Rock 'n' Roll History for
January 23
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1956
- ClassicBands.com
January 23
Rock 'n' Roll fans in Cleveland, Ohio who were under 18 were banned from dancing in public unless accompanied by an adult after Ohio Police started enforcing a law dating back to 1931.
January 23
James Brown And The Famous Flames receive a signing bonus of $200 after inking a recording contract with King Records. Their first effort, "Please, Please, Please", would become a million seller later in the year, but their next nine releases failed to live up to the success of their debut.
1959
- ClassicBands.com
January 23
Buddy Holly kicks off the twenty-four date Winter Dance Party at the Million Dollar Ballroom in Milwaukee, backed by Tommy Allsup on guitar, Waylon Jennings on bass and Carl Bunch on drums.
1962
- ClassicBands.com
January 23
Tony Bennett records "I Left My Heart In San Francisco" at Columbia Records studios in New York City. Released just ten days later as the b-side to "Once Upon a Time", the song peaked at #19 on the Billboard Hot 100. In 2018, it was selected for preservation in the National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or artistically significant".
1964
- ClassicBands.com
January 23
With Eddie Kendricks on lead vocal, The Temptations release their first Billboard Hot 100 entry, "The Way You Do The Things You Do". It will peak at #11 on Top 40 and kick off a streak of placing thirty-seven songs on that chart over the next eleven years.
1965
- ClassicBands.com
January 23
North America finally caught on to Petula Clark when her hit "Downtown" made her the first British female to have a number one hit on this side of the Atlantic in the Rock era. She would go on to rack up many more smashes, including "I Know a Place", "My Love", "I Couldn't Live Without Your Love", "This is My Song" and "Don't Sleep in the Subway". Clark had already been very successful in the UK, chalking up hits since 1954.
1969
- ClassicBands.com
January 23
Between four and seven A.M., Elvis Presley records "Suspicious Minds" at American Sound Studio in Memphis, Tennessee. On November 1st, the song will become Presley's 18th and final Billboard Top 40 number one hit.
1971
- ClassicBands.com
January 23
As a follow-up to their US #3 hit "Candida",
Tony Orlando And Dawn topped the charts with "Knock Three Times". It was the trio's second straight million seller, but it would take two more years and a series of minor chart makers before they would return to the top with "Tie A Yellow Ribbon Round The Ole Oak Tree".
1973
- ClassicBands.com
January 23
After reading a note that says 'an accord has been reached for peace in Vietnam', Neil Young announces to a Madison Square Garden crowd, "Peace has come."
1975
- ClassicBands.com
January 23
Supertramp kick off a thirteen date British tour to promote their third album, "Crime Of The Century". The LP will spawn the single "Dreamer", which will reach #13 in the UK and #15 in the US.
1977
- ClassicBands.com
January 23
Carole King's landmark LP, "Tapestry" became the longest-running album of all time on the Billboard chart, as it reached its 302nd week on the list.
1978
- ClassicBands.com
January 23
Chicago's guitarist, 32-year-old Terry Kath, accidentally shot and killed himself while playing with a gun at a party, telling others around him that the gun was unloaded. His spot in the band would be filled by Donny Dacus, who previously played guitar with Stephen Stills.
1986
- ClassicBands.com
January 23
Buddy Holly was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame at it's inaugural ceremony. Other inductees included
Elvis Presley,
Chuck Berry,
James Brown,
Sam Cooke,
Jerry Lee Lewis,
The Everly Brothers,
Little Richard and
Fats Domino.
1988
- ClassicBands.com
January 23
Michael Jackson went to #1 on the US singles chart with "The Way You Make Me Feel", the third track from the LP "Bad" to accomplish that feat. It was a #3 hit in the UK.
1989
- ClassicBands.com
January 23
James Brown was sentenced in Georgia to six years in jail in connection with a police chase through two states last September 24th. He would be granted parole three years later.
1990
- ClassicBands.com
January 23
Former Lynyrd Skynyrd guitarist Allen Collins died from chronic pneumonia, a complication of the paralysis he suffered from a car accident four years earlier. He was 37. Incredibly, Collins had survived a plane crash in 1977 that killed three other band members.
1995
- ClassicBands.com
January 23
William Horton of the Philadelphia vocal group, The Silhouettes, died at the age of 65. The group topped the Billboard chart in 1958 with "Get A Job".
1997
- ClassicBands.com
January 23
63-year-old Richard Berry, who wrote
The Kingsmen's "Louie Louie", died from an aneurysm while sleeping at his home in South Central Los Angeles. Berry had been living on welfare at his mother's house until a lawyer for the Artists Rights Society helped him gain the entitlement to his composition. After an out of court settlement with the song's publishers, Berry became a millionaire.
1998
- ClassicBands.com
January 23
Johnny Funches, who wrote and sang lead on The Dells' 1956, million seller, "Oh What A Night", passed away at the age of 62.
2011
- ClassicBands.com
January 23
Former Beatles drummer Richard Starkey filed an application with the United States Patent and Trademark Office to register the name "Ringo".
2015
- ClassicBands.com
January 23
Representatives for Bob Dylan announced that 50,000 copies of his latest album, "Shadows in the Night", would be randomly included in the February issue of AARP The Magazine.
2018
- ClassicBands.com
January 23
Hugh Masekela, the South African jazz musician who topped the Billboard Hot 100 with an instrumental version of "Grazing In The Grass" in 1968, died at the age of 78 after a decade-long fight with cancer.
2023
- ClassicBands.com
January 23
Anthony 'Top' Topham, the founding guitarist of The Yardbirds, passed away at the age of 75. He departed the band in 1964 to focus on his art degree, and was replaced by Eric Clapton.
2024
- ClassicBands.com
January 23
Melania Safka, who topped the Billboard Hot 100 in 1971 with "Brand New Key", died of undisclosed causes at the age of 76. In all, she reached the Top 40 on six occasions, most notably with "Lay Down (Candles In The Wind)", which reached #6 and stayed on the chart for fourteen weeks.
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