March 29, 2024

This Day in History: 2025-01-16

JANUARY 16th

Paul McCartney & Wings arrive in New Orleans to record what turns out to be one of the band’s best efforts, “Venus and Mars.” 1975

When released four months later the album contains “Rock Show,” “Medicine Jar” and “Listen To What The Man Said.”

Styx release “Paradise Theater.”  1981

The band’s tenth album is their most commercially successful. Featuring the songs “The Best Of Times” and “Too Much Time On My Hands” the set spends three non-consecutive weeks at #1 on the Billboard 200.

George Harrison tops the U.S. pop chart with “Got My Mind Set On You,” his first #1 in 13 years – since “Give Me Love (Give Me Peace On Earth).” The track is on Harrison’s “Cloud Nine” album. 1988

The Byrds are inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. “I have a lot of gratitude for these men, who helped me make some of the best music of my life,” says David Crosby of his former Byrd bandmates. 1991

MORE TODAY IN ROCK…

The legendary Whiskey-A-Go-Go opens on the Sunset Strip. The club serves as a launching pad for several bands including The Byrds, Led Zeppelin, The Doors. Alice Cooper, Van Halen and Guns N’ Roses. 1964

Unable to get Fleetwood Mac together for touring, the group’s manager creates a bogus version and sends them out on the road – the first stop is in Pittsburgh.  Legal proceedings ensue but the tour is cancelled because nobody cares. The whole business is a low point for the band but they see their fortunes drastically improve in just two years. 1973

Everyone knew this wouldn’t last. Gregg Allman (Allman Brothers Band) and Cher (as in Sonny & Cher) are divorced. 1979

Paul McCartney is released from a Tokyo jail after a nine-day incarceration after officers found a half-pound of marijuana in his luggage.  He is deported with no charges filed. His tour of Japan with Wings is cancelled and the government requests he not return. 1980

The Strokes guitarist, Nick Valensi, celebrates his birthday. The New York native started playing guitar when he was 5. 1981

Stevie Wonder speaks on Capitol Hill (D.C.) in favor of the Martin Luther King Holiday Bill. The bill passes two years later. 1981

“Foreigner 4” returns to #1 on the Billboard 200 for the third time. Foreigner’s previous trips to the top came in August and November of ’81. 1982

My angel is a centerfold.  J. Geils Band score a #1 on Billboard’s Mainstream Rock chart with “Centerfold.”  1982

The Byrds enter the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. They are known for “Turn! Turn! Turn!,” “Mr. Tambourine Man” and “Eight Miles High.” 1991

Bryan Adams is the first name Western musician to perform in Vietnam since the end of the Vietnam War. 1994

Evanescence frontwoman Amy Lee says Cold guitarist Terry Balsamo is the permanent replacement for Ben Moody. Lee adds that Cold likely will call it quits, a statement later contradicted by Cold singer Scooter Ward. 2004

Nine Inch Nails’ Trent Reznor wins the Best Score trophy at the Golden Globes (Hollywood’s Foreign Press Association) in Beverly Hills. Reznor, who composed the film score for “The Social Network” with Atticus Ross, describes the win as ‘surreal’. 2011

Dimebash, an all-star jam session paying homage to the late guitarist “Dimebag” Darrell Abbott (Pantera), takes place at The Observatory OC in Santa Ana, CA.  The event marks the 15th anniversary of Dimebag’s death – shot onstage in Columbus, OH. Members of Anthrax, Bad Wolves, Foo Fighters and Stone Sour play Dimebag’s music and favorite songs.  2020

Eddie Money’s “Two Tickets to Paradise” is the top travel song according to participants in a survey conducted by Global+Rescue, who provide integrated medical, security, travel risk and crisis management services. Over 1,000 current and former Global+Rescue members also put “Already Gone” (The Eagles), “Rocket Man” (Elton John), “Free Bird” (Lynyrd Skynyrd) “Bohemian Rhapsody” (Queen) and “Born to Be Wild” (Steppenwolf) into the Top 25.   2023

Former Mötley Crüe guitarist Mick Mars scores a victory in his ongoing legal battle with the band when a Los Angeles judge agrees that Mötley Crüe had unjustly “refused” to reveal wide-ranging business dealings as they sought to oust Mars from the band.  As a result, the judge rules that Mars is now entitled to have the band cover his legal bill.  2024

Smashing Pumpkins announce they have received over 10,000 submissions in an open audition to replace guitarist Jeff Schroeder.  2024