1960: The National Association of Broadcasters in the United States reacted to the payola scandal by threatening fines for any disc jockeys accepting money for playing particular records.

1960: Sam Cooke recorded “Chain Gang” at the RCA Recording Studios in New York City.

1962: “Twistin’ the Night Away” by Sam Cooke was released by RCA Victor. The record later reached #9 on Billboard Hot 100, #1 on the R&B chart, #6 in the UK.

1963: After starting at Liverpool’s Cavern Club as a coat check girl, Cilla Black made her stage debut at the venue. In January of 2017, a bronze statue of Black was unveiled outside the club to celebrate its 60th anniversary.

1964: The Ventures released “The Ventures in Space,” one of their first albums on which they played the new Mosrite brand guitars instead of their traditional Fender instruments.

1964: Bobby Vinton spent the last of four weeks at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 with “There! I’ve Said It Again,” before the Beatles took over the chart for the next fourteen weeks.

1964: After its released four months earlier, “She Loves You” by the Beatles entered the Billboard Hot 100, on its way to reaching #1 the following March.

1964: British singer Dusty Springfield made her first appearance on the Billboard Hot 100 with her debut single, “I Only Want to Be with You.”

1965: Cilla Black released her debut album, Cilla.

1969: “Proud Mary” by Creedence Clearwater Revival entered the Billboard Hot 100, later peaking at #2 in March. The single was also the first song by the band to chart in the UK as well as in many other countries.

1970: Mamas and Papas leader John Phillips released his first solo album, John Phillips (John, the Wolf King of L.A.).

1973: After the Kinks had moved from Reprise Records to RCA, Reprise released The Great Lost Kinks Album, an LP of mostly unreleased material recorded by The Kinks between 1966 and 1970.

1973: David Bowie finished a week of rehearsals at the Royal Ballroom in Tottenham, London for the second US leg of his Ziggy Stardust World Tour. Rehearsals resumed in early February at RCA’s studios in New York City and the first American show took place on Valentine’s Day at Radio City Music Hall.

1974: The Hollies’ cover of Albert Hammond’s “The Air That I Breathe” was released as a single from their sixteenth studio album, Hollies. It reached #1 in the UK and #6 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the US, where it was issued in March.

1975: Little Feat released their third studio album, Dixie Chicken. The band added two additional members, guitarist Paul Barrere and percussionist Sam Clayton, and Kenny Gradney replaced original bassist Roy Estrada. The album’s title track is considered the group’s signature song that further defined their sound.

1975: The Carpenters’ cover of the Marvelettes’ 1961 hit “Please Mr. Postman” became their last #1 on the Billboard Hot 100.

1978: The band known up until that point as Warsaw played their first gig under their new name, Joy Division, at the Pip’s nightclub in Manchester, England.

1984: Christine McVie released “Got a Hold on Me,” the first single from her self-titled second solo album.

1985: Prince released “Take Me with U,” the fifth and final single from his sixth studio album, Purple Rain.

1986: The Bangles debuted on the US pop charts with “Manic Monday.” Written by Prince under the pseudonym “Christopher,” the song was originally intended for female trio Apollonia 6 in 1984, but two years later, Prince offered it to the Bangles.

1986: Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band achieved a record seven top 10 song from their 1984 album, Born in the USA, with “My Hometown.”

1988: George Harrison released “When We Was Fab,” the third single from his eleventh studio album Cloud Nine. Co-written with producer Jeff Lynne, the song’s lyrics reference the days of Beatlemania during the 1960s when Harrison and the other members of the Beatles were referred to as “the Fab Four.” Musicians on the track include Lynne and Harrison’s former Beatles bandmate Ringo Starr.

1991: Paul McCartney appeared on MTV’s Unplugged. The performance was later released as a limited edition album and then reissued in a more permanent fashion in the late 1990s. The LP reached #7 in the UK and became McCartney’s highest-charting US album in almost ten years, reaching #14.

1993: Rhode Island band Belly released their debut album, Star.

1993: The The released their fourth studio album, Dusk.

1994: Meat Puppets released their eighth studio album, Too High to Die.

2000: Warren Zevon released his tenth studio album, Life’ll Kill Ya.

2003: Norah Jones reached the top of the Billboard pop chart with her debut album, Come Away with Me.

2011: Charles Bradley released his debut album, No Time for Dreaming.

2011: R.E.M. released “Überlin,” the third single from their fifteenth and final studio album, Collapse into Now.

Birthdays Today

Sleepy John Estes, blues guitarist, singer, songwriter, was born John Adams Estes in Ripley, TN in either 1899 or 1900.

Ewan MacColl, folk singer, songwriter, actor, poet, playwright, record producer, and labor activist, was born James Henry Miller in Broughton, Salford, Lancashire, England in 1915.

Etta James, soul, blues, and jazz singer, was born Jamesetta Hawkins in Los Angeles, CA in 1938.

Bobby Wood, songwriter, solo artist, and session keyboardist for countless artists as a member of American Sound Studio’s house band The Memphis Boys a.k.a. the 827 Thomas Street Band, was born in New Albany, MS in 1941.

Dave Walker, singer, guitarist, and frontman for several bands including The Idle Race, Savoy Brown, Fleetwood Mac, Black Sabbath, and Humble Pie, was born in Walsall, Staffordshire, England in 1945.

Andy Pratt, rock singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist, was born in Boston, MA in 1947.

John Cooper Clarke, “punk poet” who performed alongside band such as Sex Pistols, the Fall, Joy Division, the Buzzcocks, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Elvis Costello, Rockpile, and New Order, was born in Salford, Lancashire, England in 1949.

Michael Cotten, synthesizer and keyboard player for the Tubes, was born in Kansas City, MO in 1950.

Malcolm Green, drummer for Split Enz, was born in England in 1953.

Andy Cox, guitarist and co-founder of The Beat and Fine Young Cannibals, was born in Birmingham, England in 1956.

Gary Tibbs, bass guitarist for Roxy Music and Adam and the Ants, was born in Northwood, Middlesex, England in 1958.

Alicia Keys, R&B and soul singer, songwriter, record producer, pianist, actress, and activist, was born Alicia Augello-Cook in Hell’s Kitchen, Manhattan, NY in 1981.