FLASHBACK POP MUSIC HISTORY: MARCH 19

From the MCRFB music calendar:

Events on this date: MARCH 19

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1957: Although he wouldn’t finalize the deal in six more days, Elvis Presley puts down a deposit to secure the 14-acre estate with a two-story colonial at 3734 Highway 51 South, Memphis, Tennessee, later know as Graceland.

Tom and Jerry, also known later as Simon and Garfunkel; circa 1958.

1958: As Tom and Jerry, Simon and Garfunkel release their third single, a ditty named, “Our Song.”

1964: British Prime Minister Harold Wilson, who would later be satirized in the band’s song “Taxman,” presents the Beatles for being “Show Business Personalities Of 1963” At the Variety Club of Great Britain Annual Show Business Award.

1965: Britain’s Tailor and Cutter runs an article by tie makers asking the Rolling Stones to start wearing ties with their suits, a fashion which had gone out of style among the youth. Mick Jagger responds, diplomatically, that ties would only give screaming female fans something else they can grab unto in a mob-crowd.

1966: The Walker Brothers’ Gary Lewis undergoes a fake abduction by college students as a charity stunt.

1966: Lesley Gore guest stars as herself on the final “Byline — Jeffrey Stone” episode of ABC-TV’s The Donna Reed Show.

1968: Donovan goes to India to study under the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. Dean Martin’s Reprise’ album Houston is certified gold.

1970: David Bowie marries his first wife, model Angela Barnett, in Kent, England, who became the eventual subject of the Rolling Stone’s 1974 titled hit, “Angie.”

Jefferson Starship, formerly the Jefferson Airplane; 1974.

1974: Jefferson Airplane reforms with their core of original members, although this time they renamed the group as Jefferson Starship.

1980: Elvis Presley’s autopsy is entered into proceedings held by the Tennessee Board of Medical Examiners against Dr. George Nichopoulos, better known to his clients — including Elvis — as “Dr. Nick.” The doctor will eventually be found guilty of over-prescribing the drugs that led to Presley’s death and will have his license revoked, even though he repeatedly took measures to help cure Elvis of his addiction through prescribed detoxification.

The main entrance gate to Michael Jackson’s Neverland Ranch; 1989.

1988: Michael Jackson begins construction on his 2,800-acre ranch and private amusement park in Santa Barbara, California. Jackson will name it “Neverland,” namely after a fantasy location he had taken while reading his favorite book , Peter Pan, and according to the book, it is a place where children will never grow up.

2004: After she had an allergic reaction to prescribed antibiotics, Aretha Franklin is admitted to Detroit’s Sinai-Grace Hospital.

 

 

 

 

 

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

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FLASHBACK POP MUSIC HISTORY: MARCH 18

From the MCRFB music calendar:

Events on this date: MARCH 18

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1958: Jerry Lee Lewis becomes the first musician to appear on American Bandstand actually singing and not lip-synching through his performance. Singing “Great Balls Of Fire,” “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin On,” and “Breathless” live, he also becomes the first guest to perform three songs on the D.C. program.

1959: EMI announces its intentions to halt productions of 78 rpm records.

The Rolling Stones in 1965.

1965: In a scandal that further marred their reputations as a “bad boys” band,  the Rolling Stones are arrested for publicly urinating on a side wall of a gas station after a concert in Essex, England.

1967: The Beatles “Penny Lane” spends its sole week at No. 1 in the U.S.

1970: Brook Benton is certified gold by the RIAA for his (over) one million-selling hit, “A Rainy Night In Georgia.”

Brook Benton on Cotillion Records; 1970.

1972: Ringo Starr, in his first directing role, is behind the camera filming tonight’s T-Rex concert in Wembley, for his upcoming Marc Boland documentary Born To Boogie.

1973: At Earl’s Court in London, Pink Floyd perform their just-released album On The Dark Side Of The Moon in its entirety for the first time.

1975: The Who is immortalized on stage by the band’s movie version of Tommy. The play premiered in New York City in “Quintophonic Sound.”

