-TV.
1973 - Carly Simon's 'You're So Vain', with Mick Jagger on backing vocals, started a three week run at No.1 on the US singles chart.
1975 - Around a thousand Led Zeppelin fans, who had been waiting for tickets to go on sale at the Boston Gardens for a February show, riot and cause $30,000 worth of damage to the venue's lobby. Mayor Kevin White canceled the concert.
1977 - EMI terminated its contract with the Sex Pistols only 3 months after signing it. No reason was given, but EMI gave the band £40,000 ($68,000) to release them from their contract.
1987 - Elton John had to cancel all his live performances for a year after having throat surgery.
1987 - Eric Clapton started what became an annual event by playing six shows at the Royal Albert Hall, London.
1993 - It was reported that David Bowie had lost over £2.5 million ($4.25 million) in unpaid royalties to an Italian Mafia-linked bootleg fraud.
1997 - Thieves had climbed a 10- foot-wall and stole two bronze busts worth £50,000 from a garden at George Harrison's estate in Henley-on- Thames, Oxfordshire; they cut the figures of two monks from their stone plinths.
1999 - Alanis Morissette spends the day working at an Ottawa soup kitchen. Her peeling of hardboiled eggs attracts the needy and the press.
2006 - Ms Dynamite was charged with assaulting a police officer and disorderly conduct. The singer allegedly punched a female officer in the face, bruising her nose, while in custody. She had been arrested after allegedly kicking the door to the Paragon Lounge night-club in London and was said to have been abusive towards officers who questioned her.
January 7th:
1950 - Ernest Tubb made his debut appearance at "The Grand Ole Opry" in Nashville, TN.
1954 - Muddy Waters records I'm Your Hoochie Coochie Man, to become his fourth consecutive Top 10 R&B hit, for Chess.
1963 - Twister-in-chief Chubby Checker is sued by soul singer Gary "U.S." Bonds, who alleges that Checker's "Dancin' Party" is a theft of Bonds' own song "Quarter to Three." They later settle out of court.
1963 - Gary "U.S." Bonds filed a $100,000 suit against Chubby Checker. The charge was that Checker "stole" "Quarter to Three" and turned it into the song "Dancin' Party." The case was settled out of court.
1964 - Long John Baldry formed Hoochie Coochie Men. 10 years to the day Muddy Waters recorded I'm Your Hoochie Coochie Mann
1968 . . San Francisco's underground FM station KMPX holds a ballot among its listeners to find out who would be the best candidate on a pro-grass ticket. The people say they want Bob Dylan for president, Paul Butterfield for vice-president, George Harrison as U.N. ambassador, Jefferson Airplane as the Secretary of Transportation, and the Grateful Dead as attorney general.
1970 - Max Yasgur was sued for $35,000 in property damages by neighboring farmers. It was Yasgur's on which the August 1969 Woodstock Festival was held.
1976 - Record company executive Kenneth Moss is sentenced to 120 days in jail after pleading guilty to the involuntary manslaughter of Robbie McIntosh, drummer with the Average White Band. McIntosh overdosed on drugs in 1974.
1980 - High Cornwall of Stranglers sentenced to eight weeks in jail for possession of pot.
1989 - Melody Maker featured a list of artists favourite singles from 1988, Wendy James picked 'Orinoco Flow' by Enya; Sinead O'Connor picked 'Birthday' by The Sugarcubes;Tanita Tikaram had 'Don't Worry, Be Happy' by Bobby McFerrin.
1993 - R.E.M. played a Greenpeace Benefit show at the 40 watt Club, Athens, Georgia, for 500 people. The show was recorded on a solar powered mobile recording studio.
2006 - Gary Glitter was formally charged with committing obscene acts with two girls aged 11 and 12 in Vietnam - had been held since November as he tried to flee the country over child sex allegations.
January 8th:
1960 . . Eddie Cochran's last recording session was held in Hollywood.
1981 . . "Elvis Presley Day" was declared in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Kansas, North & South Carolina, Pennsylvania and Virginia.
