Saturday, March 31, 2012

This Date in Rock Music History: April 1

1955:  George Martin became the head A&R man at Parlophone Records, a division of EMI.

1957:  The Everly Brothers released the single "Bye Bye Love".  (Note:  some websites claim the song was released in March.  Unfortunately, there are no credible sources as to the exact date, but our best research indicates it was on April 1.)
1957:  Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers began a two-week run at the London Palladium.









 
1961:  The hard-working Beatles kicked off 92 straight shows at the Top Ten Club in Hamburg, Germany.  The foursome played for seven hours a night on weekdays and eight hours on weekends.  (Note:  some websites claim the tour was from March 26-July 2.  On March 26, the Beatles performed at the Casbah Club in Liverpool, and didn't arrive in Hamburg until the 27th, according to 'The Beatles Bible'.  According to the source, their last show was July 1 before traveling back to England.)  
1963:  Fats Domino switched recording labels, signing with ABC-Paramount.
1964:  John Lennon was reunited with his father after 17 years.
1965:  The Who recorded a show at a Manchester, England television studio for an appearance on the television show Top of the Pops.  The group then played a concert supporting Donovan at the Brent Town Hall in Wembley Park, with Rod Stewart and the Soul Agents opening for both acts.  (Note:  some websites say the concert was at the Wembley Town Hall.   The building was originally built as Wembley Town Hall, but it became Brent Town Hall when the boroughs of Wembley and Willesden were changed in 1965 to form Brent.  Brent Town Hall has been listed as a Grade II building since 1990.)



1966:  David Bowie's first single, "Do Anything You Say" was released.
1966:  The Troggs recorded "Wild Thing" at Regent Sound Studio in London.










1967:  The world first heard of this great San Francisco band on this date as their first single, "Somebody To Love" debuted on the chart.  Jefferson Airplane.
1967:  The Kinks were in concert for two shows at the Scene '67 Theatre inside Kelvin Hall in Glasgow, Scotland.  The Fortunes were among the bands supporting the Kinks.
1967:  There was a new #1 song on the Easy Listening chart--"Somethin' Stupid", by father and daughter team Frank & Nancy Sinatra.








1967:  Simon & Garfunkel had a hot new song, as "At The Zoo" moved from #58 to #34.











       
                                           The Five Americans reached the Top 10...

1967:  The Turtles remained atop the chart with "Happy Together".  The Mamas and the Papas held steady with "Dedicated To The One I Love" with former #1 "Penny Lane" from the Beatles in third.  Herman's Hermits were back with "There's A Kind Of Hush" and there was a lot of chart activity with songs dropping as the Four Tops moved from 18-5 with "Bernadette".  The rest of the Top 10:  "This Is My Song" from Petula Clark, Buffalo Springfield remained at #7 with "For What It's Worth", although most stations had it higher, the Beatles had their 48th hit in four years with "Strawberry Fields Forever", Frank Sinatra & daughter Nancy moved to #9 with "Somethin' Stupid" and the Five Americans had a big hit on their hands with "Western Union".





 
1967:  The Monkees spent their 21st consecutive week at #1 on the Album chart, 13 with their self-titled debut and 8 with More of the Monkees.  That was a Rock Era record, but the group was far from done.










1968:  Tommy James & the Shondells released the single "Mony Mony".














1968:  The Rascals released the single "A Beautiful Morning".
1969:  The Beach Boys sued their record label, Capitol, for $2 million in unpaid royalties.  The group also announced that they were starting their own Brothers Records label.
1970:  Musicians recorded the orchestral scores for the Beatles' songs "The Long And Winding Road" and "Across the Universe" that would be included on the Let It Be album.  Drummer Ringo Starr was the only group member present in the studio, as his drums were recorded as well.  It was the final time that a Beatle was in a recoding session until the Anthology series in the 1990's.







 
1970:  The movie Woodstock premiered in Hollywood.
1970:  Over one million postal ticket applications were sent to Earls Court in London for the forthcoming series of six European concerts by the Rolling Stones.
1971:  Led Zeppelin performed in concert for the BBC Radio show Rock Hour at London's Paris Theater.  The group performed songs from their forthcoming fourth album.










1972:  Dr. Hook debuted on the chart with their first single, "Sylvia's Mother".
1972:  Mar Y Sol, a rock festival in Manatí, Puerto Rico, featured kicked off with Rod Stewart, Alice Cooper, Emerson Lake & Palmer, the Allman Brothers, Dave Brubeck, the J. Geils Band, Brownsville Station, and Dr. John performing over the four-day festival.  It was the first major performance of Billy Joel, who electrified the crowd.  Joel's performance was brought to the attention of Clive Davis, head of Columbia Records, and Billy was signed to Columbia the following year.













                                     "Melissa"...

1972:  The Allman Brothers Band entered the Top 10 with one of their biggest career albums--Eat a Peach.
1972:  Roberta Flack wasted no time reaching #1 on the Adult chart with "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face".

