Rock 'n' Roll History for
January 18


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1960 - ClassicBands.com

January 18
Johnny Preston's Indian love song "Running Bear" reached number one and became the first song to do so after it had fallen off the Billboard chart completely. Penned by J.P. Richardson (The Big Bopper), the tune originally entered the chart in October 1959, then quickly vanished, but re-entered in November and slowly climbed to the top. It was also #1 in the UK.


1964 - ClassicBands.com

January 18
The Beatles had their first appearance on the US singles chart with "I Want to Hold Your Hand". The disc entered the Billboard Hot 100 at #45, just ten days after its release, making it the fastest-breaking and the fastest selling single in Capitol Records history. Capitol had earlier turned down "Love Me Do", "Please Please Me", "From Me to You" and "She Loves You", which were then released by Vee Jay Records. After a nasty lawsuit, Capitol Records was granted an injunction, restraining Vee Jay Records from further manufacturing, distributing, advertising or otherwise disposing of recordings by the Beatles. If you have any old Beatles records on Vee Jay, hang on to them, they are now collector's items.

January 18
"Glad All Over" by The Dave Clark Five rose to the top of the UK chart, replacing The Beatles' "I Want To Hold Your Hand". Keyboard player Mike Smith wrote the song after he came across an old Carl Perkins' record with the same title. It would reach #6 in the US.

1969 - ClassicBands.com

January 18
Pete Best, the drummer that The Beatles kicked out of the group in favor of Ringo Starr, wins a defamation suit against John, Paul and George. He had sought 8 million dollars, but won a considerably less, though undisclosed amount.

1971 - ClassicBands.com

January 18
In a move to help promote Canadian musicians in their own country, Canada passes a law known as CanCon, that requires that from 6 am to 12 am, 30% of all music aired on the radio must be by a Canadian artist. They count as Canadian if two of the following four characteristics are met: "Music composed entirely by a Canadian", "Artist is Canadian", "Produced in Canada", "Lyrics written entirely by a Canadian."

1973 - ClassicBands.com

January 18
A Rolling Stones benefit concert raises $200,000 for Nicaraguan earthquake relief. Mick Jagger donated an additional $150,000, as his wife Bianca is from Nicaragua.

1975 - ClassicBands.com

January 18
Barry Manilow launched his career with the number one smash "Mandy". Originally called "Brandy" when it was recorded in 1972 by Scott English, Manilow changed the title to avoid confusion with the hit of the same name by a group called Looking Glass. It was long rumored that Scott English wrote the song about his dog, but this urban legend had been debunked by English himself, who explained that a reporter called him early one morning asking who "Brandy" was, and an irritated English made up the "dog" story to get the journalist off his back.


1977 - ClassicBands.com

January 18
Jimmy Carter's inauguration had entertainment provided by Linda Ronstadt, John Lennon, Paul Simon, Gregg Allman, The Marshall Tucker Band and The Charlie Daniels Band.

1978 - ClassicBands.com

January 18
Johnny Paycheck's cover of David Allan Coe's ode to workplace frustrations, "Take This Job and Shove It", reached the top spot on the Billboard Country chart. Although the song failed to crack the Hot 100, it still seems to be one that we all know and can relate to.

January 18
Neil Sedaka received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Over the course of his career, he placed twenty-one songs on the Billboard Top 40 and fifteen on the UK Official Chart.

1980 - ClassicBands.com

January 18
The owners of the Disco nightclub, Studio 54 were sentenced to 3 1/2 years in jail and fined $20,000 for tax evasion.

1981 - ClassicBands.com

January 18
Wendy O'Williams of The Plasmatics was arrested on stage in Milwaukee and charged with simulating sex with a sledgehammer and resisting arrest. A Milwaukee jury would find Williams not guilty of assaulting a police officer and the other charges were dropped. Williams later filed a multimillion dollar civil suit against the Milwaukee Police, charging they sexually assaulted and beat her during the arrest, but a jury rejected her claims.

1985 - ClassicBands.com

January 18
Newspaper USA Today took a poll of its readers to ask where the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame should be built. The winner, as you know, was Cleveland, Ohio.

1986 - ClassicBands.com

January 18
Dionne Warwick, Stevie Wonder, Elton John and Gladys Knight saw their recording of "That's What Friends Are For" hit number 1 in the US. The song was originally on the soundtrack to the movie, Night Shift, as performed by Rod Stewart. Warwick suggested doing it as a duet with Stevie Wonder and then Gladys Knight was added to the mix. To finish off the song, Elton John was asked to sing the final chorus. It became the biggest selling song of the year and all proceeds raised were donated to AIDS research.

