Jan 16 in Music History: George Michael gets a US #1 with Faith, Eric Clapton records his Unplugged album

1932 – Duke Ellington records “It Don’t Mean a Thing (If it Ain’t Got that Swing).”

1938 – Benny Goodman brings jazz to New York City’s Carnegie Hall for the first time.

1973 – Bruce Springsteen appears at Villanova University to an audience of 25 people. Due to a strike at the time by the school’s newspaper, The Villanovan, this concert went unadvertised, so this is probably the smallest crowd Bruce and The E Street Band have ever played in front of.

1975 – McCartney and Wings arrive in New Orleans to begin sessions on their Venus and Mars album at Allen Toussaint’s Sea Saint studios. They stay through Mardi Gras.

1979 – Cher’s divorce from Gregg Allman of The Allman Brothers becomes final.

1988 – George Michael goes to #1 on the US album charts with his debut solo album Faith, which goes on to sell over 8 million copies.

1991 – The 6th annual Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremonies are held in New York City. Inductees include LaVern Baker, The Byrds, John Lee Hooker, The Impressions, Wilson Pickett, Jimmy Reed, and Ike & Tina Turner.

1992 – Eric Clapton records Eric Clapton Unplugged for MTV. The album eventually wins six Grammy Awards, including Record Of The Year.

1996 – Jimmy Buffett’s seaplane Hemisphere Dancer is shot at by Jamaican authorities after being mistaken for a drug smuggler’s plane. Buffett and U2’s Bono, also on board, are unhurt. The incident inspires Buffett’s song “Jamaica Mistaica.”

Information for this post was gathered from This Day in Music, The Music History Calendar, On This Day, and Wikipedia.