This Date in Rock Music History: March 12

1957:  Buddy Holly & the Crickets recorded "Maybe Baby". at Norman Petty's studio in Clovis, New Mexico.

1965:  The Beatles finished the filming of the movie Help!  in the Bahamas.
1965:  James Darren was a guest voice (as "Jimmy Darrock") on the season finale of The Flintstones on ABC-TV.
1966:  Wilson Pickett latched onto #1 on the R&B chart with "634-5789 (Soulsville, U.S.A.)".

1966:  There were three new songs in the Top 10:  The Rolling Stones moved to #6 with "19th Nervous Breakdown", the Beatles advanced from 25 to 7 in just their second week with "Nowhere Man" and Simon & Garfunkel entered the Top 10 at #10 with "Homeward Bound".

1968:  The Rolling Stones began recording "Jumpin' Jack Flash" with their new producer, Jimmy Miller, at Olympic studios in London.  (Note:  Bill Janovitz, in his book 'Rocks Off:  50 Tracks that tell the Story of the Rolling Stones', states that the song was recorded April 20.  However, the book 'Encyclopedia of Great Popular Song Recordings, Volume 2' by Steve Sullivan reports that the group recorded the song in "mid-March".  David N. Howard also corroborates the session in his book 'Sonic Alchemy:  Visionary Music Producers and their Maverick Recordings'.  A further confirmation is from the Max Wooldridge book 'Rock 'n' Roll London', in which he too says the group began recording in "March of 1968".  Although there is conflicting information from good sources, we have to go with "the preponderance of the evidence", as they say--March 12 it is.)1969:  Paul McCartney and Linda Eastman married at the Marylebone Register Office in England.

1971:  Mick Jagger, lead singer of the Rolling Stones, married Bianca Perez Morena de Macias.

 1971:  The Allman Brothers performed March 12-13 at the Fillmore East in New York City, shows that were recorded and later released as a live album.

1971:  A High Court judge in London ruled in favor of Paul McCartney to dissolve the Beatles' partnership.













 

1973:  Stevie Wonder released the single "You Are The Sunshine Of My Life".

1973:  The Eagles were in concert at Oxford Polytechnic in Great Britain.
1977:  Lynn Anderson ("Rose Garden") was a guest on Starsky & Hutch on ABC-TV.
1977:  A great new British group first appeared on the chart on this day, though most wouldn't hear of them until later.  The group's first single was "Your Own Special Way".  Genesis would go on to become one of the dominant rock acts of the 1980's.
1977:  Olivia Newton-John rose to #1 on the Adult chart with "Sam", her ninth #1 on the Adult chart.





        
                            Stevie's album would turn out to be one for the ages...

1977:  The Soundtrack to "A Star Is Born" was the #1 album for the fifth week with former #1 Hotel California by the Eagles still at #2.  Animals by Pink Floyd was third with the new Fleetwood Mac album--Rumours, advancing from 8 to 4.  The rest of the Top 10:  Songs in the Key of Life by Stevie Wonder, the Steve Miller Band with Fly Like An Eagle, Boston with their self-titled album, Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band at #8 with Night Moves, John Denver's Greatest Hits, Volume 2 rose from 18-9 and Manfred Mann's Earth Band entered the Top 10 with The Roaring Silence.
1977:  For the third week, Natalie Cole owned the top R&B song with "I've Got Love On My Mind".






 
1979:  Peaches & Herb released the single "Reunited".

1980:  Billy Joel released the album Glass Houses.  (Note:  some websites claim the album was released March 10, but Billy Joel's official website states that 'Glass Houses' was released March 12.)
1983:  Def Leppard first appeared on the chart on this date with their first single release--"Photograph".
1983:  U2 had the #1 U.K. album with War.
1983:  Bonnie Tyler moved to #1 in the U.K. with "Total Eclipse Of The Heart".

 
                          "Rock of Ages" helped Def Leppard become known...

