Born Today In Music January 8th

1935 - Elvis Presley

American singer, musician and actor Elvis Aaron Presley, the King of rock 'n' roll. He had his first No.1 in 1956 with the US No.1 & UK No.2 single 'Heartbreak Hotel'. His first UK No.1 single was in 1957, with 'All Shook Up'. Presley went on to have over 100 US and UK Top 40 singles from 1956 - 2006. Presley is one of the most celebrated and influential musicians of the 20th century, with estimated record sales of around 600 million units worldwide. He holds several records, including the most albums charted on the Billboard 200, the most No.1 albums by a solo artist on the UK Albums Chart, and the most No.1 singles by any act on the UK Singles Chart. Presley died on the bathroom floor of his Graceland mansion on August 16th 1977 age 42.

1947 - David Bowie

David Bowie English singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer, painter and actor. His first UK Top 40 single was the 1969 'Space Oddity' which became a UK No.1 in 1975, plus over 50 other UK Top 40 hits including five No.1's. Bowie has also scored two US No.1 singles, the 1975 'Fame' and 1983 'Let's Dance'. His music and stagecraft significantly influencing popular music and during his lifetime, his record sales, estimated at 140 million worldwide, made him one of the world's best-selling music artists. Bowie died from liver cancer at his New York home on 10 January 2016.

1969 - R Kelly

American singer, writer, and producer R. Kelly, who had the 1994 US No.1 single 'Bump N' Grind' and the 1997 UK No.1 single 'I Believe I Can Fly'. In 1996, he received a Grammy Award nomination for writing and producing Michael Jackson's single 'You Are Not Alone' which also won a Guinness World Record as the first song in history to debut at No.1 on the Billboard Chart. On July 11, 2019, Kelly was arrested on federal charges alleging sex crimes, human trafficking, child pornography, racketeering, and obstruction of justice. In 2022, Kelly was convicted of three child pornography charges and three charges of enticing a minor. He was sentenced to serve 31 years imprisonment. As of 2023, Kelly is incarcerated at FCI Butner Medium I. He is scheduled for release on December 21, 2045, when he will be 78 years old.

January 9th

1976 

Queen were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Bohemian Rhapsody'. The single enjoyed a nine week run on the chart selling more than a million copies by the end of the month. It reached No.1 again in 1991 for five weeks following Mercury's death, eventually becoming the UK's third best selling single of all time.

1988 

Whitney Houston scored her sixth consecutive No.1 in the US with 'So Emotional'.

2020 

English singer and songwriter Harry Styles was at No.1 on the US chart with his second studio album Fine Line. The album received a Grammy Award for Best Pop Solo Performance and a Brit Award for British Single of the Year for 'Watermelon Sugar'.

January 10th

1958 

Jerry Lee Lewis was at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Great Balls Of Fire'. Lewis was the only major white rock 'n' roll star to play piano rather than guitar.

1984

Cyndi Lauper became the first female recording artist since Bobbie Gentry in 1967 to be nominated for five Grammy Awards: Album of the Year, Best New Artist, Best Pop Vocal Performance (Female), Record of the Year and Song of the Year.

January 11th

1962

Cliff Richard was at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'The Young Ones'. It stayed at the top of the charts for six weeks and made Cliff the first UK artist to enter the chart at No.1.

1964 

'Louie Louie' by The Kingsmen was the No.1 song on the US Cash Box music chart. For a while, the record was banned by a handful of US radio stations because of its indecipherable lyrics, which were rumored to contain some naughty words. Even the F.B.I. investigated the song, but finally concluded that they could find nothing wrong.

January 12th

1974 

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.

 Born Today In Music

1974 

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.

January 13th

1990 

New Kids On The Block had their second and last No.1 UK single with 'Hangin' Tough.' They had a further 7 Top 10 hits by the end of 1991. They broke up after that, but set the scene for numerous boy bands throughout the 90s.

2016 

Ed Sheeran's new singles 'Shape of You' and 'Castle On The Hill' entered the UK singles chart at No.1 and No.2 respectively. The Official Charts Company said it was the first time in history an artist had taken the top two chart positions with brand new songs.

