December 17th, 1968The Who plays their Christmas party at the Marquee Club in London. Also on the bill was a new group called Yes. Other acts appearing at the club this month included Joe Cocker, Free, and Led Zeppelin.

December 18th, 1981 Rod Stewart’s concert at the Los Angeles Forum is beamed worldwide via satellite. Stewart delights the masses by performing “Tonight’s the Night” with Kim Carnes and inviting out a virtually unknown Tina Turner to sing with him on “Hot Legs,” “Stay With Me,” and “Get Back.”

December 19th, 1970Elton John’s first US hit single, ‘Your Song’ enters the Billboard Hot 100 chart. It would peak at number eight in the US and seven in the UK. In a 1975 interview with Rolling Stone, John Lennon recalled, “I remember hearing Elton John’s ‘Your Song,’ heard it in America—it was one of Elton’s first big hits—and remember thinking, ‘Great, that’s the first new thing that’s happened since we (The Beatles) happened.’ It was a step forward. There was something about his vocal that was an improvement on all of the English vocals until then. I was pleased with it.”

December 20th, 1968The Beatles sixth Christmas record ‘The Beatles’ 1968 Christmas Record’, was sent to fan club members in the UK and the US. It included the song ‘Nowhere Man’ sung by Tiny Tim.

December 21st, 1985Bruce Springsteen’s ‘Born in the USA’ album surpasses Michael Jackson’s ‘Thriller’ becoming the second longest-lasting album on the Billboard Top 10. It would stay there for 79 weeks total and was only beaten by ‘The Sound of Music’ with Julie Andrews which lasted for 109 weeks.

December 22nd, 1963The Dave Clark Five scores their only No.1 single in the US with ‘Over And Over’.

December 23rd, 1972 – Former Grand Funk Railroad manager Terry Knight arrives at one of their concerts with a court order to seize $1M in money or assets. Police inform the ex manager that he couldn’t take anything until after the show.

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