Today in Music History...January 24, 2017

Music History: January 24

 

Births (12)
1829 : William Mason
1933 : Zeke Carey (The Flamingos)
1934 : Ann Cole
1936 : Jack Scott
1939 : Doug Kershaw
1939 : Ray Stevens
1941 : Aaron Neville
1941 : Neil Diamond (yes, that's his real name) is born in Brooklyn, New York.
1947 : Warren Zevon
1949 : John Belushi (The Blues Brothers)
1953 : Matthew Wilder
1955 : Jools Holland (Squeeze)


Deaths (2)
1970 : James "Shep" Sheppard (Shep & the Limelites, The Heartbeats)
1986 : Gordon MacRae


Charts (5)
1957 : Elvis Presley's "Jailhouse Rock" enters the UK charts at #1, the first single to ever do so.
1959 : The Platters' "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes" is on top of the Billboard Pop Chart.
1962 : The Twist craze peaks, with a re-released version of Chubby Checker's song at #1 for the last time.
1976 : Diana Ross's "Theme From Mahogany (Do You Know Where You're Going To)" hits #1.
1976 : Bob Dylan's LP Desire hits #1.


Certifications and Milestones (3)
1962 : The Beatles sign their first and only management contract with Brian Epstein at the manager's offices at 12 Whitechapel St. in Liverpool. Epstein is to receive a full one-quarter of the band's earnings, yet to prove his worth, he does not sign the contract until the following October.
1970 : Dr. Robert Moog unveils the "minimoog" synthesizer, one of the first portable synth keyboards, at a price of $2,000. The American Federation of Musicians at first opposes the instrument, fearing its "realistic" settings will put horn and string sections out of work. The minimoog becomes the first synth to go on tour with rock bands. 1973 : Donny Osmond's LP Too Young is certified gold.

Incidents (3)
1961 : Mel Blanc, who was the voice of Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck and many other cartoon favorites, gets in a horrible car accident on a stretch of road in Los Angeles known as "Dead Man's Curve." Hearing the news, Roger Christian is inspired to write a song about the treacherous turn.
1962 : Danny Peppermint, singer of the original version of "Peppermint Twist," is hospitalized after being electrocuted by a live mic during a gig at the Thunderbird in Las Vegas.
1981 : Aerosmith's Steven Tyler gets in a nasty motorcycle accident with his 17-year-old babysitter riding on the back. He spends the remainder of the year recovering, which delays the band's next album, Rock In A Hard Place.

 

Miscellaneous (2)
1982 : Diana Ross sings the national anthem at Superbowl XVI in Pontiac, MI.
2012 : Pete Townshend sells the publishing rights to the songs he has written to the Spirit Music Group, which plans to place more of his music in TV shows, movies and commercials. Townshend's catalog includes about 400 songs, most of which he wrote for The Who.