1993 . . An Elvis Presley commemorative stamp was debuted by the U.S. Postal Service. The 29-cent stamp showed the likeness of the 1950's era Elvis.
1996 . . A Los Angeles court found Robert Hoskins guilty of five counts of stalking, assault and making terrorist threats to Madonna.
January 9th:
1963 . . Drummer Charlie Watts joined The Rolling Stones after leaving Blues Incorporated.
1973 . . Mick Jagger was refused a Japanese visa because of a 1969 drug bust. This unfortunatly halted the Rolling Stones' plan to tour the Orient.
1992 . . Sting made a guest appearance on the series "The Simpsons," in the episode "Radio Bart."
2006 . . "Phantom of the Opera" became the longest-running show in Broadway history this Monday night with a gala 7,486th performance of the hit musical.
January 10th:
1949 . . Vinyl records were introduced by RCA (45 rpm) and Columbia (33.3 rpm).
1956 . . Elvis Presley recorded his first songs as an RCA Victor artist in Nashville. Elvis recorded "Heartbreak Hotel," "I Was the One," "I’m Counting On You," "I Got a Woman" and "Money Honey."
1976 . . Deep Purple split up at the end of thier UK tour. David Coverdale went on to form Whitesnake.
2003 . . George Strait was inducted into the Texas Cowboy Hall of Fame in Fort Worth, TX.
2006 . . An Australian (Northam, nr. Perth) woman will face court today charged with repeatedly stabbing her partner with a pair of scissors in the back, shoulder and thigh because he played Elvis Presley's song "Burning Love" over and over again.
January 11th:
1963 . . The Whiskey-a-Go-G0 nightclub opened in Los Angeles, CA. It is recognized as the first disco in the U.S.
1968 . . The Daily Mirror of London reported that Jimi Hendrix had moved into the London townhouse where George Frederick Handel was believed to have composed "Water Music" and "Messiah."
1985 . . A Brazilian rock Festival held in Rio, claimed to be the biggest ever staged. The festival featured featuring; Queen, Rod Stewart, AC/DC, Whitesnake, Yes and Iron Maiden.
January 12th:
1959 . . Berry Gordy borrowed $800 to found the Motown record empire.
1968 . . The Supremes appeared in an episode of "Tarzan" on NBC-TV. The ladies played a group of nuns.
1981 . . It was reported that the White House had expanded its record library by including albums by Bob Dylan, Kiss and The Sex Pistols.
2005 . . Bob Marley's widow announced her plans to exhume his remains in Jamaica and rebury them in his "spiritual resting place" in Ethiopia.
January 13th:
1854 . . Anthony Faas of Philadelphia, PA, patented the accordion.
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.
1968 . . Dr. K.C. Pollack of the University of Florida audio lab reported that tests found that the noise levels at rock & roll concerts was harmful to teenage ears.
1993 . . Bobby Brown was arrested in Augusta, GA, for simulating a sex act onstage. It was the second time that he had been arrested by the Augusta police department for the same offense.
January 14th:
1966 . . David Jones changed his last name to Bowie to avoid confusion with Davy Jones from the Monkees.
1970 . . Diana Ross made her last appearance with The Supremes at The Frontier Hotel, Las Vegas.
2002 . . Adam Ant was taken to the Royal Free Hospital by police. He was taken under the Mental Health Act which allows doctors to hold Ant for up to 28 days while they assessed his condition. On January 12th Adam had been arrested on firearms offenses.
January 15th:
1965 . . The Who released their first single 'I Can't Explain', with Jimmy Page on guitar and The Ivy League on backing vocals, it went on to reach No.8 on the UK chart.
1967 . . The movie "The Fastest Guitar Alive," with Roy Orbison and Sheb Wooley, premiered in New York City, NY.
1972 . . Elvis Presley reportedly drew the largest audience for a single TV show to that time when he presented a live, worldwide concert from Honolulu, HI.
1991 . . Sean Lennon's remake of his father's "Give Peace A Chance" was released to coincide with the United Nation's midnight deadline for Iraq to withdraw from Kuwait. The lyrics were updated to reflect concerns of the 1990's.
