It’s January 26th and here are some reasons why this day matters in rock history:

In 1968, Pink Floyd played their first gig without Syd Barrett. It took place at Southampton University where the band was supported by a group called Tyrannosaurus Rex, which would later be named T Rex.

In 1970, John Lennon wrote, recorded and mixed the song “Instant Karma.” It ranks as one of the fastest-released songs in pop music history, arriving in stores just ten days after Lennon laid the track down at Abbey Road Studios.

In 1974, Ringo Starr had the number one song in the US with his cover of “You’re Sixteen.”

In 1965, Petula Clark’s “Downtown” was the number one song in America. Jimmy Page played as a session guitarist on the track so it was his first US number one.

In 1974, The Doobie Brothers opened their first European tour in London.

In 1986, Lynyrd Skynyrd guitarist Allen Collins, who survived the 1977 plane crash that killed two band members, was in a car accident that paralyzed him from his waist down and killed his girlfriend.

And in 2000, members of Rage Against the Machine tried to force their way into the New York Stock Exchange. It was part of a video shoot for the song “Sleep Now in the Fire” that the radical band was doing on Wall Street with filmmaker Michael Moore.

And that’s what happened today in rock history.

(H/T This Day in Music)

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