This Date in Rock Music History: April 16

1955:  Elvis Presley appeared at the Big D Jamboree at the Sportatorium in Dallas Texas.
1956:  Buddy Holly released his first single, "Blue Days, Black Nights".
1963:  The Beatles made their television debut on BBC-TV's The 625 Show.
1964:  Dean Martin recorded "Everybody Loves Somebody".
1964:  The Rolling Stones released their debut album in the U.K.

1964:  The "chase scenes" for the movie A Hard Day's Night were filmed with actors dressed as policemen in the Notting Hill Gate section of London.  The Beatles also recorded the title song at EMI Studios in London.  (Note:  several websites report that the song was recorded at Abbey Road Studios.  EMI Studios were not renamed Abbey Road until 1970 and thus Abbey Road Studios did not exist at the time.)
1965:  The Hollies opened their first tour of America at the Brooklyn Paramount Theatre in New York.  (Note:  several websites report that the concert was at the Paramount Theater (misspelling "Theatre")  The official name of the facility was the Paramount Theatre.)






                           "When I Was Young", from the Animals' compilation...

1966:  Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass owned three of the Top 10 albums, including #1 Going Places.  The Brass were also ranked #3 with their former #1 Whipped Cream & Other Delights and #6 with South of the Border.  The great Soundtrack to "The Sound of Music" was still in the Top 10 after 57 weeks of release.  The rest of the Top 10:  Ballads of the Green Berets from SSgt Barry Sadler, Boots from Nancy Sinatra at #5, the Best of the Animals checked in at #7, Al Martino placed Spanish Eyes at #8, Boise, Idaho's Paul Revere & the Raiders were #9 with Just Like Us!  and the Dave Clark Five's Greatest Hits entered the Top 10.



 
                  The good-time 60's, courtesy of the Lovin' Spoonful... 

  1966:  The Righteous Brothers were at #1 for the second of three weeks with "(You're My) Soul And Inspiration", beating out "Daydream" by the Lovin' Spoonful.  The rest of the Top Ten:  "Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)" by Cher at #3, "Secret Agent Man" by Johnny Rivers, "Time Won't Let Me" by the Outsiders, which rose from 11-5, the Rolling Stones fell with "19th Nervous Breakdown", SSgt. Barry Sadler had song #7 with the former #1 "The Ballad Of The Green Berets", B.J. Thomas was at 8 with "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry", the Young Rascals entered the Top Ten with "Good Lovin'" and Paul Revere & the Raiders moved from 18-10 with "Kicks".
1966:  The Mamas and the Papas jumped from #79 to #34 on the singles chart with "Monday Monday".
1969:  Desmond Dekker and the Aces climbed to #1 in the U.K. with "Israelites".






1971:  Ringo Starr released the single "It Don't Come Easy".  It was released April 9 in the United States.















1972:  ELO made their concert debut at the Fox and Greyhound Pub in Croydon, London.
1973:  Paul McCartney starred in his first TV show as a solo performer in James Paul McCartney on ABC.
1974:  Queen played in America for the first time at Regis College in Denver, Colorado.
1976:  Aerosmith performed in St. Louis at the Kiel Auditorium, the premiere of a 76-date tour.








 
                                       "Victim of Love" from the Eagles...


1977:  Hotel California continued to hold off Fleetwood Mac's Rumours for the #1 album.  The list contained some great albums, including Stevie Wonder's Songs in the Key of Life at #3, the debut from Boston at #7 and Fly Like An Eagle from the Steve Miller Band at #10.








1977:  Jennifer Warnes had her first big hit with the #1 Adult Contemporary song on this date 34 years ago, "Right Time Of The Night".
1977:  Actor David Soul rose to #1 with "Don't Give Up On Us".  Thelma Houston was edging towards the top with "Don't Leave Me This Way" and Glen Campbell had #3 with "Southern Nights".  The remainder of the Top Ten--the Eagles were soaring to the top of the charts with "Hotel California", 10cc had #5 with "The Things We Do For Love", Abba fell from #1 to #6 with "Dancing Queen", Natalie Cole was at 7 with "I've Got Love On My Mind", Barbra Streisand was at #8 with "Evergreen", Atlanta Rhythm Section had song #9 with "So In To You" and Hall & Oates fell to #10 with "Rich Girl".
1979:  Anne Murray and her husband celebrated the birth of daughter Dawn.




