This Week in Music History

January 16th, 1996 - Jimmy Buffett finds inspiration for a new song 'Jamaica Mistaica' when Jamaican authorities open fire on his seaplane, mistaking it for a drug trafficker's plane. Bono was also on the plane at the time but luckily no one was injured in the incident.

January 17th, 1972 –  Elvis gets a road named after him. A section of Bellevue Boulevard in Memphis is renamed Elvis Presley Boulevard. The the other length of road kept its original name after protests from the Bellevue Baptist Church.

January 18th, 1964 – The Beatles have their first US hit with ‘I Want To Hold Your Hand’ as it enters the charts on this day. It entered at No.45 just ten days after its release, making it the fastest-selling single in the history of Capitol Records. It would go on to spend seven weeks at the No.1 position.

January 19th, 1988 – Bon Jovi’s manager Doc McGhee pleads guilty to importing more than 40,000 lbs of marijuana into the US from Colombia by way of a shrimp boat. McGhee would receive a five-year suspended prison sentence and a fine of $15,000. He was also ordered to set up an anti-drug foundation.

January 20th, 1969 – Bruce Springsteen has two of his poems published in the College Literary Yearbook Seascapes. Springsteen was in his second semester at the Ocean County College in Toms River, but he would soon drop out to pursue music.

January 21st, 1965 – The Byrds record “Mr. Tambourine Man.” Well really just one “Byrd” as the only actual band member on the record is  lead guitarist/singer Jim McGuinn. The rest of the band was replaced by session musicians for this track.

January 22nd, 1966 – The Beach Boys went into the studio to record ‘Wouldn’t It Be Nice’, which would be the opening track on their 4th album ‘Pet Sounds.’ It would become one of the groups most recognizable songs but only reached #8 on the Billboard Hot 100.