Birthday Highlight:

Happy Birthday to Susanna Hoffs of the Bangles who is 65 today. Hoffs was born on Jan. 17, 1959, in Los Angeles. Two formative moments in Hoffs' life as a University of California-Berkeley student were attending the final Sex Pistols show at Winterland Ballroom, and a Patti Smith concert. Seeing those shows changed the trajectory of her career from a dancer to musician in a band, and she eventually joined Vicki Peterson and Debbi Peterson in 1981 in what would become the Bangles, and sings lead on hits including "Walk Like an Egyptian," "Manic Monday," and "Eternal Flame." Hoffs has released five solo albums, and three volumes of an Under the Covers project with Matthew Sweet.

Also, Today In:

1964 - The Rolling Stones released their debut self-titled EP which included "You Better Move On," "Poison Ivy," "Bye Bye Johnny," and "Money."

1966 - NBC bought The Monkees series, placing it on their 1966 fall schedule. The series centered on the adventures of The Monkees, a struggling rock band from Los Angeles, and introduced a number of innovative new-wave film techniques to television.

1967 - The Jimi Hendrix Experience recorded a session for Radio Luxembourg's "Ready Steady Radio". The band ran up a bar bill of $6.21, which they were unable to pay.

1967 - The Daily Mail ran the story about a local council survey finding 4,000 holes in the road in Lancashire inspiring John Lennon's contribution to The Beatles song "A Day In The Life".

1967 - 40-year-old David Mason recorded the piccolo trumpet solo for The Beatle's "Penny Lane" at Abbey Road Studios in London. He was paid $42 for his performance. In August 1987, the trumpet he used was sold at a Sotheby's auction for $10,846.

1969 - Led Zeppelin I, the band's debut album, was released in the U.S., coinciding with the band's first headlining U.S. concert tour.

1970 - Billy Stewart and three of his band members were killed when their car went off a bridge. Stewart's most popular song was the 1966 hit "Summertime".

1970 - The Doors played the first of four shows at the Felt Forum in New York City. The shows were recorded for the band's forthcoming Absolutely Live album.

1974 - Dean Martin's son Dino Martin was arrested after attempting to sell two AK-47 machine guns to an undercover agent.

1976 - Barry Manilow scored his second U.S. No. 1 single with "I Write The Songs", which was written by Beach Boy Bruce Johnson.

1981 - Motley Crue formed when bass guitarist Nikki Sixx left the band London and began rehearsing with drummer Tommy Lee and vocalist/guitarist Greg Leon (who later left).

1987 - Kate Bush started a two-week run at No. 1 on the U.K. album chart with The Whole Story. The compilation album was Bush's third U.K. No. 1 album as well as her best-selling release.

1993 - Aretha Franklin, Michael Bolton, Tony Bennett, Bob Dylan, and Diana Ross perform at President Bill Clinton's inauguration ceremonies.

1995 - The Roots released their second studio album, Do You Want More?!!!??!. It features “Proceed,” “Distortion to Static,” and “Silent Treatment.”

1996 - David Bowie, Tom Donahue, The Jefferson Airplane, Gladys Knight And The Pips, Little Willie John, Pink Floyd, Pete Seeger, The Shirelles and The Velvet Underground were all inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

1998 - All Saints scored their first U.K. No. 1 single with "Never Ever". The track spent a total of twenty-four weeks on the U.K. chart and was the first of five No. 1 singles for the London-based girl group.

2000 - Explosions in the Sky released their first studio album, How Strange, Innocence.

2003 - A long-lost recording featuring John Lennon and Mick Jagger was set to spark a bidding war at a London auction. The acetate record was recorded in 1974 with Jagger singing the blues song "Too Many Cooks" and Lennon playing guitar. The track was never released because the two artists were both signed to different record companies.

2003 - Singer Lou Rawls was arrested at Albuquerque Airport in New Mexico after an incident with his companion, Nina Inman.

2011 - Don Kirshner, the songwriter, manager, publisher and music executive who helped launch the careers of Neil Diamond, Bobby Darin, Carole King, Neil Sedaka, The Monkees, The Archies and Kansas, died of heart failure at the age of 76.

2012 - Johnny Otis, the bandleader and talent scout who discovered Etta James, died at age 90.

2016 - David Bowie reached No. 1 on the American album charts for the first time with Blackstar, released two days before his death on January 10. His highest-charting U.S. album previously had been The Next Day, which peaked at No. 2 in 2013.

2016 - Dale Griffin, drummer for Mott The Hoople, died at age 67. He was a founding member of the group, best known for the classic tracks "Roll Away The Stone" and "All The Young Dudes". The band, who made eight albums during their five-and-a-half year existence, reformed to mark their 40th anniversary in 2009, but Griffin was too sick to take part.

2016 - American brass player Mic Gillette died of a heart attack. A child prodigy, Gillette picked up the trumpet and was reading music by age four. He was a member of the soul band Tower of Power.

2020 - Mac Miller released his sixth studio album, Circles. It features “Good News” and “Blue World.”

2020 - Halsey released her third album, Manic. It features “Without Me,” “Graveyard,” and “You Should Be Sad.”

2020 - Eminem released his 11th studio album, Music to Be Murdered By. It features “Darkness” and “Godzilla.”

Birthdays:

Betty White was born today in 1922.

Eartha Kitt was born today in 1927.

Chris Montez (“Let’s Dance”) is 81.

William Hart of The Delfonics was born today in 1945. He passed away in 2022.

Andy Kaufman was born today in 1949.

The Rolling Stones guitarist Mick Taylor is 75.

Ryuichi Sakamoto was born today in 1952. He died in 2023.

Sheila Hutchinson of The Emotions is 71.

Steve Earle is 69.

Paul Young (“Every Time You Go Away”) is 68.

John Crawford of Berlin is 64.

Andy Rourke, bass player for The Smiths, was born today in 1964. He died in 2023.

Richard Hawkey of Pulp is 57.

DJ Tiësto is 55.

Lil Jon is 53.

Kid Rock is 53.

Ricky Wilson of Kaiser Chiefs is 46.

Zooey Deschanel is 44.

Ray J is 43.

Scottish record producer, DJ, singer and songwriter Calvin Harris is 40.

Jeremiah Fraites of The Lumineers is 38.

Highlights for Today in Music History are gathered from This Day in Music, Song Facts and Wikipedia.