Category: Flashback Pop Music

From the MCRFB music calendar:

Events on this date: DECEMBER 31

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1955: Les Baxter’s “Unchained Melody,” the hit theme from the movie Unchained, is voted Billboard’s top-selling single of the year, with no less than four hit versions. And the Righteous Brothers’ hit version was still nearly a decade away!

1960: The risque (and soon to be hit) beach vacation movie, Where The Boys Are, premieres in New York City, starring Connie Francis.

1961: The Beach Boys, formerly known as the Pendletons, make their onstage debut under their new name at a Ritchie Valens Memorial Concert in Long Beach, CA. They are paid $300 for the gig.

1961: Janis Joplin makes her on-stage debut at the Halfway House in Beaumont, TX.

1962: John Phillips and Michelle Gilliam, later of the Mamas and Papas, are married.

1963: The Kinks make their on-stage debut at London’s Lotus House Restaurant.

1965: Alf Lennon, John’s estranged deadbeat father, releases “That’s My Life (My Love And My Home),” a single designed to ride the coattails of John’s success and his recent song “In My Life.” Lennon instructs manager Brian Epstein to make sure it is blackballed in the UK. It is not a hit.

1967: Sonny and Cher are suddenly disinvited to appear at tomorrow’s Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena, CA, after publicly backing the “Sunset Strip Rioters,” teenagers protesting the city’s new curfew.

1968: Billboard magazine reports that this year, for the first time, US total music sales have topped one billion dollars.

1969: Jimi Hendrix’s new group, Band of Gypsys, makes its onstage debut tonight at the Fillmore East ballroom in New York City. The concert is later released on LP as simply Band Of Gypsys.

1969: A BBC TV special declares John Lennon Man Of The Decade, on the same day that Rolling Stone names him ‘Man Of The Year’ and New Musical Express quotes him as saying he’s thinking of leaving the Beatles.

1970: Paul McCartney officially sues the other members of the Beatles for a legal dissolution of their “partnership,” effectively breaking up the band (though John Lennon had been the first to leave permanently, and George and Ringo had both quit temporarily before that). On the same day, British magazine Melody Maker announces that the Beatles are looking for a new bassist. Four years later to the day, and after endless legal wrangling, all four would come to terms, making the separation final.

1971: Elvis Presley announces to his entourage that his wife Priscilla will be divorcing him, saying simply, “She says she doesn’t love me anymore.” In contrast to previous years, tonight’s New Year’s Eve celebration is held at Graceland rather than a local club.

1971: Blood Sweat & Tears essentially break up as lead singer David Clayton-Thomas performs his last live show with the group. (The band would briefly reunite four years later.)

1972: Dick Clark begins a new holiday tradition as his first New Year’s Rockin’ Eve concert is broadcast on ABC-TV. Dick himself will host the annual event for the next 32 years. Guests for the inaugural event include Three Dog Night and Al Green.

1974: Pink Floyd begin recording their landmark LP ‘Wish You Were Here’ after abandoning an earlier concept of an album recorded entirely with household objects.

1974: Ex-Faces guitarist Ron Wood flatly denies rumors that he will be joining the Rolling Stones to replace Mick Taylor, who had recently quit the band.

1974: Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham are asked to join Fleetwood Mac.

1975: Casablanca Records’ single release party for Donna Summer’s debut single, “Love To Love You Baby” features a life-size cake in the shape of the singer, flown in all the way from Los Angeles to New York. (It’s Summer’s 23rd birthday.)

1975: Elvis Presley sets a new single-show solo record at tonight’s concert in Pontiac, MI, earning $800,000.

1978: Bill Graham’s Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco closes its doors for good after the Grateful Dead play their 48th concert there. Also appearing this night: The Blues Brothers.

1982: Max’s Kansas City club in New York, where Bruce Springsteen, the New York Dolls, and the Velvet Underground played some of their first concerts, shuts its doors for good.

1982: E Street Band guitarist “Miami Steve” and/or “Little Steven” Van Zandt marries Maureen Santora at the Stone Pony in Asbury Park, NJ. Little Richard officiates; Bruce Springsteen is the best man; Percy Sledge sings “When A Man Loves A Woman” during the reception.

