Author: Jim Feliciano

 

From the MCRFB news archives:

Events on this date: JUNE 27

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1959: West Side Story closes on Broadway after a record 732 performances.

1959: Paul Anka, Frankie Avalon, and Eddie “Kookie” Byrnes are the musical guests on ABC-TV’s variety show Coke Time With Eddie Fisher.

1963: Brenda Lee signs a million-dollar contract with Decca Records.

1968: As part of his filming of his “68 Comeback” special, Elvis Presley and his band tape an informal jam session on center stage at NBC-TV’s Studio 4, a performance many consider his best of all time. However, Presley’s manager “Colonel” Tom Parker, unhappy with the direction of the show, withholds all tickets to the performance, forcing staffers to run into a nearby Bob’s Big Boy restaurant (4211 W. Riverside Drive, Burbank), and informs all patrons they are more than welcome to attend the Elvis Presley telecast, first come, first served. Two shows, one in the afternoon and the other in the evening, are performed.

1970: The UK band Smile, having recently changed their name, performs for the first time as Queen, playing the Truro City Hall in Cornwall, England.

1970: With their latest single, “The Love You Save,” The Jackson 5 becomes the first-ever group to score three consecutive No. 1 hits. They’d soon make it four straight with “I’ll Be There.”

1971: Legendary rock promoter Bill Graham closes the Fillmore East, the New York version of his legendary San Francisco “rock ballroom.” The Allman Brothers, The Edgar Winter Group, The Beach Boys, Country Joe McDonald are on the bill for the final show.

1976: After years of fighting deportation from a government that objected to his professed radicalism, John Lennon finally gets his “green card” allowing him to stay in the United States.

 

1978: Kansas, the band, is named the first musical Ambassadors of Goodwill by UNICEF.

1989: Tom Jones is awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame at 6608 Hollywood Blvd., in Los Angeles.

1989: The Who perform their rock opera Tommy for the first time in it’s entirety since 1972, performing for charity at the Radio City Music Hall in NYC.

1991: At the Liverpool Cathedral, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra perform Paul McCartney’s first classical composition, Liverpool Oratorio.

1991: Carlos Santana is arrested in Houston after airport security finds marijuana in his luggage.

1998: Gordon Lightfoot, Anne Murray and Bryan Adams become the first three honorees to be awarded a star on Canada’s new Walk Of Fame on Toronto’s King Street.

2000: The Rolling Stones are found in copyright of Robert Johnson’s “Love In Vain” and “Stop Breaking Down,” both of which the Stones had covered and incorrectly labeled as in the public domain.

2001: Cat Stevens is given a cash settlement by members of the Flaming Lips after they acknowledge their song “Flight Test” is similar to Stevens’ 1970 song Father And Son.”

 

Deaths: 2002: John Entwistle; The Who. 2008: Raymond LeFevre. 2009: Gale Storm. 2009: Fayette Pinkney; The Three Degrees.

Recordings: 1949: “Rudolf The Red-Nosed Reindeer,” Gene Autry. 1961: “Candy Man,” Roy Orbison. 1963: “Bad To Me,” Billy J. Kramer and The Dakotas. 1968: “Everybody’s Got Something To Hide Except Me And My Monkey,” The Beatles.

Releases: 1964: “The Little Old Lady from Pasadena,” Jan and Dean. 

Charts: 1960: “Everybody’s Somebody’s Fool,” Connie Francis; hits No. 1. 1964: “A World Without Love,” Peter and Gordon; Hits No. 1. 1964: “Under The Boardwalk,” The Drifters; enters the charts. 1970: “The Love You Save,” Jackson 4; hits No. 15

Certifications: 1962: ZZ Top’s LP ‘Fandango!’ is certified gold by the RIAA.

 

 

 

 

And that’s just a few of the events which took place in pop music history, on this day…. JUNE 27.

From the MCRFB music calender:

Events on this date: JUNE 26

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1954: Sam Phillips, head of Sun Records, calls a young singer named Elvis Presley, who had recorded a few songs earlier in the year, to ask him to record two songs, “Without You” and “Rag Mop.” He sings the first, attempting to match the demo made by an unknown artist hanging around the studio, but it proves too much for him, and, according to Dave marsh’s book Elvis, beats the walls of the studio shouting, “I Hate Him! I Hate Him!” The singer, whom Elvis could not match is lost to history. Phillips mollifies the young Elvis by asking him to sing something else, and Presley impresses him anyway, to the point he makes plans to set the singer up to record with musicians for a future date.

1955: Decca Records, home to Bill Haley & The Comets, announces that the group has hold three million records in the past year, due mostly to “Rock Around The Clock” and “Shake, Rattle And Roll.”

1961: The Marcels make their U.S. television debut, performing “Blue Moon” on ABC-TV’s American Bandstand.

1963: After a Beatles performance at the Majestic Ballroom, Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, England, John Lennon and Paul McCartney writes “She Loves You” in their hotel room, originally an answer song of sorts to the 1963 Bobby Rydell hit, “Forget Him.”

1971: WNEW-FM in New York becomes the first radio station in the nation to play Don McLean’s new single, “American Pie,” which it features in it’s 8:36 entirety.

