TODAY IN HISTORY – JANUARY 6th
1944 - Born this day, Van McCoy, 1975 US No.1 and UK No.3 single The Hustle. Died 6 July 1979 aged 38.
1946 - Born this day, [Roger] Syd Barrett, musician, guitar, singer. (solo: LPs: The Madcap Laughs, Barrett [1970]; group: Pink Floyd: Baby Lemonade, Effervescing Elephants, Golden Hair, She Took a Long Cold Look). A Pink Floyd original member, he left in 1968.
1953 - Born this day, Malcolm Young, musician, guitar, AC/DC, 1980 UK No.36 single Whole Lotta Rosie, Let There Be Rock, Powerage, Highway to Hell, 1980 UK No.1 and US No.14 album Back in Black sold over 10 million copies, Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap, For Those About to Rock, Fly on the Wall, Who Made Who, Blow Up Your Video.
1955 - Born this day, Trudie Styler, in Birmingham, England, actress (she has been in films such as Fair Game and Grave Indiscretion), was executive producer of the Guy Richie films Lock Stock and 2 Smoking Barrels and Snatch. However she is best known for being married to Sting.
1956 - Bill Haley's Rock Around The Clock went to No.1 on the UK singles chart for the second time.
1957 - Elvis Presley appeared for the third, and final time on The Ed Sullivan Show on CBS-TV. Ed, watching out for the moral safety of the viewing public (plus a live audience of screaming Elvis fans in the show’s New York theatre), demanded that the CBS cameras not venture lower than Elvis’ waist! Sullivan felt that Presley’s wild gyrations of his pelvis would lead the nation’s females into a frenzy of untold proportions.
1958 - Gibson guitars launched it' 'Flying V' electric guitar. Guitarists who played a Flying V include, Albert Collins, Jimi Hendrix, Marc Bolan and Billy Gibbons from ZZ Top.
1959 - Born on this day, Kathy Sledge, singer, Sister Sledge, (1979 US No.2 single 'We Are Family', 1985 UK No.1 'Frankie').
1968 - The Beatles Magical Mystery Tour started an eight week run at No.1 on the US album chart, the groups 11th US chart topper.
1968 - Irish singer Val Doonican was at No.1 on the UK album chart with 'Val Doonican Rocks, But Gently'.
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.
1979 - Soul Man recorded by comedians John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd as the fictitious singing team, The Blues Brothers, debuted on Billboard's pop charts. The Blues Brothers had originally been created for TV's Saturday Night Live, and had been so popular that it prompted several records and a movie with Jake and Elwood Blues. Soul Man peaked at Number 14 on the charts.
1979 - The Bee Gees started a two week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with Too Much Heaven, the groups 7th US No.1.
1979 - The Village People scored their only UK No.1 single with Y.M.C.A. At it's peak the single was selling 150,000 copies a day.
1986 - Born on this day, Alex Turner, guitar, vocals, Arctic Monkeys, (2005, UK No.1 single 'I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor', 2006 UK No.1 album 'Whatever People Say I Am That's What I'm Not').
1987 - Elton John canceled all live performances for a year after throat surgery.
1989 - The biggest selling UK album artists of 1988 were, No.5, Dire Straits, No.4, U2, No.3, Michael Jackson, No.2, Kylie Minogue and No.1, Fleetwood Mac.
1990 - Phil Collins started a three week run at No.1 on the US album chart with ...But Seriously.
1993 - It was reported that David Bowie had lost over £2.5 million in unpaid royalties to an Italian Mafia linked bootleg fraud.
1996 - James Brown's wife Adrienne died in a Los Angeles hospital aged 47 after suffering a heart attack during a major plastic surgery operation.
2001 - Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour won the right to his dot com name. Dave took legal action in his battle to reclaim davidgilmour.com from Andrew Herman who had registered the URL and was selling Pink Floyd merchandise through the site.
2006 - American soul, jazz, singer Lou Rawls died at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. The 72-year-old, Grammy-winning artist had been battling lung cancer. Rawls had the 1976 US No.2 & UK No.10 single 'You'll Never Find Another Love Like Mine'.
2006 - A collection of Elvis Presley memorabilia bought by a council worker who embezzled nearly £600,000 was set to be sold to compensate the local authority. Julie Wall, 46, from Rippon Drive in Sleaford, was jailed for three years for the offence last October. The collection - which included rare recordings and foreign pressings of Elvis songs, was to be auctioned off by a High Court receiver to provide compensation.
