This Date in Rock Music History: June 15

1958 - The Platters sang "Twilight Time" on The Ed Sullivan Show. 
1958:  The all-music show Oh Boy was broadcast for the first time in the U.K.
1959:  Paul Anka's "Lonely Boy" was the only new entry into the Top 10, but it made a huge move--18-8 on this date.  

1959:  Johnny Horton had the #1 song for the third week with "The Battle Of New Orleans".  "Personality" by Lloyd Price would become one of the top songs ever to peak at #2, while Bobby Darin's "Dream Lover" was at 3.  















1960:  Monday fell on this date, and of course that meant new releases.  Brian Hyland introduced himself to audiences with his first 45, "Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polkadot Bikini".
1961:  Elvis Presley topped the U.K. chart with "Surrender".
1963:  Kyu Sakamoto moved to #1 with "Sukiyaki".  Three songs entered the Top 10 Songs Club of the Rock Era--"Blue On Blue" from Bobby Vinton, "Hello Stranger" by Barbara Lewis and "18 Yellow Roses" by Bobby Darin.
1964:  The Beatles were in concert for two shows at the Festival Hall in Melbourne, Australia.

 
1964:  The 4 Seasons released the single "Rag Doll".  (Misinformation warning--some websites claim "Rag Doll" entered the 'Billboard' chart on June 14.  According to 'Billboard', it debuted on June 20.)
1965:  Bob Dylan recorded "Like A Rolling Stone", featuring organ from Al Kooper, for his upcoming album Highway 61 Revisited.
1965:  The Hollies and Rolling Stones performed at the Odeon Theatre in Glasgow, Scotland.
1966:  The Beatles released the album Yesterday & Today on Capitol Records.  (Note:  one website claims the album was released June 20.  According to BeatlesBible.com, the album was released June 15.)







1967:  Peter Green left John Mayall's Bluesbreakers to form Fleetwood Mac with former Bluesbreakers' drummer Mick Fleetwood.











1968:  Music directors at radio stations across the country received a new 45 on Fantasy Records from a new group called Creedence Clearwater Revival.  They didn't know much about them other than their first single was called "Suzie Q".  So, most of them decided to sit on it.  The leaders among the music directors, however, played the song, the followers eventually joined in, the song debuted on the chart on September 7, and the rest is history.
1968:  The Beatles announced at a press conference in London that their visit with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi about transcendental meditation was a mistake.
1968:  Are You Experienced? by the Jimi Hendrix Experience entered the Top 10 on the Album chart for a third time.  On the first two tries, it had only reached #7.
1968:  The classic "Mrs. Robinson" remained at #1 for a third week for Simon & Garfunkel.  Herb Alpert was closing fast with "This Guy's In Love With You" while Tommy James & the Shondells were up to 3 with "Mony Mony".

1969:  The Doors were in concert at the Minneapolis Convention Center in Minnesota.
1969:  Led Zeppelin appeared at the Free Trade Hall in Manchester, England.
1970:  Jimi Hendrix recorded at his Electric Ladyland studio in New York City for the first time.












1973:  Jim Croce hosted The Midnight Special.
1974:  Geoff Britton replaced Denny Seiwell on drums in the group Paul McCartney & Wings.
1974:  A band from Alabama saw their first hit debut on the charts on this date.  The Commodores debuted with "Machine Gun".
1974:  Elvis Presley played at the Tarrant County Center in Fort Worth, Texas.
1974:  "Rock Your Baby" by George McCrae moved from 62 to 34 on this date.
1974:  Gordon Lightfoot spent a second week at #1 on the Adult chart with "Sundown".






1974:  "Sideshow" by Blue Magic deservedly reached #1 on the R&B chart.












                                                  "Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding"...

1974:  The album Goodbye Yellow Brick Road by Elton John was still in the Top 10, 35 weeks after its release.
1978:  Bob Dylan performed in the U.K. for the first time in 12 years with the first of six concerts at Earls Court in London.
1985:  Former Roxy Music star Bryan Ferry's solo album Boys and Girls was the top U.K. album.