1972:  America remained at #1 with "A Horse With No Name" as Neil Young continued at #2 with "Heart Of Gold.  










1974:  Paul McCartney & Wings released one of the great singles of Paul's career--"Band On The Run".  The song was not released in the U.K. until June.






 




1974:  Gordon Lightfoot released the single "Sundown".
1975:  The Bay City Rollers' TV series Shang-A-Lang premiered on ITV in the U.K.













 
1976:  AC/DC made their live U.K. debut at the Red Cow in Hammersmith, London.
1976:  Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour's house was broken into and guitars valued at over £7,000 were stolen. 









 
1977:  Elvis Presley was admitted to a hospital in Memphis, Tennessee following fatigue and intestinal flu.  He was confined to a hospital bed for six days.
1978:  The Philadelphia Fury soccer team, owned by Paul Simon, Peter Frampton, James Taylor and others, made their debut.
1978:  The #1 song in the U.K. was "Denis" by Blondie.
1978: Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway rose to #1 on the R&B chart with "The Closer I Get To You".







                                     Clapton with one of his biggest career hits...

1978:  The Soundtrack to "Saturday Night Fever" prevailed for an 11th week at #1 on the Album chart.  Eric Clapton's Slowhand provided the closest competition, but it was way behind.  The great Billy Joel album The Stranger was still third after 26 weeks with Barry Manilow's Even Now in the #4 spot.  The rest of the Top 10:  Aja from Steely Dan, George Benson with Weekend in L.A., Jackson Browne slipped with Running On Empty, Kansas moved to #8 with Point of Know Return, Queen's News of the World slipped and Styx finished the list with The Grand Illusion.







                            Paul Davis's song was about as durable as they come...

1978:  "Night Fever" by the Bee Gees was #1 for a third week.  The group had now been at #1 in 10 of the last 15 weeks, and songs written by the group (they also wrote "Love Is Thicker Than Water" for Andy Gibb) had been #1 for 12 of 15 weeks.  Their previous #1--"Stayin' Alive" was second, followed by Eric Clapton's "Lay Down Sally" and Barry Manilow with "Can't Smile Without You".  Two other songs written by the Bee Gees, "Emotion" by Samantha Sang and "If I Can't Have You" from Yvonne Elliman, were next.  The rest of the Top 10:  "I Go Crazy" by Paul Davis was still in the Top 10 after 32 weeks, Andy Gibb's song mentioned above, Jay Ferguson with "Thunder Island" and Kansas moved in with "Dust In The Wind".
1980: 32-year-old Brian Johnson became the lead singer of AC/DC, replacing Bon Scott who had died after a drinking binge.








 
1982:  Toto released the single "Rosanna".














1982:  John Cougar released the single "Hurts So Good" on Riva Records.








 

 
1983:  Kirk Hammett joined Metallica.










1984:  One of the most shocking moments in rock history--Marvin Gaye was shot dead by his father at his parent's home in Los Angeles, the day before his 45th birthday.  Gaye had tried to intervene in a squabble his parents were having over misplaced documents, but was killed by the gun Gaye had given his father just four months before.  Marvin Gaye, Sr. pleaded guilty to manslaughter after first-degree murder charges had been dropped due to the discovery that he had a brain tumor.
1985:  David Lee Roth quit Van Halen.







1989:  Guns N' Roses released the single "Patience".
1989:  Madonna collected her third #1 album in the U.K. with Like A Prayer.
1989:  The Fine Young Cannibals had the only new Top 10 album--The Raw & the Cooked.








 
1989:  The Bangles went to #1 in the U.S., the U.K. and Australia with "Eternal Flame", their second career #1.  "Stand" by R.E.M. shot up from 14 to 8.










1991:  Mariah Carey released the single "I Don't Wanna' Cry".  (Note:  several websites naively report the single being released on April 25.  It debuted on the Singles chart on April 6.  It is physically impossible for a song to be included on the Singles chart if it has not yet been released as a single.)
1992:  Jimmy Buffett's daughter Sarah Delaney was born in Nashville, Tennessee.
1993:  Carole King, David Crosby, Kenny Loggins, Phish, and Ann & Nancy Wilson of Heart played a benefit concert in Portland, Oregon to save the forests.
1993:  Willie Nelson's tour bus crashed into a car in Riverdale, Nova Scotia, Canada, killing the car driver.
1995:  Montell Jordan had the new #1 song on the R&B chart with "This Is How We Do It".
1995:  Madonna's "Take A Bow" was #1 overall for a sixth week.  











2000:  Santana's "Maria Maria" took over the #1 spot in the U.S. where it would stay for nine weeks.
2001:  Spice Girl Mel B was advised to sell her Buckinghamshire mansion because she couldn't afford to keep it.
2002:  Paul McCartney opened his "Driving USA" tour at the Oakland Arena in California.







 
2002:  Sum 41 opened a national concert tour in Philadelphia.