1973: Model and singer Marsha Hunt, inspiration for the song, “Brown Sugar,” names Mick Jagger in a paternity suit, claiming the band’s lead fathered her two-year old daughter, Karis. That same day, Stone guitarist Keith Richard is busted, along with girlfriend Anita Pallenberg, in his home in his Chelsea home for possession of heroin, pharmaceutical drugs, guns, and ammo.

1975: Cher’s divorce from Sonny Bono is final, leaving her free to marry Greg Allman of the Allman Brothers just four days later.

1977: Elvis Presley performs what would be his last concert, performing at the Market Square Arena in Indianapolis, Indiana, before a crowd of 18,000 fans. Although by this time Elvis appears weak, pale, and overweight (as he had with increasing regularity), there is nothing to suggest his impending death — indeed, there is nothing unusual about this show on the tour, except that Elvis for some reason introduces practically everyone who had been connected with his life while on stage. Some take this as “proof” that Elvis knew he was in his final days; others maintain that The King was worried about the imminent-publication of Elvis: What Happened?, a tell-all biography by former bodyguards Sonny and Red West that publicly broke the story of his drug abuse, and what those revelations might do to his image. The last song he performs onstage is “Can’t Help Falling In Love.” Footage from the final concert is taken but has not been widely seen since; the audio portion can be heard on the LP The Last Farewell (released on CD as Adios: The Final Performance, A.J. Records CD 92-2002). Elvis Presley’s father, Vernon, will pass away two years later to the day of his son’s last concert date.

1982: Roxy Music leader Bryan Ferry marries his first wife, model Lucy Helmore. The same day, Marie Osmond marries her first husband, Brigham Young University basketball player Steve Craig.

1993: Ron Isley of the Isley Brothers marries his first wife, R&B singer Angela Winbush of Angele and Renee 1980s R&B hits fame.

 

Releases: 1964: “It’s All Over Now,” The Rolling Stones. 1965: “I Want Candy,” The Strangeloves; enters the charts. 1965: “Mr. Tambourine Man,” The Byrds; hits No. 1 on the charts.

Certifications: 1975: “The Hustle,” Van McCoy; certified gold by the RIAA.

 

 

 

 

And that’s just a few of the events which took place in pop music history, on this day…. JUNE 26.

From the MCRFB music calendar:

Events on this date: JUNE 25

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1957: In response to several successful concerts and dance contests, Egypt bans rock and roll from public places and forbids the press from mentioning anything relating to as such; citing it as an “imperialistic plot,” and as a prime example of “Western degeneracy.”

1964: The British Invasion gets a taste of it’s own medicine when Roy Orbison becomes the first American to hit No. 1 in the U.K. in 47 weeks, scoring with his single, “It’s Over.”

1966: Neil Diamond makes his television debut, singing his hit, “Solitary Man,” on today’s broadcast of ABC-TV’s American Bandstand.

1966: Jackie Wilson’s performance tonight in a Port Arthur, Texas nightclub is so explosive, so effective in stirring up the crowd of 400, that he’s arrested for inciting a riot.

1967:  The world’s first worldwide satellite broadcast entitled Our World, airs the live English portion of the program, as the Beatles introduce their new single, “All You Need Is Love.” Broadcast live from the Abbey Road Studios in London, it features the band singing and playing along to a per-recorded track. Joined in the studios as guests are Mick Jagger, Marianne Faithfull, Keith Richard, Eric Clapton, Keith Moon, Graham Nash and his wife, as well as others.

1970: The band Whole Oats, a duo consisting of Daryl Hall and John Oates, goes into the studios to record their first demo.

1977: Pink Floyd’s concert at Cleveland Stadium sets a single-concert record for attendance.

1980: Billy Joel becomes the first rock act to perform before 100,000 fans at the Madison Square Garden in New York City.

1984: Bruce Springsteen takes on a new backup singer named Patty Scialfa, who will eventually become his second wife after their affair leads up to the breakup of his first marriage to actress and model Julianne Phillips. Nine years later to the day, he becomes the last musical guest on the NBC-TV show Late Night With David Letterman.

2003: Boston’s mastermind, Tom Scholz, sues his record label for their failure to promote the band’s latest comeback album, ironically entitled, Corporate America.

2009: The music world is stunned when news is reported Michael Jackson died of cardiac arrest in his home in Los Angeles.

 

Deaths: 1975: Tim Buckley. 1988: Jimmy Soul. 2007: Hank Medress (The Tokens). 2009: Sky Saxton (The Seeds). 2009: Michael Jackson.

Recordings: 1961: “(Marie’s Her Name) His Latest Flame,” Elvis Presley. 1969: “Hot Fun In The Summertime,” Sly and the Family Stone. 1969: “(He Ain’t Heavy) He’s My Brother,” The Hollies.

Charts: 1966: “Paperback Writer,” The Beatles, hit No. 1 on the charts. 1977: “Got To Give It Up,” by Marvin Gaye, hits No. 1.

Certifications: 1969:”These Eyes,” by the Guess Who, is certified gold by the RIAA.

 

 

 

 

And that’s just a few of the events which took place in pop music history, on this day…. JUNE 25.