                                        The first big hit for England's Howard Jones...

1985:  Tears For Fears ruled the chart for a second week with "Everybody Wants To Rule The World".  Bryan Adams had a smash at #2 with "Heaven" while "Axel F" peaked at #3 for Harold Faltermeyer.  The rest of the Top 10:  Billy Ocean's "Suddenly" at #4, Howard Jones moved up to 5 with "Things Can Only Get Better", "Sussudio" was the ninth hit for Phil Collins, moving from 12-6, the Mary Jane Girls had song #7--"In My House", Wham! was on the way down with "Everything She Wants", Madonna registered her sixth consecutive Top 10 song with "Angel" which moved into the list this week, and Katrina & the Waves remained at #10 with "Walking On Sunshine".



                                 One of the great albums in the Top 10 of 1985 on this date...

1985:  There were some great albums out, although I wouldn't include the #1 Around the World in a Day by Prince in that category.  No Jacket Required from Phil Collins was #2, with the Soundtrack to "Beverly Hills Cop" third, Songs From the Big Chair by Tears For Fears at #4 and Born In the U.S.A. by Bruce Springsteen still hanging around after 52 weeks.  The rest of the Top 10:  Wham! with Make It Big, Bryan Adams' Reckless, Sade's smooth Diamond Life at #8, Madonna at 9 with Like a Virgin and The Power Station had a Top 10 album with their debut.
1986:  U2 and Sting performed at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey to commemorate the 25th anniversary of Amnesty International in the sixth and final concert of the series.








1987:  Whitesnake released the single "Here I Go Again".  The group originally recorded the song in 1982, but it was the re-recorded version that was released in 1987.  (Note:  one naive website claims the song was released in October of 1987.  "Here I Go Again" debuted on the Singles chart on July 4.  It is physically impossible for a song to be included on the Singles chart if it has not yet been released as a single.)

1988:  Jimmy Soul ("If You Wanna' Be Happy") died of a heart attack at age 45 in Spring Valley, New York.  (Note:  some websites falsely say he died June 25 in New York City.)
1989:  Nirvana released their first album Bleach.








1991:  On this date, a great new Philadelphia R&B group first appeared on the chart.  They would go on to be near the top of the music business with eight Top Three songs over the next five years.  "Motownphilly" debuted on the singles chart and would eventually reach #3 and be certified as a Platinum single (over 2 million copies sold)--Boyz II Men...
1991:  Spellbound by Paula Abdul continued to set the pace on the Album chart.







1991:  "Power Of Love/Love Power" by Luther Vandross topped all on the R&B chart.
1991:  "Rush, Rush" became Paula Abdul's fifth #1 song out of her last six releases.
1996:  The great album The Score by the Fugees was #1 for the fourth week.  Jagged Little Pill was moving back up after 51 weeks while Celine Dion had #3--Falling Into You.  New Beginning by Tracy Chapman was fourth, followed by Soundgarden's Down on the Upside.







1998:  The Spice Girls began a North American tour at the Coral Sky Amphitheater in Miami, Florida.
2000:  In today's edition of Inmates Run Rap Music, the guy who called himself "Flesh-N'Bone" of Bone Thugs-N-Harmony was convicted of assault with a firearm.  Being an ex-convict already, he wasn't even supposed to have the firearm and was convicted for that crime as well.
2003:  Former members of the Grateful Dead performed at the Bonnaroo Festival in Manchester, Tennessee.
2003:  Radiohead sat atop the U.K. Album chart with Hail to the Thief.
2003:  Over on the other side of the Atlantic, Metallica had the #1 album with St. Anger.
2004:  Glen Campbell was sentenced to 10 days in jail for extreme drunk driving and leaving the scene of an accident in Phoenix, Arizona.
2004:  Alanis Morissette announced her engagement to actor Ryan Reynolds.  The two never tied the know.
2005:  Bo Bice married Caroline Merrin Fisher in Helena, Alabama.


