Rock 'n' Roll History for
January 15


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1965 - ClassicBands.com

January 15
The Who's first single, "I Can't Explain", was released in the UK by Decca Records. While oldies stations in America still give it a fair amount of air-play, the song only made it to number 93 on Billboard's Hot 100, although it hit number 8 in the UK. In a 2015 interview with Rolling Stone, Pete Townshend referred to "I Can't Explain" as "a song, written by some 18-year-old kid, about the fact that he can't tell his girlfriend he loves her because he's taken too many Dexedrine tablets."

1966 - ClassicBands.com

January 15
The Beach Boys enter Billboard's Hot 100 for the 23rd time with their version of "Barbara Ann", previously a #13 hit for the Regents in 1961. The song was recorded 'live' at a party staged in a recording studio and actually features the voice of Dean Torrence of Jan And Dean on lead vocal. The record will peak at #2 in the US and stay on the charts for eleven weeks. In the UK, it reached #3.

January 15
Petula Clark's "My Love" entered the Billboard chart, where it would become her second #1 hit. Back home in the UK, it reached #4. Despite the success, Petula was later quoted as saying that she never liked the song and didn't want it released at all.

January 15
The Rolling Stones receive their third Gold record for the album "December's Children". It contains, "Get Off My Cloud", "As Tears Go By" and "I'm Free".

1967 - ClassicBands.com

January 15
The Rolling Stones were booked to appear on The Ed Sullivan Show on the condition that they change the words to their new song, "Let's Spend The Night Together" to "Let's Spend Some Time Together". The song hit #3 in the UK a month later, but couldn't crack the Top 50 in America.

January 15
Roy Orbison and Sheb Wooley star in the Michael Moore produced movie The Fastest Guitar Alive, which premiered in New York. In his only acting role, Orbison is a Confederate spy who carries a bullet-shooting guitar and a bag of gold to smuggle across the Wild West.

January 15
The Buckinghams record "Don't You Care" at Columbia Studios in New York City. The song will spend fourteen weeks on the Hot 100, peaking at #6.

1969 - ClassicBands.com

January 15
After George Harrison announced he was quitting The Beatles and failed to show up for recording sessions on January 13th, 14th or 15th, the band held a meeting at Ringo Starr's house, where they urged Harrison to come back. George agreed to re-join the band under the provision that the they give up on the idea a live concert and move the filming of Let It Be to The Beatles' new studio in their Apple headquarters.

1971 - ClassicBands.com

January 15
Nearly two months after it was issued in the United States, George Harrison releases his first solo single, "My Sweet Lord" in the UK. It would go on to become the biggest selling record of the year in Great Britain. Unfortunately for George, Bright Tunes Music Corporation would file a law suit alleging copyright infringement of the late Ronnie Mack's song "He's So Fine". In September 1976, a court found that Harrison had subconsciously copied "He's So Fine", since he admitted to having been aware of the Chiffons' recording.

1972 - ClassicBands.com

January 15
Jonathan Edwards only Billboard hit, "Sunshine", tops out at #4, earning a Gold Record for one million sales. At a time of the Vietnam War and Richard Nixon, many folks could relate to the lyrics "He can't even run his own life, I'll be damned if he'll run mine."

January 15
"American Pie" hit number one on Billboard's Hot 100. Although Don McLean never actually said so at the time, most assumed he was singing about Buddy Holly's death as "The day the music died". When asked what "American Pie" meant, McLean replied, "It means I never have to work again." He later said "You will find many interpretations of my lyrics, but none of them by me... sorry to leave you all on your own like this, but long ago I realized that songwriters should make their statements and move on, maintaining a dignified silence."

1974 - ClassicBands.com

January 15
A month after cracking the Billboard Top 40, Brownsville Station's "Smokin' In The Boys' Room" is certified Gold. The song reached #3 on the Hot 100 and #2 on the Cashbox Best Sellers chart. In the UK, it went to #27.

1976 - ClassicBands.com

January 15
After announcing that Bernie Leadon had left the group, The Eagles introduce Joe Walsh as a permanent member. Glenn Frey would later say, "I personally thought that adding Joe Walsh was a dangerous move. 90% of the people who heard about it couldn't figure out how it was ever going to work."

1977 - ClassicBands.com

January 15
The Eagles' career defining album "Hotel California" tops the Billboard Hot 200 chart on the strength of the title track and "New Kid In Town", both of which went to number one. The LP was nominated for the Album Of The Year Grammy, but lost to Fleetwood Mac's "Rumours".