1978: Barry Gibb of the Bee Gees occupies the top three spots on the Billboard charts as a writer and producer: Samantha Sang’s “Emotion” at No. 3, younger brother’s Andy Gibb’s “(Love Is) Thicker Than Water” No. 2, and the Bee Gees’ own “Night Fever” is at the top spot at No. 1 for the first of eight solid weeks on the charts.

Teddy Pendergrass performing at Avery Fisher Hall in NYC; Sept. 2, 1978.

1982: Returning from a Philadelphia ’76ers basketball game, Teddy Pendergrass is permanently paralyzed from the waist down when the brakes on his Roll Royce fails, causing the vehicle to swerve unto oncoming traffic and crash into a tree. Miraculously, Pendergrass returns to the stage two years later in 1984.

1992: Donna Summers is awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame at 7000 Hollywood Blvd.

1994: Darryl Jones replaces longtime bassist Bill Wyman in the Rolling Stones.

2002: In New York, Issac Hayes, Brenda Lee, and Gene Pitney (among others) are inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And that’s just a few of the events which took place in pop music history, on this day . . . .  M  A  R  C  H   1  8

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GLADYS’ KNIGHT DEBUTS THE ‘COPA… JULY 20, 1968

From the MCRFB news archives:

Gladys Knight & The Pips Put On One Pip Of A Show In NYC

 

 

 

 

By ED OCHS

 

NEW YORK — Gladys Knight & The Pips, another one of Motown’s crack soul squads, proved once again in their Copacabana debut on Thursday night, July 18, 1968, that, in the Motor City, the motor is soul – powered and gassed up with Motown premium. Bongos and blues flavored with that old-time rock harmony struck the right cord for perky Gladys Knight and her three Pips.

Gladys Knight and the Pips circa 1967.

A shade shorter than Martha Reeves and a hair-do higher than Diana Ross, Gladys Knight switched from R&B to clean pop vocal as easily as she changed gowns mid-show from red to green. Whether whipping the beat in “I Heard It Through The Grapevine,” their biggest hit thus far, or cooing the blues in “By The Time I Get To Phoenix,” she proved fluent in either language. Singing support for Miss Knight came from the Pips, whose driving sounds were tempered with straight-forward harmony and answering echoes. In “Girl Talk,” the Pips, minus Gladys Knight, cooled off the beat with a folksy, street-corner session.

Gladys Knight and the Pips in 1969. (Click on image for larger view).

Sandwiched in between their latest chart winner, “It Should Have Been Me,” the group stomped through “Every Road Leads Out Of Here,” followed with “Just Walk In My Shoes” and a soulful “Fever,” which dropped to funky part-way before it was rescued by the bluesy Miss Knight. The group, heard on the Motown Soul record label, charged up the opening-night crowd with their fancy footwork, burst of choreography and rally-round-the-microphone in sync while harmonizing. Even Al Foster and the Copa band reeled with the festivities, often overwhelming the voices with blaring horns and a beat falling like sequoia trees. END.

 

(Information and news source: Billboard Magazine; July 20, 1968).

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RUFFIN LEAVES THE TEMPTATIONS… JULY 20, 1968

From the MCRFB news archives:

David Ruffin Leaves The Temptations — Will Go Solo

 

 

 

 

 

NEW YORK — David Ruffin, former lead singer with the Temptations, has quit the group to pursue a solo career. Dennis Edwards replaced Ruffin starting with the recent Valley Forge Music Fair, near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Former lead singer of the Temptations, David Ruffin circa 1969.

The Temptations, one of the top recording and in-person acts for Motown Records, will appear at the Westbury Music Fair for one week, beginning Monday, July 22. After the week’s stay, the group will return to the Motown studios in Detroit for recording sessions. The Temptations will also tape an NBC-TV special starring Diana Ross and the Supremes which will be aired December 9.

Ruffin will continue to record for Motown and will be managed by International Management Co., the management wing of the Detroit-based recording complex.

The five Temptations, with Ruffin on lead vocals, are currently on the charts with “I Could Never Love Another,” another hit from the group’s long standing recordings with the Motown Gordy label. END.

