January 21st

 

Musical birthdays today include Plácido Domingo (82), Troggs lead guitarist Chris Britton (79), Caravan frontman Pye Hastings (76), Billy Ocean (73), Massive Attack  founding member Robert Del Naja (58), Charlene 'Tweet' Keys (52), Cat Power (51), Emma 'Baby Spice' Bunton (47), and Dru Hill producer Tamir 'Nokio the N-Tity' Ruffin (44). 

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for singer & Flamenco dancer Lola Flores, born on this day in 1923... for DJ Robert 'Wolfman Jack' Smith, who would have been 85 today... for Ritchie Havens, who would have been 82... for Edwin Starr and Mac Davis, both of whom would have been 81.. for Jason 'Jam Master Jay' Mizell, who would have been 58... for Québecois composer Calixa Lavallée [best remembered for 'O Canada'], who died on this date in 1891... for soul singer Jackie 'Mr. Excitement' Wilson, who passed away in 1984... for Colonel Tom Parker, who died in 1997... and for Peggy Lee, who left us on this day in 2002. 

Also on January 21st: A performance of  Gounod's opera Faust at the Auditorium Building in Chicago is transmitted over the Westinghouse Network for the first nationwide broadcast of a musical event in American history (1927)... Over 3,000 screaming fans meet The Rolling Stones and Roy Orbison at Sydney Airport when they arrive for a 16-date tour of Australia and New Zealand (1965)... George Harrison marries Patti Boyd at Leatherhead Register Office in Surrey with Paul McCartney as best man. George first met Patti on the set of  'A Hard Day's Night' when she had a small part as  schoolgirl on a train... Bob Dylan goes back into Columbia Studios in NYC to begin work on his next album. The Hawks, who are currently backing him on his world tour, are with him (1966)... Jimi Hendrix records his version of the Dylan's 'All Along the Watchtower' at Olympic Studios in London. Brian Jones and Dave Mason from Traffic both play on the session... Simon & Garfunkel's soundtrack to The Graduate is released (1968)... Pink Floyd appear at the Guildhall in Portsmouth on the Dark Side of the Moon tour. This time they are able to perform the entire album without a hitch (1972)... The soundtrack to Saturday Night Fever goes to № 1 on the US album chart ~ it will occupy the top spot for the next 24 weeks (1978)... B.B. King donates his entire record collection of over 20,000 discs to the Center for the Study of Southern Culture at the University of Mississippi (1982)... Yes have the № 1 single in the USA with 'Owner of a Lonely Heart'... The Pretenders release the Learning to Crawl album (1984)... Keith Richards inducts Aretha Franklin at the 2nd annual Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Awards, held at the Waldorf Astoria in NYC. Keith later takes part in a jam with Bruce Springsteen, Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley, Roy Orbison, Sting and Daryl Hall (1987)... David Palmer, former keyboard  player for Jethro Tull changes his name to Dee Palmer after a successful sex change operation. Palmer was the keyboardist for Tull between 1969 and 1980, played on all the group's classics including 'Thick As A Brick' and 'Aqualung' (2003).