Rock 'n' Roll History for
January 27


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1956 - ClassicBands.com

January 27
Elvis Presley's smash single, "Heartbreak Hotel" was released by RCA Records, who had just purchased Presley's contract from Sun Records for $35,000. The song sold 300,000 copies the first week and would eventually sell over a million, becoming Elvis' first Gold record.

1958 - ClassicBands.com

January 27
Little Richard left Rock and Roll and enrolled in bible school at Oakwood College in Huntsville, Alabama. Richard explained that while flying over the Philippines on tour, the wing of his plane caught fire and his prayers that the flames go out were answered, so he decided to dedicate the rest of his life to God. Some of the members of his touring band found work with James Brown's Famous Flames. During his four years in school, Richard still had hit records with previously recorded material like "Good Golly Miss Molly". By the time he returned to music in 1962, the British Invasion had started and the best Richard could do was a minor UK hit, "He Got What He Wanted". In 1965, Jimi Hendrix backed him on "I Don't Know What You've Got, But It's Got Me", but the song barely cracked the US Hot 100, topping out at number 92.

1962 - ClassicBands.com

January 27
Elvis Presley received his 29th Gold record for "Can't Help falling in Love", just weeks after getting one for the soundtrack to his seventh movie, Blue Hawaii.

January 27
The house band from New York's Peppermint Lounge, Joey Dee And The Starliters had the number song in the US with "The Peppermint Twist". The single reached #33 on the UK chart. The lead singer on the record was David Brigati, whose brother, Eddie Brigati, sang with The Young Rascals.


1964 - ClassicBands.com

January 27
The Rolling Stones appear as judges on the British rate-a-record TV show called Juke Box Jury. Their behavior on the set causes a furor in the British press for their impolite behavior, which included referring to Elvis Presley's current single ("There's Gold In The Mountains") as "dated." Keith Richards later wrote of this appearance: "We didn't give a shit.... We just trashed every record they played."

1967 - ClassicBands.com

January 27
General Motors begins offering an eight-track tape player as an option in their Buick line. They had been available from Ford since September, 1965. Although they were very popular for awhile, the tapes would be phased out of US retail stores by late 1982.

1968 - ClassicBands.com

January 27
Otis Redding's "Sittin' On The Dock of the Bay" is released, six weeks after he was killed in a plane crash. It will become the first posthumous number-one single in US chart history. Otis had intended to return to the studio at a later date to add lyrics in place of the whistling that is heard during the closing bars.

January 27
The Bee Gees played their first American concert at the Anaheim Convention Center in California. After collecting their $50,000 fee, they headed immediately back to England.

1970 - ClassicBands.com

January 27
John Lennon writes, records and mixes "Instant Karma" during a nine hour session. Phil Spector produced the effort with George Harrison on guitar, Billy Preston on piano, Klaus Voormann on bass and Alan White on drums.

1972 - ClassicBands.com

January 27
The New Seekers receive a Gold record for "I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing". The song received extensive air-play as the music for Coca-Cola commercials.


1973 - ClassicBands.com

January 27
Stevie Wonder scores his second US number one with his twenty-third Top 40 hit, "Superstition". It reached #11 in the UK. At the 16th Grammy Awards on March 2nd, 1974, the song earned Wonder two Grammys: Best Rhythm & Blues Song and Best R&B Vocal Performance, Male. In 2021, Rolling Stone ranked it at #74 on their list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

1976 - ClassicBands.com

January 27
31 year old Gary Glitter, often called The King of British Glam, announces that he is retiring. Although he says he has no intention of returning to show business, financial pressures would soon force him to change his mind.

1984 - ClassicBands.com

January 27
Michael Jackson suffers scalp and neck burns when his hair catches fire during an accidental explosion on the set of a Pepsi commercial shot in Los Angeles. Pepsi paid Jackson a $1.5 million settlement, which he then donated to the Brotman Memorial Hospital where he was treated. The commercial debuted on MTV on February 27, 1984 with the fire scene edited out.

1991 - ClassicBands.com

January 27
Whitney Houston sings "The Star Spangled Banner" at Super Bowl XXV (25) at Tampa Stadium, backed by the Florida Orchestra along with music director Jahja Ling. The performance was watched by 73,813 fans, 115 million TV viewers in the United States, and a worldwide television audience of 750 million.

1993 - ClassicBands.com

January 27
Warner Brothers Records announces that it is releasing rapper Ice-T (real name Tracy Marrow) from his contract due to "creative differences." The previous summer the record company found itself in the middle of controversy over Ice-T's song, "Cop Killer". Marrow would go on to co-star in the police drama, Law and Order in 1999.

1998 - ClassicBands.com

January 27
James Brown was charged with possession of marijuana and unlawful use of a firearm after police were called to his South Carolina home. Brown later claimed that the drugs were used to help his eyesight. He was required to enter a 90-day drug treatment program.

2002 - ClassicBands.com

January 27
Brian Wilson played the first of four sold-out nights at The Royal Festival Hall, London.

2006 - ClassicBands.com

January 27
Gene McFadden, R&B vocalist and songwriter, best known as half of the Philly soul team McFadden & Whitehead, died of cancer at the age of 56. The duo reached number 13 on the Billboard chart in 1979 with "Ain't No Stoppin' Us Now".


2010 - ClassicBands.com

January 27
Former ABBA vocalist Anni-Frid Lyngstad revealed that although she has since come to terms with being famous, she once harbored regrets about singing in the group because she was so overwhelmed by the band's worldwide popularity. She admitted that she felt desperate to swap her legacy for a normal life.

2014 - ClassicBands.com

January 27
Pete Seeger, the banjo-picking troubadour who introduced generations of Americans to their Folk Music heritage, died of natural causes at the age of 94. As a member of The Weavers, he recorded such hits as "Goodnight Irene" and "On Top of Old Smokey" and would go on to write "If I Had a Hammer", "Turn, Turn, Turn", "Where Have All the Flowers Gone" and "Kisses Sweeter Than Wine".

2015 - ClassicBands.com

January 27
Black Sabbath bassist, 65-year-old Geezer Butler, was arrested in California after a bar fight following an argument that escalated into a physical confrontation. Police said he was released after detox and citation.

2023 - ClassicBands.com

January 27
Floyd Sneed, drummer for Three Dog Night during their hit making years, passed away at the age of 80.




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