January 29th: On this Day In Music History

 

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.

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.' 1971, Deep Purple kicked of a 21 date UK tour at Leeds Town Hall, Yorkshire. 1972, the triple album 'The Concert For Bangla Desh' 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. 1980, gigs around the UK; The Clash appeared at St Georges Hall, Bradford, The Pretenders appeared at The Locarno, Portsmouth and Dexy's Midnight Runners appeared at The City Hall, Perth, Scotland. 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, Stevie Nicks from Fleetwood Mac married Kim Anderson a Warner Brothers Records promotion man. 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. 1990, touring the UK; Faith No More appeared at Edinburgh Network, The Psychedelic Furs and The Fat Lady Sings appeared at Liverpool's Royal Court and Erasure appeared at London Dockland's Arena. 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, 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, (1962 US No.1 & UK No.2 single 'Stranger On The Shore'). 1933, Born on this day, French singer and guitarist Sacha Distel. 1970 UK No.10 single 'Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head.' Died after a long battle with deteriorating health on 22nd July 2004. 1938, Born on this day, James Jamerson, bass played, The Funk Brothers, died of a heart attack 2nd August 1983 aged 45. Played on many Motown hits by The Temptations, Marvin Gaye, The Four Tops, Martha And The Vandellas. 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. 1943, Born on this day, Mark Wynter, UK singer, (1962 UK No.4 single 'Venus In Blue Jeans'). 1944, Born on this day, Andrew Loog Oldham, the first Rolling Stones manager. Oldham launched the Immediate label in 1965 which enjoyed 24 UK Top 50 hits. 1947, Born on this day, David Byron, singer, Uriah Heep, (1975 UK No.7 album 'Return To Fantasy'). Byron died on 28th February 1985. 1952, Born on this day, Thomas Erdelyi, (Tommy Ramone), drums, The Ramones, (1977 UK No.22 single 'Sheena Is A Punk Rocker'). 1953, Born on this day, Louie Perez, Los Lobos, (1987 UK & US No.1 single 'La Bamba'). 1954, Born on this day, Rob Manzoli, Right Said Fred, (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, drums, James, (1991 UK No.2 single 'Sit Down'). 1961, Born on this day, Eddie Jackson, Queensryche, (1992 UK No.18 single 'Silent Lucidity'). 1961, Born on this day, Pauline Henry, singer. (1993 UK solo No.12 single with Bad Company song 'Feel Like Making Love', 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, Living In A Box, (1987 UK No.5 single 'Living In A Box'). 1964, Born on this day, Roddy Frame, guitarist, singer, songwriter, Aztec Camera, (1988 UK No.3 single 'Somewhere In My Heart'). 1968, Born on this day, Richard Battersby, drums, The Wildhearts, (1996 UK No.14 single 'Sick Of Drugs').  Died on this day 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. 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.

_