THIS DAY IN MUSIC

January 17th: On this Day

1963, The Beatles played at The Cavern Club at lunchtime and in the evening played at the Majestic Ballroom, Birkenhead. At the Majestic, every ticket had been sold in advance, leaving 500 disappointed fans waiting outside.

1964, The Rolling Stones released their first EP, which included, ‘You Better Move On’, ‘Poison Ivy’, ‘Bye Bye Johnny’ and ‘Money’. It peaked at No.15 on the UK chart.

1966, NBC-TV in the US bought The Monkees series, placing it on their 1966 autumn schedule. The series centered on the adventures of The Monkees, a struggling rock band from Los Angeles, California and introduced a number of innovative new-wave film techniques to television.

1967, The Daily Mail ran the story about a local council survey finding 4,000 holes in the road in Lancashire inspiring John Lennon's contribution to The Beatles song 'A Day In The Life'.

1967, The Jimi Hendrix Experience recorded a session for Radio Luxembourg's Ready Steady Radio. The band ran up a bar bill of £2.5 shillings, ($6.21), which they were unable to pay.

1967, 40-year-old David Mason recorded the piccolo trumpet solo for The Beatle's 'Penny Lane' at Abbey Road Studios in London. He was paid £27, 10 shillings ($42) for his performance. In August, 1987, the trumpet he used was sold at a Sotheby's auction for $10,846.

1970, American rhythm and blues singer and pianist Billy Stewart and three of his band were killed when the Ford Thunderbird that Stewart was driving crashed off a bridge and plunged into the Neuse River near Smithfield, North Carolina. Stewart had the 1966 US No.10 single with his version of the George Gershwin song 'Summertime'.

1970, The Doors played the first of four shows at the Felt Forum in New York City. The shows were recorded for the bands forthcoming 'Absolutely Live' album.

1972, A section of Bellevue Boulevard in Memphis was renamed Elvis Presley Boulevard. The remaining length of road kept its original name after protests from the Bellevue Baptist Church.

1976, Barry Manilow scored his second US No.1 single with 'I Write The Songs', which was written by The Beach Boys Bruce Johnson.

1981, Motley Crue formed when bass guitarist Nikki Sixx left the band London and began rehearsing with drummer Tommy Lee and vocalist, guitarist Greg Leon, (who later left). Sixx and Lee then added guitarist Bob "Mick Mars" Deal. Vince Neil accepted an offer to join (after turning them down) in April of this year.

1982, American blues singer-songwriter and pianist Tommy Tucker died, aged 48, after being overcome by poisonous fumes while he was renovating the floors of his New York City home. Tucker wrote the 1964 US No.11 hit 'Hi Heel Sneakers'. Tucker left the music industry in the late 1960s, taking a position as a real estate agent in New Jersey.

1987, Kate Bush started a two-week run at No.1 on the UK album chart with 'The Whole Story'. The compilation album was Bush's third UK number one album as well as her best selling release.

1996, David Bowie Tom Donahue, The Jefferson Airplane, Gladys Knight And The Pips, Little Willie John, Pink Floyd, Pete Seeger, The Shirelles and The Velvet Underground were all inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

1998, All Saints scored their first UK No.1 single with 'Never Ever'. The track spent a total of twenty-four weeks on the UK chart and was the first of five No.1 singles for the London based girl group.

2003, A long-lost recording featuring John Lennon and Mick Jagger was set to spark a biding war at a London auction. The acetate record was recorded in 1974 with Jagger singing the blues song 'Too Many Cooks' and Lennon playing guitar. The track had never been released because the two artists were both signed to different record companies.

2003, Singer Lou Rawls was arrested at Albuquerque Airport, New Mexico after an incident with his companion, Nina Inman. Officers reported that she and Rawls had been talking about their relationship when the conversation escalated into a shoving match resulting in Rawls being booked on one count of battery on a household member.

2011, American music publisher, talent manager, and songwriter Don Kirshner who helped launch the careers of Neil Diamond, Bobby Darin, Carole King, Neil Sedaka, The Monkees, The Archies and Kansas, died of heart failure at the age of 76. Kirshner was hired by the producers of the Monkees to provide hit-worthy songs to accompany the television program and also served as a music consultant for almost two dozen TV series between 1966 and 1977.

2014, Madonna apologised for using a racial slur to refer to her son on an Instagram post, after she uploaded a snapshot of 13-year-old Rocco Ritchie boxing with the offensive epithet used in a hashtag accompanying the photo. Madonna's comment was swiftly deleted from her Instagram account after some of her 1.1 million followers berated her for using the hashtag "#disnigga"

2016, David Bowie reached No.1 in the American album charts for the first time with Blackstar, released two days before his death on 10 January. His highest-charting US album previously had been The Next Day, which peaked at No.2 in 2013.

