Jan 24 in Music History: Ferry Cross the Mersey premieres, Motown releases Michael Jackson’s debut solo album
1961 – Bob Dylan arrives in New York to begin his music career after dropping out of the University of Minnesota.
1962 – The Beatles sign a management contract with Brian Epstein, who is to receive 25% of the band’s earnings. To prove his worth, he does not sign the contract until the following October.
1965 – Gerry and the Pacemakers’ first film, Ferry Cross The Mersey, premieres in the UK at the Liverpool Odeon Theater. It is the era’s only film document of the Merseybeat scene.
1969 – Jethro Tull play their first American show when they open for Blood, Sweat & Tears at the Fillmore East.
1972 – Motown releases Michael Jackson’s debut solo album, Got to Be There, while he is just 13 years old.
1980 – A billboard is erected on Sunset Strip in West Hollywood, California to promote Pink Floyd’s new album The Wall. Each day, a brick is “removed” to slowly reveal the inside spread and title of the album.
1980 – After paying the godfather of punk Malcolm McLaren £1000 for musical advice, Adam Ant receives information about African beats but loses his band (the Ants) to Bow Wow Wow, whom McLaren manages.
1982 – Diana Ross sings the national anthem for the Super Bowl held in Pontiac, Michigan ahead of the Motown tribute halftime show.
2005 – The iTunes Music Store reaches 250 million songs sold.
2012 – Pete Townshend sells out when he sells the publishing rights for about 400 songs he has written to the Spirit Music Group, which plans on placing his music in TV shows, movies and commercials.
2016 – Butch Trucks, co-founder and drummer of The Allman Brothers Band, dies at age 69 of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Information for this post was gathered from This Day in Music, The Music History Calendar, On This Day, and Wikipedia.