TODAY IN HISTORY – January 15th
1926: Chuck Berry was born.
1946 - Born on this day, singer songwriter Bobby Bloom who had the 1970 US No.8 & UK No.3 single 'Montego Bay'. Bloom suffered from depression towards the end of his life. Bloom died on February 28, 1974, at the age of 28 after he apparently shot himself while cleaning his gun.
1947: Songwriter and producer Pete Waterman was born. His company "Stock, Aitken, Waterman" wrote and produced artists like Jason Donovan, Kylie Minogue, Mel & Kim, and Donna Summer.
1948 - Born on this day, Ronnie Van Zant, vocalist with Lynyrd Skynyrd who had the 1974 US #8 single 'Sweet Home Alabama' and the 1982 UK #21 single 'Freebird'. Van Zant died in a plane crash between shows from Greenville, South Carolina to Baton Rouge, Louisiana on October 20th 1977 along with bandmates Steve Gaines and Cassie Gaines. Remaining band members survived, although all were seriously injured
1951 – Born this day, Martha Davis, of the band The Motels, famous for the hit song “Only the Lonely”.
1958 - The Everly Brothers made their debut on British TV appearing on The Perry Como Show.
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 – Ed Sullivan told the Rolling Stones to change the lyrics and the title to the song “Let’s Spend the Night Together”, or not appear on his show. The Stones gave in changing the tune to “Let’s Spend some time together”.
1969 - George Harrison had a five-hour meeting with John, Paul and Ringo where he made it clear that he was fully prepared to quit The Beatles for good. Harrison wasn't happy with plans for live performances and the current Let It Be film project.
1971 – George Harrison released “My Sweet Lord”.
1972 – Don McLean’s “American Pie” started a 4 week run at the top of the US singles chart.
1972 - Led Zeppelin's 'Black Dog' made its debut on the US singles chart. The group's third single peaked at No.15 and spent 8 weeks on the chart. The song's title is a reference to a nameless, black Labrador retriever that wandered around the Headley Grange studios during recording.
1976 - Pink Floyd’s Wish You Were Here was on the UK album chart. The album's packaging, designed by Storm Thorgerson, featured an opaque black sleeve inside which was hidden the album artwork. Thorgerson had noted that, in the US, Roxy Music's Country Life was sold in an opaque green cellophane sleeve - censoring the cover image - and he adopted the idea, concealing the artwork for Wish You Were Here in a dark-coloured shrink-wrap (making the album art 'absent').
1977 – Actor David Soul (Hutch from “Starskey and Hutch”) had the first of his 2 UK number 1 hits with “Don’t give up on us”.
1977 – Leo Sayer was number 1 on the US singles chart with “You make me feel like dancing” and the Eagles were number 1 on the US album chart with “Hotel California”.
1982 – Harry Casey of KC and The Sunshine Band was seriously injured in a head on car crash. It took him over a year to recover.
1982 - The Police kicked off the North American leg of their 119-date Ghost In The Machine world tour at Boston Garden, Boston, Massachusetts, supported by The Go-Go's.
1983 - Men At Work started a four week run at No.1 in the US singles chart with 'Down Under' the Australian act group's second US No.1, also a No.1 in the UK.
1983 - Phil Collins had his first UK No.1 single with his version of 'You Can't Hurry Love,' a hit for The Supremes in 1966. Collins' version was the first track on the very first Now That's What I Call Music CD.
1990 - Bruce Springsteen announced that his girlfriend and backup singer, Patti Scalfia, was pregnant.
1991 - Sean Lennon's updated version of his father John's 'Give Peace A Chance' was released to coincide with the United Nation's midnight deadline for Iraq to withdraw from Kuwait.
1992 - Dee Murray bass player with the Elton John band died after suffering a stroke aged 45. He first appeared with Elton on the 1970 album Tumbleweed Connection and the milestone albums Goodbye Yellow Brick Road and Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy.
1994 - American singer songwriter Harry Nilsson died in his sleep of heart failure after spending the previous day in the recording studio. He recorded 'Everybody's Talkin' from the film 'Midnight Cowboy' and wrote hits for Three Dog Night and The Monkees. Had the UK & US No.1 single with his version of Badfinger Evans & Ham song 'Without You.' When John Lennon and Paul McCartney held a press conference in 1968 to announce the formation of Apple Corps, John was asked to name his favorite American artist. He replied, "Nilsson". Paul was then asked to name his favorite American group. He replied, "Nilsson".
2002 – 1980’s pop legend Adam Ant was admitted to a mental ward 24 hours after being charged by police with pulling a gun on staff in a London pub.
2006 - James Blunt was at No.1 on the UK album chart with his debut album and biggest selling UK album of 2005 'Back To Bedlam.'
2008 - Ronnie Wood was recovering following an operation for a hernia after he sustained the injury during the band's recent Bigger Bang tour. The 60-year-old Rolling Stones guitarist was told to rest for two months after the procedure.
