Rock 'n' Roll History for
January 5


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1955 - ClassicBands.com

January 5
Elvis Presley, backed by Scotty Moore and Bill Black, kick off a three date tour in San Angelo, Texas as a backing act for headliner Billy Walker. The trio's pay for the night was $150.

1959 - ClassicBands.com

January 5
Coral Records releases what proves to be Buddy Holly's last record before his death, "It Doesn't Matter Anymore", which was one of the few songs that Buddy recorded that he didn't write. It was penned by Paul Anka and peaked at #13 two months after Holly was killed.

1961 - ClassicBands.com

January 5
The Beatles appeared at Litherland Town Hall, Liverpool. In the audience are two members of Rory Storm And The Hurricanes: Johnny Guitar and Ringo Starr, who have just returned from Hamburg, Germany.

1965 - ClassicBands.com

January 5
The Supremes record "Stop! In The Name Of Love" at Motown studios in Detroit. After being released on February 8th, the song will go on to the top spot on Billboard's Hot 100 and the Cashbox Best Sellers chart. In 2021, it was listed at #254 on Rolling Stone's "Top 500 Greatest Songs of All Time". Songwriter Lamont Dozier would later say that he got the inspiration for the song after an argument with his girlfriend in which he shouted, "Stop, in the name of love!"

1968 - ClassicBands.com

January 5
"Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits" goes Gold just nine months after its release. The LP contains every Top 40 single Dylan enjoyed through 1967 and has since been certified five times Platinum. It peaked at #10 on the Billboard Hot 200 and went to #3 on the UK album chart.


1974 - ClassicBands.com

January 5
The Carpenters' compilation album "The Singles 1969-1973" hits the top of the Billboard 200 chart. Richard Carpenter gave it this title because he didn't like the term "greatest hits", because he felt it was "an overused thing." Since then, the LP has been certified 7x platinum in the US alone. In the UK, the album reached number 1 for 17 (non-consecutive) weeks. In Canada, the album was in the Top 100 for 33 weeks.

1976 - ClassicBands.com

January 5
40 year old Mal Evans, a former roadie and bodyguard of The Beatles, is shot to death by police at his Los Angeles apartment. His girlfriend, Fran Hughes, found him upset and despondent and when friends couldn't get Evans to release the unloaded rifle he was holding, they called police. Evans supposedly pointed the gun at police and they opened fire.

1979 - ClassicBands.com

January 5
The double-album soundtrack to the film Saturday Night Fever surpasses sales of 25 million copies worldwide, making it the best-selling LP in history up to that time.

1980 - ClassicBands.com

January 5
The first number one song of the eighties belonged to KC And The Sunshine Band for "Please Don't Go". It was their fifth and final US chart topper.

1991 - ClassicBands.com

January 5
Iron Maiden topped the UK singles chart with "Bring Your Daughter To The Slaughter", however, with sales of only 42,000 copies during its first week, the record became the lowest selling UK number one in over thirty years.


1998 - ClassicBands.com

January 5
62-year-old Sonny Bono of Sonny And Cher was killed when he hit a tree while skiing on the Nevada side of Heavenly Ski Resort near South Lake Tahoe, California. The duo placed eleven songs on the Billboard Top 40 between 1965 and 1972 before divorcing in 1975. After leaving show business, Sonny was elected Mayor of Palm Springs, California in 1988 and in 1994 was elected to the US congress and re-elected in 1996.

2003 - ClassicBands.com

January 5
Little Richard guest stars on the "Special Edna" episode of The Simpsons.

2016 - ClassicBands.com

January 5
Steely Dan founder Donald Fagen was arrested for assaulting his wife at their Manhattan home. The 67-year-old musician was charged with misdemeanor assault and harassment and was released without bail.

January 5
After Barack Obama gave a speech about gun control, Ted Nugent launched an attack on Facebook, calling The President "A psychopathic, America hating, liar."

January 5
According to figures released by the British trade body BPI, the best selling albums in Great Britain in 2015 were: 1. "25" by Adele, 2. "X" by Ed Sheeran, 3. "In The Lonely Hour" by Sam Smith, 4. "If I Can Dream" by Elvis Presley, 5. "Purpose" by Justin Bieber.

2017 - ClassicBands.com

January 5
Satellite radio giant SiriusXM announced that it had added more than 1.7 million subscribers in 2016, bringing their total to more than 31.3 million.

2018 - ClassicBands.com

January 5
Nat "King" Cole achieved his first Top 40 album on the Billboard 200 in more than 50 years as "The Christmas Song" rose to #29. Cole was last in the Top 40 with "Ramblin' Rose", which spent its final week on the chart dated January 15th, 1966.


2019 - ClassicBands.com

January 5
Eric Haydock, the bassist who co-founded The Hollies, passed away at the age of 75 after a long illness. After recording such hits as "Just One Look", "Look Through Any Window" and "I'm Alive", he left the band in 1966 in a dispute over management fees.



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