1991: After 62 years, Radio Luxembourg, Europe’s oldest commercial radio station, goes off the air for good.

1991: Ted Nugent donates 200 pounds of venison to a Detroit soup kitchen run by the Salvation Army, declaring in a note, “I kill it, you grill it.”

1996: In the traditional New Year’s Eve knighthood announcements of England’s ruler Queen Elizabeth II, Paul McCartney is granted knighthood. Tom Jones was knighted in 2005, while Roger Daltrey (2004), and Eric Clapton and Ray Davies (2003) both received lesser “Commander” titles.

 

Birthdays: 1943: John Denver; 1943: Pete Quaife (The Kinks); 1947: Burton Cummings (The Guess Who); 1948: Donna Summer; 1951: Fermin Goytisolo (KC and the Sunshine Band); 1951: Tom Hamilton (Aerosmith)

Releases: none

Recordings: none

Charts: 1966: The Monkees’ “I’m A Believer” hits No. 1 on the Billboard charts.

Certifications: 1965: The Beatles’ single “I Feel Fine” is certified gold by the RIAA. 1965: The Beatles’ Beatles ’65 is certified gold by the RIAA.

Deaths: 1967: Bert Berns; 1985: Rick Nelson; 1997: Floyd Cramer

 

And that’s some of the events which took place in pop music history, on this day . . . . 

 

MCRFB says, remember:

PLEASE DON’T DRINK AND DRIVE . . .

B E  S A F E  N E W  Y E A R ‘ S  E V E   2 0 1 4 !

From the MCRFB music calendar:

Events on this date: NOVEMBER 24

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1950: The musical comedy Guys and Dolls premieres on Broadway at the 46th Street Theatre.

1957: Harry Belafonte’s “Mary’s Boy Child” becomes the first single to sell a million copies in the UK. It stayed at Number One for an unheard-of seven weeks and has since become a perennial UK Christmas favorite.

1959: Teen heartthrob Johnnie Ray is arrested in London for soliciting an undercover officer in a gay bar. (He is later found not guilty.)

1961: In yet another important development for British blues-rock, Chicago blues legend Howlin’ Wolf makes his first appearance in the UK, touring behind his latest single, “Little Baby.”

1962: Ex-Beatles drummer Pete Best, sacked from the group three months previously, nevertheless receives a birthday telegram from the band and manager Brian Epstein wishing him “all the best.”

1964: The Who, until recently the High Numbers, perform their first gig under the new name at London’s Marquee Club, promising what the posters famously call “Maximum R&B.”

1964: The UK’s first commercial radio station, Radio Manx, begins broadcasting from the Isle of Man.

1965: NBC-TV airs the musical special Frank Sinatra: A Man And His Music.

1966: Kansas City, MO police lock horns with rioting teenagers at a James Brown concert after officials stop the show due to Brown’s “obscene dances.”

1972: ABC-TV’s Don Kirshner-produced In Concert, the network’s weekly late-night answer to NBC’s Midnight Special, debuts. The initial episode features musical performances by Chuck Berry, Alice Cooper, Blood, Sweat and Tears, The Allman Brothers, and Poco.

1974: In the midst of his infamous “Lost Weekend,” John Lennon rehearses with Elton John for Elton’s upcoming Madison Square Garden performance, at which Lennon will make a surprise cameo.

1978: In a clear prelude to his coming “Christian” direction, the Jewish-born Bob Dylan plays tonight’s gig in Fort Worth, TX wearing a large gold cross around his neck.

1991: An ordained Little Richard marries singer Cyndi Lauper and actor David Thornton in New York, then sticks around to play at the reception.

2003: Glen Campbell is arrested for drunk driving and hit-and-run charges in Phoenix, AZ, after crashing his BMW into another car at another intersection and continuing on. The 67-year-old Campbell, who is sentenced to ten days in jail, allegedly knees an officer’s groin during the arrest.

