Rock 'n' Roll History for
January 8


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1935 - ClassicBands.com

January 8
Elvis Aaron Presley is born at his parent's home, a two-room house that was built by his father at 306 Old Saltillo Road, East Tupelo, Mississippi. A twin brother, Jesse Garon Presley is stillborn.

1945 - ClassicBands.com

January 8
Elvis Presley receives his first guitar for his tenth birthday. The plain brown, acoustic model cost $12.95 from the Tupelo Hardware Store.

1955 - ClassicBands.com

January 8
Elvis Presley celebrates his twentieth birthday by performing his weekly spot on the KWKH radio show, Louisiana Hayride.

January 8
Sam Phillips releases Elvis Presley's "Milkcow Blues Boogie" and "When It Rains It Pours" by Billy 'The Kid' Emerson. Both would flop miserably and add to Sun Records' already sizeable financial troubles.

1957 - ClassicBands.com

January 8
Elvis passes his pre-induction medical at Kennedy Veterans Hospital in Memphis. He is classified 1-A.

January 8
Bill Haley And His Comets kick off a world wide tour in Sydney Australia, playing two sold out concerts, each attended by over 7,000 fans.

1966 - ClassicBands.com

January 8
The Who and The Kinks perform on the last airing of ABC-TV's musical variety show Shindig!. The program had gone on the air September 16th, 1964.

January 8
The Beatles started a six week run at #1 on the Billboard album chart with "Rubber Soul", which had already sold 1.2 million copies i the US

January 8
Although they would go on to have a great deal of success on the Country chart, The Statler Brothers enjoy their only Billboard Hot 100 triumph when "Flowers On The Wall" peaks at #4. The song, which spent four weeks at number two on the Hot Country Singles chart, would win the 1966 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Performance - Group (Vocal or Instrumental).

1968 - ClassicBands.com

January 8
Stax Records releases Otis Redding's "(Sittin' On) The Dock Of The Bay" (#1) and Sam And Dave's "I Thank You." (#9)

1973 - ClassicBands.com

January 8
On his 38th birthday, Elvis Presley files for divorce from his wife Priscilla, citing irreconcilable differences. The petition went uncontested and a divorce would be granted on October 9th. Amid accusations of infidelity on both sides, Priscilla would later say, "I did not divorce him because I didn't love him. He was the love of my life, but I had to find out about the world."

1974 - ClassicBands.com

January 8
The LP "The Early Beatles" turns Gold nine years after its release and nearly four years after the group split up. Made up of tracks previously available on the Vee-Jay Records release "Introducing... The Beatles", the album had only climbed to #43 on the Billboard 200 when it was first issued in 1965. It would be certified Platinum for selling one million copies on January 10th, 1997.

January 8
Casablanca Records signed KISS to a recording contract soon after catching their act in New York, along with Blue Oyster Cult and Iggy Pop. The band's first LP would be released a few weeks later and would climb to number 87 on the Billboard album chart. Twelve albums issued on the label would crack the upper half of the Billboard 200.

1977 - ClassicBands.com

January 8
Former Fifth Dimension members Marilyn McCoo and Billy Davis Jr. achieved their first hit since leaving the group in November, 1975, when "You Don't Have To Be A Star (To Be In My Show)" rose to number one in the US.

January 8
Queen went to #1 on the UK album chart with "A Day At The Races". The album title was lifted from 1937 Marx Brothers' movie.

1979 - ClassicBands.com

January 8
Cher's divorce from Greg Allman becomes final. The two were married in 1975 and had one child together, a son named Elijah Blue Allman.

January 8
The Canadian Rock trio Rush were named as the country's official Ambassadors Of Music by the Canadian government.

1981 - ClassicBands.com

January 8
'Elvis Presley Day' was declared in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Kansas, North and South Carolina, Pennsylvania and Virginia.

January 8
Linda Ronstadt makes her Broadway debut alongside Rex Smith and Kevin Kline in the revival of The Pirates of Penzance, which runs for seven hundred eighty seven performances.

1985 - ClassicBands.com

January 8
The US Postal Service issues a stamp marking what would have been Elvis Presley's 50th birthday. Over five hundred million of them are sold.

1991 - ClassicBands.com

January 8
Steve Clark, guitarist for Def Leppard, died from an accidental mixing of prescription drugs and alcohol at the age of 31.

2001 - ClassicBands.com

January 8
Laura Webb of The Bobbettes died of cancer at the age of 57. The R&B quintet scored a Billboard number six hit with "Mr. Lee" in 1957. That song was written about one of their high school teachers that they actually dis-liked and the girls were forced to revise the original lyrics before Atlantic Records would record the song.

2002 - ClassicBands.com

January 8
Fabian is awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 7065 Hollywood Blvd. Between 1959 and 1960, he placed eight songs on the Billboard Top 40, including "Turn Me Loose" (#9) and "Tiger" (#3).

2004 - ClassicBands.com

January 8
George Harrison's estate sues Dr. Gilbert Lederman of Staten Island University Hospital for $10 million, alleging he forced a dying Harrison to sign souvenirs for him. The suit would be settled out of court a couple of weeks later, with an agreement that the autographed items be disposed of.

2007 - ClassicBands.com

January 8
Officials from the National Archives announced that their most requested document is a photo of a cloaked and bejeweled Elvis Presley shaking hands with President Nixon at The White House on December 21st, 1970.

2010 - ClassicBands.com

January 8
Jimmy Page helped launch a new set of stamps in the UK which featured classic album covers from the last forty years, including "Led Zeppelin IV".

January 8
Law enforcement officials in Los Angeles revealed plans to seek an indictment against Michael Jackson's doctor on a charge of involuntary manslaughter. The L.A. coroner ruled Jackson's death, at age 50, a homicide with his passing caused by acute intoxication of the powerful anesthetic propofol along with other sedatives a contributing factor.

2014 - ClassicBands.com

January 8
Reather Dixon of The Bobbettes passed away at the age of 69. Oddly, her bandmate, Laura Webb had died on the same day thirteen years earlier. The Harlem quintet reached #6 in America in 1957 with "Mr. Lee", a song written about a schoolteacher that members of the group didn't get along with. At one point, the record was #79 on Billboard's list of 100 Greatest Girl Group Songs of All Time. It sold over sold two million copies and The Bobbettes were awarded a Platinum disc by Atlantic Records. A follow-up tune called "I Shot Mr. Lee" actually got to #52 on the Hot 100.

2015 - ClassicBands.com

January 8
The owner of the original Cavern Club in Liverpool, Ray McFall, passed away at the age of 88. It was at his club that The Beatles played 292 times, paving the way for Beatlemania.

January 8
Elvis Presley's first recording, an acetate disc from 1953 featuring "My Happiness", backed with "That's When Your Heartaches Begin", sold for $300,000 at a Graceland auction.

January 8
The band Toto announced that they were preparing their first studio album in nearly a decade. "Toto XIV" would be available in March in multiple formats, including a deluxe CD/DVD package and a two-LP vinyl set.



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