What Happened Today In Music

January 12th

1964 - The Beatles

The Beatles appeared on the ATV show Sunday Night At The London Palladium performing ‘I Wanna Hold Your Hand’, ‘This Boy’, ‘All My Loving’, ‘Money’ and ‘Twist And Shout’. The compere for the evening was Bruce Forsyth. When The Beatles appeared on this show on October 13, 1963, their fee had been £250, now, just three months later, their fee was £1,000.

1969 - Led Zeppelin

Led Zeppelin's debut album was released in the UK. Recorded at Olympic Studios in Barnes, London, the album took only about 36 hours of studio time to complete at a cost of just £1,782, most of the tracks being recorded 'live' in the studio with very few overdubs. The album spent a total of 71 weeks on the UK chart.

1974 - Steve Miller

The Steve Miller Band were at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'The Joker', the group's first of three No.1's. It reached No.1 on the UK chart in 1990.

1975 - Little Feat

The first night of a UK tour kicked off under the banner of The Warner Brothers Music Show. It featured Little Feat, Montrose, Tower Of Power, The Doobie Brothers and Graham Central Station. Also released was an album sampler featuring all the acts that was priced at 69p ($1.17).

1977 - Sex Pistols

EMI Records issued a statement saying it felt unable to promote The Sex Pistols records in view of the adverse publicity generated over the last two months.

1977 - Keith Richards

Rolling Stone Keith Richards was fined £750 ($1,275) for possession of cocaine found in his car after the guitarist had been involved in a car crash.

1977 - Stewart Copeland

The Police had their first rehearsal, held at drummer's Stewart Copeland's London flat, with Henri Padovani on guitar.

1981 - Bob Dylan

It was reported that the White House had expanded its record library by including albums by Bob Dylan, Kiss and the Sex Pistols.

1983 - Reebop Kwaku Baah

Swedish percussionist with Traffic, Reebop Kwaku Baah died from a brain haemorrhage in Stockholm, Sweden. Also worked with Eric Clapton, Steve Winwood, Ginger Baker's Air Force, Can and The Rolling Stones.

1992 - Bob Geldof

Bob Geldof was arrested after a disturbance on a Boeing 727, which had been grounded for 5 hours at Stansted Airport.

1993 - Van Morrison

Van Morrison failed to turn up at the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame induction dinner, making him the first living inductee not to attend.

1995 - Snoop Doggy Dogg

Snoop Doggy Dogg was charged in Los Angeles with possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia.

1996 - AC/DC

AC/DC played the first date on their Ballbreaker World Tour in Greensboro, North Carolina. The world tour would last for 11 months finishing on November 30, 1996 in Christchurch, New Zealand.

2001 - Liam Gallagher

British Airways staff complained about Oasis singer Liam Gallagher after he had grabbed a stewardess' bottom, refused to stop smoking and threw objects around the cabin during a flight from London to Rio De Janeiro.

2002 - Aaliyah

Aaliyah had the posthumous UK No.1 single with 'More Than A Woman'. Aaliyah was killed in Aug 2001 in a plane crash in the Bahamas aged 22. The Cessna plane crashed a few minutes after take off killing everyone on board. Aaliyah had been filming a video on the island for her latest release 'Rock The Boat'.

2003 - Maurice Gibb

Singer-songwriter Maurice Gibb from The Bee Gees died aged 53 in Miami Hospital, Florida following a heart attack during abdominal surgery. The Bee Gees released over 20 albums and had the 1979 world-wide No.1 album 'Spirits Having Flown', and 'How Deep Is Your Love, 'Stayin' Alive', and 'Night Fever' from the soundtrack 'Saturday Night Fever' were all US No.1 singles. Gibb was married to the Scottish singer Lulu from 1969 to 1973. In 2002, Maurice was made a Commander of the British Empire (CBE), along with his brothers.

2004 - Randy VanWarmer

American songwriter and guitarist Randy VanWarmer died from leukaemia aged 48. (1979 US No.4 & UK No.8 single 'Just When I Needed You Most'). Also wrote The Oak Ridge Boys No.1 US Country hit 'I Guess It Never Hurts to Hurt Sometimes.' VanWarmer's had arranged for a space burial and his cremated remains were sent into space in 2007.

2005 - The Beatles

It was announced that the Strawberry Field children's home immortalised by The Beatles was to close. The home in Woolton, Liverpool was made famous when John Lennon wrote 'Strawberry Fields Forever' after playing there as a child.

2007 - Toni Braxton

Toni Braxton filed a lawsuit at the U.S District Court in Manhattan against her former manager Barry Hankerson for $10 million, alleging "fraud, deception and double dealing." According to Braxton, Hankerson placed his own personal financial interests ahead of hers by using "double-talk" to compromise the relationship between Braxton and her former recording label, Arista Records.

2010 - Shakin' Stevens

Shakin' Stevens was found guilty of hitting a press photographer with a microphone stand during a concert at a hotel in Ballymena. The Welsh singer who scored No.1's in the 80s was fined £300 for assault and criminal damage and ordered to pay the photographer £479 to compensate for his damaged camera lens.

2013 - Freddie Mercury

The 1974 Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow used by Freddie Mercuryuntil his death in November 1991, sold at auction for £74,000 to a Russian businessman. The 62,000-mile classic Rolls-Royce which had a guide price of just £9,000-£11,000 featured grey leather, wood trim, electric windows, automatic gearbox, a car phone and radio cassette player and a 6.75-litre V8 engine. It was sold as part of the Coys auction at Autosport International.