 

Birthdays: 1932: Tommy Allsup (The Crickets) 1939: Jim Yester (The Association) 1941: Donald “Duck” Dunn (Booker T. and the MGs) 1941: Pete Best (The Beatles) 1944: Bob Lind 1944: Bev Bevan (The Move, Electric Light Orchestra) 1945: Lee Michaels

Releases: 1958: Jackie Wilson, “Lonely Teardrops” 1958: Ritchie Valens, “Donna” b/w “La Bamba”

Recording: 1965: The Young Rascals, “Good Lovin'” 1966: The Beatles, “Strawberry Fields Forever”

Charts: 1958: The Kingston Trio’s LP ‘The Kingston Trio’ hits No. 1 on the LP charts; 1973: Ringo Starr’s “Photograph” hits No. 1 on the charts; 1978: Barbra Streisand and Donna Summer’s “No More Tears (Enough Is Enough)” hits No. 1 on the charts.

Deaths: 1985: Big Joe Turner 1991: Freddie Mercury 1993: Albert Collins 1995: Junior Walker (Jr. Walker and the All Stars).

 

 

 

 

 

And that’s just a few of the events which took place in pop music history, on this date . . . .  N O V E M B E R  2 4

From the MCRFB music calendar:

Events on this date: NOVEMBER 15

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1926: The first network radio broadcast, four-and-a-half hours of of various performances from New York’s Waldorf-Astoria and other remotes around the country, airs on the new National Broadcasting Company (soon to be known as NBC).

1956: Elvis Presley’s first movie, Love Me Tender, premier’s at New York’s Paramount Theater. The King’s popularity has grown so phenomenally large during the filming on the movie that his part — originally almost a cameo — is expanded to fit his stardom. Indeed, when his role character is killed in the end of the movie, test audiences are so distraught that Elvis reappears at the end of the movie to reprise the title song. A 50 ft. cutout poster of the singer is center over the theater marquee to enhance his first starring role in the motion picture.

1959: Three ex-members of the Quarrymen — later to become known as the Beatles‘ John, Paul and George — audition for a British talent program called TV Star Search at the Hippodrome Theater in Lancashire, appearing as “Johnny and the Moondogs” while performing two Buddy Holly songs: “Think It Over” and “It’s So Easy.” Unfortunately, the trio is forced to return to Liverpool the same night, having no money to rent a hotel room, and therefore missing the next round of auditions.

1964: While on tour, Brian Jones of the Rolling Stones is admitted to Chicago’s Passavant Hospital for pneumonia, having reached a dangerous level of 105 degrees. He will miss the last four dates of the U. S. tour.

1965: The Rolling Stones make their first appearance on NBC-TV’s rock variety show Hullabaloo, performing their hit, “Get Off My Cloud.”

1968: During tonight’s Janis Joplin and the Big Brother and Holding Company concert in Tampa, Florida, a policeman tries to use a bullhorn to control a crowd that has left its seats and begun to move around, prompting Joplin to object: “Don’t **** with those people! Hey, mister, what’re you so uptight about? Did you buy a $5 dollar ticket?” The cop responds in turn by ordering the singer to inform the crowd that they need to be seated, she replies, “I’m not telling ’em s***.” Joplin left the stage after the concert, calling the cop a “son of a b**** and threatening to kick his face in, leading her to be arrested afterwards in her dressing room on a charge of publicly using ” vulgar and indecent language.” After posting a $500 dollar bail, the charges are later dropped.

1969: Hamburg, Germany’s famous rock and roll venue, the Star Club, announces it will permanently close its doors at the end of the month.

1969: The Beatles’ last photographic session graces today’s cover of the Rolling Stone. On the same day, obsessive fans looking for the “Paul Is Dead” clues on album covers and in songs push two previous Beatles albums, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band and Magical Mystery Tour, back onto the Billboard LP charts.

1972: Harry Chapin becomes the proud father of his first child, Joshua Burke, in New York City, and event that would eventually inspire him to to put his wife’s poem,”Cat’s In The Cradle,” to music and song.