January 14th 

1984 

Paul McCartney was at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Pipes Of Peace.' With this release McCartney made chart history by becoming the first artist to have a No.1 in a group, (The Beatles), in a duo, (with Stevie Wonder) in a trio, (with Wings) and as a solo artist.

1996 

Oasis went to No.1 on the UK album chart with their second studio album (What's The Story) Morning Glory, the group's second UK No.1 spent a total of 145 week's on the chart. It was also the band's breakthrough in the United States, reaching No.4 on the US Billboard 200. The album yielded four major hit UK singles, 'Some Might Say' and 'Don't Look Back in Anger' reached No.1, and 'Roll with It' and 'Wonderwall' peaked at No.2; the latter has emerged as the band's biggest selling UK hit, spending 30 consecutive weeks on the chart.

2001 

Jennifer Lopez scored her first UK No.1 single with 'Love Don't Cost A Thing.' The track was taken from her second studio album J.Lo. It became her first single to top the Billboard Hot 100 Airplay chart and the music video was met with acclaim, garnering a MTV Video Music Award.

January 15th

1977 

The Eagles were at No.1 on the US album chart with Hotel California the group's third US No.1 album. In the 2013 documentary History of the Eagles, Don Henley said the song was about "a journey from innocence to experience...that's all".

1983 

Men At Work started a four-week run at No.1 in the US singles chart with 'Down Under' which went on to sell over two million copies in the US alone. The song was also a No.1 in the UK, Denmark, Ireland, Italy and Switzerland, and was a top 10 hit in many other countries.

1983 

Phil Collins had his first UK No.1 single with his version of 'You Can't Hurry Love,' a hit for The Supremes in 1966. Collins' version was the first track on the very first Now That's What I Call Music CD.

January 16th

1988 

Former Go-Go's singer Belinda Carlisle scored her first UK No.1 single with 'Heaven Is A Place On Earth.' The promotional video was directed by Academy Award-winning actress Diane Keaton and features an appearance of Carlisle's husband Morgan Mason.

1988

George Michael went to No.1 on the US album charts with his debut solo album 'Faith'. It stayed for 51 non-consecutive weeks inside the Billboard 200 top 10, including 12 weeks at No.1. It was also the first album by a white solo artist to hit No.1 on the Billboard Top Black Albums chart. Faith spawned four No.1 singles on the Billboard Hot 100: 'Faith', 'Father Figure', 'One More Try', and 'Monkey', making Michael the only British male solo artist to have four No.1 hits from one album on the Billboard Hot 100.

Born Today In Music

January 16th

1959 

Nigerian-born British singer Helen Folasade Adu (Sade). She had the 1984 UK No.6 single 'Your Love Is King', and the 1985 US No.5 single 'Smooth Operator'. Diamond Life (1984) reached No.2 on the UK Album Chart, selling over 1.2 million copies and won the Brit Award for Best British Album in 1985. Sade was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 2002 for services to music, and stated her award was "a great gesture to me and all black women in England".

January 17th

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.

1976 

Barry Manilow scored his second US No.1 single with 'I Write The Songs', which was written by The Beach Boys Bruce Johnson. The original version was recorded by Captain & Tennille, who worked with Johnston in the early 1970s with the Beach Boys. The first release of the song as a single was by teen idol David Cassidy from his 1975 solo album The Higher They Climb, which was also produced by Johnston. Manilow's version won a Grammy Award for Song of the Year and was nominated for Record of the Year in 1977.

January 18th

1989 

At just 38 years old, Stevie Wonder became the youngest living person to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. At a ceremony held at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York, other inductees include The Rolling Stones, The Temptations, Otis Redding and Dion DiMucci.

January 19th

1967 

The Monkees were at No.1 on the UK singles with 'I'm A Believer', the group's only UK No.1. The song composed by Neil Diamond had 1,051,280 advance orders, and went gold within two days of release. It is one of the fewer than forty all-time singles to have sold 10 million (or more) physical copies worldwide.

1980 

The Pretenders scored their first UK No.1 hit with their third single 'Brass In Pocket'. The bands self-titled debut album started a four-week run at No.1 on the UK chart also on this day. Singer Chrissie Hynde got the idea for the song's title when, during an after-show dinner, she overheard someone enquiring if anyone had, "Picked up dry cleaning? Any brass in pocket?"

