Monday, July 11, 2011

This Date in Rock Music History: July 12

1954:  Here's a case where someone did indeed "quit their day job" and it worked out fine.  Elvis Presley quit his job as a truck driver and signed a recording contract with Sun Records.
1957:  DJ Alan Freed began a 13-week Big Beat show on ABC television with the Everly Brothers, Connie Francis & Frankie Lymon.
1960:  Floyd Cramer recorded "Last Date".
1961:  Pat Boone began a 10-day tour of South Africa at the Ice Dome in Durban.
1962:  The Rolling Stones made their live debut at the Marquee Club in London.










1963:  The Crystals released their hit "Then He Kissed Me".
1964:  The Beatles performed at the Hippodrome Theatre in Brighton, England.
1965:  The Beach Boys recorded "Sloop John B" at Western Recorders in Hollywood, California.










1965:  The Beach Boys released the single "California Girls".















1965:  The Righteous Brothers released "Unchained Melody" as a single.  (Note:  some websites naively say the song was released July 17.  "Unchained Melody" debuted on the charts on July 17.  It is physically impossible for a song to be mailed to radio stations, listened to by radio stations and added to playlists, reported to the trade papers, and printed and published by the trade papers, all in one day.  The single was released July 12.)









1965:  Monday fell on this date and the new single from the McCoys was released called "Hang On Sloopy" on Bang Records.









1965:  The Turtles released their 45 "It Ain't Me Babe".
1968:  The Bee Gees recorded "I've Got To Get A Message To You".
1968:  Micky Dolenz of the Monkees married Samantha Juste.
1969:  Elvis Presley appeared on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine.









1969:  Blind Faith performed before a sellout crowd at Madison Square Garden in New York City in the first date of their North American tour.  (Note:  some websites claim that the group made their live debut at Madison Square Garden on August 12.  There are two problems with that:  1) their North American debut was July 12 at Madison Square Garden, and 2) the group performed for the first time at Hyde Park in London on June 7, according to the book '1969:  The Year Everything Changed' by Rob Kirkpatrick.)   1969:  We wish African-Americans could put out music like this now--we're starving!!!  On this date, Marvin Gaye was at #1 on the R&B chart for the sixth consecutive week with "Too Busy Thinking About My Baby".
1969:  Henry Mancini remained at #1 for the eighth straight week on the Easy Listening chart with the beautiful "Love Theme From 'Romeo & Juliet'".







         
                           Blood, Sweat & Tears in the runner-up position...


1969:  Previously unknown Zager & Evans fought through the crowd and after four weeks, had the #1 song with "In The Year 2525", which made one of  the biggest leaps to the top (8-1) in the Rock Era.  Blood, Sweat & Tears was solid at 2 with "Spinning Wheel" while Oliver moved up with "Good Morning Starshine" and the former #1 "Love Theme From 'Romeo & Juliet'" by Henry Mancini was #4.  Three Dog Night's classic "One" was #5 while Tommy James & the Shondells' "Crystal Blue Persuasion edged up to 6.









Henley (2nd from left), Leadon (3rd from left), Ronstadt, Frey, Meisner (4th from right)

1971:  Glenn Frey, Don Henley, Bernie Leadon and Randy Meisner performed together for the first time, as Linda Ronstadt's musicians, for a concert in Disneyland, California.  After the show, the four formed a new group, the Eagles.  (Note:  some websites claim the concert was on June 12, and some say July 15, but the correct date is July 12, according to the book 'Hotel California: The True-Life Adventures of Crosby, Stills, Nash, Young' by Barney Hoskyns.)











1972:  Michael Jackson released the single "Ben".
1973:  Hues Corporation recorded "Rock The Boat".  It wouldn't become a hit until a year later.
1975:  Johnny Nash had the #1 U.K. Song with "Tears On My Pillow".










1975:  One of the biggest groups of the mid-70's first charted on this date.  K.C. and the Sunshine Band first debuted on the chart with their first single, "Get Down Tonight".
1975:  Elton John's song "Someone Saved My Life Tonight" rose from 51 to 25 on this date.













1975:  Olivia Newton-John had control of the Adult Contemporary chart with "Please Mr. Please".
1975:  "The Hustle" by Van McCoy reached #1 on the R&B chart.













1976:  Orleans had a great single released on this date--"Still The One".  (Note:  one naive website claims the song was released in August.  "Still The One" debuted on the Singles chart on July 31.  It is physically impossible for a song to be included on the Singles chart if it has not yet been released as a single.)
1979:  Ian Pace, drummer of Deep Purple, joined fellow Purple alums Jon Lord and David Coverdale in Whitesnake.










1979:  Minnie Riperton, who gave us the #1 "Lovin' You" in 1975, died four years later from breast cancer in Los Angeles.  She was 31 years old.
1980:  U2 was in concert at the Moonlight Club in West Hampstead, London.
1980:  Olivia Newton-John and ELO paced the U.K. chart with "Xanadu".









1980:  Pure Prairie League led the AC chart for the third week with "Let Me Love You Tonight".














1980:  Glass Houses was the top album for the fifth week, beating out Just One Night by Eric Clapton.  McCartney II was actually #3, the Soundtrack to "The Empire Strikes Back" came in fourth while Pete Townshend's solo effort Empty Glass was #5.  The rest of the Top 10:  Jermaine Jackson with Let's Get Serious, the Commodores at 7 with Heroes, the former #1 blockbuster Against the Wind by Bob Seger, the Soundtrack to "Urban Cowboy" which starred John Travolta and Debra Winger, and Lipps, Inc. had #10 covered with Mouth To Mouth.