1983: Thriller by Michael Jackson was the top album for the third straight week. Frontiers by Journey moved up to #2 with H2O from Hall & Oates next. Former #1 Business As Usual from Men At Work was moving back up while The Distance, the new album by Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band, remained fifth. The rest of the Top 10: Rio from Duran Duran, Lionel Richie's debut solo album entered the Top 10, Toto IV was still at #8 after 47 weeks, Stray Cats finally tumbled after spending a record 15 weeks at #2 with Built for Speed and Def Leppard's breakthrough album Pyromania moved to #10.
1983: "Billie Jean" was the #1 R&B song for the fifth straight week for Michael Jackson.
1988:  "Never Gonna' Give You Up" by Rick Astley was the new #1 song on the Adult Contemporary chart.





                                                              Swayze could sing too...

1988: Rick Astley unseated George Michael at #1 with "Never Gonna' Give You Up" with "Father Figure" falling to 2. Patrick Swayze and Wendy Fraser remained in the #3 slot with "She's Like The Wind" and Belinda Carlisle had another big solo hit with "I Get Weak". Richard Marx was still gold with "Endless Summer Nights".

1990: Sinead O'Connor released the single "Nothing Compares 2(sic) U(sic)".

1991:  R.E.M. released the album Out of Time.

1994:  Pat Benatar and husband Neil Geraldo celebrated the birth of daughter Hana Juliana.
1994:  Mariah Carey logged an eighth week at #1 with the album Music Box.









1994:  After three weeks at #2, Ace of Base finally moved to #1 with "The Sign".  
1996:  Celine Dion released the album Falling Into You on Epic Records.  (Note:  one website reports the album was released March 7.  Although there are no credible sources for either date, our best research indicates the album was released March 12.)

1996:  Nancy Sinatra ("These Boots Are Made For Walkin'") donated her white go-go boots to the Hard Rock Cafe of Beverly Hills, California.

1998:  Cathay Pacific Airways announced the banning of Liam Gallagher of Oasis following an incident on a flight from Hong Kong to Australia.

2003:  Elvis Costello filled in for David Letterman on The Late Show.

2009:  The Michael Jackson tour This Is It, which sadly never came to be, became the fastest-selling in history with 360,000 pre-sale tickets gobbled up.  Jackson said this would be his final live tour, as he scheduled 50 nights at the O2 Arena in London.

2010:  Eight people were hospitalized and 160 arrested during a riot as fans without tickets tried to crash the gate at Metallica's first concert in Colombia in eleven years.  Over 1,500 police and four tanks had to be brought in to quell the crowd.

Born This Day:

1917:  Leonard Chess (real name Lejzor Czyz), owner of Chess Records, which featured Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley and Muddy Waters, was born in Motol', Poland, which is now part of Belarus; died of a heart attack in Chicago, Illinois October 16, 1969. 

1940:  Al Jarreau ("We're In This Love Together") was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin; died February 12, 2017 of respiratory failure in Los Angeles.

1945:  George Jackson, who wrote "Old Time Rock & Roll" for Bob Seger and "One Bad Apple" for the Osmonds, was born in Indianola, Mississippi; died April 14, 2013 in Ridgeland, Mississippi of cancer.  (Note:  some websites report that Jackson was born in Greenville, Mississippi.  While there are no credible sources for either town, our best information indicates that George was born in Indianola, then moved to Greenville.  'Allmusic.com' claims Jackson died in Jackson, Mississippi.  The truth is that he died at his home in Ridgeland, according to 'CBS' and other reputable sources.)

1948:  James Taylor was born in Boston, Massachusetts.

1949:  Mike Gibbins, drummer of Badfinger, was born in Swansea, Wales; died in his sleep in Oviedo, Florida October 4, 2005.

1949:  Bill Payne, co-founder and elite keyboardist of Little Feat, was born in Waco, Texas.

1956:  Steve Harris, songwriter and bassist of Iron Maiden, was born in Leytonstone, Essex, England (now London).  (Note:  'Allmusic.com and other websites state that Harris was born in London.  He was born in Leytonstone, Essex, England, according to 'MTV' and other sources.  Essex and other areas were later absorbed into the county of London in 1965 when England redrew the Local Government boundaries.  Those changes don't necessitate changes to the birth certificates of those born prior to 1965, however.  Steve's official birth certificate still shows he was born in Leytonstone, Essex.) 

1957:  Marlon Jackson of the Jackson 5 was born in Gary, Indiana.

1967:  Ben Kenny, bassist of Incubus, was born in Brielle, New Jersey.