1926: Chuck Berry was born.
1946 - Born on this day, singer songwriter Bobby Bloom who had the 1970 US No.8 & UK No.3 single 'Montego Bay'. Bloom suffered from depression towards the end of his life. Bloom died on February 28, 1974, at the age of 28 after he apparently shot himself while cleaning his gun.
1947: Songwriter and producer Pete Waterman was born. His company "Stock, Aitken, Waterman" wrote and produced artists like Jason Donovan, Kylie Minogue, Mel & Kim, and Donna Summer.
1948 - Born on this day, Ronnie Van Zant, vocalist with Lynyrd Skynyrd who had the 1974 US #8 single 'Sweet Home Alabama' and the 1982 UK #21 single 'Freebird'. Van Zant died in a plane crash between shows from Greenville, South Carolina to Baton Rouge, Louisiana on October 20th 1977 along with bandmates Steve Gaines and Cassie Gaines. Remaining band members survived, although all were seriously injured
1951 – Born this day, Martha Davis, of the band The Motels, famous for the hit song “Only the Lonely”.
1958 - The Everly Brothers made their debut on British TV appearing on The Perry Como Show.
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 – Ed Sullivan told the Rolling Stones to change the lyrics and the title to the song “Let’s Spend the Night Together”, or not appear on his show. The Stones gave in changing the tune to “Let’s Spend some time together”.
1969 - George Harrison had a five-hour meeting with John, Paul and Ringo where he made it clear that he was fully prepared to quit The Beatles for good. Harrison wasn't happy with plans for live performances and the current Let It Be film project.
1971 – George Harrison released “My Sweet Lord”.
1972 – Don McLean’s “American Pie” started a 4 week run at the top of the US singles chart.
1972 - Led Zeppelin's 'Black Dog' made its debut on the US singles chart. The group's third single peaked at No.15 and spent 8 weeks on the chart. The song's title is a reference to a nameless, black Labrador retriever that wandered around the Headley Grange studios during recording.
1976 - Pink Floyd’s Wish You Were Here was on the UK album chart. The album's packaging, designed by Storm Thorgerson, featured an opaque black sleeve inside which was hidden the album artwork. Thorgerson had noted that, in the US, Roxy Music's Country Life was sold in an opaque green cellophane sleeve - censoring the cover image - and he adopted the idea, concealing the artwork for Wish You Were Here in a dark-coloured shrink-wrap (making the album art 'absent').
1977 – Actor David Soul (Hutch from “Starskey and Hutch”) had the first of his 2 UK number 1 hits with “Don’t give up on us”.
1977 – Leo Sayer was number 1 on the US singles chart with “You make me feel like dancing” and the Eagles were number 1 on the US album chart with “Hotel California”.
1982 – Harry Casey of KC and The Sunshine Band was seriously injured in a head on car crash. It took him over a year to recover.
1982 - The Police kicked off the North American leg of their 119-date Ghost In The Machine world tour at Boston Garden, Boston, Massachusetts, supported by The Go-Go's.
1983 - Men At Work started a four week run at No.1 in the US singles chart with 'Down Under' the Australian act group's second US No.1, also a No.1 in the UK.
1983 - Phil Collins had his first UK No.1 single with his version of 'You Can't Hurry Love,' a hit for The Supremes in 1966. Collins' version was the first track on the very first Now That's What I Call Music CD.
1990 - Bruce Springsteen announced that his girlfriend and backup singer, Patti Scalfia, was pregnant.
1991 - Sean Lennon's updated version of his father John's 'Give Peace A Chance' was released to coincide with the United Nation's midnight deadline for Iraq to withdraw from Kuwait.
1992 - Dee Murray bass player with the Elton John band died after suffering a stroke aged 45. He first appeared with Elton on the 1970 album Tumbleweed Connection and the milestone albums Goodbye Yellow Brick Road and Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy.
1994 - American singer songwriter Harry Nilsson died in his sleep of heart failure after spending the previous day in the recording studio. He recorded 'Everybody's Talkin' from the film 'Midnight Cowboy' and wrote hits for Three Dog Night and The Monkees. Had the UK & US No.1 single with his version of Badfinger Evans & Ham song 'Without You.' When John Lennon and Paul McCartney held a press conference in 1968 to announce the formation of Apple Corps, John was asked to name his favorite American artist. He replied, "Nilsson". Paul was then asked to name his favorite American group. He replied, "Nilsson".
2002 – 1980’s pop legend Adam Ant was admitted to a mental ward 24 hours after being charged by police with pulling a gun on staff in a London pub.
2006 - James Blunt was at No.1 on the UK album chart with his debut album and biggest selling UK album of 2005 'Back To Bedlam.'
2008 - Ronnie Wood was recovering following an operation for a hernia after he sustained the injury during the band's recent Bigger Bang tour. The 60-year-old Rolling Stones guitarist was told to rest for two months after the procedure.