January 20th

1988 

The Beatles were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. George Harrison, Ringo Starr and Yoko, Sean, and Julian Lennon all attend. Paul McCartney did not attend, sending instead a letter stating that continuing business differences with the other ex-Beatles was the reason for his absence.

January 21st

1978 

The soundtrack album Saturday Night Fever started a 24-week run at No.1 on the US album charts and stayed on the chart for 120 weeks until March 1980. It went on to sell over 40 million copies worldwide, making it one of the best-selling soundtrack albums of all time. Three singles from the album contributed by the Bee Gees 'How Deep Is Your Love', 'Stayin' Alive' and 'Night Fever'. The Bee Gees' involvement in the film did not begin until post-production. John Travolta stated, "The Bee Gees weren't even involved in the movie in the beginning. I was dancing to Stevie Wonder and Boz Scaggs.

2007

Mika scored his debut UK No.1 hit single with 'Grace Kelly', which went on to become the third biggest-selling single in the UK in 2007 and spent five weeks at the top of the chart. The song is titled after Academy Award-winning American film actress and Princess of Monaco, Grace Kelly. The bit of dialogue used in the song is from the film The Country Girl, which stars Kelly.

January 22nd

1959 

Alone with an acoustic guitar and tape recorder in his New York City apartment Buddy Holly made his last recordings, including ‘Peggy Sue Got Married’, ‘Crying, Waiting, Hoping’, ‘That's What They Say’, ‘What To Do’, ‘Learning The Game’ and ‘That Makes It Tough’. The recordings would be overdubbed posthumously and were later released by Coral Records.

January 23rd

1971 

Dawn started a three week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Knock Three Times', the group's first No.1, which was also an UK No.1.

1988 

Michael Jackson went to No.1 on the US singles chart with 'The Way You Make Me Feel'. It was the third single from Jackson's seventh studio album Bad for which Jackson had written over sixty songs for the album, with plans of releasing a three disc album, but producer Quincy Jones convinced Jackson to make Bad a one disc LP.

January 24th

1958

Elvis Presley was at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Jailhouse Rock'. It became the first ever single to enter the chart at No.1 and was Presley's second UK No.1. It went on to sell over 4 million copies in the US.

1981

Adam And The Ants started a 10-week run at No.1 on the UK chart with their debut album 'Kings Of The Wild Frontier'.

1998 

Oasis went to No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'All Around The World'. The longest running-time for a UK No.1 with a total duration of 9 minutes 38 seconds. It was one of the first songs to be written by Noel Gallagher, with the band rehearsing it as early as 1992.

January 25th

1975 

The Carpenters went to No.1 on the US singles chart with their version of The Marveletts 1961 hit 'Please Mr. Postman'. The song is notable as the first Motown song to reach the No.1 position on the Billboard singles chart late 1961.

1986 

Norwegian group A-Ha were at No.1 in the UK with 'The Sun Always Shines On TV,' becoming the first ever-Norwegian act to score a UK No.1 hit single. The track was released as the third single from their debut studio album, Hunting High and Low (1985).

2020 

Scottish singer-songwriter Lewis Capaldi was at No.1 on the UK chart with his debut album Divinely Uninspired to a Hellish Extent. The album featured the UK and US No.1 single 'Someone You Loved' which was the best-selling single of 2019 in the UK and received an award for Song of the Year at the 2020 Brit Awards. As of 2023, 'Someone You Loved' is the 3rd most streamed song on Spotify, with over 3 billion streams on the platform.

https://deezer.page.link/3VuTQ3YYEvcgkZgg9

January 26th

1961 

Elvis Presley was at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Are You Lonesome Tonight'. The singers sixth UK No.1. The song which was written by Roy Turk and Lou Handman in 1926 first became a hit in 1950 when the Blue Barron Orchestra version reached the top twenty on Billboard's Pop chart. Elvis recorded the song at the suggestion of his manager Colonel Tom Parker as it was Parker's wife, Marie Mott's, favorite song.

