This Date in Rock Music History: September 22

1956:  We were first introduced to a great new act as the first single by the Coasters--"One Kiss Led To Another" debuted on this date.
1957:  Bobby Helms made his television debut on The Ed Sullivan Show, singing "My Special Angel".

1958:  With permission from the United States Army, Elvis Presley gave one last press conference at the Military Ocean Terminal in Brooklyn, New York before joining his 3rd Armored Division on the USS General Randall on the way to Bremerhaven, Germany.  (Note:  some websites report Elvis left Brooklyn on September 19.  He left his base at Fort Hood, Texas on September 19, but departed for Germany from Brooklyn on September 22, according to the official Graceland website.)

1958:  Connie Francis had the top U.K. song with "Carolina Moon, Stupid Cupid".

1958:  Tommy Edwards had one of the great early songs of the Rock Era with "It's All In The Game", which on this date reached #1 on the R&B chart.
1960:  The Beatles performed for the 37th consecutive night of a 48-night stay at the Indra Club, on Grosse Freiheit in Hamburg, West Germany.
1962:  Bob Dylan first appeared at Carnegie Hall in Manhattan, New York.

1962:  "Green Onions" by Booker T. and the MG's returned to #1 on the R&B chart.
1964:  Fiddler on the Roof opened at the Imperial Theatre on Broadway in Manhattan, New York, the first of 3,242 performances.  The classic musical became the first play in history to record 3,000 performances on Broadway.
1964:  Herman's Hermits reached #1 in the U.K. with a song written by Carole King of Sun Valley, Idaho with her husband Gerry Goffin--"I'm Into Something Good".
1965:  The Supremes began recording the song "I Hear A Symphony" at Motown Records' Hitsville U.S.A. Studios in Detroit, Michigan.  The song was finished September 30.







1967:  The Beatles were featured on the cover of Time Magazine.
1969:  Diana Ross was a guest on the popular television show Laugh In on NBC.
1969:  Three Dog Night, Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young, James Brown, Tom Jones, Janis Joplin, and Oliver  performed on the debut of the new weekly television show The Music Scene, which debuted on ABC.  A promotional film of "Ballad Of John And Yoko"/"Give Peace A Chance" by the Beatles was also shown.  (Note:  most websites show that Stevie Wonder, Sly and the Family Stone, and Cass Elliot performed that night, but Archival Television Audio, which is accredited by The Guinness Book of World Records,  indicates the performers are as shown above.)
1972:  David Bowie began his first tour of the United States.
1973:  The Rolling Stones topped the Album chart in the U.K. with Goat's Head Soup.
1973:  Soul group Tavares made its debut on the chart with their first single "Check It Out".
1973:  Brothers and Sisters by the Allman Brothers Band was the top album for a third week.
1973:  Stevie Wonder's "Higher Ground" took over at the top of the R&B chart.

 1973:  The great song "My Maria" from B.W. Stevenson took over at #1 on the Easy Listening chart.













                                               Stevie was at his creative peak...

1973:  Marvin Gaye took over at #1 with "Let's Get It On".  Grand Funk was up nicely to #2 with "We're An American Band" and the former #1 "Delta Dawn" from Helen Reddy dropped to 3.  Paul Simon had the #4 song--"Loves Me Like A Rock".  The rest of the Top 10:  Tony Orlando & Dawn with "Say, Has Anybody Seen My Sweet Gypsy Rose", the Stories were still at 6 with their former #1 "Brother Louie", Cher moved from 11-7 with "Half Breed", Stevie Wonder had his 32nd hit and 15th Top 10 with "Higher Ground" and the Isley Brothers catapulted into the Top 10 with "That Lady".
1974:  The Sonny Bono Comedy Revue Show debuted on ABC-TV.  It struggled to find an audience.









1975:  The Silver Convention released the single "Fly, Robin Fly".














1975:  The Bee Gees released one of their great hits--"Nights On Broadway".
1978:  Leif Garrett dabbled in acting when he starred in dual roles on the ABC-TV show Wonder Woman.
1979:  Bruce Springsteen, Tom Petty, Jackson Browne, Bonnie Raitt and Chaka Khan performed at Madison Square Garden in New York City fourth night of the five-night No Nukes concerts. 
1979:  Gary Numan owned the #1 U.K. song--"Cars".
1979:  "Rise" by Herb Alpert was the #1 Adult Contemporary song.

