1967, Jimi Hendrix performed at Haverstock Hill Country Club in London.
1967, The Monkees TV show was shown for the first time in the UK.
1968, Fleetwood Mac, The Move, The Crazy World Of Arthur Brown and Fairport Convention all appeared at the Roundhouse Chalk Farm in London.
1968, The Who play at Festival Hall in Brisbane, Queensland. The performances go over well with the audience but gets belittled in the next day’s press. “The Who were guilty of playing down to the yokels.” The tone of the press coverage is only to get worse. On the same day, back in England, New Musical Express reports that “Glow Girl” will be The Who’s next single. Pete Townshend mentions “Little Billy,” written for the American Cancer Society and, probably referencing “Faith In Something Bigger,” says he wants The Who to “preach” on their next album.
1968, Having been in seclusion since his 1966 motorcycle accident, Bob Dylan tries to build bridges with the folk community he left behind by going “electric.” He and the Band perform at a Carnegie Hall tribute to Woody Guthrie, sharing a bill with Pete Seeger, Judy Collins, Arlo Guthrie, Richie Havens, Odetta, and Ramblin’ Jack Elliott.
1968, One hit wonders John Fred and the Playboy Band started a two week run at number one on the US singles chart with “Judy In Disguise, (With Glasses.”) The song reached the third spot in the UK. It was inspired by The Beatles “Lucy In The Sky.”
1968, Buffalo Springfield played at Whittier High School, Whittier, California.
1968, The Grateful Dead performed at the Municipal Auditorium in Eureka, California.
1969, Bruce Springsteen had two of his poems published in the Ocean County College Literary Yearbook Seascapes. Springsteen was in his second semester at the Toms River, New Jersey College.
1970, The Allman Brothers Band played at the University of California Riverside in Riverside, California,
1970, Led Zeppelin appeared at Leeds Town Hall, England.
1970, John Lennon and Yoko Ono both cut their hair off in Denmark and declare it to be Year One.
1971, Chicago and The Chamber Brothers appeared at The Warehouse in New Orleans, Louisiana.
1972, on the first date of a UK tour, Pink Floyd premiered their new album Dark Side Of The Moon at The Dome, Brighton, England. Due to technical problems this was abandoned after the track “Money.”
1973, Rock ‘n’ roll wild man Jerry Lee Lewis performs at the Grand Ole Opry for the first time. The Opry officials ask him to play only country music and refrain from using any obscenities. However, “The Killer” plays “Great Balls of Fire” and “Whole Lot of Shakin’ Going On,” before exclaiming, “I am the rock ‘n’ rollin’, country and western, rhythm and blues singin’ motherfucker.”
1973, Bob Dylan begins recording in Mexico City the soundtrack to Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid, a Western starring Kris Kristofferson, James Coburn, and himself.
1974, Genesis performed at the Drury Lane Theatre, London on the Selling England By The Pound tour.
1975, The US Top Five singles: number five, Stevie Wonder, “Boogie On Reggae Woman,” number four, Ohio Players, “Fire,” number three, Barry Manilow, “Mandy,” second, Neil Sedaka, “Laughter In The Rain,” and at number one, The Carpenters with “Please Mr Postman.”
1977, Foghat appeared at the Omni Coliseum, Atlanta.
1978, The Fleetwood Mac album Rumours went to number one on the UK album chart, also a number one in the US for thirty weeks in 1977. The album went on to sell over 15 million copies world- wide, and spent over 440 weeks on the UK chart.
1980, Aerosmith played at the Cumberland County Civic Center, Portland, Maine.
1981, Bruce Springsteen performed at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto.
1982, During an Ozzy Osbourne concert in Des Moines, Iowa, a member of the audience threw a bat onto the stage. Stunned by the light, the bat lay motionless, and thinking it was a rubber fake, the singer picked it up and attempted to bite its head off. As he did this, the bat started to flap its wings and Ozzy soon realized it wasn’t fake but in fact a living thing. After the show Ozzy was immediately rushed to the nearest hospital for rabies shots.
1983, Def Leppard released their third studio album Pyromania which featured new guitarist Phil Collen and was produced by Robert John “Mutt” Lange. The album has now sold over 10 million copies in the US.
1985, Foreigner had their only UK number one single with “I Want To Know What Love Is.” London-born Mick Jones wrote the song.
1986, Stevie Wonder and Bob Dylan appeared at a concert to celebrate the first Martin Luther King day in the US.
1988, The Beatles were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. George Harrison, Ringo Starr, and Yoko, Sean, and Julian Lennon all attend. Paul McCartney does not attend, sending instead a letter stating that continuing business differences with the other ex-Beatles was the reason for his absence.
1997, Ben and Jerry’s introduced Phish Food, a new flavor of ice cream named after the Vermont based rock group Phish. The ingredients were chocolate ice cream, marshmallows, caramel and fish-shaped fudge.
1999, Bill Albaugh drummer from the 1960’s psychedelic group The Lemon Pipers died aged 53. The Lemon Pipers scored the 1967 US number one single “Green Tambourine.”
2001, A memorial service was held for Kirsty MacColl who was killed in a boating accident off the coast of Mexico in December 2000. Bono from U2 and Billy Bragg were among friends and fans that packed St Martin-in-the-fields church in London.
2002, George Harrison had the posthumous UK number one single with the re-release of the 1971 former chart topper “My Sweet Lord.” Harrison’s single replaced Aaliyah’s “More Than A Woman,” the only time in chart history that one deceased artist had taken over from another at the top spot.
2012, Etta James, most often remembered for her signature song “At Last,” which reached the second spot on the Billboard R&B chart, died from complications of leukemia at the age of 73. She also placed nine other songs in the American Top 40, won three Grammy Awards, and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993.
Born on January 20: Leadbelly (1889); Slim Whitman, country singer (1924); Ron Townson, The Fifth Dimension (1933); Billy Powell, vocals, The O’Jays, (1942); Rick Evans, Zager & Evans (1943); Eric Stewart, Mindenders, Hotlegs, 10cc (1946); Paul Stanley, guitar, vocals, KISS (1950); Ian Hill, bass, Judas Priest (1952); Greg Kreisel, aka Greg K, bass, The Offspring (1965); Nicholas Allen Jones, Manic Street Preachers (1969); Gary Barlow, vocals, piano, songwriter, Take That (1971); Questlove, drummer, DJ, and producer The Roots, Soulquarians (1971); Rob Bourdon, drums, Linkin Park (1979); Nathan Connolly, Snow Patrol (1981)
