January 26

Born on this day: Eddie Van Halen, Lucinda Williams, Corky Laing of Mountain, jazz violinist Stephane Grappelli, Anita Baker and Andrew Ridgeley of Wham!

2008: Alicia Keys third album, As I Am, hits #1 on the charts. The album sells over 742,000 copies in its first week, making it the largest ever first week sales for any female R&B artist.  No One is the biggest hit from the album.

1980: Prince makes his TV debut on American Bandstand.  Little Red Corvette and Purple Rain are two of his biggest hits.

1970: John Lennon wrote, recorded and mixed his new single Instant Karma all in one day. It ranks as one of the fastest-released songs in pop music history, recorded at London’s Abbey Road Studios and arriving in stores only ten days later. Lennon later stated, “I wrote it for breakfast, recorded it for lunch, and we’re putting it out for dinner.”

1965: Petula Clark’s song Downtown hits #1 on the charts.  Jimmy Page, later of Led Zeppelin, played as a session guitarist on the track.

1934: The Appllo Theater opens in Harlem in New York City.

Songs of The Day:

Instant Karma (John Lennon); Downtown (Petula Clark); No One (Alicia Keyes); Little Red Corvette (Prince); Jump (Van Halen); Purple Rain (Prince)