January 18
Tina Turner set a world record when 182,000 people attended one of her concerts at Maracana Arena in Rio de Janeiro. Paul McCartney broke Turner's record two years later on his Flowers in the Dirt tour.

1989 - ClassicBands.com

January 18
At just 38 years old, Stevie Wonder becomes the youngest living person to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. At a ceremony held at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York, other inductees include The Rolling Stones, The Temptations, Otis Redding and Dion DiMucci.

1996 - ClassicBands.com

January 18
Lisa Marie Presley files for divorce from Michael Jackson, citing irreconcilable differences. The marriage had lasted 19 months.

2000 - ClassicBands.com

January 18
Spencer Goodman, the man who kidnapped and killed the wife of ZZ Top manager Bill Ham in Houston in 1991, is executed by lethal injection in Huntsville, Texas. Ham was present for the event.


2002 - ClassicBands.com

January 18
Gerry Marsden of Gerry And The Pacemakers flew to America after his youngest daughter, Victoria, was injured in a hit-and-run crash in Miami Beach, Florida the day before. She was released from an area hospital but her female companion suffered serious head injuries in the accident.

2006 - ClassicBands.com

January 18
Former teen idol Leif Garrett pleaded not guilty to drug possession charges after he was arrested for allegedly trying to ride a Los Angeles subway without a ticket. The 44 year old Garrett was charged with felony possession of heroin and fare evasion.

January 18
Animals in Michael Jackson's private zoo were declared to be in good health after officials paid a surprise visit to the singer's Neverland ranch. A medical officer from the US department of agriculture inspected the property following concerns voiced by the animal rights group, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). Jackson had earlier moved out of Neverland and had taken up residence in Bahrain in the Middle East.

2007 - ClassicBands.com

January 18
Ted Nugent caused a stir at the inaugural ball of Texas Governor Rick Perry when he appeared on stage wearing a T-shirt adorned with the Confederate flag and then embarking on an angry monologue about people who don't speak English. The 58-year-old rocker also brought a fake machine gun on stage with him.

2015 - ClassicBands.com

January 18
Dallas Taylor, drummer for Crosby, Stills And Nash from 1967 until 1974, passed away at the age of 66.

2016 - ClassicBands.com

January 18
67-year-old Glenn Frey, co-founder of The Eagles, died of rheumatoid arthritis, acute ulcerative colitis and pneumonia while recovering from intestinal surgery. Along with helping the band place eighteen songs on the Billboard Top 40 between 1972 and 1995, Frey also reached the chart seven times as a solo artist.

January 18
"American Pie" singer Don McLean was arrested and charged with misdemeanor domestic violence stemming from an incident that allegedly occurred at his home in Camden, Maine. He later pleaded guilty and was fined $3,000, but was given no jail time.

2017 - ClassicBands.com

January 18
Paul McCartney filed a lawsuit against Sony/ATV seeking to regain the publishing rights to 267 of The Beatles' classic tunes. As part of the US 1976 Copyright Act, songs in the Lennon-McCartney catalogue, composed between September 1962 and June 1971, become eligible for copyright termination in the US after 56 years.

2018 - ClassicBands.com

January 18
The Recording Academy's National Board of Trustees added several new songs to The Grammy Hall Of Fame. Those included were David Bowie's "Space Oddity", Whitney Houston's "I Will Always Love You", Queen's "A Night At The Opera", Linda Ronstadt's "Heart Like A Wheel" and Sam Cooke's "Bring It On Home To Me."

2021 - ClassicBands.com

January 18
Jimmie Rodgers, the Pop singer who scored a Billboard #1 hit with "Honeycomb" in 1957, died of natural causes at the age of 87. In total he placed fourteen songs on the Top 40 chart over a ten year span, including "Kisses Sweeter Than Wine" and "Oh-Oh, I'm Falling In Love Again". His career was hampered by a serious assault, allegedly at the hands of an off duty Los Angeles policeman, that left him with broken bones and a fractured skull in December of 1967. After an eight figure lawsuit, Rodgers ultimately accepted an out-of-court settlement. He recovered from his injuries and went on to have a string of minor hits on the U.S. Country charts.


2022 - ClassicBands.com

January 18
Dick Halligan, a multi-instrumentalist and co-founder of Blood, Sweat & Tears, died of natural causes at the age of 78. Halligan had a heavy influence on the band's second album, "Blood, Sweat & Tears", which spent seven weeks at #1 on the Billboard 200 after arriving in December 1968. That LP spawned three hit singles: You've Made Me So Very Happy", "And When I Die" and "Spinning Wheel", all of which reached #2 on the Hot 100. Halligan provided trombone, organ, piano, flute and vocals on various tracks.



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