January 16th:
1970 . . John Lennon's London Art gallery exhibit of erotic lithographs, Bag One, was closed by Scotland Yard and eight prints were confiscated as evidence of pornography.
1980 . . Paul McCartney was jailed in Tokyo for possession of a half pound of marijuana. He spent ten days behind bars before being kicked-out of the country by Japanese authorities. The remainder of his tour was canceled.
1987 . . The Beastie Boys became the first act censored on "American Bandstand."
1988 . . Tina Turner gave herself a place in the record books when she performed in front of 182,000 people, the largest audience ever for a single artist, in Rio De Janerio.
January 17th:
1966 - NBC TV bought The Monkees series, placing it on their 1966 autumn schedule.
1967 - The Jimi Hendrix Experience recorded a session for Radio Luxembourg's Ready Steady Radio. The band ran up a bar Bill of £2/5/0d, £2. 5/-, £2.25 or $6.21 , which they were unable to pay.
1969 - Charlie Watts of the Rolling Stones' book, Ode to a High Flying Bird was published. The book was a tribute to Charlie Parker.
1970 - Billy Stewart and three of his band members were killed when their car went out of control and off a bridge over the River Neuse in North Carolina.
1971 - Marvin Gaye sang the U.S. national anthem at SuperBowl V in Miami, FL.
1974 - Dean Martin's son Dino Martin was arrested after attempting to sell two AK-47 machine guns to an undercover agent.
1994 - Donny Osmond took part in a charity boxing match held in Chicago against former Partridge Family member Danny Bonaduce, Donny lost 2-1.
1996 - Pink Floyd was officially inducted into the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame
1997 - Metallica's video "King Nothing" premiered on MTV.
2003 - A long- lost recording featuring John Lennon and Mick Jagger was set to spark a biding war at a London auction. The acetate record was recorded in 1974 with Jagger singing the blues song 'Too Many Cooks' and Lennon playing guitar. The track had never been release because the two artists were both signed to different record companies.
January 18th:
1939 - Louis Armstrong and his orchestra recorded "Jeepers Creepers."
1944 -The first jazz music concert at the New York City Metropolitan Opera House was performed on this date. Appearing on the program were Louis Armstrong, Artie Shaw, Benny Goodman and Lionel Hampton.
1965 - Bobby Darin and Barbra Streisand sang at the presidential inauguration for Lyndon Johnson.
1969 - Pete Best won his defamation suit against the Beatles, but won considerably less than the 8 million dollars was asking for.
1973 - The Rolling Stones' benefit concert raised $200,000 for Nicaraguan earthquake relief and Mick Jagger donated $150,000 more from his own money..
1974 - Ex members from Free, Paul Rodgers & Simon Kirke; Mott The Hoople's Mick Ralphs and Boz Burrell of King Crimson, formed Bad Company.
1978 - Neil Sedaka received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
1987 - Steve Winwood married Eugenia Grafton.
1991 - Three fans were killed during a crush in a crowd during an AC/DC gig in Salt Lake City.
1993 - Elton John resigned his directorship of Watford Football Club.
1996 - Lisa Marie Presley divorced Michael Jackson; they had been married for less than two years.
2001 - Oasis guitarist Noel Gallagher was granted a quick divorce from Meg Matthews at the High Court in London. The couple had split eight months after the birth of their daughter, Anias.
2004 - Jennifer Lopez's divorce from her second husband Cris Judd became final. Lopez and Judd married in 2001. He was expected to get a £8.8 million settlement from the divorce.
January 19th:
1853 - Verdi's opera "Il Trovatore" premiered in Rome.
1957 - Johnny Cash made his first network TV appearance, on CBS' "Jackie Gleason Show."
1957 - Pat Boone sang at Dwight Eisenhower's presidential inauguration ball.
1967 - Pink Floyd and Marmalade played at The Marquee Club, London.
1970 - The soundtrack of the film, Easy Rider, the movie that made a star of Peter Fonda, became a gold record. It was the first pop-culture, film soundtrack to earn the gold award.
