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Friday, June 1, 2012

This Date in Rock Music History: June 2

1957:  Johnnie Ray had the #1 song in the U.K. with "Yes Tonight Josephine".



1962:  "I Can't Stop Loving You" by Ray Charles was the new #1 song in the United States, replacing "Stranger On The Shore".
1962:  "Stranger On The Shore" was #1 for the seventh week on the Easy Listening chart for Mr. Acker Bilk.
1964:  The Rolling Stones made their American debut at the Lynn High School football field in Lynn, Massachusetts.  Johnny Rivers and Bobby Goldsboro opened the show.
1965:  Bob Dylan and girlfriend Sara Lownds returned to the United States after living in Britain for a while.  The two would marry in November.
1966:  The Who were in concert at the Grona Lund in Stockholm, Sweden.





1967:  A historic day as the Beatles released the album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band in the United States.  The album had been released the previous day in the U.K.










             Unfortunately, some people didn't want to be part of the solution...

1969:  Tommy James & the Shondells released the classic single "Crystal Blue Persuasion".













1969:  Kenny Rogers & the First Edition released the single "Ruby, Don't Take Your Love To Town".
1972:  Dion reunited with the Belmonts at Madison Square Garden in New York City.








                  Mama may not have taken the Kodachrome, but technology did...

1973:  Paul Simon watched as his "Kodachrome" rapidly moved up the chart, moving from 57 to 28.
1973:  ELO began their first tour of the United States at San Diego Stadium in San Diego, California.
1973:  "My Love" from Paul McCartney & Wings moved to #1 on the Easy Listening chart.
1973:  Red Rose Speedway, the new album from Paul McCartney & Wings, pulled away from the competition in its fourth week of release, moving from 13 to 1.  The album it displaced at #1 was the Beatles/1967-1970 (the "Blue" album).




1973:  Paul McCartney & Wings made it a triple crown with the new #1 song "My Love".  Elton John found himself at #2 with his biggest hit to that point with "Daniel".  Edgar Winter Group tumbled to 3 with "Frankenstein" while Sylvia's solo hit "Pillow Talk" was at #4.









1975:  The Bee Gees released the album that would launch them into superstardom, Main Course, on RSO Records (Note:  some websites naively place the date of release in the United States as "August, 1975".  This is news to the Bee Gees, their producers, RSO Records, all trade magazines, and all radio station personnel.  Main Course debuted on the Album chart on June 21--pretty tough for that to occur if it hadn't been released yet.)
1978:  Bruce Springsteen released the album Darkness on the Edge Of Town.
1978:  Crystal Gayle hosted Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers on The Midnight Special on NBC-TV.








1979:  The debut album from previously unknown Rickie Lee Jones was generating talk and moved into the Top 10 on this date.











1979:  "Hot Stuff" gave Donna Summer her third #1 song after "Last Dance" and "MacArthur Park".  "Hot Stuff" was one of a select few songs I called "Disco Rock", for it really was a melding of two musical styles.  Had more songs been like this, disco would have lasted much longer.  Peaches & Herb relented from their hold on #1 with "Reunited" while the Bee Gees edged closer with "Love You Inside Out".  Supertramp had their first Top 10 with "The Logical Song".   
1984:  Wham! reached #1 in the U.K. with "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go".
1984:  "Time After Time" from newcomer Cyndi Lauper distanced itself on the Adult Contemporary chart, reaching the #1 position.
1984:  Huey Lewis & the News had the fastest-rising song within the Top 10 with "The Heart Of Rock & Roll", moving from 13 to 8.

1986:  Peter Cetera released the single "Glory Of Love".
1987:  Whitney Houston released her follow-up album Whitney on Arista Records.  (Note:  several websites claim the album was released May 28.  According to 'Billboard' magazine, the album arrived June 2.)
1989:  48 year-old Bill Wyman of the Rolling Stones married 19 year-old Mandy Smith.  He couldn't find anyone close to his own age who would have him.
1990:  We were introduced to a new young singer with a powerful voice on this date as Mariah Carey first appeared on the scene with "Vision Of Love", her first chart hit.  She would give us many more great songs until she changed.








1990:  "Do You Remember" by Phil Collins moved into the #1 slot on the Adult Contemporary chart.
2008:  Bo Diddley died of heart failure at his home in Archer, Florida at the age of 79.
2010:  Randy Newman earned a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
2010:  Paul McCartney received the Gershwin Prize for popular song from the Library of Congress by United States President Barack Obama at the White House.

Born This Day:
1930:  Jimmy Jones (the original version of "Handy Man" and "Good Timin'" from 1960) was born in Birmingham, Alabama; died August 2, 2012 in Aberdeen, North Carolina.  (Note:  several websites report that he was born in 1937.  According to his obituary in the newspaper 'The Aberdeen Times', he was born in 1930.  This is confirmed by a photo of Jimmy's gravestone above.)
1932:  Sammy Turner ("Lavender-Blue" from 1959) was born in Paterson, New Jersey.
1936:  Otis Williams of the Charms (six hits in the early Rock Era, including "Ivory Tower" from 1966) was born in Cincinnati, Ohio.


1941:  Charlie Watts, drummer of the Rolling Stones, was born in London.












1944:  Marvin Hamlisch, pianist and composer, was born in Manhattan, New York; died August 6, 2012 of respiratory arrest in Los Angeles.  (Note:  some websites lazily say Hamlisch was born in New York City.  New York is of course made up of independent boroughs, each of which is a separate county of New York State, and Marvin was born on the island of Manhattan.)
1950:  Antone Tavares of the sibling group Tavares was born in Providence, Rhode Island.
1951:  Steve Brookins of .38 Special








1954:  Michael Steele (real name Susan Thomas) of the Runaways and the Bangles was born in Pasadena, California.
1960:  Tony Hadley, vocalist of Spandau Ballet, was born in Islington, London, England.
1962:  Thor Eldon Jonsson, co-founder and guitarist of the Sugarcubes, was born in Reykjavik, Iceland.
1970:  B-Real (real name Louis Freese) of Cypress Hill was born in South Gate, California.

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