8 JANUARY
In Music History
1981 Linda Ronstadt makes her Broadway debut alongside Rex Smith and Kevin Kline in the revival of The Pirates of Penzance, which runs for 787 performances.
1980 Prince makes his national television debut, performing "I Wanna Be Your Lover" and "Why You Want To Treat Me So Bad" on the NBC variety show Midnight Special.
1979 Rush are named Canada's Official Ambassadors Of Music by the Canadian government.
1974 Kiss sign their first recording deal, with Casablanca Records.
1972 Dennis Coffey becomes the first white performer on Soul Train, performing his hit "Scorpio."
1969 Jeff Abercrombie of Fuel is born in Tennessee.
1966 Rubber Soul becomes The Beatles' seventh #1 US album. It stays at the top for six weeks.
1966 The last episode of Shindig on ABC features The Who and The Kinks.
1966 Mother Love Bone frontman Andrew Wood is born in Columbus, Mississippi.
1960 Harry Gifford dies at his London home, aged 82. He co-wrote "When I'm Cleaning Windows" with Fred Cliffe & George Formby.
1960 Eddie Cochran records "Three Steps To Heaven," which turns out to be his final recording session and his only #1 hit single in the UK.
1955 Loverboy frontman Mike Reno is born Joseph Michael Rynoski in New Westminster, Canada.
1947 Terry Sylvester of The Hollies is born.
1946 The Doors guitarist Robby Krieger is born in Los Angeles.
1943 Marcus Hutson of The Whispers is born in St. Louis, Missouri.
Elvis Stamp Goes Into Circulation
1993Shortly after midnight on what would have been Elvis's 58th birthday, a 29-cent stamp with his image is officially dedicated at a Graceland ceremony.
Read more8 JANUARY
Featured Events
2016 David Bowie's Blackstar album is released on his 69th birthday. When Bowie dies two days later, it becomes clear that his ruminations on mortality are his parting words.More
1991 Steve Clark of Def Leppard dies of an accidental drug overdose at age 30.
1968 Stax Records releases Otis Redding's "(Sittin' On) The Dock Of The Bay" and Sam & Dave's "I Thank You." Both are very successful, but neither artist scores another hit (Redding had died about a month earlier).
1967 R. Kelly is born Robert Sylvester Kelly in Chicago. He performs with the groups MGM (Musically Gifted Men) and Public Announcement before releasing his solo debut, 12 Play, in 1994, featuring the #1 hit "Bump N' Grind."
1957 Rock and roll comes to Australia when Bill Haley, LaVern Baker and The Platters kick off a tour at Newcastle Stadium that continues on to West Melbourne Stadium and Sydney Stadium. It's the first rock stadium show, pre-dating the Beatles Shea Stadium concert by eight years.
1947 David Jones is born in London. At age 18, he changes his name to David Bowie (after the Bowie knife) to avoid confusion with Davy Jones of The Monkees.More
1935 The King is born: Elvis Aaron Presley arrives in Tupelo, Mississippi.
©2024 Songfacts®, LLC