1971 - The Beatles White Album was played in the courtroom at the Sharon Tate murder trial to find out if any songs could have influenced Charles Manson and his followers to commit murder. At the scene of one of his gruesome murders, the words "helter skelter" were written on a mirror.
1978 - Johnny Rotten was fired from The Sex Pistols for 'not being weird enough anymore.
1988 - Bon Jovi's and Motley Crue's manager Doc McGheep pleaded guilty to importing more than 40,000lb of marijuana into the US.
1993 - Fleetwood Mac reunited to perform at Bill Clinton's inauguration. The band's "Don't Stop" was used as the theme for his campaign.
1994 - The Band, Rod Stewart,The Animals, The Grateful Dead, Elton John, John Lennon, Bob Marley and Duane Eddy are inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame.
1997 - Madonna won the Best Actress award for 'Evita' at the Golden Globe Awards.
January 20th:
1958 - Elvis Presley got his orders to report to duty from the U.S. Army. He was allowed a 60-day deferment so he could finish the film "King Creole".
1965 - The Rolling Stones and the Kinks made their first appearance on ABC-TV's "Shindig!"
1967 - The Monkees TV show was shown for the first time in the UK.
1973 - Jerry Lee Lewis made his first ever appearance at Nashville's Grand Ole Opry.
1974 - Stevie Wonder played his first show after an auto accident that almost took his life five months earlier.
1982 - During an Ozzy Osbourne concert in Des Moines, Iowa, a member of the audience threw an unconscious bat onto the stage. Thinking it was one of his rubber fakes, Ozzy picked it up and bit off it’s head. The singer was taken to hospital to be given a rabies injection.
1986 - Stevie Wonder, Bob Dylan and other greats appeared at a concert to celebrate the first Martin Luther King Day in the US. President Reagan had granted the request of Stevie Wonder and his fellow campaigners to have Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday celebrated as a national holiday.
1996 - Bobby Brown was fined £560 ($1,000), sentenced to two years probation and ordered to attend anger management classes after assaulting a security guard.
1999 - Stone Temple Pilot/Velvet Revolver's Scott Weiland, was arrested for failing to provide a urine sample to his live-in drug treatment center, while still on probation for a 1997 heroin case.
2003 - 8 Mile, starring Eminem, the story of a Detroit rapper took £4,440,334 at 423 cinemas in the UK and Ireland. It knocked The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers from its four-week position at the top of the UK box office.
January 21st:
1955 - Four versions of one song - Mr. Sandman by Chordettes, Max Bygraves, Dickie Valentine and Four Aces dominate the UK singles chart.
1965 - Over 3,000 screaming fans met Roy Orbison and The Rolling Stones at Sydney Airport when they arrived for a tour in Australia.
1966 - George Harrison and Patricia Anne Boyd were married at Epsom Registry Office. Patty eventually left George Harrison for Eric Clapton.
1970 - Elvis Presley's last film 'Change Of Habit' was released.
1982 - Blues guitarist B.B. King donates his entire record collection, including 7,000 rare blues records (which he played on air when he was a Mississippi DJ in the 40s) to the University of Mississippi's Centre for Study of Southern Culture.
1987 - Bruce Springsteen inducted Roy Orbison into the Rock'n'Roll Hall of Fame and The Coasters, became the first vocal group to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
1989 - Guns N'Roses become first act for six years to have two Top 10 American LPs, with Appetite for Destruction at No. 2 and Guns N'Roses Lies at No. 10
1992 - Billy Idol pleaded guilty to assault and battery charges after an incident outside a West Hollywood restaurant. He was fined $2,700 (£1,588) and ordered to appear in a series of anti-drug commercials.
1991 - The Manic Street Preachers made their UK TV debut on BBC 2's Rapido.
1997 - Dick Griffey files a $6 million lawsuit against Dr. Dre for an alleged breach of contract concerning a business deal in 1991 which would have seen Griffey earning 25% of Dre's income.