1979: NBC-TV airs The Bee Gees Special, their first, starring Willie Nelson, Glen Campbell, and little brother Andy Gibb.

1992: The Doors’ Robbie Krieger, Mark Lindsay of Paul Revere and the Raiders, Peter Noone of Herman’s Hermits, John Sabastian of the Lovin’ Spoonful, Spencer Davis, Ritchie Havens, all guest stars on tonight’s “Rock Of Ages” episode of FOX’s Married With Children.

2000: Michael Abram, the Liverpool native who broke into George Harrison’s home and stabbed him in an incident earlier in the year, is found not guilty by reason of insanity at Oxford Crown Court. Abram is ordered confined to a mental hospital for an indefinite period of time.

 

Birthdays: Petula Clark; 1932. Clyde McPhatter; 1932. Little Willie John; 1937. Janet Lennon (Lennon Sisters); 1946. Steve Fossen (Heart); 1949. Tony Thompson (Chic); 1954.

Releases: ‘Openings,’ (LP), Carpenters; 1969. ‘E Pluribus Funk,’ (LP), Grand Funk Railroad; 1971.

Recording: 1956: “Rock Around With Ollie Vee,” “Modern Don Juan,” “You Are My One Desire,” Buddy Holly.  1966: “Somebody To Love,” Jefferson Airplane.

Charts: NONE — for this date.

Certifications: 1978: “Le Freak,” Chic; certified gold by the RIAA.

And that’s just a few of the events which took place in pop music history NOVEMBER 15

From the MCRFB music calendar:

Events on this date: NOVEMBER 2

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1956: A riot breaks out at a Fats Domino show event at Fayetteville, NC, with police resorting to tear gas to break up the unruly crowd. Fats jumps out of a window from the building in which the show was being held to avoid the melee; during his escape, he and two other band members were injured in the process.

1963: Dion (formerly of the Belmonts) angrily walks off the ITV television program Ready Steady Go! in the middle of performing his hit, “Donna, The Prima Donna,” claiming the go-go dancers surrounding him during his song were distracting.

1963: Reviewing the Beatles’ concert the night before in Cheltenham, England, the British paper Daily Mirror uses the headline Beatlemania! effectively inserting the phrase into the popular consciousness for the first time.

1964: Brenda Lee gives a Royal Command Performance for Queen Elizabeth II in London, along with Cliff Richard and Cilla Black.

1966: Paul Revere and the Raiders appear on tonight’s “Dizzoner The Penguin” episode of ABC-TV’s Batman.

1968: Cream is presented with a platinum album for Wheels Of Fire at the Madison Square Garden stop of their farewell tour.

1969: The Rolling Stones quasi-documentary Sympathy For The Devil, directed by Jean-Duc Godard, premiers in San Francisco.

1974: George Harrison begins the first-ever solo tour by a Beatle when he performs the first night of his Dark Horse Tour in Vancouver, BC. The tour, which is plagued by Harrison’s laryngitis, is a disaster.

1979: The British rock band Who debuts their film Quadrophenia in theaters across the U. S., featuring relatively a small part in the movie by Sting.

1984: Marvin Gay, Sr., father of Motown great Marvin Gaye (who added the e when he signed with Motown) is found guilty of manslaughter in the shooting death of his son, but courts rule the shooting was in self-defense, and the elder Gay is given five years’ probation.

1985: With his new single, “Part-Time Lover” topping the charts, Stevie Wonder becomes the artist with the longest period between Number Ones: 22 years. “Part-Time Lover” also sets a record by going to Number One on five different Billboard charts.

1994: Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young’s David Crosby is hospitalized after suffering liver failure; he’s fortunate to find a donor for a transplant.

1995: The syndicated R&B dance show Soul Train celebrates its 25th year on the air with guests appearances by Al Green, Diana Ross, Bill Withers and Patti Labelle.

 

Releases: 1963: “Be True To Your School,” Beach Boys. 1968: “For Once In My Life,” Stevie Wonder. 1971: ‘Bob Dylan’s Greatest Hits Volume 2,’ Bob Dylan.