January 15
After first reaching #9 on the US singles chart two years earlier with "Long Tall Glasses", Leo Sayer scored the first of his two number one hits with "You Make Me Feel Like Dancing". It made #2 in the UK.

1982 - ClassicBands.com

January 15
Harry Casey (KC of KC & the Sunshine Band) is partially paralyzed in an auto crash in Hialeah, Florida. His full recovery would take a year.

January 15
Hall And Oates album, "Private Eyes" was awarded a Platinum disc for sales of one million copies. The LP, which reached #5 on the Billboard 200 chart, featured the title track as well as the Top Ten hits "I Can't Go For That" and "Did It In A Minute".

1983 - ClassicBands.com

January 15
Australia's Men At Work owned both number one spots on the US album and singles charts. "Down Under" was the second number 1 single from the "Business As Usual" LP, following "Who Can It Be Now". The album was also at the top of the UK chart, a feat previously accomplished only by Rod Stewart, Simon And Garfunkel and The Beatles.

1991 - ClassicBands.com

January 15
Sean Lennon's remake of his father's hit, "Give Peace A Chance" is released to coincide with the United Nation's midnight deadline for Iraq to withdraw from Kuwait. The lyrics were updated to reflect the concerns of the day.

1992 - ClassicBands.com

January 15
Bobby "Blue" Bland, Booker T. & The MG's, Johnny Cash, Bill Graham, Jimi Hendrix, The Isley Brothers, Sam And Dave and The Yardbirds are inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame during ceremonies at New York's Waldorf Astoria hotel.

January 15
Appearing on TV's Entertainment Tonight, Brenda Lee criticizes the selections for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, noting the lack of female talent such as The Shirelles, Dionne Warwick, and Connie Francis. She calls them "the women who pioneered Rock And Roll," and points out that they're just as important as the men.

January 15
Elton John's long time bassist, Dee Murray, died of cancer in Nashville. He was 45.

1994 - ClassicBands.com

January 15
Harry Nilsson, most often remembered for his Grammy Award winning, 1969 hit "Everybody's Talkin'", died in his sleep of heart failure in his 53rd year. His wife would later say that the last thing he ever said to her was "I love you so much."

1996 - ClassicBands.com

January 15
Les Baxter, who led his Swing Band to #1 on the Billboard Top 100 with "The Poor People Of Paris" in March, 1956, passed away at the age of 73.

2003 - ClassicBands.com

January 15
Soul singer Lou Rawls was arrested in Albuquerque, New Mexico and charged with one count of battery on a household member. A woman told officers that she and Rawls had been talking about their relationship at a hotel they were staying at, when the conversation escalated into a shoving match. Rawls posted bail and was later released.

2010 - ClassicBands.com

January 15
73-year-old Country music legend Charlie Daniels suffered a stroke while snowmobiling in Durango, Colorado. Daniels also placed six songs on the Billboard Top 40, including 1979's "The Devil Went Down To Georgia" which climbed to #3. He recovered and was released from hospital two days later.

2013 - ClassicBands.com

January 15
Sony Music Entertainment won a legal case against two British hackers who downloaded close to 8,000 unreleased files by and about Michael Jackson. Two men in their mid-20s were sentenced to one hundred hours of community service.

2015 - ClassicBands.com

January 15
Legendary record producer Kim Fowley died of bladder cancer at the age of 75. Starting in the early 1960s, he produced a string of successful records such as "Alley Oop" by The Hollywood Argyles, "Nut Rocker" for B. Bumble And The Stingers and "Popsicles and Icicles" by The Murmaids. He also co-wrote songs for KISS, Helen Reddy, Alice Cooper, Leon Russell and Kris Kristofferson. During his career, Fowley was involved with records that sold over 102 million copies.

2016 - ClassicBands.com

January 15
Just days after his death on January 10th, albums by David Bowie made up 25% of the UK album chart, and thirteen of his singles were in the Top 100. In total, Bowie sold 241,000 albums and 167,000 singles in less than a week, while his tunes were streamed more than nineteen million times on services like Spotify and Apple Music, jumping by 2,822% following news of his passing.

2018 - ClassicBands.com

January 15
Edwin Hawkins, the leader of The Edwin Hawkins Singers on their 1969 Billboard #4 hit, "Oh Happy Day", died after a bout with pancreatic cancer. He was 74 years old.

2021 - ClassicBands.com

January 15
Barry Gibb earned his first solo UK #1 on the Official Albums Chart with "Greenfields: The Gibb Brothers' Songbook (Vol. 1)". 83% of the album's sales were made up of physical copies.



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