2003 - David Palmer, former keyboard player for Jethro Tull changed his name to Dee Palmer after a successful sex change operation. Palmer was the keyboard player for Jethro Tull between 1969 and 1980.
January 22nd:
1959 - Buddy Holly made his last recordings alone with an acoustic guitar and tape recorder.
1960 - Sam Cooke signed a deal with RCA Records.
1962 - Gene Chandler made his TV debut on "American Bandstand."
1965 - The Rolling Stones began a 16-date tour of Australia and New Zealand at the Manufactures' Auditorium in Sydney with Roy Orbison, The Newbeats and Ray Columbus & the Invaders
1967 - The Monkees performed live for the very first time at The Cow Palace, San Francisco to a sell-out crowd.
1967 - Rolling Stones refused to go on to revolving stage which characterised the finale of UK TV show Sunday Night at the London Palladium.
1971 - The Joe Cocker film "Mad Dogs and Englishmen" debuted in London.
1972 - David Bowie 'came out' as bisexual during a Melody Maker interview with reporter Michael Watts
1981 - A picture of John Lennon naked appeared in his obituary issue of Rolling Stone.
1983 - The new 24-hour music video network MTV started broadcasting to the West Coast of America after being picked up by Group W Cable, Los Angeles.
1990 - Viewers complained by the 100's to the ABC-TV after Guns N'Roses guitarist Slash swore numerous times on live television while accepting an American Music Award. The network later apologized.
1992 - Mariah Carey's stepfather went to court seeking damages, claiming that he had paid for her Manhattan apartment, a car and dental work in her early years on the understanding that she would repay him when she became successful.
2003 - Ryan Adams broke a wrist after falling during a gig at the Royal Court Theatre in Liverpool. Adam's fell from the stage and suffered a fractured wrist.

January 23rd:
1956 - Rock 'n' Roll fans under the age of 18 in Cleveland, Ohio, were banned from dancing in public unless they were accompanied by an adult, after Ohio Police introduced a law dating back to 1931.
1964 - Manfred Mann debut on UK chart with 5-4-3-2-1, the theme tune to TV show Ready Steady Go.
1971 - George Harrison became the first solo Beatle to have a No.1 when 'My Sweet Lord' went to the top of the UK single charts. The song stayed at No.1 for five weeks.
1974 - Alvin Stardust made his first live appearance since changing his name from Shane Fenton.
1977 - Patti Smith broke her vertebra when she fell off the stage at a gig in Tampa, Florida.
1979 - Beach Boys Brian Wilson and his wife Marilyn were divorced.
1988 - Tiffany becomes first teenager to top USA LP chart since thirteen-year old Stevie Wonder hit No. 1 in 1963.
1995 - Courtney Love appeared in Australian court on charges of abusing a flight attendant. She admitted to responding with an obscenity when a Quantas flight attendant told her to take her feet down from the airplane cabin wall. Love's sentence was one month of good behavior.
1996 - After several town residents had complained that the band advocated Satan worship, White Zombie were refused permission to stage a show in Johnson City, Tennessee.
2001 - An English coroner criticised the rap singer Eminem's lyrics as depressing at an inquest into the death of a schoolboy who threw himself in front of a train. The 17-year old boy had printed out the lyrics to 'Rock Bottom' before his death.
2005 - One of the biggest charity concerts since Live Aid raised £1.25 million ($2 million) for victims of the tsunami disaster in Asia. The concert held at The Millennium Stadium, Cardiff featured Eric Clapton, Manic Street Preachers, Keane, Charlotte Church, Snow Patrol, Embrace, Feeder, Craig David and Liberty X,
January 24th:
1962 - Brian Epstein signed a management deal with The Beatles. Epstein was to recieve 25% of the bands gross earnings, when the normal management deal then, was 10%.
1969 - Jethro Tull played its first U.S. concert in New York City as the opening act for Led Zeppelin.
1970 - James "Shep" Sheppard of the The Heartbeats and Shep and the Limelites, was found murdered in his car on the Long Island Expressway.
