January 15th

Musical birthdays today include classical pianist Ruth Slenczynska (99), Louisiana Creole accordionist Queen Ida (95), producer & DJ Pete Waterman (77), reggae singer Sister Carol (65), Marillion bassist Pete Trawavas (65), Venom lead singer Conrad Lant AKA Cronos (61), Tool guitarist Adam Jones (59), Cult Jam leader Lisa Velez AKA Lisa Lisa (57), rapper Patrick '9th Wonder' Douthit (49), rapper D'Juan 'Young Dro' Hart (44), singer-songwriter Howie Day (43), rapper Armando 'Pitbull' Pérez (43), and singer-songwriter & electronic musician Sonny John Moore AKA Skrillex (36). Shoutout to the Great Beyond for British song & dance man Ivor Novello, born on this day in 1893... for jazz drummer Gene Krupa, born on this day in 1909... for Don van Vliet AKA Captain Beefheart, who would have been 82 today... for Lynyrd Skynyrd co-founder Ronnie van Zant, who would have been 76... for jazz trombonist Jack Teagarden, who died on this date in 1964... for song & dance man Ray 'The Scarecrow' Bolger, who passed away in 1987... for bassist and longtime Elton John sideman Dee Murray, who died on this day in 1992... for songwriter Sammy Cahn, who died in 1993... for Harry Nilsson, who passed away in 1994... for pianist and songwriter Les Baxter, died in 1996... for Kim Fowley, who died in 2016... for Cranberries lead singer Dolores O'Riordan, who passed away in 2018... and for Carol Channing, who left us five years ago today. Also on January 15th: Smetana's first opera Braniboři v Čechách [The Brandenburgers in Bohemia] premieres in Prague (1863)... The Everly Brothers make their US television debut on The Perry Como Show (1958)... At Berry Gordy's insistence, The Primettes change their name to The Supremes before signing their first Motown contract (1961)... Before an audience of around 2,000, The Beatles make their French live debut at the Cinema Cyrano in Versailles as a warm-up for their three week run at the Olympia in Paris beginning tomorrow (1964)... The Who release their first single, 'I Can't Explain'. Session man Jimmy Page accompanied Pete Townshend on the recording (1965)... Having returned to the studio, George Harrison has a five-hour meeting with John, Paul and Ringo in which he makes it clear that he is fully prepared to quit The Beatles for good. Harrison is unhappy with plans for live performances and with the current Let It Be film project (1969)... The MC 5's Back in the USA, today considered one of the watershed proto-punk albums, is released (1970)... Don McLean's 'American Pie' goes to № 1 in the USA. Meanwhile, Led Zeppelin's 'Black Dog' make its debut on the singles chart. The group's third stateside 45, it will peak at No.15. The song's title is a reference to a nameless black Labrador retriever that was wandering around the Headley Grange studio during recording (1972)... The Police kick off the North American leg of their 119-date Ghost In The Machine world tour at Boston Garden, with The Go-Go's as their opening act (1982)... Sean Lennon's updated version of his father's 'Give Peace A Chance' is released to coincide with the United Nation's midnight deadline for Iraq to withdraw from Kuwait (1991)... Benjamin Brafman, the lawyer who defended P Diddy against weapons possession charges, joins the legal team of Michael Jackson. The King of Pop is accused of several counts of child molestation (2004).