Rock 'n' Roll History for
January 6


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1956 - ClassicBands.com

January 6
Lonnie Donegan's cover of "Rock Island Line" enters the UK charts, eventually selling over three million copies and kicking off the national skiffle craze. The single reached the Top Ten in the US, peaking at #8.


1958 - ClassicBands.com

January 6
Danny And The Juniors' Rock 'n' Roll classic "At The Hop" was the number one song in America. Originally written as "Do the Bop", American Bandstand host Dick Clark advised the group to re-write the lyrics because the dance known as The Bop was on its way out. Clark was right and the Philadelphia quartet's record stayed in the top spot for a month.

January 6
Jerry Lee Lewis' "Great Balls of Fire" hits #2 in America, where it would stay for four weeks. Held out of the top spot by "At The Hop" by Danny And The Juniors, the record sold one million copies in its first ten days of release, making it one of the best-selling singles ever in the US at that time.

1962 - ClassicBands.com

January 6
Burl Ives' "A Little Bitty Tear" cracks the Billboard Top 40 on its way to #9. His first hit came in 1947 with a Folk song written in the 1840s, "Jimmy Crack Corn", which he followed with "Big Rock Candy Mountain" in 1949.

January 6
Swan Records teamed Freddy Cannon with Danny And The Juniors on a song called "Twistin' All Night Long". Unfortunately for all concerned, the song will peak at #81 on this date and fell off the chart completely after just one week.

1963 - ClassicBands.com

January 6
Billy J. Kramer signs a six year contract with Beatles' manager, Brian Epstein. By year's end, he will have placed three singles in the UK's Top 5. The following year would bring success in America with four Top 30 hits.

1964 - ClassicBands.com

January 6
The Rolling Stones begin their first headlining UK tour, with The Ronettes as their supporting act.

1966 - ClassicBands.com

January 6
The Beatles' "We Can Work It Out" is awarded a Gold record, two days before it begins a three week reign at Billboard's number one spot. It had entered the US chart on December 18, 1965 and stayed on the Hot 100 for 12 weeks.

1967 - ClassicBands.com

January 6
Paul Revere And The Raiders' fourth album, "Just Like Us!" is certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America. Personnel on the album were listed as: Mark Lindsay - vocals, saxophone, Drake Levin - guitar, Paul Revere - keyboards, Mike "Smitty" Smith - drums and Phil "Fang" Volk - bass. If any sessions players were on the LP, they were not credited. Unlike their later albums, on which Mark Lindsay was the primary lead singer, the lead vocal duties on "Just Like Us!" were split among him and Drake Levin, Phil Volk and Mike Smith. The LP, which featured the singles "Just Like Me" (#11) and "Steppin' Out" (#46), peaked at #5 on the Billboard 200 albums chart.


1968 - ClassicBands.com

January 6
Television producer and American Bandstand host Dick Clark premieres his latest TV series, Happening '68. The Saturday afternoon show featured co-hosts Paul Revere and Mark Lindsay welcoming popular Rock acts lip-synching their latest hits. The program ran until September 1969.

1973 - ClassicBands.com

January 6
Carly Simon's "You're So Vain" leads the US hit parade, stirring speculation about exactly who she was singing about. In 2015 Simon told People magazine that the subject in question is actually a composite of three different men, including actor Warren Beatty, but did not include her ex-husband, James Taylor. She later complicated the debate by claiming that she was singing about openly gay record producer David Geffen.

1975 - ClassicBands.com

January 6
After fans caused over $30,000 damage to the Boston Garden auditorium, Mayor Kevin White promptly cancels a scheduled performance by Led Zeppelin.

1977 - ClassicBands.com

January 6
KISS' "Rock And Roll Over" album is certified Platinum. Critics gave the effort mixed reviews, but the LP did reach #11 on the Billboard 200 chart and spawned two Billboard Top 40 hits, "Hard Luck Woman" (#15) and "Calling Dr. Love" (#16).

1979 - ClassicBands.com

January 6
Nearly three months after its release, Melissa Manchester's version of "Don't Cry Out Loud" finally enters the Billboard Top 40. It would take another three months for the song to reach its peak at #10. Thanks to its long chart life, the record would go on to be ranked as Billboard's 26th biggest hit of 1979.

January 6
The Bee Gees led the Billboard Hot 100 for the seventh time when "Too Much Heaven" climbed to the top. The Brothers Gibb donated the proceeds from the single to UNICEF, the agency dedicated to helping children around the world.

January 6
Village People scored their only UK #1 single with "Y.M.C.A." At it's peak, the record was selling 150,000 copies a day.

January 6
Former Gong Show winner Cheryl Lynn enters the Billboard Hot 100 with a Disco tune called "Got To Be Real", which will peak at #12 and top the R&B chart.

1980 - ClassicBands.com

January 6
Georgeanna Tillman of The Marvelettes, who scored a US number one hit with "Please Mr. Postman" in 1961, died of sickle cell anemia at the age of 36. Her illness had caused her to leave the group in 1965.


1987 - ClassicBands.com

January 6
Eric Clapton started what became an annual event by playing six shows at the Royal Albert Hall, London.

1989 - ClassicBands.com

January 6
Sales figures were released that showed the biggest selling UK album artists of 1988 were, #1 - Fleetwood Mac, #2 - Kylie Minogue, #3 - Michael Jackson, #4 - U2, #5 - Dire Straits.

1993 - ClassicBands.com

January 6
The press reported that David Bowie had lost over $4.25 million (£2.5 million) in unpaid royalties to an Italian, Mafia-linked, bootlegging organization.

1996 - ClassicBands.com

January 6
O.J. Simpson phones an L.A. radio station to request a dedication for his murdered wife Nicole. He wanted to hear "One Sweet Day" by Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men.

2006 - ClassicBands.com

January 6
Lou Rawls passed away at the age of 72, after a long battle with cancer. The velvet voiced singer placed six songs on the Billboard Top 40 Pop chart, including the number two hit, "You'll Never Find Another Love Like Mine" in 1976.

January 6
Former British rocker Gary Glitter was formally charged with committing obscene acts with two girls aged 10 and 11. The 61 year old Glitter, whose real name is Paul Francis Gadd, was accused of kissing and engaging in other physical acts with the girls at his rental home in the southern Vietnamese resort town of Vung Tau.

2009 - ClassicBands.com

January 6
60-year-old Ron Asheton, guitarist for The Stooges, is found dead of an apparent heart attack at his home in Ann Arbor, Michigan.


2017 - ClassicBands.com

January 6
Norway announced that it would become the first country in the world to gradually stop using the FM radio network. The move, which aimed to ditch the analogue platform in favor of a digital one called Digital Audio Broadcasting, would bring a clearer sound to the nation's five million people.

2024 - ClassicBands.com

January 6
Parody artist "Weird Al" Yankovic added a Primetime Emmy Award to his five Grammy Awards when Weird: The Al Yankovic Story won for Outstanding Television Movie at the 2023 Creative Arts Emmys. The film, which starred Daniel Radcliffe, beat out five other nominees, including Dolly Parton's Mountain Magic Christmas.



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