1978 - Workers at EMI's record pressing plant refused to press copies of The Buzzcocks forthcoming release 'What Do I Get' because of the title on the B- side 'Oh Shit'
1981 - Steve Tyler, lead vocals of rock band Aerosmith was hospitalised after being involved in a crash on his motorbike.
1982 - Diana Ross sang the U.S. national anthem at Super Bowl XVI.
1989 - James Brown was sentenced to 6 years in jail for drug and and assault charges.
1992 - The producer of the New Kids on the Block LP "Hangin' Tough"sues for a few million dollars for creative contributions and royalties. claiming that they only sang about 20% of the lyrics. The claim is eventually dropped.
1992 - Nirvana played their first ever show in Australia at the Phoenician Club in Sydney; Tumbleweed and The Meanies were their support band.
2002 - Freddy Fender underwent a kidney transplant. He was released from hospital on January 30th.
January 25th:
1963 - Cilla Black debuted as a vocalist at the Cavern Club in Liverpool.
1970 - John Lennon and Yoko Ono completely shave their heads and declare 1970 as 'Year One'. Their hair is donated to 'Black House', an interracial community centre in North London for auction.
1971 - Grace Slick of Jefferson Airplane gave birth to a daughter, naming her God, she was later re-named China.
1973 - David Bowie leaves for a world cruise on the QE2.
1980 - Paul McCartney was released from a Tokyo jail where he had been imprisoned for nine days after trying to carry a half pound of marijuana through customs at the Tokyo airport.
1984 - Yoko One donated £250,000 ( $375,000) to Liverpool's Strawberry Fields retirement home.
1986 - Norwegian group A-Ha were at No.1 in the UK with 'The Sun Always Shines On TV.' ; becoming the first ever Norwegian act to have a UK No.1.
1987 - Neil Diamond sang the U.S. national anthem at Super Bowl XXI.
1989 - Bobby Brown was arrested for an overtly sexually suggestive performance at his show in Columbus; he was fined $652 under the anti-lewdness ordinance law.
1994 - A woman in Portland, Oregon, sues Markey Mark, claiming that she was trampled during one of his shows after he stripped down to his underwear and invited the crowd to rush the stage.
2001 - Millionaire pop impresario Jonathan King was charged with a further ten offences of sexually abusing children. The charges dated back to the 1970's, King was granted bail.
January 26th:
1966 - Eric Burdon stands in for an ill Paul Jones at a Manfred Mann gig at Marquee Club in London UK.
1970 - Australia's first rock festival "Pilgrimage for Pop" was held at Ourimbah, NSW, with a lineup including Billy Thorpe and The Aztecs and Tully. More than 11,000 attended over the weekend, with 26 arrested for misbehaviour.
1975 - BBC TV's 'Omnibus' shows "Cracked Actor" a film about David Bowie.
1977 - Patti Smith fell off the stage and had to have 22 stitches to her head. She temporarily retired from stage performing.
1977 - Guitar virtuoso Peter Green, Fleetwood Mac's first lead guitar player, was committed to a mental hospital in England. He had fired a pistol in the general direction of a delivery boy. The depressive, Peter had left the band in May of 1970.
1979 - Bob Dylan forms his own record label, Accomplice.
1991 - Cher made a special video for the troops involved in Desert Storm during the gulf war. Cher's Video Canteen, featured Janet Jackson, Paul Simon, Van Halen and Bonnie Raitt.
1997 - ZZ Top, James Brown and the Blues Brothers performed at the Super Bowl XXXI halftime show.
1999 - The National Transportation Safety Board concluded that John Denver died in a 1997 airplane crash because he took off with too little fuel in one tank, had trouble switching to his backup tank and inadvertently put his plane into a roll while his attention was diverted.
2003 - Billy Joel was hospitalized over night after crashing his car into a tree in Sag Harbor, NY.
January 27th:
1958 - Little Richard entered Oakwood College in Huntsville, AL. This was after he announced that he was giving up rock & roll so he could serve God.
1964 - The Rolling Stones appeared as judges on the British TV pop show "Juke Box Jury."
1968 - The Bee Gees play their first American gig at California's Anaheim Convention Center, making $50,000.