1944 - Born this day, Van McCoy, 1975 US No.1 and UK No.3 single The Hustle. Died 6 July 1979 aged 38.
1946 - Born this day, [Roger] Syd Barrett, musician, guitar, singer. (solo: LPs: The Madcap Laughs, Barrett [1970]; group: Pink Floyd: Baby Lemonade, Effervescing Elephants, Golden Hair, She Took a Long Cold Look). A Pink Floyd original member, he left in 1968.
1953 - Born this day, Malcolm Young, musician, guitar, AC/DC, 1980 UK No.36 single Whole Lotta Rosie, Let There Be Rock, Powerage, Highway to Hell, 1980 UK No.1 and US No.14 album Back in Black sold over 10 million copies, Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap, For Those About to Rock, Fly on the Wall, Who Made Who, Blow Up Your Video.
1955 - Born this day, Trudie Styler, in Birmingham, England, actress (she has been in films such as Fair Game and Grave Indiscretion), was executive producer of the Guy Richie films Lock Stock and 2 Smoking Barrels and Snatch. However she is best known for being married to Sting.
1956 - Bill Haley's Rock Around The Clock went to No.1 on the UK singles chart for the second time.
1957 - Elvis Presley appeared for the third, and final time on The Ed Sullivan Show on CBS-TV. Ed, watching out for the moral safety of the viewing public (plus a live audience of screaming Elvis fans in the show’s New York theatre), demanded that the CBS cameras not venture lower than Elvis’ waist! Sullivan felt that Presley’s wild gyrations of his pelvis would lead the nation’s females into a frenzy of untold proportions.
1958 - Gibson guitars launched it' 'Flying V' electric guitar. Guitarists who played a Flying V include, Albert Collins, Jimi Hendrix, Marc Bolan and Billy Gibbons from ZZ Top.
1959 - Born on this day, Kathy Sledge, singer, Sister Sledge, (1979 US No.2 single 'We Are Family', 1985 UK No.1 'Frankie').
1968 - The Beatles Magical Mystery Tour started an eight week run at No.1 on the US album chart, the groups 11th US chart topper.
1968 - Irish singer Val Doonican was at No.1 on the UK album chart with 'Val Doonican Rocks, But Gently'.
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.
1979 - Soul Man recorded by comedians John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd as the fictitious singing team, The Blues Brothers, debuted on Billboard's pop charts. The Blues Brothers had originally been created for TV's Saturday Night Live, and had been so popular that it prompted several records and a movie with Jake and Elwood Blues. Soul Man peaked at Number 14 on the charts.
1979 - The Bee Gees started a two week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with Too Much Heaven, the groups 7th US No.1.
1979 - The Village People scored their only UK No.1 single with Y.M.C.A. At it's peak the single was selling 150,000 copies a day.
1986 - Born on this day, Alex Turner, guitar, vocals, Arctic Monkeys, (2005, UK No.1 single 'I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor', 2006 UK No.1 album 'Whatever People Say I Am That's What I'm Not').
1987 - Elton John canceled all live performances for a year after throat surgery.
1989 - The biggest selling UK album artists of 1988 were, No.5, Dire Straits, No.4, U2, No.3, Michael Jackson, No.2, Kylie Minogue and No.1, Fleetwood Mac.
1990 - Phil Collins started a three week run at No.1 on the US album chart with ...But Seriously.
1993 - It was reported that David Bowie had lost over £2.5 million in unpaid royalties to an Italian Mafia linked bootleg fraud.
1996 - James Brown's wife Adrienne died in a Los Angeles hospital aged 47 after suffering a heart attack during a major plastic surgery operation.
2001 - Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour won the right to his dot com name. Dave took legal action in his battle to reclaim davidgilmour.com from Andrew Herman who had registered the URL and was selling Pink Floyd merchandise through the site.
2006 - American soul, jazz, singer Lou Rawls died at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. The 72-year-old, Grammy-winning artist had been battling lung cancer. Rawls had the 1976 US No.2 & UK No.10 single 'You'll Never Find Another Love Like Mine'.
2006 - A collection of Elvis Presley memorabilia bought by a council worker who embezzled nearly £600,000 was set to be sold to compensate the local authority. Julie Wall, 46, from Rippon Drive in Sleaford, was jailed for three years for the offence last October. The collection - which included rare recordings and foreign pressings of Elvis songs, was to be auctioned off by a High Court receiver to provide compensation.