                                                      "The Hardest Part" from Coldplay...

2005:  Coldplay topped the Album chart with X&Y.  The Black Eyed Peas debuted at #2 with Monkey Business.
2008:  Coldplay once again hit #1 in the U.K. with their album Viva La Vida.
2008:  Lionel Richie was given a TV Land Icon Award.

2014:  Casey Kasem, one of the all-time top DJ's and founder and host of American Top 40 for 39 years, died at the age of 82 in Gig Harbor, Washington.


Born This Day:
1910:  David Rose, songwriter, pianist, arranger and composer whose biggest hit was "The Stripper" in 1962, was born in London; died August 23, 1990 of heart failure in Burbank, California.
1929:  Nigel Pickering of Spanky & Our Gang was born in Pontiac, Michigan; died May 5, 2011 in St. Augustine, Florida.
1934:  Ruby Nash of Ruby & the Romantics was born in Akron, Ohio.






1941:  Harry Nilsson (Harry Edward Nelson III) was born in Brooklyn, New York; died of heart failure on January 15, 1994 in Agoura Hills, California. 
1943:  Muff Winwood of the Spencer Davis Group who later became a producer and A&R man, was born in Erdington, Birmingham, England.  (Note:  some websites naively say Winwood was born in Erdington, Birmingham, England or Erdington, West Midlands, England.  First, Birmingham is not a county but a city.  Erdington is a suburb of Birmingham, but did not become part of the newly created West Midlands county until 1974, 31 years after Winwood was born.  It is therefore physically impossible for Muff to have been born in the county of West Midlands and you will never see it listed as his county of birth on his official birth certificate.)
1946:  Noddy Holder, lead vocalist and guitarist of Slade, was born in Walsall, Staffordshire, England.  (Note:  similar to above, some websites falsely claim Holder was born in Walsall, West Midlands, England.  Again, West Midlands was not even a county until 1974, making it impossible for Holder to have been born in the county of West Midlands.)

1949:  Russell Hitchcock, talented vocalist of Air Supply, was born in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
1949:  Michael "Sam" Lutz, bassist of Brownsville Station ("Smokin' In The Boy's Room" from 1973), was born in Ann Arbor, Michigan.









1951:  Steve Walsh, lead singer of Kansas, was born in St. Louis, Missouri.  (Note:  several websites incorrectly say that Steve was born in St. Joseph's, Missouri.  He was born in St. Louis and after being adopted as an infant, grew up in St. Joseph's.)
1954:  Terri Gibbs ("Somebody's Knockin'" from 1981) was born in Miami, Florida.  (Note:  some websites report Terri was born in Augusta, Georgia.  She was born in Miami then later lived in Grovetown, Georgia, a suburb of Augusta.)
1956:  Bernie Shaw, lead singer of Uriah Heap, was born in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.
1963:  Scott Rockenfield, drummer of Queensryche, was born in Seattle, Washington.
1966:  Michael Britt, guitarist of Lonestar, was born in Fort Worth, Texas.
1966:  Rob Mitchell of Sixpence None the Richer ("Kiss Me")
1968:  Ice Cube (real name O'Shea Jackson) was born in Los Angeles.
1976:  Gary Lightbody, vocalist and guitarist of Snow Patrol, was born in Bangor, County Down, Northern Ireland.  (Note:  some websites report he was born on June 15.  Gary was born June 18, according to the 'BBC'.)
1981:  Billy Martin, guitarist of Good Charlotte, was born in Annapolis, Maryland.  (Note:  some websites report Martin was born in Naptown, Maryland.  He lived in Naptown, but he was born in Annapolis.)
1985:  Nadine Coyle of Girls Aloud was born in Derry, Northern Ireland.