1971 - David Bowie arrived for his first visit to the U.S. He did not perform, but received a lot of publicity for wearing dresses in Texas and Louisiana.
1976 - David Bowie sues his former attorney, alleging that Michael Lippan took a 15 percent agent's fee instead of the customary 10 percent. Bowie's suit also claims that after his dismissal, Lippan withheld $475,000 in earnings from the singer.
1984 - Michael Jackson injured while filming for Pepsi advert.
1984 - Madonna made her first appearance in the UK when she appeared on C4 TV music programme The Tube performing 'Holiday'.
1993 - After controversy over Ice-T's song, "Cop Killer.", Warner Brothers Records announces that it is releasing him from his contract due to "creative differences".
1998 - James Brown was charged with possession of marijuana and unlawful use of a firearm after police were called to his South Carolina home. Brown later clamed the drugs were used to help his 'eyesight.'
2003 - Former S Club 7 singer Rachel Stevens signed a £1m solo deal with Polydor records.
2005 - R.E.M. are forced to cancel a gig for the first time since 1995 when their crew and gear is held at the Estonian/Russia border. The band were due to play St. Petersburg.
January 28th:
1954 . . The film "The Glenn Miller Story" , starring James Stewart as Glenn, opens in London.
1965 . . The Who made their first appearance on the British TV, on the rock show "Ready Steady Go!"
1967 - Brian Poole leaves the Tremeloes.
1968 - The Who are escorted from a plane for misbehaving and 'making the hostesses cry' on tour in Australia.
1978 - At the request of a fan, Ted Nugent autographed a man's arm with a bowie knife.
1980 - The original Ants split up with Adam.
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.
1990 - Aaron Neville sang the U.S. national anthem at Super Bowl XXIV.
1995 - Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page turned up at a Black Crowes show in London. Page plays with the band in Paris on February 4 and in 1999 they both embark on a world tour that ends when Page put out his back.
1996 - Chris Isaak made a guest appearance on the NBC TV show "Friends."
1999 - Pat Boone formed the Gold Records label, which only signed artists 45 years old and up. The first perfomer signed was Jack Jones.
2004 - Elvis Presley fans expressed their anger at plans to cut up a rare tape of the Elvis's early songs and sell the snippets at auction. The tape featured a recording made by Presley during the early 1950s and 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.
January 29th:
1962 - Peter, Paul and Mary sign with Warner Brothers
1965 - P.J. Proby split his trousers on stage while performing in London. Proby was quick to incorporate the unexpected exposure into his stage routine, but he was later banned from the ABC Theatre chain.
1967 - At the British variety TV show, comedians Peter Cook and Dudley Moore appear with paper cut-outs of the Rolling Stones to wave at the audience from the revolving stage of the Sunday Night at the London Palladium. The gag referred to the Rolling Stones refusal to take part in the traditional farewell during their appearance the week before.
1967 - The Who and Jimi Hendrix play tribute concert to Brian Epstein at Marquee Club.
1967 - The Grateful Deads earliest major performances at the Mantra-Rock Dance at the Avalon Ballroom by the San Francisco Hare Krishna temple. The Grateful Dead performed at the event along with the Hare Krishna founder Bhaktivedanta Swami, poet Allen Ginsberg, bands Moby Grape and Big Brother and the Holding Company with Janis Joplin, donating proceeds to the Krishna temple.
1969 - The "Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour" debuted on CBS-TV.
1978 - David Coverdale formed Whitesnake .
1979 - Emerson, Lake and Palmer disband following financially disastrous tour of America.
1982 - Gary Numan made a forced landing at an RAF base outside Southampton after running low on fuel; he was flying back from Cannes, France. The press ran stories that he had in fact crash landed on the A3057.
1989 - Billy Joel sang the U.S. national anthem at Super Bowl XXIII.
1994 - Mary Wilson, formerly with the Supremes, was injured when her jeep hit a freeway median and flipped over while driving outside of Los Angeles. Tragically her 14-year old son was killed in the accident.
