This Day in Music: January 23rd

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Born on this day:

1889, Lead Belly (Huddie William Ledbetter), blues musician
1910, Django Reinhardt, guitarist
1948, Anita Pointer, singer, The Pointer Sisters
1950, Danny Federici, keyboards, Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band
1953, Robin Zander, vocals, Cheap Trick (For more, see the This Day in Music Spotlight.)

1956, Rock ‘n’ roll fans in Cleveland aged under the age of 18 were banned from dancing in public (unless accompanied by an adult) after local police began enforcing a law dating back to 1931.

1965, “Downtown” made Petula Clark the first U.K. female singer to have a #1 on the U.S. singles chart since Vera Lynn in 1952. A #2 hit in the U.K.

1971, George Harrison became the first solo Beatle to have a #1 when “My Sweet Lord” went to the top of the U.K. single charts. The song, from his All Things Must Pass album, stayed at #1 for five weeks. The track returned to the top of the U.K. charts in 2002, following his death.

1977, Patti Smith broke a vertebra when she fell off the stage at a gig in Tampa, Florida.

1978, Terry Kath, guitarist with Chicago, accidentally shot himself dead while cleaning what he believed was an unloaded gun. Kath’s last words were, "Don't worry, it's not loaded," as he put the gun to his head and pulled the trigger. The guitarist-singer was killed instantly.

1986, Chuck Berry, James Brown, Ray Charles, Sam Cooke, Fats Domino, The Everly Brothers, Buddy Holly, Jerry Lee Lewis, Little Richard and Elvis Presley were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame at the first induction dinner, held in New York City.

1988, Nirvana recorded a 10-song demo with Seattle producer Jack Endino. Sub Pop Records boss Jonathan Poneman heard the tape and offered to put out a Nirvana single.

1990, Allen Collins, guitarist for Lynyrd Skynyrd, died of pneumonia after being ill for several months. Collins, who was one of the band’s founding members, also co-wrote most of the band's songs (including “Free Bird”) with late frontman Ronnie Van Zant. He survived a plane crash in 1977 that killed two other band members. Collins was behind the wheel in a car accident in 1986 that killed his girlfriend and left him paralyzed from the waist down. He later pleaded no contest to vehicular manslaughter as well as driving under the influence of alcohol.

1990, David Bowie announced his forthcoming and final world tour, Sound and Vision 1990, during which he invited each local audience to decide on a “greatest hits” running order, organized through local radio stations.

2005, one of the biggest charity concerts since Live Aid raised ?1.25 million for victims of the tsunami disaster in Asia. The concert, held at The Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, Wales, featured Eric Clapton, Manic Street Preachers, Keane, Charlotte Church, Snow Patrol, Embrace, Feeder, Craig David and Liberty X, who appeared before 60,000 fans at the sold-out concert.

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