Recording: 1967: “Hello Goodbye,” Beatles. 1973: “Never say Goodbye,” Bob Dylan.

Charts: 1955: “Sixteen Tons,” Tennessee Ernie Ford, enters the charts. 1955: “Cry Me A River,” Julie London, enters the charts. 1963: ‘In The Wind,’ (LP) Peter Paul and Mary, hits No. 1 on the LP charts. 1974: “You Haven’t Done Nothin’,” Stevie Wonder, hits No. 1 on the charts. 1974: “Play Something Sweet (Brickyard Blues),” Three Dog Night, enters the charts on this date. 1974: ‘So Far,’ (LP) Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, hit No. 1 on the LP charts.

And that’s just a few of the events which took place in pop music history NOVEMBER 2

From the MCRFB music calendar:

Events on this date: OCTOBER 31

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1952: When his original guitarist has a stroke just before a New Year’s Eve gig, popular St. Louis boogie-woogie pianist Johnnie Johnson hires for his group The Sir John’s Trio a 26-year old hairdresser named Chuck Berry.

1963: The Beatles return from a tour of Sweden to find 50,000 screaming fans waiting for them at London’s Heathrow Airport, the surest proof yet that Beatlemania is a national phenomenon. Waiting at the airport is American TV host Ed Sullivan, who notices the furor. “Who are those guys?” he asks a bystander, who tells him they are “England’s foremost singing group.” Having never heard them, Sullivan nevertheless immediately contacts manager Brian Epstein to book the band for three appearances on his CBS show early in 1964.

1963: In Detroit, low-rated radio station WKMH switches to a top 40 format with new calls, WKNR, “New Radio 13.” Ratings-wise, this transition would become known as the fastest turn-around ever in Detroit radio history — from bottom to No. 1 — within a scant ten week period.

1964: Ray Charles is arrested at Boston’s Logan Airport for possession of heroin, his third drug since 1958. The singer is ordered to rehab in order to avoid jail time.
1964: For the first time since January 1964, the Beatles do not have a song currently on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. No less than 14 singles hit the charts in the previous ten months.
1964: Joan Baez sings three songs with Bob Dylan at tonight’s concert in New York: “Mama, You Been On My Mind,” “With God On Our Side,” and “It Ain’t Me, Babe.”

1965: Lead singer Wayne Fontana leaves his group, The Mindbenders.

1967: The Rolling Stones’ Brian Jones is released on 750 pounds’ bail from Wormwood Scrubs prison in London after being charged with marijuana possession. Seven fans are arrested for demonstrating outside the prison gates.

1967: The Stooges make their live debut at a Detroit, MI, Halloween party.

1968: Paul McCartney’s new girlfriend, Linda Eastman, moves into his London home.

1970: Michelle Phillips of the Mamas and the Papas marries actor Dennis Hopper, a marriage that is annulled seven days later.

1974: Members of Led Zeppelin launch their new artist-owned label, Swan Song, at the Chislehurst Caves in England, with the Pretty Things, Bill Wyman, and Groucho Marx — not to mention several dozen naked models — attending.

1975: Southern rockers The Marshall Tucker Band headline a fundraising concert for Presidential nominee Jimmy Carter.

1976: Elvis Presley makes his last recording, singing Jim Reeves’ “He’ll Have To Go” over a pre-recorded backing track in the Jungle Room of his Graceland home.

1995: James Brown is charged with assault at his home in Aiken, SC, after allegedly striking his wife Adrienne with a mirror.

2000: Napster announces a deal with entertainment giant BMG to make its illegal file-sharing software into a paid subscription service.

2005: The Isley Brothers’ Ron Isley is sentenced to 26 years in federal prison on tax evasion charges.

2005: The white suit John Lennon wore on the cover of the Beatles’ Abbey Road sells at a Las Vegas Amnesty International charity auction for $118,000.

2007: Elvis Presley tops the annual Forbes magazine list of most profitable dead celebrities, his estate having taken in $49 million over the past year. John Lennon makes the #2 spot; George Harrison, James Brown, and Bob Marley also make the list.