 
                    San Francisco's Greg Kihn was at #4...

1983:  "Billie Jean" spent a seventh final week at #1 for Michael Jackson, with "Come On Eileen" from Dexy's Midnight Runners close at hand and Styx moving into the #3 slot with "Mr. Roboto".  The Greg Kihn Band had a big hit at #4 with "Jeopardy", followed by another Michael Jackson song, "Beat It", at #5.  The rest of the Top Ten:  Duran Duran at 6 with "Hungry Like The Wolf", Hall & Oates coming in at 7 with "One On One", Journey's big hit "Separate Ways" at #8, After the Fire moving into the Top 10 with "Der Kommissar" and "Do You Really Want To Hurt Me" by Culture Club at #10.
1983:  Stephen Bishop topped the Adult Contemporary chart for the first of two weeks with "It Might Be You".






1983:  Bonnie Tyler had the #1 album in the U.K. with Faster Than the Speed of Night.









1984:  Huey Lewis & the News released the single "The Heart Of Rock & Roll".
1985:  U2 played the first of three concerts at the Centrum in Worcester, Massachusetts.
1988:  The "Dirty Dancing" Soundtrack topped the Album chart for a seventh week, holding off Michael Jackson's Bad while Faith by George Michael was third.
1988:  Whitney Houston's "Where Do Broken Hearts Go" prevailed for the third week atop the Adult Contemporary chart.
1988:  Billy Ocean cruised to #1 on the R&B chart with "Get Outta' My Dreams, Get Into My Car".






                 INXS was making a move...


1988:  Billy Ocean was #1 again with "Get Outta' My Dreams, Get Into My Car", while INXS found themselves at #2 with "Devil Inside" and Houston was at #3 with "Where Do Broken Hearts Go".  The rest of the Top Five:  "Man In The Mirror", the former #1 from Michael Jackson, was song #4 and Terence Trent D'Arby had #5 with "Wishing Well".

1990:  Simple Minds, Tracy Chapman, Peter Gabriel and Lou Reed performed in London's Wembley Stadium in a celebration of Nelson Mandela's release from prison.
1993:  David Lee Roth was arrested in New York City's Washington Square Park for buying drugs.
1993:  Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Don Henley and Steve Miller played at the Hollywood Bowl in California to celebrate Earth Day.
1993:  Billy Burnette announced that he was leaving Fleetwood Mac.
1994:  Harry Connick, Jr. married Jill Goodacre in New Orleans, Louisiana.
1994:  Bonnie Raitt topped the Album chart with Longing In Their Hearts.
1995:  Bob Seger and his wife celebrated the birth of their first daughter, Samantha Char.
1995: Following the successful operation of Bill Berry for a brain aneurysm, R.E.M. announced they would resume their worldwide tour.  (Note:  some websites report that R.E.M. made the announcement on April 17.  According to 'MTV', R.E.M. announced the news on April 16.)




1996:  KISS appeared at the 38th Grammy Awards and announced a reunion tour after 15 years apart.
1996:  Judy Collins married Louis Nelson, the designer of the Korean War Memorial.
1998:  Janet Jackson began a world tour at the Ahoy in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.  Opening acts on the tour included Usher, N Sync and Boyz II Men.
1999:  Skip Spence, a founding member of both Jefferson Airplane and Moby Grape, died of lung cancer in Santa Cruz, California at age 52.  (Note:  some websites claim Spence died in San Francisco but the correct place of death is Santa Cruz, according to the book 'Got a Revolution!:  The Turbulent Flight of Jefferson Airplane' by Jeff Tamarkin and other credible sources.)2003:  Luther Vandross was admitted to a New York City hospital after suffering a stroke at age 52.
2008:  Barbra Streisand donated $5 million to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.
2011:  The Florida State House of Representatives declared it "Jimmy Buffett Day".


