Music History Today: January 9, 2021

January 9, 2006: The Phantom of the Opera became the longest-running Broadway show.

Cast and crew of the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical "The Phantom of the Opera" made their way into the Guinness World Records 2013 Edition as the longest-running show in the history of Broadway -musical or play-having performed over 10,000 performances at the Majestic Theatre in New York City, New York, USA.

(sign up to follow by email)

The record previously belonged to the musical "Cats", also composed by the legendary Webber, which reached the 7,485th performance on 10 September 2000. 

Read more: Guinness World Records

January 9, 1944: James Patrick "Jimmy" Page was born in Heston, Middlesex, England. Before forming The Yardbirds and Led Zeppelin, he was a session musician in England.

Jimmy Page is the mastermind and sonic architect behind Led Zeppelin. After making his name as a session guitarist for some of the '60s biggest bands, Page took over, took apart and completely rebuilt the tattered remains of the Yardbirds in order to create one of the greatest hard rock bands of all time.

Jimmy Page

In addition to his revolutionary guitar, songwriting and production work, Page helped Led Zeppelin re-write the rules of the music business by taking unprecedented control over how the group's music was created, packaged and marketed. 

Read more: Ultimate Classic Rock

January 9, 1959:  Dion And The Belmonts performed their newest recording, "Teenager In Love," on American Bandstand. The song reached number 5 in the US and 28 in the UK.

"Teenager in Love" was written by the team of Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman . The Belmonts were Carlo Mastrangelo, Fred Milano, and Angelo D’Aleo. 

Dion & the Belmonts

There have been many covers, including versions by Bob Marley and The Wailers, Simon and Garfunkel, The Fleetwoods, Less Than Jake, and the Red Hot Chili Peppers. However, "Teenager in Love" was originally sung and recorded by Dion and the Belmonts and went to #5 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1959. 

Read more: Daily Doo Wop

January 9, 1984: Van Halen released their landmark album 1984, or as they titled it on the cover MCMLXXXIV.

In the early ‘80s, synthesizers and keyboards within the realm of heavy metal and hard rock was a great-big no-no.

Van Halen

Sure, a few artists managed to slip through the cracks (Deep Purple, UFO, and Ozzy come to mind), but for the most part, synths and keys were equated with new wave and pop music. But one band bold enough to infuse synthesizers into their mega-decibel sound changed all of that, and re-shifted the direction of hard rock for the foreseeable future. Of course, we’re talkin’ ‘bout Van Halen, and their masterpiece 1984. 

Read more: Consequences of Sound

January 9, 1988: Whitney Houston led the Billboard singles chart with "So Emotional." 

"So Emotional" is a song by American singer Whitney Houston. Commercially, it peaked at number five in the UK and number one in the Billboard Hot 100, where it became her sixth consecutive number one. 

Whitney Houston

"So Emotional" reached the top of the chart in January 1988, giving her six consecutive number-one singles, putting her in a three-way tie with The Beatles and The Bee Gees. 

Read more: Wikipedia

Phantom of the Opera
Music of the Night