Deaths

1968: Malcolm Hale (Spanky and Our Gang) 2002: Claude Johnson (Don and Juan) 2005: Skitch Henderson

 

Births

1912: Dale Evans 1922: Illinois Jacquet 1927: Anita Kerr 1934: Ray Smith 1937: Tom Paxton 1944: Kinky Friedman 1945: Rik Kenton (Roxy Music) 1947: Russ Ballard (Unit 4+2, Argent) 1952: Bernard Edwards (Chic)

Releases

1975: Queen, “Bohemian Rhapsody”

Recording

1930: Count Basie, “Somebody Stole My Gal” 1958: The Flamingos, “I Only Have Eyes For You” 1960: The Everly Brothers, “Ebony Eyes”

1960: Elvis Presley: “In My Father’s House,” “Joshua Fit the Battle,” “Swing Down, Sweet Chariot,” “I’m Gonna Walk Dem Golden Stairs,” “If We Never Meet Again,” “Known Only to Him,” “Crying In The Chapel,” “Working On The Building”
1961: Bobby Darin, “Irresistible You”
1963: Bob Dylan, “Restless Farewell”

Charts

1960: Elvis Presley’s LP G.I. Blues enters the charts
1964: The Supremes’ “Baby Love” hits #1
1964: Barbra Streisand’s LP People hits #1

Certifications

1970: James Taylor’s LP Fire and Rain is certified gold
1972: Curtis Mayfield’s “Freddie’s Dead” is certified gold

And that’s just a few of the events which took place in pop music history OCTOBER 31

(Source: oldies.about.com)

From the MCRFB music calendar:

Events on this date: OCTOBER 16

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1951: Jump-blues singer Richard Penniman, already going by the stage name Little Richard, makes his first recordings at Atlanta radio station WGST, though it would take four years and a move to clubs in New Orleans’ French Quarter to turn him into a rock and roll phenomenon.

1954: Elvis Presley, still stinging from his rejection at the Grand Old Opry in Nashville, joins the Shreveport, LA radio broadcast Louisiana Hayride, appearing weekly for the grand sum of eighteen dollars. The show, broadcast on local station KWKH-AM, represents Presley’s first major musical exposure and would prove invaluable to getting him noticed nationally.

1962: Motown launches its first “package tour,” a revue of the label’s artists featuring Marvin Gaye, The Miracles, The Supremes, Stevie Wonder, and Mary Wells, in Washington DC.

1966: Folk singer Joan Baez is among 124 antiwar protesters arrested for blocking entrance to an Army Induction Center in Oakland, CA. She is sentenced to ten days in jail.

1972: Internal strife between the three remaining band members — reportedly due to leader John Fogerty’s reluctance to give up creative control — lead to today’s public breakup of Creedence Clearwater Revival. The press statement tries to put the best possible face on the incident, “We don’t regard this as breaking up. We look at it as an expansion of our activities.”

1986: Chuck Berry is the center of an all-star “60th birthday” bash in his hometown of St. Louis, a tribute concert — held three days before his actual 60th — where the legendary rocker is joined by Keith Richards, Bruce Springsteen, Eric Clapton, Etta James, Robert Cray, Linda Ronstadt, and many others on stage at the local Fox Theatre. The making of the concert and the show itself are filmed by veteran director Taylor Hackford for the critically acclaimed hits 1987 documentary Hail! Hail! Rock ‘N’ Roll.

1993: Aretha Franklin sings the US national anthem in Toronto before tonight’s World Series game between the city’s Blue Jays and the visiting Philadelphia Phillies.

2001: After Bob Dylan hires extra security guards in preparation for his comeback “Love And Theft” tour, two of the guards turn Dylan himself back when the singer forgets his own pass. The new guards are fired.

2002: Country legend Dolly Parton begins her first tour of the United Kingdom in nearly two decades.

2002: Billy Joel leaves the Silver Hill Hospital in New Canaan, CT, where it is rumored he’s been undergoing treatment for alcoholism.

