| 105 | years ago | 1920 | New Orleans songwriter and bandleader Dave Bartholomew is born. |
| 81 | years ago | 1944 | Record executive Mike Curb is born. |
| 80 | years ago | 1945 | Motorhead's Lemmy is born. |
| 68 | years ago | 1957 | Ian Burden of The Human League is born. |
| 65 | years ago | 1960 | The Philadelphia Orphan's Court raises Chubby Checker's weekly allowance from $150 to $200. The 19-year-old singer (born Ernest Evans) has already put three songs, The Class, The Twist, and The Hucklebuck, into the pop Top Forty. |
| 64 | years ago | 1961 | The Lion Sleeps Tonight becomes the first African song to hit #1 on the U.S. pop chart. The American version, recorded by the Tokens, is a translation of a South African folk song known as Mbube and Wimoweh. |
| 62 | years ago | 1963 | 10,000 Maniacs' Mary Ramsey is born. |
| 61 | years ago | 1964 | The Beatles series of Christmas concerts opens at London's Hammersmith Odeon. |
| 60 | years ago | 1965 | The Beatles earn yet another gold record for the album Rubber Soul, just two-and-a-half weeks after its release. The record, which includes, I've Just Seen A Face, Norwegian Wood, Girl, Michelle, In My Life and You Won't See Me, is seen by critics as a turning point in their career, marking their progression to a more serious brand of pop music. |
| 59 | years ago | 1966 | Tommy James & the Shondells record I Think We're Alone Now, which will become a huge “bubble gum” hit. It peaks at #4 in its seventeen weeks on the chart and is one of the group's seven Top Ten hits. |
| 56 | years ago | 1969 | The Buddy Holly Story, an album commemorating the tenth anniversary of the rocker's death, is certified gold. One week later, That'll Be the Day, is certified a gold single. |
| 54 | years ago | 1971 | Pop singer Ricky Martin is born. |
| 53 | years ago | 1972 | A concert by Manfred Mann and His Earth Band is cut short by Miami police, sparking a two hour riot by students at the University of Miami. Since residents complained about the group's volume, the power to the P.A. is cut during the encore. As the battle rages, Mann and the band hide in a dressing room. |
| 52 | years ago | 1973 | Tom Johnson of the Doobie Brothers is arrested in Visalia, California on charges of marijuana possession. He has to go to court January 10, right about the time the group's new album is released. The title? What Were Once Vices Are Now Habits. |
| 51 | years ago | 1974 | James Taylor, Carly Simon, Linda Rondstadt, and Joni Mitchell are spotted crooning Christmas carols around the streets of Los Angeles. |
| 51 | years ago | 1974 | American Idle host Ryan Seacrest is born. |
| 20 | years ago | 2005 | Mariah Carey’s Don’t Forget About Us hits #1 on the Billboard Hot 100, putting her in a tie with Elvis Presley for second place among artists with the most #1 singles in the rock era. Carey and Presley have 17; the Beatles have 20. We Belong Together, another single from the same album, The Emancipation of Mimi, also reached #1 earlier this year. |