Born This Day:
1920:  Ed Townsend, who co-wrote "Let's Get It On" with Marvin Gaye, and also wrote for the Impressions, was born in Fayetteville, Tennessee; died of a heart attack in San Bernardino, California August 13, 2003.

1924:  Henry Mancini was born in Cleveland, Ohio; died of pancreatic and liver cancer in Beverly Hills, California on June 14, 1994.  (Note:  some websites report Mancini died in Los Angeles, but according to the newspaper 'The Los Angeles Times', Mancini died in Beverly Hills.)
1924:  Rudy Pompilli, saxophone player with Bill Haley and the Comets, was born in Chester, Pennsylvania; died of lung cancer from second-hand smoke in Brookhaven, Pennsylvania on February 5, 1976.  (Note:  some websites using old material insist Pompilli was born in 1926, but new research in 2006 discovered Rudy was born in 1924, as verified by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.)
1929:  Roy Hamilton, who had a hit with his version of "Unchained Melody", was born in Leesburg, Georgia; died July 20, 1969 after suffering a stroke in New Rochelle, New York.
1930:  Herbie Mann was born in Brooklyn, New York; died July 1, 2003 of prostate cancer in Pecos, New Mexico.  (Note:  some websites claim Mann died in Santa Fe, New Mexico, but the correct place of death is Pecos, according to the newspaper 'The New York Times'.)
1933:  Perry Botkin, Jr. ("Nadia's Theme" from 1976) was born in New York City.

1935:  Bobby Vinton was born in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania.  (Note:  some websites report that Vinton was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.  According to the book "Billboard Book of Number One Hits' by Fred Bronson and the newspaper 'The Los Angeles Times', Bobby was born in Canonsburg.)

1939:  Dusty Springfield was born in London; died of breast cancer in Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, England on  March 2, 1999.
1943:  Dave Peverett, guitarist and vocalist with Savoy Brown and Foghat, was born in Dullwich; died of cancer February 7, 2000 in Orlando, Florida.  (Note:  some websites claim Peverett was born on April 10 (one misspells his name Pevertt), and some say he was born in 1950 or 1951.  Some websites report that he was born in London.  The official website of Foghat, as well as the newspaper 'The Orlando Sentinel' reports that Dave was born on April 16, 1943 in Dullwich and raised in London.  There is no place in England named Dullwich--the name of the area is Dulwich in South London.  The newspaper 'The New York Times' confirms that Dave was born in Dulwich and raised in London.)

1947:  Gerry Rafferty of Stealer's Wheel and an impressive solo performer, was born in Paisley, Scotland; died January 4, 2011 at the age of 63 from liver failure in London after a lifetime of alcoholism.
1951:  John Bentley, bassist with Squeeze ("Tempted"), was born in London.
1953:  Peter Garrett, lead singer of Midnight Oil and currently the Minister for School Education, Early Childhood and Youth in Australia, was born in Sydney.  
1959:  Stephen Singleton, saxophonist of ABC ("The Look Of Love", "Poison Arrow" and "Be Near Me"), was born in Sheffield, Yorkshire, England.
1963:  Jimmy Osmond was born in Canoga Park, California.
1964:  Dave Pirner, singer and guitarist of Soul Asylum ("Runaway Train"), was born in Green Bay, Wisconsin.

1971:  Selena Quintanilla-Perez (Serena) was born in Lake Jackson, Texas, murdered in Corpus Christi, Texas on March 31, 1995.
1979:  Akon (real name Aliaune Damala Bouga Time Bongo Puru Nacka Lu Lu Lu Badara Akon Thiam ) was born in St. Louis, Missouri.  (Note:  some websites claim Akon was born in Senegal; he was born in St. Louis, according to 'MTV' and the book 'Lady Gaga Superstar' by Jean-Pierre Hombach.)