2016, English drummer Dale Griffin died aged 67. He was a founder member of the Mott the Hoople best known for classic tracks 'Roll Away The Stone' and 'All The Young Dudes'. The band who made eight albums during their five-and-a-half year existence, reformed to mark their 40th anniversary in 2009 - but Griffin was too ill to take part. Griffin also produced numerous BBC Radio 1 John Peel sessions from 1981 to 1994 including the first professional recording session for Pulp in 1981.

2016, American brass player Mic Gillette died of a heart attack. A child prodigy, Gillette picked up the trumpet and was reading music by age four. He was a member of soul band Tower of Power.

January 17th: Born on this day

1927, Born on this day, Eartha Kitt, US female singer, (1955 UK No.7 single 'Under The Bridges Of Paris,' 1989 UK No.32 single with Bronski Beat, 'Cha Cha Heels'). Kitt died from colon cancer on December 25 2008 at her Weston, Connecticut home at the age of 81.

1943, Born on this day, Chris Montez, UK singer, (1962 UK No.2 & US No.4 single 'Let's Dance').

1945, Born on this day, William Hart, vocals, The Delfonics, (1968 US No.4 & 1971 UK No.19 single 'La-La Means I Love You').

1948, Born on this day, Mick Taylor, guitar, John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, joined The Rolling Stones in 1969 (aged 20), and left the Stones in 1974. He has appeared on some of the Stones' classic albums including Let It Bleed, Sticky Fingers and Exile on Main St. Taylor has also worked with Bob Dylan, Mike Oldfield, Jack Bruce and Ronnie Wood.

1948,

1953, Born on this day, Sheila Hutchinson, vocals, The Emotions, (1977 US No.1 & UK No.4 single 'Best Of My Love').

1954, Born on this day, Cheryl Bentyne, singer, Manhattan Transfer, (1977 UK No.1 'Chanson D'amour', 1981 US No.7 single 'Boy From New York City').

1955, Born on this day, Steve Earle, US singer, songwriter who had the 1988 UK No. 45 single 'Copperhead Road' and the Country and independent No.1 album 'Transcendental Blues'. Johnny Cash, Emmylou Harris, Gretchen Peters, Shawn Colvin and Eddi Reader have all covered his songs.

1956, Born on this day, Paul Young, singer, (1983 UK No.1 single 'Wherever I Lay My Hat, That's My Home', 1985 US No.1 single 'Everytime You Go Away'. The Streetband, (1978 UK No.18 single 'Toast.' Also lead singer with 1980's Q-Tips a soul covers band.

1958, Born on this day, Jez Strode, bass, Kajagoogoo, (1983 UK No.1 single 'Too Shy').

1959, Born on this day, Susanna Hoffs, guitar vocals, The Bangles, (1986 UK No.2 single with Prince song 'Manic Monday', 1986 US No.1 single 'Walk Like An Egyptian').

1960, Born on this day, John Crawford, bass, keyboards, Berlin, (1986 UK & US No.1 single 'Take My Breath Away').

1961, Born on this day, Dave Collard, keyboards, Jo Boxers, (1983 UK No.3 single 'Boxer Beat').

1963, Born on this day, Andy Rourke, bass, The Smiths, (1984 UK No.10 single 'Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now', plus 15 other UK Top 40 singles). Rourke has also played and recorded with the Pretenders and later formed Freebass with bass players Mani (ex-the Stone Roses) and Peter Hook (ex-New Order) in 2007.

1966, Born on this day, Shabba Ranks, singer, (1993 UK No.3 single 'Mr Loverman').

1971, Born on this day, Kid Rock, (Robert James Ritchie), American singer-songwriter, musician and rapper who had the 2000 US No.2 album 'History Of Rock' and the 2007 US No.1 album 'Rock N Roll Jesus' which featured the hit 'All Summer Long' charting at No.1 in eight countries.

1971, Born on this day, Jon Wysocki, drummer, Staind, (2001 US No.1 album, 'Break The Cycle', 2001 US No. 7 & UK No. 15 single 'It's Been A While', 2005 US No.1 album' Chapter V').

1978, Born on this day, Ricky Wilson, vocals, Kaiser Chiefs, (2005 UK No.3 album 'Employment', 2005 UK No.6 single 'Oh My God', 2007 UK No.1 single 'Ruby').

1984, Born on this day, Calvin Harris, singer-songwriter and producer. Had the 2009 UK No.1 single 'I'm Not Alone.' His collaboration with Rihanna 'We Found Love' became an international success, giving Harris his first US No.1 single on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart. Harris broke the record for the most top 10 songs from one studio album on the UK Singles Chart with nine entries, from his 2012 album 18 Months surpassing Michael Jackson.

1986, Born on this day, Jeremiah Fraites American musician with the American folk rock band The Lumineers. Their second album, Cleopatra, released in 2016 debuted at No.1 on the US chart and also on the Canadian and UK album charts.