Lead vocal David Ruffin on stage with the Temptations at the Apollo Theater, NYC, in 1967.

 (Information and news source: Billboard Magazine; July 20, 1968).

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FLASHBACK POP MUSIC HISTORY: MARCH 17

From the MCRFB music calendar:

Events on this date: MARCH 17

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1956: Carl Perkins made his television debut on the ABC-TV variety show Ozark Jamboree.

1957: Elvis Presley purchases Memphis’ Graceland mansion, featuring 23 rooms and 10,000 square feet of space on 13.8 acres, for $102,500.

1962: According to today’s edition of Billboard magazine, Ray Charles starts his own artist-owned record label, Tangerine Records.

1968: The Bee Gees make their first U. S. television appearance, performing “To Love Somebody” and “Words” on CBS-TV’s The Ed Sullivan Show.

1975: At the height of her popularity, Cher graces the cover of Time magazine on this date.

1976: Boxer Rubin “Hurricane” Carter murder case is re-opened, largely due to the attention brought to it by Bob Dylan’s recent hit song, “Hurricane.”

1990: That’s What Friends Are For, an AIDS benefit concert at the Radio City Music Hall that also serves to celebrate 15 years of the Arista record label, features perfomances by the label’s own Barry Manilow, Dionne Warwick, Daryl Hall and John Oates, and Whitney Houston.

2004: Ray Davis of the Kinks is awarded a Commander of the British Empire medal from Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace.

Heather Mills reacts intently about her divorce from Sir Paul in 2008.

2006: Beset by legal and financial woes, Michael Jackson closes his Neverland Ranch in California.

2008: Eight years to the day their romance became public, model and activist Heather Mills is awarded $48.6 million in her divorce settlement from Paul McCartney.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And that’s just a few of the events which took place in pop music history, on this day . . . .  M  A  R  C  H   1  7

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FLASHBACK POP MUSIC HISTORY: MARCH 16

From the MCRFB calendar:

Events on this date: MARCH 16

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1959: The first American record artists package tour is announced for the United Kingdom. The ’59 UK tour will feature Bobby Darin, Duane Eddy, Conway Twitty, Dale Hawkins, and the Poni Tails.

Cleveland Legendary Rock ‘N Roll Deejay Alan Freed; circa 1955.

1964: The final nail in legendary DJ Alan Freed’s career is pounded in when Freed is indicted for tax evasion. The IRS evasion charges were brought about because of findings from the “payola scandal” investigations from 1959. By then unemployed, penniless and broke, he dies in 1965.

Otis Redding’s only No. 1 record single of his career, posthumously given R&B honors in pop record sales for 1968.

1968: On this day, Otis Redding hits the No. 1 Billboard spot for his soul hit, “Sittin’ On The Dock Of The Bay.”

1970: On this day, the Beatles release their album Let It Be. Also on this day, Tammi Terrell dies during brain surgery. It was her eighth and her final surgery for an undisclosed brain disorder in the past eighteen months.

Simon and Garfunkel’s 1970 six Grammy Award winning LP.

1971: At tonight’s Grammy Awards ceremony in Los Angeles, the Beatles take Best Original Score for their Let It Be tracks, while Simon and Garfunkel swept the stage with six Grammies for their song and album Bridge Over Troubled Waters. The six Grammy Awards for the duo fell under these categories: Record Of The Year, Album Of The Year, Song Of The Year, as well as Best Arrangement, Engineering, and Best Contemporary Song.

1974: Elvis Presley returns to Memphis to play his first gig there since 1961. Presley was booked for a one performance show at the Midsouth Coliseum.

1979: Paul McCartney’s concert film Wings Over America gets it first television airing on CBS-TV.

1999: The RIAA gives their first Diamond Award Certification to the Eagles’ Greatest Hits 1971 – 1975 album, honoring 10,000,000 LP copies sold.

2005: Billy Joel enters rehab for the second time, ostensibly for “gastrointestinal distress” but in reality to cure him for alcoholism.

 

 

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

M  A  R  C  H   1  6

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