Today in rock history 27th December

1941 – Moody Blues keyboardist and singer Mike Pinder is born in Birmingham. 1944 – Mick Jones of Foreigner is born in London. 1948 – Guitarist Larry Byrom, who has performed with Steppenwolf and Kenny Rogers, is born. 1952 – Dire Straits guitarist David Knopfler, brother of Mark, is born. 1963 – The Animals perform on their first radio broadcast, the BBC show “Saturday Club.” 1963 – The London Times declares that Lennon and McCartney are “The Outstanding Composers of 1963,” with music critic Richard Buckle raving that they are “the greatest composers since Beethoven.” 1963 – In the British pop paper NME, Richard Green reports on rising combo the Rolling Stones. 1964 – The Who appeared at the Ealing Club, Ealing Broadway, London, England. 1967 – Bob Dylan releases his long-awaited follow-up to Blonde on Blonde, John Wesley Harding. 1975 – Queen started a two-week run at No.1 on the UK chart with ‘A Night At The Opera’ the group’s first No.1 album. 1980 – In the wake of John Lennon’s death, both the album Double Fantasy and the single “(Just Like) Starting Over” sit atop the American charts. 1989 – A former chef at the Chuck Berry owned restaurant Southern Air started court proceedings against Berry alleging that the singer had installed secret video cameras in the ladies toilets. 2008 – Thieves broke into a house belonging to Allman Brothers Band singer and keyboardist Gregg Allman in Georgia and stole a coin collection, knives and unreleased concert recordings. Two men where charged with the burglary two days later. 2008 – Singer, songwriter, guitarist, Delaney Bramlett died in Los Angeles from complications after gall bladder surgery. Was a member of Delaney, Bonnie & Friends and worked with George Harrison, The Everly Brothers, John Lennon, Janis Joplin, J.J. Cale, and Eric Clapton.