ON THIS DAY IN MUSIC

January 25th

1963 - The Rolling Stones

The Rolling Stones played at the Ricky Tick Club at the Star and Garter Hotel, Windsor, Berkshirehire, UK. This was the first time The Rolling Stones, including Charlie Watts and Bill Wyman, played at this venue. All the walls in the club were painted black and the lighting was made out of old ice-cream tins.

1964 - The Beatles

The Beatles scored their first No.1 best seller in the US when 'I Want To Hold Your Hand' reached the top of the Cash Box Magazine music chart. The Fab Four would eventually rack up 25 No.1's in America. 

1964 - Phil Spector

Phil Spector appeared as a panellist on this week's UK TV show Juke Box Jury.

1967 - The Beatles

The Beatles made a last-minute remix of 'Penny Lane' before the pressing of their next double A sided single 'Strawberry Fields Forever / Penny Lane'. Both songs were originally intended for the forthcoming Beatles album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. 

1969 - Pink Floyd

Pink Floyd appeared at the Sixty Nine Club, Royal York Hotel, Ryde, Isle of Wight, England. Support band was The Cherokees, who had had a minor hit single in 1964 with Seven Golden Daffodils produced by Mickie Most. They later changed their name to New York Public Library.

1973 - David Bowie

David Bowie finished a week of rehearsals at the Royal Ballroom, Tottenham, London, for the forthcoming UK leg of his Ziggy Stardust tour. Bowie had already played dates in North America and Japan, the tour saw the singer playing a total of 182 dates.

1974 - Led Zeppelin

Led Zeppelin appeared at the Market Square Arena, Indianapolis, Indiana to over 17,000 fans. The set list included: 'Rock And Roll', 'Over The Hills And Far Away', 'The Song Remains The Same', 'The Rain Song', 'Kashmir', 'The Wanton Song', 'No Quarter', 'Trampled Under Foot', 'Moby Dick', 'How Many More Times', 'Stairway To Heaven', 'Whole Lotta Love' and 'Black Dog'. Tickets cost $8.50.

1975 - Carpenters

The Carpenters went to No.1 on the US singles chart with their version of The Marveletts 1961 hit 'Please Mr. Postman'. The song is notable as the first Motown song to reach the No.1 position on the Billboard singles chart late 1961.

1978 - Joy Division

After changing their name from Warsaw, (inspired by the song Warszawa on David Bowie's Low album), Joy Division made their live debut when they played at Pips Disco in Manchester, England. 

1984 - Yoko Ono

Yoko Ono donated £250,000 ($425,000) to Liverpool old people's home Strawberry Fields.

1986 - A-Ha

Norwegian group A-Ha were at No.1 in the UK with 'The Sun Always Shines On TV,' becoming the first ever-Norwegian act to score a UK No.1 hit single.


1989 - Bobby Brown

Bobby Brown was arrested for an overtly sexually suggestive performance after a show in Columbus; he was fined $652 under the anti-lewdness ordinance law.

1992 - Nirvana

The inaugural Big Day Out festival took place at the Hordern Pavilion in Sydney. Acts appearing included, Nirvana, Beasts of Bourbon, Box The Jesuits, Celibate Rifles, Cosmic Psychos, The Clouds, Club Hoy, Died Pretty, Falling Joys, The Hard Ons with Henry Rollins Hellmen, Massappeal, The Meanies, Smudge, Sound Unlimited Posse, Ratcat, The Village Idiots, Violent Femmes and Yothu Yindi.

2004 - Bob Dylan

Bob Dylan was paid by ladies underwear company Victoria’s Secret to fly to Venice in Northern Italy, to film a TV advertisement in an ancient palazzo with a scantily dressed model. Some fans were upset while others empathized with Dylan.

2008 - British Sea Power

British Sea Power's keyboard and cornet player Phil Sumner, ended up in hospital after being knocked unconscious when he attempted a stage dive. The crowd at Leeds Irish Centre failed to catch him when he jumped off a 12-foot PA system landing head first. A spokeswoman for the band said: "The impact knocked him out straight away. He was unconscious for three minutes and there was a lot of blood."

2011 - The Beatles

A former Miss Canada finalist became the first person in the world to graduate with a Masters degree in The Beatles. Canadian singer Mary-Lu Zahalan-Kennedy, 53, was one of the first students to sign up for the course on the Fab Four when it launched at Liverpool Hope University in March 2009. The ground-breaking course looked at the studio sound and composition of The Beatles and how Liverpool helped to shape their music as well as examining the significance of the music of The Beatles and their impact on Western culture.

2014 - Susan Boyle

Millionaire Susan Boyle singing contest runner-up applied for a minimum wage, £6-an-hour cashier's job after spotting a job advert in the window of her local bookmakers, Ladbrokes, in Blackburn, west Lothian. Upon reading the advert the singer who is said to worth over £20m entered the premises and spent around five minutes talking to the shop's deputy manager David Corr about the role.

BIRTHDAYS

1981 - Alicia Keys

Alicia Keys, American R&B and soul singer, songwriter, (born Alicia J. Augello-Cook). Scored the 2001 US No.1 & UK No.3 single 'Fallin' and the 2001 US No.1 & UK No.7 album 'Songs In A Minor'. Keys has sold over 25 million albums and singles worldwide and won numerous awards, including nine Grammys. Name checked in Bob Dylan's 'Thunder On The Mountain' much to Keys' astonishment though understanding they both come from the same place (Hell's Kitchen) Bob explained upon seeing her at an awards show and thinking to himself "'There's nothing about that girl I don't like." Indeed . . . . . 

1949 - John Cooper Clarke

John Cooper Clarke, 'Bard of Salford', Manchester, poet laureate. Well known for 'Kung Fu International', 'I Married A Monster From Outer Space', 'The Day My Pad Went Mad'. 

John wrote and recorded and indeed regularly persons the best put down poem ever penned (INHO) to all the bullies and trolls out there this is definitively dedicated to you!

1938 - Etta James

Etta James, singer, who had 9 US Top 40 hits during the 60s including the 1996 UK No.5 single 'I Just Want To Make Love To You'. James died on January 20, 2012.

1915 - Ewan MacColl

Folk singer Salford born Jimmy Miller, songwriter, communist, labour activist, actor, poet, playwright, and record producer went by the stage name 'Ewan MacColl', who was the composer of 'The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face' a hit for Roberta Flack in 1971 for which he won a Grammy. MacColl died on 22nd October 1989. He was the father of singer/songwriter Kirsty MacColl. I grew up with this sound (and the politics) and knew the theatre work of his first wife Joan Littlewood (we visited the agitprop theatre workshop as young students) but the mock Scots schtick sounded weird after a while (his parents were Scots Socialists driven from the dockyards for communist activism). 
I share this roots, ancestors from Scotland (and Ireland) I was born in the North of England and proud of it. I have no desire to rename myself Oor Wullie! But hey if you need a source for off key singing with thick wooly jumpers on and fingers in your ear this is it! 



I dedicate this one to my Dad . . . . . a Manchester rambler


with eternal thanks to On This Day In Music