2003: Simon and Garfunkel open their new “Old Friends” tour with a concert in Wilkes-Barre, PA.

 

Deaths: 1969: Leonard Chess; 1973: Gene Krupa; 1990: Art Blakey; 1999: Ella Mae Morse; 2001: Etta Jones

Births: 1911: Mahalia Jackson; 1923: Bert Kaempfert; 1935: Sugar Pie DeSanto; 1937: Emile Ford (Emile Ford and the Checkmates); 1938: Nico; 1942: Dave Lovelady (The Fourmost); 1943: C.F. Turner (Bachman-Turner Overdrive); 1947: Bob Weir (The Grateful Dead)

Releases: 1957: Sam Cooke, “You Send Me” 1971: Isaac Hayes, “Theme From Shaft”

Recording: 1941: Will Bradley, “Fry Me Cookie, With A Can Of Lard” 1951: Johnnie Ray, “Cry” 1965: The Beatles: “Day Tripper,” “If I Needed Someone” 1968: Jay and the Americans, “This Magic Moment”

Charts: 1976: Rick Dees and His Cast of Idiots’ “Disco Duck” hits No. 1 nationally on the charts 1976: Stevie Wonder’s album ‘Songs In The Key Of Life’ hits No. 1 nationally on the LP charts

 

 

 

 

And that’s just a few of the events which took place in pop music history, on this day . . . .

From the MCRFB music calendar:

Events on this date: OCTOBER 3

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1901: The first record company, The Victor Talking Machine Company, is incorporated, later merging with the Radio Corporation of America to become RCA-Victor.

1952: The long-running radio hit The Adventures Of Ozzie and Harriet, now featuring a 12-year-old Ricky Nelson, debuts on CBS-TV, where it will run for another 14 years, bringing the total life of the show to 22 years!

1955: The Mickey Mouse Club, featuring a 12-year-old Annette Funicello, debuts on ABC-TV.

1957: ABC-TV premieres The Pat Boone Chevy Showroom variety show, later featured in Michael Moore’s documentary Roger and Me. The show runs for three years.

1964: John Lennon writes “I Feel Fine.”

1965: Johnny Cash is stopped by US Customs officials at the Mexican border on suspicion of heroin smuggling and found to be holding over 1,000 prescription narcotics and amphetamines. He receives a suspended sentence.

1977: The TV event Elvis In Concert, filmed just weeks before the King’s death, is shown on CBS, with good friend Ann-Margret hosting. It shocks many with the depiction of a bloated and drug-addled Elvis Presley in his final days.

1978: Aerosmith posts bail for 30 fans convicted of smoking pot during their show at the Fort Wayne Coliseum in Ft. Wayne, IN.

1980: At tonight’s show in Ann Arbor, MI, the first of his new tour, Bruce Springsteen forgets the words to his anthem “Born To Run.”

1987: Lithonia, GA declares today “Brenda Lee Day” in honor of the native singer. A new street is named Brenda Lee Lane in her honor.

1988: Hollywood premiers the acclaimed documentary Imagine: John Lennon.

2000: After being questioned for nearly an hour by his parole board, John Lennon’s killer is denied release on his first eligible parole, with the board stating that letting him free would “deprecate the seriousness of the crime.”

2003: The film of the benefit concert The Concert For George, an all-star tribute to the recently deceased ex-Beatle George Harrison, opens in US theaters.

2007: The Rolling Stones’ “A Bigger Bang” tour, named after their latest album, sets a new world record for grosses when the two-year jaunt rakes in nearly 560 million dollars.

Deaths: 1967: Woody Guthrie

Births: 1938: Eddie Cochran 1940: Alan O’Day 1941: Chubby Checker 1945: Antonio Martinez (Los Bravos) 1949: Lindsey Buckingham (Fleetwood Mac) 1950: Ronnie Laws (Earth Wind and Fire)

Releases: none

Recording: 1945: Stan Kenton, “Painted Rhythm” 1963: The Beatles, “Little Child,” “I Wanna Be Your Man” 1968: The Beatles, “Savoy Truffle”

Charts:

1964: The Supremes’ “Baby Love” enters the Billboard charts
1964: The LP The Animals enters the Billboard LP charts

 

 

 

 

 

And that’s just a few of the events which took place in pop music history, on this day . . . .

