Rock 'n' Roll History for
January 12


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1961 - ClassicBands.com

January 12
Motown Records signs The Primettes to a recording contract and convinces them to change their name. From several possibilities, they settle on one suggested by Florence Ballard - The Supremes.

1963 - ClassicBands.com

January 12
Parlophone Records releases The Beatles' "Please Please Me", which would go on to be their first number one single in the UK. Written mostly by John Lennon, the song made it to the top in just three weeks and would sell over 1.5 million copies world wide. Despite this success, the record wouldn't appear on the US charts for another year.

January 12
Steve Lawrence enjoyed his only Billboard number one single with the Gerry Goffin / Carole King written "Go Away Little Girl". Donny Osmond would also take the song to the top in 1971.

January 12
After a couple of flop singles, the New York doo-wop quintet called The Earls saw their only US Top 40 hit, "Remember Then" enter the Billboard chart, where it would reach #24.


1965 - ClassicBands.com

January 12
A Rock 'n' Roll variety show called Hullabaloo premieres on NBC TV. Featured acts include host Jack Jones, The New Christy Minstrels, The Zombies and Gerry And The Pacemakers.

1968 - ClassicBands.com

January 12
The Supremes appear in an episode of the NBC-TV show Tarzan, where they played a group of nuns.

1969 - ClassicBands.com

January 12
Led Zeppelin released their self-titled, first album which is now seen as one of the most impressive and important debuts in Rock music history. The name of the band had recently been changed from The New Yardbirds after drummer Keith Moon of The Who predicted the band's music would "go over like a lead zeppelin".

1974 - ClassicBands.com

January 12
After entering Billboard's Hot 100 in October '73, The Steve Miller Band's "The Joker" makes it all the way to number one. It would go on to be certified 5X Platinum in the United States, Gold in the UK, and make the Top Ten in ten other countries.

January 12
Byron MacGregor's moving rendition of "The Americans" reaches #4 on the Billboard Hot 100. MacGregor, whose real name was Gary Mack, was the news director at Windsor, Ontario's CKLW radio. His recording of an essay by Canadian editorialist Gordon Sinclair, backed by the Detroit Symphony playing "America the Beautiful", became a multi-million seller, the proceeds of which where donated to the American Red Cross. The lyrics still seem relevant today.

1977 - ClassicBands.com

January 12
EMI Records issued a statement saying it felt unable to promote The Sex Pistols' records in view of the adverse publicity the band had generated over the last two months.

1981 - ClassicBands.com

January 12
The Recording Industry Association of America donated 800 albums to the White House library.

1992 - ClassicBands.com

January 12
Mick Jagger and Jerry Hall have their third child, Georgia May Jagger.

1995 - ClassicBands.com

January 12
The Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame inducts Led Zeppelin, The Allman Brothers Band, Martha And The Vandellas, Neil Young, Janis Joplin, Al Green and Frank Zappa.

1998 - ClassicBands.com

January 12
The Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame inducts The Eagles, Fleetwood Mac, The Mamas And The Papas, Santana, Lloyd Price, Gene Vincent, Allen Toussaint and Jelly Roll Morton. The event marked the first time that all seven current and past members of The Eagles were photographed together. Former band mates Bernie Leadon and Randy Meisner, who had quit the group, were virtually ignored by Don Henley and Glenn Frey and were forced to the extreme edges of the stage when the band played a short set of past hits.

1999 - ClassicBands.com

January 12
Barry Pritchard, vocalist and guitarist for The Fortunes, died of heart failure. The group reached the Billboard Top 20 with "You've Got Your Troubles" in 1965 and "Here Comes That Rainy Day Feeling Again" in 1971.

2003 - ClassicBands.com

January 12
53 year old Maurice Gibb of The Bee Gees died at a Miami Beach, Florida hospital after suffering a heart attack during an operation to remove an intestinal blockage. Following his death, his surviving brothers Barry and Robin announced that they would no longer perform as The Bee Gees. However, they appeared on the BBC television series Strictly Come Dancing on October 31st, 2009 and on ABC-TV's Dancing With The Stars on November 17th, 2009. Robin passed away on May 20th, 2012. Barry would later say, "My greatest regret is that every brother I've lost was in a moment when we weren't getting on, so I have to live with that and I'll spend the rest of my life reflecting on that."

2004 - ClassicBands.com

January 12
Randy VanWarmer, who reached #4 on Billboard's Hot 100 and #8 in the UK in 1979 with "Just When I Needed You Most", died of leukemia at the age of 48. That song was written about his American girlfriend who came to stay with him in the England for several months before returning to the US.


2013 - ClassicBands.com

January 12
The Beatles first single, "Love Me Do", entered the pubic domain in Europe, thanks to copyright laws in the European Union that said copyright for recorded music expires after 50 years.

2022 - ClassicBands.com

January 12
Ronnie Spector, lead vocalist for The Ronettes, passed away at the age of 78 after a brief battle with cancer. Her group placed five songs on the Billboard Top 40 between 1963 and 1964, including "Be My Baby" (#2), "Baby I Love You" (#24), "The Best Part Of Breakin' Up" (#39), "Do I Love You?" (#34) and "Walking In The Rain" (#23). Her ex-husband, Phil Spector died of complications of COVID-19, on January 16, 2021 at the age of 81.

January 12
Rosa Lee Hawkins, one of the three original singers in the New Orleans vocal trio The Dixie Cups, died at Tampa General Hospital in Florida. She was 76. The group was best known for their 1964 #1 single "Chapel of Love".

2023 - ClassicBands.com

January 12
Elvis' only child, 54-year-old Lisa Marie Presley, passed away at her California home due to complications of a small bowel obstruction. She was an accomplished singer in her own right, releasing three albums, including 2003's "To Whom It May Concern", which was certified Gold for over 500,000 units sold in the United States.

January 12
Robbie Bachman, drummer and co-founder of Bachman-Turner Overdrive passed away at the age of 68. The Canadian band placed a string of hits on the Hot 100 in the mid-1970s, including "Let It Ride" (#23), "Takin' Care Of Business" (#12), and "You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet" (#1).



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