1999 - Hole are among the performers at the Big Day Out festival in Adelaide, Australia. However, their set is cut short when Courtney Love shouted, "An Australian bug just bit me really hard. I'm not joking. I'm gonna die. What f*cking bug was that? Oh my God, it was a bug and it was this big. What kind of bugs do you have here? I'm scared. If I die, you guys have our last show."
2002 - Madonna and her daughter, Lourdes, went to the opening of an exhibition by fashion photographer Mario Testino at the National Portrait Gallery in London.
January 30th:
1956 - Jerry Lee Lewis played piano for Billy Lee Riley's recording of "Red Hot."
1961 - Songwriters Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, who have penned hits like "Spanish Harlem" for the Drifters, announce they are forming their own independent production company.
1969 - Beatles film and record 'Get Back' on the roof of the Apple Building in Baker Street, London. It lasted for just over 40 minutes and was the last time The Beatles as a band performed live together.
1972 - Paul McCartney wrote and recorded his protest song 'Give Ireland Back To The Irish' within 24 hours of Bloody Sunday, when 13 Catholics were killed by British paratroopers.
1974 - Greg Lake arrested for swimming nude in a Salt Lake City hotel pool, clearly visible from the street.
1988 - During a court case involving Holly Johnson and ZTT Records it was revealed that Frankie Goes To Hollywood had not played on their hits 'Relax' and 'Two Tribes'. The court was told that top session musicians were used to make the records.
1990 - Bob Dylan is honoured in France and becomes a commander in the Order of Arts and Letters.
1994 - Natalie Cole sang the U.S. national anthem at Super Bowl XXVIII.
2002 - The musical "Taboo" opened at London's Leicester Square. The musical follows the life of Boy George.
2004 - In the U.K., Virgin Megastores report that John Lydon's role on the TV game show I'm a Celebrity ... Get Me Out of Here has bumped sales of the Sex Pistols' Never Mind the Bollocks album up 20%.
January 31st:
1957 - Decca Records announced that Bill Haley & His Comets, 'Rock Around The Clock' had sold over a million copies in the UK, mostly on 10inch 78's.
1969 - Bobby Darin walked off the set of the "Jackie Gleason Show" when he was not allowed to sing "Long Line Rider."
1970 - the Greatful Dead were busted in New Orleans, LA, when the local police raided their hotel on Bourbon Street in the French Quarter, and arrested and charged 19 people with possession of various drugs.for possession of LSD and barbituates. This event is alleged to be the inspiration for their song "Truckin."
1971 - Aretha Franklin sings memorial song at the funeral of Mahalia Jackson.
1972 - Joan Baez awarded gold record for three-year-old LP Any Day Now, an LP of Bob Dylan songs.
1974 - Linda McCartney became the only person to have both taken a photo, and to have been photographed, for the front cover of the Rolling Stone magazine, when today Linda and Paul McCartney appeared on the cover of the magazine. A few years earlier an Eric Clapton photo of Linda's had been used for the R.S. cover.
1976 - UK Music weekly Sounds readers Poll Winners voted; best album 'A Night At The Opera', Queen; Best single 'Bohemian Rhapsody', Queen; and best band Queen.
1986 - "Down and Out in Beverly Hills" opened co-starring Little Richard.
1988 - Herb Alpert performed the U.S. national anthem at Super Bowl XXII.
1990 - The Stone Roses were granted conditional bail by Wolverhampton Magistrates court after the band had trashed their record company's offices.
1998 - The "Come Together" benefit concert was held in New Jersey. The benefit was for the family of Sgt. Patrick King, a police officer in Long Branch, NJ, who was killed in the line of duty in 1997.
1999 - Cher sang the U.S. national anthem at Super Bowl XXXIII.
2003 - Robbie Williams topped a chart based on UK album sales from the past 5 years. The ex Take That singer had sold 9.7 million albums in Britain, an average of more than 5,000 every day.

DAY BY DAY MUSIC TRIVIA
JAN / FEB / MARCH / APRIL / MAY / JUNE / JULY / AUGUST / SEPT / OCT / NOV / DEC

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