1983:  Chris Wood, founding member and saxophone player for Traffic, died of pneumonia at the age of 39 in Birmingham, England.
1986:  The Moody Blues had scored a big comeback as "Your Wildest Dreams" was #1 again on the Adult Contemporary chart.










                      Kenny Loggins had a big hit from "Top Gun"...


1986:  Simply Red reached #1 with "Holding Back The Years" in its 15th week of release.  Genesis was up strong from 6 to 2 with "Invisible Touch" while the previous #1 from Billy Ocean--"There'll Be Sad Songs" fell to 3.  Janet Jackson's "Nasty" was song #4 and El DeBarge had a solo hit away from family with "Who's Johnny".  The rest of the Top 10:  Peter Gabriel with "Sledgehammer", Kenny Loggins with "Danger Zone", Howard Jones on his way down with "No One Is To Blame", the Moody Blues at 9 with "Your Wildest Dreams" and the Fabulous Thunderbirds entered the Top 10 with "Tuff Enuff".
1988:  Michael Jackson arrived in England for the first solo performances of his career.







1992:  The city of Dallas, Texas unveiled a memorial to Buddy Holly, who was from Lubbock.
1992:  Axl Rose was arrested at JFK International Airport in New York City on a St. Louis, Missouri warrant.  Rose was wanted on charges resulting from a disastrous 1991 Guns N' Roses concert in which Rose incited a riot.
1993:  Prince performed a concert at his Paisley Park Studios in Minneapolis, Minnesota to benefit a community radio station.
1996:  Jonathan Melvoin of the Smashing Pumpkins was found dead from drugs at the age of 34 in a New York City hotel.
1997:  Anthony Kiedis, lead singer of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, broke his wrist in a motorcycle accident in Los Angeles.  If I were driving in Los Angeles, I would want all the protection I could get, which certainly isn't on a motorcycle.






1997:  Shawn Colvin debuted at #8 with "Sunny Came Home".
1997:  The incredible album Pieces of You by Jewel re-entered the Top 10 after 72 weeks of release.
1998:  The Spice Girls backed out of a promise to perform a free concert at Toronto's City Hall, choosing instead to appear on the Canadian television show Much Music.
1999:  In today's segment of "Inmates Run Rap Music", DMX was arrested in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad in the middle of a concert for using obscene language.  Good to see some countries have held to their principles.
1999:  Fred Durst of Limp Bizkit wasn't a rapper, but had the same values system.  He was arrested in St. Paul, Minnesota for kicking a local security guard in the head during a Limp Bizkit performance.
2003:  Rob Halford of Judas Priest announced he had rejoined the group for their first album and tour in 13 years.
2003:  R.E.M., the Cardigans and the Proclaimers performed on the opening day of the two-day T in the Park Festival in Kincross, Scotland.










2007:  Rod Stewart received the Commander of the Order of the British Empire medal from Prince Charles at Buckingham Palace.
2008:  Ron Wood of the Rolling Stones left his wife of 23 years and took up with an 18-year-old Russian cocktail waitress.
2008:  Earl Nelson, who sang in the duo Bob and Earl and also sang backing vocals on Jackson 5 remake of "Rockin' Robin", died in Los Angeles.  Earl, who had suffered from Alzheimer's disease, was 79.  (Note:  some websites claim he died in Lake Charles, Louisiana, but according to the newspaper 'The Los Angeles Times', he died at this home in Los Angeles.)
2008:  George Martin, producer of the Beatles, was honored by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences as the most successful producer of all-time.
2010:  The state of California declared it "Pat Boone Day".
2010:  Gerry Marsden of Gerry & the Pacemakers received an honorary fellowship from Liverpool's John Moores University.
2011:  David Carr of the Fortunes died of a heart attack at the age of 67.


Born This Day:
1928:  Barbara Cowsill of the Cowsills ("Hair"), was born in Cranston, Rhode Island; died January 31, 1985 of emphysema in Tempe, Arizona.

1943:  Christine McVie (real name Christine Perfect) was born in Bouth, Cumbria, England.  (Note:  some websites claim she was born in Grenodd, Lancashire, England, and others say Birmingham, England.  According to 'Billboard', Christine was born in Bouth.)
1947:  Wilko Johnson, guitarist of Dr. Feelgood, was born in Canvey Island, Essex, England.











1948:  Walter Egan ("Magnet And Steel" and "Hot Summer Nights") was born in Jamaica, New York.
1950:  Eric Carr, drummer for KISS, was born in Brooklyn, New York; died November 24, 1991 of heart cancer in New York City.
1952:  Phil Kramer, bass guitarist for Iron Butterfly, was born in Youngstown, Ohio; his date of death was placed at February 12, 1995 after photographers found his body at the bottom of Decker Canyon near Malibu, California four years after he was reported missing (his death was ruled a probable suicide).
1952:  Liz Mitchell, singer of Boney M ("Rivers Of Babylon") was born in Clarendon, Jamaica.
1960  Ray Gillen, vocalist of Black Sabbath, was born in New York City; died December 1, 1993 in New York City of an AIDS-related disease.  (Note:  'AllMusic.com' got it wrong again, saying he was born in Cliffside Park, New Jersey.  Gillen was born in New York City and raised in Cliffside Park.)
1962:  Dan Murphy, guitarist of Soul Asylum, was born in Duluth, Minnesota.
1963:  Alan Duval of UB40
1976:  Tracie Spencer ("This House" from 1990) was born in Waterloo, Iowa.
1977:  Dominic Howard, drummer of Muse, was born in Stockport, Manchester, England.

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