        Led Zeppelin was still #1 with one of The Top 100 Albums of the Rock Era*...


1979:  Led Zeppelin remained the owners of the #1 album with In Through the Out Door.  The former #1 Get the Knack from the Knack was still at 2 while Bob Dylan moved from 14-3 with one of his best career albums, Slow Train Coming.  Supertramp was still at 4 with Breakfast in America.  The rest of the Top 10:  Chic & Risque, Michael Jackson's Off the Wall at #6, the Commodores brought Midnight Magic, Earth, Wind & Fire had #8--I Am, the Cars rolled down with Candy-O and Robin Williams was at #10 with Reality...What a Concept.
1979:  Kenny Rogers had a hot song with "You Decorated My Life", which moved from 60 to 37.




 
           They don't get much better than "The Devil Went Down To Georgia"...

1979:  The Knack had one of The Top 500 Songs of the Rock Era* as "My Sharona" spent a fifth week at #1.  Earth, Wind & Fire remained at #2 with "After The Love Has Gone".  The Charlie Daniels Band by this time had reached #1 in a few cities with "The Devil Went Down To Georgia", which Billboard placed at #3.  Herb Alpert's big comeback song "Rise" moved from 12-4 and Maxine Nightingale had Song #5--"Lead Me On".  The rest of the Top 10:  Robert John's first hit since his remake of "The Lion Sleeps Tonight"--"Sad Eyes", the Little River Band was at 7 with "Lonesome Loser", Dionne Warwick remained at 8 with "I'll Never Love This Way Again", the Commodores were back with "Sail On" and ELO dropped with "Don't Bring Me Down".

1980:  John Lennon was one of the first to sign a recording contract with Geffen Records on this date and less than two months later, released the final album of his career on that label.

1980:  Hall & Oates released their remake of the classic Righteous Brothers hit "You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling".  It was actually pretty good as remakes of classics go.  (Note:  one naive website claims the single was released September 25.  The song debuted on the Singles chart on September 27.  As all those who work in the industry know, the deadline for reporting new additions to radio station playlists is the Wednesday preceding the Saturday publication of trade papers.  In 1980, Wednesday of that week fell on September 24, making a release date of September 25 impossible.)
1981:  Songwriter Harry Warren, who wrote over 800 songs including "I Only Have Eyes For You" for the Flamingos, "That's Amore'" for Dean Martin and "Chattanooga Choo Choo", which the Glenn Miller Band turned into a classic, died at the age of 87 in Los Angeles.
1983:  The Everly Brothers, who barely communicated for 10 years, reunited for the first of two historic shows at the Royal Albert Hall in London.
1984:  Billy Ocean ruled the R&B chart for the fourth week with "Caribbean Queen".




1984:  Former Babys lead singer John Waite hit #1 with his solo hit "Missing You".

1984:  Survivor had one of the fastest-rising songs as the great track "I Can't Hold Back" moved from 85 to 64.










                 The Pointer Sisters had the biggest album of their career...


1984:  Prince made it eight weeks at #1 on the Album chart with Purple Rain, holding off Bruce Springsteen's Born in the U.S.A. again.  Huey Lewis & the News were still at #3 after 51 weeks with Sports.  Tina Turner remained at 4 with Private Dancer and the Cars' great album Heartbeat City was at #5.  That is as fine a Top Five as you'll ever see.  The rest of the Top 10:  Julio Iglesias with 1100 Bel Air Place, Lionel Richie and Can't Slow Down at #7, Ratt's Out of the Cellar, the Soundtrack to "Ghostbusters" at #9 and the Pointer Sisters entered the list with Break Out.

1985:  Boston released the single "Amanda".











1985:  The first Farm Aid concert was at Memorial Stadium on the University of Illinois campus in Champaign, Illinois,  The concert featured John Mellencamp, Bob Dylan, Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, Neil Young and Willie Nelson and raised $10 million for farmers in the United States.  It was such a success that Farm Aid became an annual event.

