About maketodayrock.com: We celebrate musicians' birthdays, remember those we've lost, and highlight key moments in music such a release dates, chart peak dates, or anything else tied to a specific date. Pick any day from the menu in the top right. The front page shows recent obituaries.
January 6, 1985 ~ Singer, songwriter Ben Haenow, full name Benjamin Bernard Haenow, born in Croydon, UK ~ Briefly enjoyed fame following his win at the 2014 The X-Factor talent contest, aired on ITV. His debut single Something I Need would reach No.1 in the UK, its follow-up single the Kelly Clarkson-duet Second Hand Heart reached top 30. Haenow released his eponymous Ben Haenow debut album in 2015, which reached top 10 in the UK. A follow-up album, 2018's Alive, failed to chart
January 6, 1983 ~ Christian hard rock, alternative rock singer, graphic designer Brandon Rike, full name Brandon Travis Rike, born in Canton, Ohio, USA ~ Founding member, lead singer of Dead Poetic, the band formed in the late 1990s when all members were still in their early to mid-teens. The Christian rock band drew from hard rock, alternative rock, and punk, and recorded four albums, including the acclaimed Vices released in 2006January 6, 1981 ~ Jazz, hip hop, blues trumpeter Maurice Brown, also known as Maurice Mobetta Brown, born in Harvey, Illinois, USA ~ Member of the Tedeschi-Trucks Band, including on the 2011 Grammy Award-winning album Revelator. Has also worked with Ellis Marsalis Jr, Johnny Griffin, Clark Terry, Lonnie Plaxico, Stefon Harris, Ernest Dawkins, Curtis Fuller, Roy Hargrove, Cee Lo Green, Aretha Franklin, De La Soul, Musiq Soulchild, the Roots, and Wyclef Jean
January 6, 1980 ~ Apostolia Kalambouka, commonly known as singer Apostolia Zoi, born in Elassona, Greece ~ Debuted in with the album To Proto Vima in 2003. Best known for songs such as Mi M'Akoubas, Krima and Th' Afisei Epohi
January 6, 1979 ~ In its 10th week on the charts, Tulsa Time by Don Williams hits No.1 Billboard Country ~ When a snowstorm had songwriter Danny Flowers stuck in a Tulsa Sheraton, he penned out some verses. He only spent a half-hour on it and the song only had two chords, meaning to add another. However, when Don Williams heard it he instantly liked it the way it was. Some two months later, Flowers, Williams, and Eric Clapton would meet up after a show, each of the men playing songs for the other. Clapton immediately wanted to record it, but Williams replied: “You can't record the song, I'm going to record it.” Eventually, both ended up recording the track yet Williams was first. It would become a No.1 hit on the Billboard Country charts, and helped Williams secure the award for CMA Male Vocalist of the Year. Clapton included the song on his 1979 Backless studio album as well as on his Just One Night live album released the following year. Clapton's single lifted off the latter would reach No.30 Billboard Hot 100
January 6, 1978 ~ Pop group Brotherhood Of Man release Figaro, lifted off their B For Brotherhood album ~ The song tells of a presumably Spanish cabaret singer wooing the ladies, inspired by producer and co-writer Tony Hiller's daughter's tales after she returned from a vacation is Spain: “(She) was full of stories about the young waiters trying to romance the girls.” Lead vocals are sung by the quartet's two female singers, Nicky Stevens and Sandra Stevens, no relation. The song would be the band's third and final UK charttopper, preceded by 1976 Eurovision Songfestival-winner Save Your Kisses For Me and Angelo. All three of the band's UK No.1 hits were written by the same team of producer Tony Hiller, Lee Sheriden, and singer Martin Lee. Following Figaro the band would score one more top UK top 20 hit, Beautiful Lover peaking at No.15, before fading from view
January 6, 1978 ~ Singer David Bowie releases Beauty And The Beast, lifted off his Heroes album ~ Issued as the follow-up to Heroes, title track off the same parent album, Beauty And The Beast is believed to be an autobiographical song referencing David Bowie's addiction to cocaine. With its jarring, threatening edge, strongly contrasting the romanticism of his previous single, Beauty And The Beast was considered an unconvential choice for a single, and it only became a minor hit in the UK, where it reached No.39, and failed to chart in America. Still, the song earned critical acclaim both at the time of its release and retrospectively, with some critics considering it a key song in Bowie's oeuvre. Guitarist Robert Fripp, formerly of King Crimson, guested on Beauty And The Beast and has claimed he recorded his part in just one take: “I got to the studio and asked to hear something they'd been working on. Brian (producer Brian Eno) said, ‘Why don't you plug in?’ They hit the tape, Beauty And The Beast, and what you hear on record is what I played after hearing it for the first time without anything being said”January 6, 1978 ~ Joshua Caleb Dibb, commonly known as rock guitarist, keyboardist, bassist, percussionist, singer Deakin, born in Orange, California, USA ~ Co-founding and on-and-off member of experimental pop band Animal Collective, present on the acclaimed albums Feels and Strawberry Jam. Released his Sleep Cycle solo debut album in 2016
January 6, 1978 ~ Reggae, dub, ska punk singer, guitarist, songwriter Kaleo Wassman born in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii, USA ~ Best known as frontman of Pepper, debuting in 2002 with the Steve Kravac produced Kona Town album. Also fronted the side project Sabotage Soundsytem, co-founded with Remy DeRochement, known for their 2009 The Boto Machine Gun album
January 6, 1978 ~ Rock band Sweet release Love Is Like Oxygen, lifted off their Level Headed album ~ For Level Headed, the band abandoned their earlier style and opted for a more melodic pop sound, including classical influences similar to the style of the Electric Light Orchestra around the same time. The album's lead single, Love Is Like Oxygen, would be the band's last major hit, reaching top 10 in well over a dozen countries including Germany, Canada, USA, and their native UK. The album would be the last to feature lead singer Brian Connolly, who departed the band about a year after its release. The remaining members continued as a trio, and recorded several more albums to little commercial success before disbandening in 1981January 6, 1972 ~ Filippo Neviani, commonly known as pop rock singer, guitarist, bassist, drummer, songwriter Nek, born in Sassuolo, Italy ~ Has released most of his albums in both Italian and Spanish. Broke through with his 1997 Laura Non C'e single, a major international hit. Other well known songs include Sei Solo Tu, Almeno Staavolta, Lascia Che Io Sia, Instabile, and La Vogila Che Non-Yorrei
January 6, 1971 ~ R&B girl group Brenda & the Tabulations release Right On The Tip Of My Tongue, lifted off their eponymous album ~ Written by Joe Cobb and Van McCoy, the latter also co-producing the track with Gilda Woods, Right On The Tip Of My Tongue is especially noted for lead singer Brenda Payton's spoken recitation in the Coda section. It would become the band's second-biggest hit, charting only slighty less than their 1967 Dry Your Eyes, Right On The Tip Of My Tongue would reach No.10 Billboard R&B and No.23 on the all-genre Billboard Hot 100January 6, 1971 ~ Irwin Thomas Whittridge, commonly known as rock, hard rock, pop-rock, alternative rock singer, guitarist, songwriter Irwin Thomas, born in New York, New York, USA ~ Best known as lead singer, guitarist of the Southern Sons from 1990 through 1996. Released his The Evolution Of Irwin Thomas solo debut album in 2002. Has also worked with Electric Mary, She Said Yes, John Farnham, and Rick Price
January 6, 1969 ~ Singer Johnny Moore, full name John Dudley Moore, passed away in Los Angeles, California, USA ~ Brother of guitarist Oscar Moore. Leader of the Three Blazers, which also included Charles Brown and Eddie Williams, considered one of the premier R&B units of the 1940s and a major influence on Chuck Berry. Moore would leave the band in 1948 for lack of recognition and financial reward. The two remaining Blazers would continue with a succession of lead singers, Moore would venture into a successful solo career ~ Moore was born in 1906January 6, 1969 ~ Singer Ray Stevens releases Gitarzan, lifted off the album of the same name ~ Telling of a guitar playing king of the jungle, the title Gitarzan a play on the character “Tarzan”, the song would peak at No.8, making it his second Billboard Hot 100 top 10 hit preceded by Ahab The Arab, which reached No.5 six years earlier. Over the next few years, Ray Stevens would score two more major hits, the gospel-inflected Everything Is Beautiful and The Streak would both top the Billboard Hot 100 charts, respectively in 1970 and 1974
