This Day in Music: January 16th

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Born on this day:
1942, Raymond Philips, The Nashville Teens
1946, Ronnie Milsap, country singer
1959, Sade (Helen Folasade Adu), singer
1965, Jill Sobule, singer-songwriter
1979, Aaliyah, R&B singer
1981, Nick Valensi, guitar, The Strokes

1956, Tennessee Ernie Ford was at #1 on the U.K. singles chart with his version of the Merle Travis coal-mining song, “Sixteen Tons.” The song was written in 1947 about the misery of coal mining.

1957, The Cavern Club opened in Liverpool. It became the home of many Liverpool bands, including The Beatles who appeared at the club 292 times. For more on this story, see This Day in Music Spotlight.

1964, The Beatles played two shows at the Olympia Theatre, Paris, France, the first of an 18-night engagement. This first show was attended mostly by Paris’ “top society” members (all dressed in formal evening attire). The French press had little good to say about The Beatles in the next day’s papers, but The Beatles didn’t care, because they’d just received news that their single “I Want to Hold Your Hand” had hit #1 in the U.S., selling 10,000 copies an hour in New York City alone.

1969, Fleetwood Mac, Creedence Clearwater Revival and Albert Collins all appeared at the Fillmore West, San Francisco, California.

1977, One half of TV cop duo Starsky & Hutch (he was blonde Hutch), David Soul went to #1 on the U.K. singles chart with “Don’t Give Up on Us.” Also a #1 in the U.S.

1988, Former Go-Go’s singer Belinda Carlisle scored her first U.K. #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, Tina Turner gave herself a place in the record books when she performed in front of 182,000 people in Rio De Janeiro. The largest audience ever for a single artist.

1989, Michael Jackson played the first of five nights at the Memorial Sports Arena in Los Angeles, California. These were the last shows on the singer’s Bad World Tour. Jackson donated more than $1 million of the final concert’s takings to an organization fighting child cruelty.

1996, Jamaican authorities opened fire on Jimmy Buffett's seaplane, mistaking it for a drug trafficker’s plane. U2 singer Bono also was on the plane; neither singer was injured in the incident.

2007, Bob Dylan and his brother bought Aultmore House, a mansion in the Scottish Cairngorms National Park, near Nethybridge, Inverness-shire.

2008, Radiohead were forced to abandon an intimate gig at Rough Trade East records in London after police raised safety fears. The band moved the gig to a nearby club after over 1,500 fans turned up after the event was announced in the morning promising tickets to the first 200 fans.

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