1989:  Irving Berlin, one of the greatest songwriters in American history, whose "White Christmas" is one of the top-selling singles of all-time, died in his sleep at the age of 101 in New York City.  Berlin wrote an estimated 1,500 songs, including the scores of 19 Broadway shows and 18 motion pictures.  Among the other great Berlin songs:  "God Bless America", "Always", "There's No Business Like Show Business", "Puttin' On The Ritz" and "Count Your Blessings (Instead Of Sheep)".  Berlin's songs were recorded by Frank Sinatra, Barbra Streisand, Nat King Cole, Bing Crosby, Linda Ronstadt, Diana Ross, Bob Dylan, Cher, Dean Martin, Doris Day, Eddie Fisher, Fred Astaire, Ethel Merman, Judy Garland, Louis Armstrong and Al Jolson, just to name a few.
1990:  Nirvana performed at the Motor Sports International Garage in Seattle, Washington.






Phil Collins employed the great horns of Earth, Wind & Fire for this great song...

1990:  Wilson Phillips remained at the top with "Release Me".  Jon Bon Jovi's solo hit "Blaze Of Glory" would have to settle for #2.  Two new entries in the Top 10--Phil Collins with "Something Happened On The Way To Heaven" at #7 and George Michael moved from 18-8 with "Praying For Time".
1991:  Bryan Adams set a U.K. record when "(Everything I Do) I Do It For You" remained at #1 for a 12th week.
1995:  Time Warner and Turner Broadcasting System announced a $7.5 million merger.

2000:  The Red Hot Chili Peppers closed out a successful tour at the Key Arena in Seattle, Washington.
2000:  Liam Gallagher of Oasis and his wife were divorced in London.
2000:  In today's segment of Dangerous Inmates Run Rap Music, Stanley Howse of Bone Thugs-N-Harmony was sentenced to 12 years at Pleasant Valley State Prison for pulling an AK-47 on two men.



2003:  Jon Bon Jovi and bandmate Richie Sambora became co-owners of the Philadelphia Soul of the Arena Football League.
2004:  Nelly owned the top two spots on the Album chart with Suit and Sweat.
2004:  In today's episode of Dangerous Inmates Run Rap Music, the bodyguard for Lil' Kim was sentenced to 12 years in prison after firing 20 times in a shoot-out with a rival gang in 2001.  (Note:  many websites falsely report the sentencing taking place on September 23.  According to 'MTV', 'USA Today' and 'United Press International', the bodyguard was sentenced on Wednesday, September 22.)
2005:  Jimmy Page was made an honorary citizen of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, for his work with Casa Jimmy (Jimmy's House).  Page opened the house in 1998 which had supported 300 street children.

2006:  The Big Bopper (J.P. Richardson--"Chantilly Lace") was posthumously saluted with a Texas State Historical Marker in his honor placed at the Forest Lawn Cemetery in his hometown of Beaumont, Texas.
2010:  Eddie Fisher ("Heart" from 1955) died at age 82 of complications from hip surgery in Berkeley, California.






2012:  Howard Scott, sound engineer and producer who helped introduce the long-playing vinyl record in 1948 and was a producer with Columbia, Sony and MGM, died of cancer in Reading, Pennsylvania at age 92.

Born This Day:
1930:  Joni James ("How Important Can It Be?") was born in Chicago, Illinois.

1943:  Toni Basil ("Mickey") was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

1951:  David Coverdale, singer/songwriter of Deep Purple and Whitesnake, was born in Saltburn-by-the-Sea, North Riding of Yorkshire, England.
1953:  Richard Fairbrass of Right Said Fred ("I'm Too Sexy" from 1991) was born in Kingston-upon-Thames, Surrey, England.  (Note:  some websites report Fairbrass was born in East Grinstead, Sussex, England.  He was born in Kingston-Upon-Thames and later grew up in East Grinstead.)  

1956:  Debby Boone was born in Hackensack, New Jersey.
1957:  Johnette Napolitano, singer, songwriter and bassist of Concrete Blonde, was born in Hollywood, California.








1960:  Joan Jett of the Runaways and leader of Joan Jett & the Blackhearts was born in Wynnewood, Pennsylvania.  (Note:  some websites falsely say she was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  She was born in Wynnewood, a suburb of Philadelphia, according to her Pinterest page.)
1975:  Michael Lawrence Tyler, who adopted the stage name of Mystikal ("Stutter" from 2001) was born in New Orleans, Louisiana.