2017 - Richard Carpenter

Richard Carpenter said he was owed at least $2m (£1.6m) in royalties for the hits he recorded in The Carpenters. He claimed Universal Music had only paid the band a "minuscule fraction" of the money they were owed from downloads on sites like iTunes and Amazon. The musician was suing for compensation, according to legal documents filed in Los Angeles.

Born Today In Music

January 12th

1926 - Ray Price

Ray Price, singer, songwriter and guitarist. His wide-ranging baritone has often been praised as among the best male voices of country music. Price died on 16th Dec 2013 aged 87 at his ranch outside Mount Pleasant, Texas.

1932 - Des O'Connor

Des O'Connor, UK singer, comedian, TV presenter, (1968 UK No.1 single 'I Pretend'. Plus seven other UK Top 40 singles). Toured the UK with Buddy Holly in 1958.

1939 - William Lee Golden

American country music singer William Lee Golden from the Oak Ridge Boys, (1981 US No.5 single 'Elvira'). 

1941 - Long John Baldry

Long John Baldry, vocals, Bluesology and solo artist, (1967 UK No.1 single 'Let The Heartaches Begin'). Baldry died of a chest infection on 21st July 2005.

1945 - Maggie Bell

Maggie Bell, singer, The Power, Stone The Crows & solo, (UK No.11 solo single 'Hold Me').

1945 - Abe Tilmon

Abe Tilmon, Detroit Emeralds, (1973 UK No.7 single 'Feel The Need In Me'). Died of a heart attack in 1982

1946 - Cynthia Robinson

Cynthia Robinson, vocals, Sly and the Family Stone who had the 1968 US No.1 singles 'Everyday People', the 1971 US No.1 'Family Affair' and the 1971 US No.1 album There's a Riot Goin' On. She died on November 23, 2015.

1946 - George Duke

American musician, composer, singer and producer George Duke. He released over thirty solo albums, of which A Brazilian Love Affair from 1980 was his most popular. Duke worked with other musicians, particularly Frank Zappa and also appeared on Michael Jackson's Off The Wall album. He died on August 5, 2013 aged 67.

1951 - Chris Bell

Chris Bell, American singer, songwriter and guitarist with Big Star. Bell was killed in a car accident on 27/12/78.

1954 - Felipe Rose

Felipe Rose, from American disco group The Village People. They had the hit singles 'Macho Man', 'In the Navy', 'Go West and the 1978 US No.2 hit 'YMCA'. The group's name refers to New York City's Greenwich Village, at the time known for its large gay population.

1959 - Blixa Bargeld

Blixa Bargeld, from Australian rock band Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds who have released over 15 studio albums including the 2013 Australian No.1 Push the Sky Away.

1959 - Per Gessle

Swedish pop singer-songwriter, guitarist, Per Gessle, with Swedish group Roxette, who had the 1990 US No.1 & UK No.3 single 'It Must Of Been Love'. Roxette have sold an estimated 75 million records worldwide.

1960 - Charlie Gillingham

Charlie Gillingham, keyboards, from American rock band Counting Crows, who had the 1994 UK hit single 'Mr Jones', and the 1996 US No.1 album Recovering The Satellites. They received a 2004 Academy Award nomination for their song 'Accidentally in Love', which was included in the film Shrek 2.

1963 - Guy Chambers

Guy Chambers, singer, songwriter, producer, member of The Waterboys, World Party, The Lemon Trees. Worked with Robbie Williams from 1997 as co-songwriter and producer penning tracks including 'Angels', 'Rock DJ', 'Millennium' and 'Let Me Entertain You'.

1965 - Greg Kriesel

Greg Kriesel, bassist from American punk rock band The Offspring, who had the 1999 UK No.1 single 'Pretty Fly, (For A White Guy)', and the 1999 US No.6 & UK No.10 album Americana.

1968 - Raekwon

American rapper Raekwon from Wu-Tang Clan who had the 1997 US & UK No.1 album Wu-Tang Forever.

1970 - Zack de la Rocha

American musician Zack de la Rocha, from Rage Against The Machine, who had the 1996 US No.1 album Evil Empire and the 1993 UK No.16 single 'Bullet In The Head'. He also co-founded One Day as a Lion in 2008.

1974 - Mel C

Melanie Chisholm, Mel C, Sporty Spice, The Spice Girls who scored the 1996 UK No.1 & 1997 US No.1 single 'Wannabe'. Her first solo attempt was collaborating with Bryan Adams on a hit "When You're Gone". She then released her debut solo studio album, Northern Star in 1999, which sold four million copies.

1975 - Jason Freese

Jason Freese, American musician, songwriter, record producer who has performed on over 50 albums by more than 35 different artists, including multiple albums by the Goo Goo Dolls, Green Day and Jewel.

1991 - Pixie Lott

Pixie Lott, British singer, 2009 UK No.1 with her debut single 'Mama Do (Uh Oh, Uh Oh)'.

1993 - Zayn Malik

Zayn Malik from English-Irish pop boy band One Direction who formed after finishing third in the seventh series of The X Factorin 2010. Scored the 2011 UK No.1 single 'What Makes You Beautiful' and the 2013 No.1 'One Way or Another (Teenage Kicks)'.

1996 - Ella Henderson

Ella Henderson, British singer-songwriter. She was a finalist on the ninth series of The X Factor in 2012. Her debut single, 'Ghost' went to No.1 in 2014.