Rock 'n' Roll History for
January 17


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1960 - ClassicBands.com

January 17
Nearly twenty million people watch Cliff Richard and The Shadows perform on the UK's Sunday Night At The London Palladium, where the singer is presented with a Gold record for his hit, "Living Doll".

1963 - ClassicBands.com

January 17
Keith Richards, Mick Jagger, Brian Jones, Bill Wyman, Charlie Watts and Ian Stewart perform together for the first time at London's Marquee Jazz Club.

1967 - ClassicBands.com

January 17
40-year-old David Mason recorded the piccolo trumpet solo for The Beatle's "Penny Lane" at Abbey Road Studios in London. He was paid 27 pounds, 10 shillings ($42) for his performance. In August, 1987, the trumpet he used was sold at a Sotheby's auction for $10,846.

January 17
London's Daily Mail newspaper runs an article that said in part, "There are 4,000 holes in the road in Blackburn, Lancashire..." That inspired John Lennon to mention it in "A Day In The Life."

1970 - ClassicBands.com

January 17
Billy Stewart, who reached the Billboard Top 40 four times, including the #10 hit "Summertime" in 1966, was killed along with three members of his band when his car ran off the road and plunged into a river. He was 32.

1971 - ClassicBands.com

January 17
Marvin Gaye sang the American national anthem at Superbowl V in Miami.

1972 - ClassicBands.com

January 17
A section of Bellevue Boulevard in Memphis was renamed Elvis Presley Boulevard. The remaining length of road kept its original name after protests from the Bellevue Baptist Church. In 1976, Elvis released an album called "From Elvis Presley Boulevard, Memphis, Tennessee", which was recorded at his home studio at Graceland.

1974 - ClassicBands.com

January 17
Dino Martin, of Dino, Desi and Billy and son of crooner Dean Martin, is arrested for possession of eight machine-guns and a 14-foot antitank gun. He is arraigned and released the next day on $5,000 bail. He was eventually found guilty, placed on probation, and paid a small fine.

1976 - ClassicBands.com

January 17
Barry Manilow had the number one record in the US with "I Write The Songs". Although he wrote many of his hits, he didn't write this one. Bruce Johnston of The Beach Boys did and Manilow has always been quick to point out that fact. At the following Grammy Awards, the tune was voted Song Of The Year.

1983 - ClassicBands.com

January 17
The rise in popularity of Country music was evident at The American Music Awards, where Kenny Rogers took home three citations, Willie Nelson was given two, and Alabama was named Favorite Band.

1990 - ClassicBands.com

January 17
The Four Seasons, The Four Tops, The Kinks, Simon And Garfunkel, The Platters, The Who and Hank Ballard are inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

1994 - ClassicBands.com

January 17
Donny Osmond fights The Partridge Family's Danny Bonaduce in a charity boxing match in Chicago (Bonaduce wins a split decision).

1996 - ClassicBands.com

January 17
David Bowie, Tom Donahue, The Jefferson Airplane, Little Willie John, Gladys Knight And The Pips, The Velvet Underground, Pink Floyd, Pete Seeger and The Shirelles are inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

1999 - ClassicBands.com

January 17
At the American Music Awards, Billy Joel is given the Special Award of Merit for his "inspired songwriting skills" and "exciting showmanship."

2003 - ClassicBands.com

January 17
Charlie Webber of The Swingin' Medallions, died of cancer at the age of 57. The group is best known for their 1966, Billboard #17 hit, "Double Shot Of My Baby's Love".

2008 - ClassicBands.com

January 17
Gene Simmons is the third contestant fired by Donald Trump on season seven of The Celebrity Apprentice.

2010 - ClassicBands.com

January 17
Johnny Maestro gives what would prove to be his final concert with The Brooklyn Bridge at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Connecticut. He would die of cancer on March 24th at the age of 70. Along with reaching #3 in 1969 with "Worst That Could Happen", Johnny also led The Crests into the Hot 100 seven times between 1958 and 1961 with songs like "Sixteen Candles" (#2), "The Angels Listened In" (#22) and "Step By Step" (#14).

2011 - ClassicBands.com

January 17
Don Kirshner, the songwriter, manager, publisher and music executive who helped launch the careers of Neil Diamond, Bobby Darin, Carole King, Neil Sedaka, The Monkees, The Archies and Kansas, died of heart failure at the age of 76.

January 17
John Mellencamp filed for divorce from his wife Elaine after eighteen years.

2012 - ClassicBands.com

January 17
Johnny Otis, a Rock 'n' Roll pioneer who reached #9 in America with "Willie And The Hand Jive" in 1958, died of natural causes at the age of 90.

2016 - ClassicBands.com

January 17
David Bowie's final album, "Blackstar", debuted at the top of the Billboard 200 chart, giving the late music legend his first ever #1 album. Bowie died of cancer on January 10th, two days after "Blackstar" was released.

January 17
Dale Griffin, drummer and founding member of the British Glam-Rock band Mott The Hoople, passed away at the age of 67. The group reached #37 on the Hot 100 in 1972 with the David Bowie written "All The Young Dudes".

January 17
Mic Gillette, a horn player who helped found Tower Of Power, died following a heart attack at the age of 64. The band placed three songs on the Billboard Top 40 chart, including the #17 hit, "So Very Hard To Go" in 1974.

2018 - ClassicBands.com

January 17
The Eagles settled a lawsuit with a hotel in Todos Santos, Baja California Sur after the establishment agreed to stop using the name Hotel California. The small hotel originally opened under that name in 1950, but went through subsequent ownership and name changes since then. Attorneys for the group successfully argued that the business was trying to capitalize on the success of The Eagles' most famous song by implying that they were connected to the band.

January 17
Dolly Parton was officially recognized in the Guinness World Records 2018 edition when she received certificates for the most decades with a Top 20 hit on Billboard's Hot Country Songs chart (six) and most hits on Billboard's Hot Country Songs chart by a female artist (107).



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