Rock History January 16
1964, The Dave Clark Five were at number one on the singles chart with “Glad All Over,” the group’s only chart topper.
1964, The Beatles played two shows at the Olympia Theatre, Paris, France, the first of an 18-night engagement. The first show was attended mostly by Paris’ top society members, all dressed in formal evening attire. The French press had little good to say about The Beatles in the next day’s papers, but The Beatles didn’t care, because they’d just received news that their single “I Want to Hold Your Hand” had hit number one in the US, selling 10,000 copies an hour in New York City alone.
1965, The Beatles played the last of a 16-night run billed as “Another Beatles’ Christmas Show” that had started on January 1st at the Hammersmith Odeon in London.
1965, “Come See About Me” by The Supremes knocks the Beatles’ “I Feel Fine” off the number one spot on the singles chart.
1967, Pink Floyd performs at The Clubroom at the Institute of Contemporary Arts, Mayfair, London. This was the first time that rock music was permitted at the Institute.
1969, Jimi Hendrix played at Die Meistersingerhalle in Nuremberg, Germany.
1969, Fleetwood Mac, Creedence Clearwater Revival and Albert Collins all appeared at the Fillmore West, San Francisco, California.
1969, Marmalade were at number one on the UK singles chart with their version of The Beatles song “Ob-La-Di Ob-La-Da.”
1970, Two days after it opened, the Bag One Gallery in London, England was raided by Scotland Yard. The police remove eight John Lennon lithographs under the Obscene Publications Act.
1970, The Who performed at the Champs Elysees Theater in Paris.
1971, Neil Young played at the Auditorium Theatre in Chicago.
1972, Genesis appeared at the Charleroi Festival, Arlon, Belgium.
1973, Bruce Springsteen appeared at Villanova University, Philadelphia to an audience of 25 people.
1974, The New Seekers were at number one on the UK singles chart with their second and final UK chart topping single “You Won’t Find Another Fool Like Me.”
1975, The Eric Burdon Band played at the Mid-South Coliseum, Memphis, Tennessee.
1976, Peter Frampton’s double-length Frampton Comes Alive! is released. Rolling Stone proclaims the disc to be “a synthesis of the best third-generation British rock styles.”
1977, Rush played at Expo Square Pavilion, Tulsa, Oklahoma.
1977, David Soul, half of the TV cop show Starsky & Hutch, went to number one on the UK singles chart with “Don’t Give Up On Us.” It was also a number one in the US.
1978, Sex Pistol, Sid Vicious fell through a glass door at a San Francisco hotel, took a drug overdose and was rushed to hospital.
1979, Cher and Greg Allman are divorced.
1980, The Allman Brothers Band performed at Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire.
1984, Paul and Linda McCartney were arrested in Barbados for drug possession and were each fined $200 (£117.)
1985, David Bowie’s schizophrenic half-brother Terry Burnes killed himself after laying down on the railway lines at Coulsdon South station, London. He was killed instantly by a passing train. He was 47.
1988, 24 years after The Beatles first topped the chart, George Harrison went to number one on the US singles chart with “Got My Mind Set On You,”an old favorite of George’s that was originally recorded by James Ray in 1962. In the UK, the song spent four weeks in the second spot.
1988, George Michael went to number one on the US album charts with his debut solo album Faith. It went on to sell over 8 million copies.
1989, Michael Jackson played the first of five nights at the Memorial Sports Arena in Los Angeles, California. These were the last shows on the singers Bad World Tour. Jackson donated more than $1 million of the final concert’s takings to an organization fighting child cruelty.
1992, Eric Clapton recorded his unplugged session for MTV. The set which included his current hit single “Tears in Heaven” and a reworked acoustic version of ‘Layla’, earned six Grammy Awards for the album including Record of the Year.
2000, Coasters singer Will Jones died aged 71. The band had the 1958 US number one single “Yakety Yak,” and the 1959 US number 2/UK number 6 single “Charlie Brown.”
2000, It was reported that Mick Jagger had lost the chance of a knighthood because of his errant ways, British Prime Minister Tony Blair having doubts about the message it would give about family values. This decision was changed and on December 12, 2003, Mick Jagger was made a Knight Bachelor by The Prince of Wales for services to music, as Sir Michael Jagger.
2000, The Manic Street Preachers went to number one on the UK singles chart with “The Masses Against The Classes,” the band’s second UK chart topping single. A limited release, the single which was deleted on the day of issue.
2005, The Elvis Presley single “One Night” made chart history by becoming the 1,000th UK number one. Elvis, who led the previous week’s chart with “Jailhouse Rock,” had now scored more number one UK hits than any other artist with 20 number ones, beating The Beatles’ 17 chart toppers.
2005, The Killers started a two week run at number one on the UK charts with their debut album Hot Fuss. The Las Vegas band also entered the UK singles chart at number three with “Somebody Told Me.” Green Day were at number one on the US album chart with American Idiot.
2008, Radiohead were forced to abandon an intimate gig at Rough Trade East records in London after police raised safety fears. The band moved the gig to a nearby club after over 1,500 fans turned up after the event was announced in the morning promising tickets to the first 200 fans.
Born on January 16: Bob Bogle, The Ventures (1937); William Francis, Dr. Hook & the Medicine Show (1942); Ronnie Milsap (1946); Helen Folasade Adu, aka Sade (1959); Paul Webb, Talk Talk (1962); Brendan O’Hare, Teenage Fanclub (1970)
Read more Today in Rock History .
Bruce Springsteen, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Dave Clark Five, Eric Burdon, Fleetwood Mac, Genesis, Greg Allman, John Lennon, Mick Jagger, Neil Young, Peter Frampton, Rush, The Allman Brothers Band, The New Seekers, The Sex Pistols, The Who.