January 6, 1967 ~ Dileep Kumar, commonly known as film composer, keyboardist, guitarist AR Rahman, born in Chennai, India ~ Multiple award-winning film composer. Internationally best known for penning the soundtrack for Slumdog Millionaire, earning him Academy Awards for Best Original Score and Best Original Songs. Also known as a member of Superheavy, a supergroup that also included Joss Stone, Mick Jagger, Damian Marley, and Dave Stewart
January 6, 1967 ~ Flavio Daddato, commonly known as dream trance, Italo dance DJ, producer DJ Dado, born in Milan, Italy ~ Best known for his remix of Mark Snow's The X-Files Theme of the TV series for the science fiction TV series of the same name. In-demand producer and remixer, mostly active from the mid 1990s through the mid 2000s including for artists such as Boy George, Jean-Michel Jarre and Alexia
January 6, 1965 ~ British rockers the Rolling Stones start a 6-show Irish tour at the ABC Theatre, Belfast, Northern Ireland ~ Over the course of three days, the band plays six shows at three venues in Belfast, Dublin, and Cork. The set list included Pain In My Heart, Route 66, Little Red Rooster, and Time Is On My Side
January 6, 1965 ~ New age, jazz fusion, world music guitarist, keyboardist, percussionist, songwriter Torsten de Winkel born in Frankfurt-am-Main, West Germany ~ Leader and sideman. Has worked with with Michael Brecker, Billy Cobham, Kai Eckhardt, Ernie Watts, Alphonse Mouzon, Hellmut Hattler, Joachim Kühn, Tom Coster, Vital Information, Pat Metheny, Al Foster, Larry Grenadier, Matthew Harrison, Ravi Coltrane, Joe Zawinul, Grandmaster Flash, Gwilym Simcock, and Tab Two. Involved in several non-profit causes combining arts and sustainability
January 6, 1964 ~ Drummer, singer Mark O'Toole, full name Mark William James O'Toole, born in Liverpool, UK ~ Co-founding member of Frankie Goes To Hollywood. The band recorded two albums in the mid-1980s, Welcome To The Pleasuredome and Liverpool. They are best known for their Relax debut single, which reached top 10 Billboard Hot 100 and topped the charts in their native UK. All of the band's UK top 10 hits, the other four being Two Tribes, The Power Of Love, Welcome To The Pleasuredome, and Rage Hard, were co-written by O'TooleJanuary 6, 1964 ~ British rockers the Rolling Stones kick off their 1st British tour at the Granada Theater, London, UK ~ The previous year the band had toured for the first time, performing some 60 shows as part of a package tour that also included Mickie Most, Julie Grant, the Everly Brothers, Bo Diddley, and Little Richard. This was their own tour, playing two shows a day, the set list consisting of about a dozen covers such as Mona, Roll Over Beethoven, and I Wanna Be Your Man, over 14 dates through the end of the month
January 6, 1964 ~ Bass guitarist Truls Waagø in Norway ~ Longtime member of the Trondheim Symphony Orchestra, starting with the company in 1987. Has worked with a number of pop groups including Slagerfabrikken, Tre Små Kinesere, Tango Concertino, Motorpsykkel, Revolver, and Adamseplene
January 6, 1964 ~ Yuridia Valenzuela Canseco, commonly known as singer Yuri born in Veracruz, Mexico ~ Known as the “Mexican Madonna”. Active since the late 1970s, she would break through after participating in the OTI Festival in 1980 to become one of the most popular pop singers in Latin America during the 1980s and 1990s. Over the course of her career she has recorded well over a dozen albums, in total selling over 35 million copies worldwide. Well-known songs include Qué Te Pasa, Hombres Al Borde De Un Ataque De Celos, and Detrás De Mi Ventana. In 2018, at age 54 she received the Latin Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, making her the youngest person to win this awardJanuary 6, 1962 ~ Blues rock, jam band guitarist Michael Houser born in Boone, North Carolina, USA ~ Co-founding member, lead guitarist of Widespread Panic, remaining with the band until his death in 2002. The band is best known for a number of 1990s albums, notably Everyday, Ain't Life Grand and Til The Medicine Takes. Houser has also worked with Bloodkin, Brute, and John Hermann ~ Houser passed away in 2002
January 6, 1961 ~ Guitarist, keyboardist, composer Erik Wøllo born in Hernsedal, Norway ~ Primarily a guitarist. Draws from numerous genres yet best known for his electronic and ambient soundscapes, building a bridge between grand symphonic realsm and gentle, serene atmospheres. Influenced by John Fogerty, Pink Floyd, Yes and Emerson Lake & Palmer. Especially acclaimed for his third album, Traces, released in 1985. Has collaborated with Ian Boddy, Steve Roach, Michael Stearns, and Bernhard Wostheinrich