1991

Queen had their second UK No.1 with 'Innuendo'. At 6 minutes 30 seconds, it exceeded their epic 'Bohemian Rhapsody' by 35 seconds and became the third longest UK No.1 song of all time, behind The Beatles ‘Hey Jude’ and Simple Minds 'Belfast Child' (subsequently the 9 minutes 38 seconds 'All Around The World' by Oasis took over the top slot and demoted Innuendo to fourth place). For 'Innuendo's' flamenco guitar solo, Brian May was joined by Yes guitarist Steve Howe.

2008 

Alicia Keys was at No.1 on the US album chart with her third album 'As I Am'. The album sold over 742,000 copies in its first week the largest ever first week sales for any female R&B artist.

https://deezer.page.link/xJ1VmAA84bARi1438

I just love Elvis's songs. He could sing anything. He could sing just about any genre. I particularly love this song” Are You Lonesome Tonight.” … Cheers.

January 27th

1973 

'Superstition' the lead single from Stevie Wonder's Talking Book album became his second No.1 single in the US, 10 years after his first No.1 hit. Jeff Beck created the original drum beat while in the studio with Wonder. After writing the song, Wonder offered it to Beck to record, but at the insistence of Berry Gordy, Wonder himself recorded it first. Beck was instead offered 'Cause We've Ended As Lovers', which he recorded on his Blow by Blow album in 1975.

1979 

Ian Dury And The Blockheads were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick', their only UK chart topper.

https://deezer.page.link/hzynutyTdy9zVymu5

1990

Kylie Minogue had her third UK No.1 single with 'Tears On My Pillow', the song was originally a US hit for Little Anthony and The Imperials in 1958.

https://deezer.page.link/ghXY2UJNwdyDQR2P6

January 28th

1977

Pink Floyd's tenth studio album Animals entered the UK charts at No.2. The sleeve concept was that of Roger Waters, who lived at the time near Clapham Common, and regularly drove past Battersea Power Station. A view of the imposing but disused former power station building was chosen for the cover image, complete with massive inflatable pig suspended between two of the towers.

https://deezer.page.link/9zHsJSxieLdCJXRv5

1978 

The Fleetwood Mac album Rumours went to No.1 on the UK album chart. The groups eleventh studio album went on to sell over 45 million copies world-wide and spent over 440 weeks on the UK chart. The songs 'Go Your Own Way', 'Dreams', 'Don't Stop', and 'You Make Loving Fun' were released as singles.

https://deezer.page.link/cj4E97caiZDp1qaV7

1990 

Paula Abdul started a 10-week run at No.1 on the US album chart with 'Forever Your Girl'. Abdul spent sixty-four consecutive weeks on the Billboard 200 before hitting number one, making it the longest time for an album to reach the number one spot.

1995 

TLC started a four-week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Creep' the group's first US No.1, it made No.6 in the UK the following year. The lyrics portray the singers as women who cheat on their unfaithful lovers for "some affection". This context was controversial within the group, and strongly opposed by member Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes, who threatened to wear black tape over her mouth on its accompanying music video.

https://deezer.page.link/28tRCWuZUc7D6eda6

Hi @Nina Nebo, I don’t always write a message here, but I really like your posts here. History is being taught here 

Thank you @awesomemac !
I'm glad you like it 

January 29th

1969 

Fleetwood Mac had their only UK No.1 single with the instrumental 'Albatross' which was composed by guitarist Peter Green. 'Albatross' is the only Fleetwood Mac composition with the distinction of having inspired a Beatles song, 'Sun King' from 1969's Abbey Road.

https://deezer.page.link/gGY7UrYepuAwV5yq7

1983 

Australian group Men At Work went to No.1 on the British and American singles and album charts simultaneously with 'Down Under' and 'Business As Usual'. The last artist to achieve this was Rod Stewart in 1971.

https://deezer.page.link/sVtt9q3EokuvKfBC7

1989 

Marc Almond started a four-week run at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Something's Gotten Hold Of My Heart' with guest vocals from Gene Pitney, (who also had a hit with the song in 1967).

2006

Arctic Monkeys went to No.1 on the UK album chart with their debut album 'Whatever People Say I Am That's What I'm Not'. The Sheffield-based bands album became the fastest-selling debut in chart history after shifting more than 360,000 copies in its first week of release. The album's title was taken from a line from the novel Saturday Night and Sunday Morning written by Alan Sillitoe.

https://deezer.page.link/XGVB7cHPuKvRSWPg8