5 JANUARY
In Music History
1980 "Rapper's Delight" by The Sugarhill Gang becomes first rap song to hit the Top 40 when it reaches #37 on the chart.
1979 Jazz double bassist Charlie Mingus dies of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig's disease, in Cuernavaca, Mexico, at age 56.
1974 Bruce Springsteen performs "Rosalita" for the first time at a concert at Joe's Place in Boston. The song becomes a live favorite that Bruce often plays as an encore.
1974 The Carpenters' compilation album The Singles 1969-1973 hits #1.
1972 John Denver's Aerie album is certified Gold.
1968 Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits album is certified gold.
1967 In order to avoid the draft, folk singer Jesse Winchester moves to Canada.
1966 Kate Schellenbach (drummer for Luscious Jackson) is born in New York City, New York.
1965 The Supremes record "Stop! In The Name Of Love" at Motown studios in Detroit. Soon after, they embark on the first Motown revue tour in Europe.
1963 Leonard Chess, co-founder of Chess records, tells Billboard magazine, "As it stands today, there's virtually no difference between rock and roll, pop and rhythm and blues. The music has completely overlapped."
1963 Grant Young (drummer for Soul Asylum) is born in Iowa City, Iowa.
1960 Phil Thornalley, "Torn" songwriter and producer of The Cure's Pornography album, is born in Worlington, near Mildenhall, Suffolk, England.
1950 Chris Stein (guitarist for Blondie) is born in Brooklyn, New York.
1949 George "Funky" Brown (drummer for Kool and the Gang) is born in Jersey City, New Jersey.
1941 Carmen Miranda records "Chica Chica Boom Chic."
Springsteen Releases First Album
1973With a boulder on his shoulder, feelin' kinda older, 23-year-old Bruce Springsteen releases his first album, Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J.
Read more5 JANUARY
Featured Events
1998 Sonny Bono (of Sonny & Cher) dies in a skiing accident in Nevada, near South Lake Tahoe, California, at age 62. An advanced skier, he goes off course to do some "tree skiing" when he crashes and dies. His wife and two children are with him on the slopes, but don't witness the accident.
1998 In the Ally McBeal episode "Cro-Magnon," a thirty-something Ally is reminded of her ticking biological clock when she hallucinates a baby dancing to the tune of Blue Swede's "Hooked On A Feeling." By the end of the episode, Ally relents and grooves along with the tot.More
1997 Johnny Cash plays Coyote, Homer Simpson's imaginary guru, on The Simpsons. Coyote tells Homer to buy more material possessions.
1979 The double-album soundtrack to the film Saturday Night Fever reaches sales of 25 million worldwide, making it the best-selling LP in history.More
1976 Former Beatles road manager Mal Evans is shot and killed by police in Los Angeles after he brandishes an unloaded rifle (some claim it was an air gun) after becoming despondent.
1975 The Wiz premieres at the Majestic Theatre on Broadway. An adaptation of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz with an all-black cast, it stars future disco diva Stephanie Mills ("Never Knew Love") as Dorothy. In 1978, the production is turned into a movie starring Michael Jackson and Diana Ross.
1969 Marilyn Manson is born Brian Hugh Warner in Canton, Ohio. Contrary to the urban myth, Warner does not start his entertainment career playing Paul on The Wonder Years (that would be Josh Saviano). After a stint as a music journalist, he teams up with guitarist Scott "Daisy Berkowitz" Putesky and reinvents himself as Marilyn Manson in 1989.
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