Rock 'n' Roll History for
January 2


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1926 - ClassicBands.com

January 2
The first issue of The Melody Maker magazine went on sale in the UK. Advertised as being for "all who are interested in the production of popular music," the first issue featured dance band news, a story about ukuleles, and how to read music by sight.

1955 - ClassicBands.com

January 2
A funeral is held for American Rhythm-And-Blues singer Johnny Ace, who accidentally shot himself while playing with a pistol on December 25th, 1954. "Pledging My Love" would become a posthumous R&B #1 hit for him for ten weeks beginning February 12th. That made him the first act to reach the Billboard Pop chart only after death.

1957 - ClassicBands.com

January 2
Harry Belafonte's version of the traditional Jamaican Folk song "Banana Boat" (Day-O) enters the Hot 100 where it will peak at #5 next March. It will prove to be the biggest of his nine US Top 100 hits.

January 2
Frankie Laine scores his biggest hit in America when "Moonlight Gambler" peaks at #3 on the Billboard chart. Over the next ten years he will reach the Top 40 four more times.


1962 - ClassicBands.com

January 2
After refusing to sign an oath that says they have never been members of the Communist party, the American Folk group, The Weavers are removed from the line-up of NBC-TV's Jack Parr Show. Years earlier, group members Pete Seeger and Lee Hays were identified as Communist Party USA members by FBI informant Harvey Matusow, (he later recanted.)

1965 - ClassicBands.com

January 2
Roger Miller reaches #31 on the Billboard Hot 100 with a most unusual song called "Do-Wacka-Do". The lyrics tell the story of a man who would like to trade places with a friend: "I wish I had your good luck charm, and you hadda do-wacka-do". In the middle of next March, Miller would enjoy his biggest hit when "King Of The Road" reached #4 in America and #1 in the UK.

January 2
Elvis Presley's soundtrack LP "Roustabout" hits #1 on the Billboard Top LPs Chart. It would be certified Gold for sales of 500,000 copies on May 20th, 1988 by the Recording Industry Association of America.

1971 - ClassicBands.com

January 2
George Harrison became the first solo Beatle to have a #1 album in the US when "All Things Must Pass" went to the top of the Billboard chart for a seven week stay. It was eventually certified 6X Platinum by the RIAA and was ranked #437 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.

January 2
A cover version of Jerry Jeff Walker's "Mr. Bojangles" by The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band enters the Billboard Top 40 on its way to number nine. The record would stay on the Hot 100 for an amazing thirty-six weeks, reached number two in Canada, number fifteen in Australia, but did not chart in the UK.

1972 - ClassicBands.com

January 2
Elvis Presley buys a $10,000 robe inscribed "The People's Champion" and presents it to boxer Muhammad Ali.

1974 - ClassicBands.com

January 2
Country singer Tex Ritter died of a heart attack at the age of 68 while trying to bail a member of his band out of jail. He reached Billboard's Top 100 chart six times and the Country chart twenty-five times between 1944 and 1974.

1975 - ClassicBands.com

January 2
Suzi Quatro appears on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine. After a string of UK hits, she now has her sights set on America, but despite being cast as Leather Tuscadero on TV's Happy Days, her only Billboard Top 40 hit would be "Stublin' In" with Smokie's lead singer Chris Norman in 1979. Despite her lack of success in the United States, she is reported to have sold over 50 million records worldwide.


1979 - ClassicBands.com

January 2
Shock rocker Sid Vicious, bassist for The Sex Pistols, went on trial for stabbing his girlfriend, Nancy Spungen. The trial was never completed as Vicious died a month later of a heroin overdose. He had attempted suicide twice while in a cell after his arrest.

1988 - ClassicBands.com

January 2
Michael Jackson and Bono shared first place in an American poll of 'the most beautiful lips'.

1989 - ClassicBands.com

January 2
Tom Jones made a guest appearance on Late Night With David Letterman, performing his comeback tune, "Kiss", a song he recorded with the British avant-garde, Synth-Pop group, The Art of Noise. It was his first US hit in almost a dozen years.

1990 - ClassicBands.com

January 2
Phil Collins started a three-week run at the top of the Billboard album chart with "...But Seriously". It will become the second best selling album of the year, behind Janet Jackson's "Rhythm Nation 1814", moving 4 million copies in the US and 2.75 million in the UK.

1994 - ClassicBands.com

January 2
Meat Loaf started a three week run at the top of the UK album chart with "Bat Out Of Hell II - Back Into Hell". The LP, which featured the single "I'd Do Anything for Love", also topped the charts in the US and Australia and has sold more than 14 million copies world-wide.

1997 - ClassicBands.com

January 2
45 year old Randy California, who is best known as the leader of the Rock band Spirit, died tragically when he was gripped by an undertow while swimming on the coast of the Hawaiian island of Molokai. Before he died, he was able to save his 12 year-old son, Quinn.

1999 - ClassicBands.com

January 2
Soul singer Isaac Hayes topped the UK chart with a tune called "Chocolate Salty Balls", using the exaggerated deep voice of Chef, his character in the animated TV series South Park.


2003 - ClassicBands.com

January 2
Edward Farran of The Arbors died of kidney failure at the age of 64. The group reached #20 on the Billboard chart in 1969 with their version of "The Letter".

2008 - ClassicBands.com

January 2
Billboard.com reported that Paul McCartney underwent a heart-related surgical procedure in the latter part of 2007. Reports said the 65-year-old former Beatle had a coronary angioplasty, which involves the opening of arteries to allow greater blood flow. McCartney recovered sufficiently to perform in a televised New Year's Eve program with Australian singer Kylie Minogue.

2014 - ClassicBands.com

January 2
Jay Traynor of Jay And The Americans died at the age of 70. He sang lead on the group's first hit, "She Cried", which reached #5 on the Hot 100 in 1962. Traynor was replaced in The Americans by David Blatt, who agreed to perform under the stage name Jay Black. The group would go on to have nine more Billboard Top 40 hits.

2018 - ClassicBands.com

January 2
Tony Calder, the music manager who promoted the Beatles' debut single "Love Me Do", died at the age of 74 following a battle with pneumonia.

2019 - ClassicBands.com

January 2
Daryl Dragon of the popular 1970s duo Captain & Tennille died of renal failure at the age of 76. The couple placed nine songs on the Billboard Hot 100 between 1975 and 1980, including two number one hits, "Love Will Keep Us Together" and "Do That To Me One More Time".




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