From the MCRFB music calendar:

Events on this date: SEPTEMBER 17

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1931: RCA Victor unveils its new invention, the 33 1/3 rpm or long-playing “LP” record, at the Savoy Plaza Hotel in New York. However, the company badly overprices the record players themselves, leaving the new format to lie dormant for years until Columbia Records revives it in 1948.

1952: Frank Sinatra records his final session for Columbia; he will be dropped from the label due to poor sales, but rebounds the following year after signing to Capitol and singing more “mature” fare.

1955: The Perry Como Show moves to NBC-TV, expanding from three 15-minute programs per week to a one-hour long variety show on Saturday nights.

1955: After deejays keep complaining that Les Paul’s “Magic Melody” single ends abruptly, Capitol Records releases the shortest single of all time, Les Paul’s “Magic Melody Part 2,” which is merely the final two notes of the old “shave and a haircut” tag. Released only as a promo, it last exactly one second.

1956: The BBC bans Bill Haley’s new single “Rockin’ Through The Rye,” based on the 17th-century tune Scottish tune “Comin’ Through The Rye,” to avoid offending its Scot listeners.

1964: The Beatles breaks with established practice and agree to add an extra date to their current US tour after the British band is offered a then-record $150,000 by the owner of the Kansas City (Missouri) Athletics to perform a concert at Kansas City Municipal Stadium. The Beatles cannily add their medley of “Kansas City / Hey-Hey-Hey-Hey!” to their setlist, the only time they would play this song in during their North American tour. Afterward, their hotel manager sells their unwashed bedsheets to a couple of businessmen from Chicago, who promptly cut them up in 2×2 inch squares and sells them at $10.00 a pop.

1967: Appearing on CBS-TV the Ed Sullivan Show, the Doors are asked to change the line “Girl, we couldn’t get much higher” in their hit, Light My Fire. Lead singer Jim Morrison agrees, then sings the “restricted” references in the line anyway, leading to a permanent ban from the show.

1967: In an ill-advised move, Keith Moon from the Who rigs his bass drum to explode at the end of “My Generation” during the group’s appearance on CBS-TV’s Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour. Unfortunately, a stage-hand packs far too much explosives into the drum, and the resulting explosion damages Keith’s leg, and causes permanent hearing damage to guitarist Pete Townsend.

1969: Tiny Tim announces his forthcoming marriage to “Miss Vicki” Budinger, which would break records for viewership when the ceremony is broadcast on Johnny Carson’s Tonight Show. The two are separated three years later, and the couple are divorced in 1977.

1975: Mayor Stephen Juba of Winnepeg, Canada, declares today “Guess Who Day” in honor of the Canadian band (of hit songs fame: “These Eyes,” “American Woman,” “Laughing,” “Share The Land,” “Undun”) in honor of its native sons.

1997: Fleetwood Mac begins their first tour in 20 years at the Meadows Music Theater in Hartford, CT.

2007: Barry Manilow cancels his upcoming appearance on ABC-TV’s The View after learning he would not be allowed to ignore conservative co-host Elisabeth Hasselbeck.

 

Deaths: Rob Tyner (MC5), 1991; Jessie Hill, 1996; Frankie Vaughan, 1999; Al Casey, 2006.

Releases: 1962: “Anna (Go To Him),” Arthur Alexander.

Recording: 1955: “Sixteen Tons,” Tennessee Ernie Ford. 1960: “Walk Right Back,” Everly Brothers. 1968: “Love Child,” Supremes. 1973: “Piano Man,” Billy Joel. 1974: “Shelter From The Storm,” “You’re Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go,” Bob Dylan.

Charts: None for this date — 

Certifications: 1968: “Stone Soul Picnic,” 5th Dimension; certified gold by the RIAA.

 

 

 

 

And that’s just a few of the events which took place in pop music history on this day —