 
2002: The U.S. National Museum of American History put Louis Armstrong's cornet on display.
2003:  R. Kelly announced he was recording a tribute to members of the military called "Soldier's Heart".  Proceeds of the song went to families of the soldiers.  (Note:  several websites report that the announcement took place on April 2.  As there is a 'Billboard' article on April 1, 2003 regarding the news, that makes the April 2 date impossible.) 
2003:  Pearl Jam was in concert at Denver's Pepsi Center.  Eddie Vedder took a George W. Bush mask and impaled it with his mike stand to the crowd's delight.
2004:  Paul Atkinson, guitarist with the Zombies, died at age 58 of liver and kidney disease in Santa Monica, California.  Atkinson had been a record executive at Columbia, RCA, and MCA, helping sign acts such as ABBA, Bruce Hornsby, Mr. Mister and Judas Priest.
2006:  Former R.E.M. drummer Bill Berry joined members of the group onstage at Georgia Theatre in Athens to play "Country Feedback".
2007:  Modest Mouse had the #1 album with We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank.


Born This Day:
 
1932:  Debbie Reynolds was born in El Paso, Texas; died December 28, 2016 in Los Angeles after suffering a stroke one day after the death of daughter Carrie Fisher.
1934:  Jim Ed Brown of the Browns ("The Three Bells" from 1959) and a solo artist, was born in Sparkman, Arkansas; died June 11, 2015 in Franklin, Tennessee after a long bout with cancer.
1939:  Rudolph Isley of the Isley Brothers was born in Cincinnati, Ohio.
1942:  Alan Blakely, rhythm guitarist of the Tremeloes ("Silence Is Golden"), was born in Bromley, Kent, England; died of cancer June 10, 1996.  (Note:  some websites claim Blakely was born in Dagenham, Essex, England.  Unfortunately, there are no credible sources for either birthplace, but our best research indicates he was born in Bromley.  Some websites report his death as being on June 1, 1996, but we believe they are missing a digit.) 
1942:  Phil Margo, singer and drummer of the Tokens ("The Lion Sleeps Tonight"), producer of Tony Orlando & Dawn, the Chiffons and the Happenings, and science fiction author, was born in Brooklyn, New York.
1942:  Danny Brooks, bass singer of the Dovells ("You Can't Sit Down") 
1945:  John Barbata, drummer of the Turtles, Jefferson Airplane/Starship and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, and also a session guitarist for Eric Clapton, was born in Passaic, New Jersey.
 
1946:  Ronnie Lane, co-founder, vocalist and bassist with Small Faces ("Itchycoo Park"), was born in Plaistow, Essex, England; died on June 4, 1997 (age 51) after a battle with multiple sclerosis.  (Note:  some websites naively say Lane was born in Plaistow, London.  Plaistow formed part of the county borough of West Ham in Essex until 1965, when it formed the London county borough of Newham.  Lane was born prior to 1965, so he was not born in the county of London, but in the county of Essex.)
1947:  Robin Scott (known as "M" on the hit "Pop Muzik" in 1979) was born in Croydon, London.
1948:  Jimmy Cliff, singer (remake of "I Can See Clearly Now") and songwriter (Cat Stevens' "Wild World"), was born in St. James, Jamaica.
1948:  Simon Cowe, guitarist for Lindisfarne ("Run For Home"), was born in Jesmond Dene, Tyne and Wear, England.
1952:  Billy Currie, songwriter and keyboardist for Ultravox, was born in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England.




 
1954:  Jeff Porcaro, drummer for Toto, was born in Hartford, Connecticut; died August 5, 1992 in Hidden Hills, California of a heart attack brought on by hardening of the arteries from cocaine use.  (Note:  some websites claim Porcaro died in Canoga Park or Los Angeles; according to the newspaper 'The Los Angeles Times', he died at his home in Hidden Hills.)
1961:  Mark White, guitar and keyboardist for ABC, was born in Sheffield, Yorkshire, England.









1961:  Susan Boyle, singer who caught the world by storm after her appearance on Britain's Got Talent, was born in Blackburn, West Lothian, Scotland.  Susan's album I Dreamed a Dream was released shortly afterwards.
1965:  Peter O'Toole, bass guitarist and mandolinist of Hothouse Flowers, was born in Dublin, Ireland.
1971:  Method Man (real name Clifford Smith) was born in Hempsted, New York.  (Note:  some websites claim Smith was born in Hempsted, Long Island.  Long Island is not a city or a state, so we know that is inaccurate.  Others say he was born in Richmond, New York.  Richmond became a borough in 1898, and it wasn't until 1975 that Staten Island was recognized as the name of the borough.  However, our best research indicates Smith was born in Hempsted.)
1972:  Jesse Tobias, guitarist and songwriters who has worked with the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Alanis Morissette and Morrissey, was born in Austin, Texas.
1981:  Hannah Louise Spearitt, vocalist for S Club 7, was born in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, England.
1986:  Hillary Scott of Lady Antebellum was born in Nashville, Tennessee.

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