This Day in Rock & Roll History for January 26

Buddy Holly's first recording session for Decca is held in Nashville. (1956)

Eddie Van Halen, guitar player for Van Halen, is born. (1957)

Bishop Burke of the Buffalo, New York Catholic Diocese bans the Twist. It can't be danced, sung about or listened to in any Catholic school, parish or youth event. Later in the year, the Twist will be banned from community center dances in Tampa, Florida as well. (1962)

The Four Seasons' "Walk Like A Man" is released. (1963)

John Lennon and Phil Spector write and record "Instant Karma" which is released early next month. (1970)

Australia's first rock festival, the Ourimbah Rock Festival is attended by 11,000 people over the weekend. There are only 26 arrests. (1970)

Opening a concert for Bob Seger in Tampa, Florida, Patti Smith falls off the stage and must be rushed to the hospital for 22 stitches to close head lacerations. Her injuries mean a temporary retirement from the stage, during which time she will write her fifth book of poetry , "Babel." (1977)

Fleetwood Mac's first lead guitar player, Peter Green, is committed to a mental hospital in England after firing a pistol in the general direction of a delivery boy who was attempting to delver to Green a royalties check from Fleetwood Mac record sales. Green left the band in May 1970 to live a life of religious seclusion. (1977)

Workers at EMI's record processing plant in Britain refuse to press copies of punk band the Buzzcocks' "Oh S**t," the flip side of their single "What Do I Get?" The single does get pressed and the "What Do I Get?" is a #1 smash in the U.K. (1978)

Singer Michael Jackson suffers scalp and neck burns when his hair catches fire in an accidental explosion on the set of a Pepsi commercial. The commercial debuted on MTV on February 27, 1984 with the fire scene edited out. (1984)

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