Sunday, March 2, 2014

This Date in Rock Music History: March 3

1955: Elvis Presley made his local television debut on The Louisiana Hayride show. The show was broadcast on KWKH-TV from Municipal Auditorium in Shreveport, Louisiana. Presley had been performing on The Hayride since October 16, 1954. (Note:  As more time goes by, people make up their own information, and you will note that several websites erroneously list dates for the debut as March 4, March 5, or even March 26. Some sites also mistakenly say that the station which broadcast the show was KWKH. According to the book 'Elvis Presley: The King of Rock 'n' Roll' by Jean-Pierre Hombach, the correct date is March 3, and the call letters of the television station were KSLA, the CBS affiliate in Shreveport.)

1956:  A handsome singer from Tupelo, Mississippi first appeared on the chart on this date.  His first single was a song called "Heartbreak Hotel" and his name was Elvis Presley.
1956:  The Platters enjoyed a 10th week at #1 on the R&B chart with "The Great Pretender", obviously one of The Top R&B Songs of All-Time*.
1962:  Kenny Ball and His Jazzmen moved to #1 on the Easy Listening chart with "Midnight In Moscow".
1962:  "Duke Of Earl" by Gene Chandler led the way on the R&B chart for a third straight week.








1962:  Gene Chandler had crossed over to a broad appeal with "Duke Of Earl", #1 for the third week.  "Hey!  Baby" by Bruce Channel was second with Dion's "The Wanderer" coming in third.
1963:  The Beatles finished a tour at the Gaumont Cinema in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England.  They had begun opening for Helen Shapiro, but ended the tour as the headline act.  (Note:  some websites state that the concert was in Hanley, England.  In 1910, Hanley was one of six cities that joined together to form Stoke-on-Trent.  The city is now called Stoke-on-Trent, and it was in 1963 as well.)








1966:  Stephen Stills, Neil Young and Richie Furay formed Buffalo Springfield in Los Angeles, California.
1967:  Petula Clark performed before Princess Margaret at the Palladium in London.
1968:  For the third week, "Love Is Blue" was #1 on the Adult chart for Paul Mauriat.
1969:  Led Zeppelin recorded "Dazed And Confused", "Communication Breakdown", "I Can't Quit You Baby" and "You Shook Me" for the program Top Gear on BBC Radio at the Playhouse Theatre in London.  The show was broadcast March 23.  (Note:  some websites claim Led Zep recorded for the program in Staines, England, which is about 37 kilometers, or 23 miles, from London.  According to the book 'Led Zeppelin:  The 'Tight But Loose' Files' by Dave Lewis, as well as BBC Session notes, the show was recorded at the Playhouse Theatre in London.)





Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In by The 5th Dimension on Grooveshark
1969:  The 5th Dimension released the single "Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In"(Note:  some websites erroneously say the single was released March 8.  "Aquarius" debuted on the Singles chart on March 8.  It is physically impossible for a song to be released as a single by the record company, listened to and added to a radio station playlist, reported by the radio station to the trade papers, and printed and published by the trade papers, all in the same day.)











1973:  Roberta Flack cemented her status by winning Song and Record of the Year at the Grammy Awards for "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face".  It was the first Grammy show to be broadcast on CBS-TV after the first two shows aired on ABC.
1973:  Newcomer Edward Bear had the new #1 on the Adult chart with "Last Song".









            "Eldeberry Wine", one of the lead tracks on Elton's new album...

1973:  His career was just underway, but Elton John had his second #1 album, following up Honky Chateau with Don't Shoot Me I'm Only the Piano Player.  Carly Simon was a solid #2 with No Secrets with previous #1 The World is a Ghetto by War falling to 3.  Eric Weissberg & Steve Mandell had Dueling Banjos while Neil Diamond was captured on a Hot August Night.  The rest of the Top 10:  Rocky Mountain High from John Denver, the Soundtrack to "Lady Sings the Blues" from Diana Ross, the excellent Talking Book from Stevie Wonder at #8, More Hot Rocks (big hits & fazed cookies), the compilation from the Rolling Stones, and Stanley, Idaho's Carole King with Rhymes & Reasons at #10.
1973:  The O'Jays ruled the R&B chart for a third week with "Love Train".
1974:  Deep Purple kicked off an American tour at Cobo Hall in Detroit.  (Note:  you will see several websites that say that the tour began on February 10 at the Los Angeles Forum, but according to several reputable sources, the Forum show and the early planned tour dates were canceled or postponed.) 
1978:  Van Halen began their first full tour opening for Journey at the Aragon Ballroom in Chicago, Illinois.









1979:  The Bee Gees owned the top U.K. album with Spirits Having Flown.
1979:  "Tragedy" by the Bee Gees took over as the #1 song in the U.K.
1979:  Anne Murray continued to hold on to #1 on the newly renamed Adult Contemporary chart with "I Just Fall In Love Again".
1979:  Spirits Having Flown, the peak album for the hottest group in the world, the Bee Gees, reached #1 after only three weeks.  



Fire by The Pointer Sisters on Grooveshark  
The Pointers took this Bruce Springsteen song to the Top 5...

1979:  Rod Stewart remained at #1 for the fourth week with "Do Ya Think I'm Sexy?"  "Fire" by the Pointer Sisters was the top challenger but Gloria Gaynor was moving into the mix with "I Will Survive".  The Bee Gees were up to #4 after only four weeks with "Tragedy" but Olivia Newton-John was on the way down with "A Little More Love".  The rest of the Top 10:  Donna Summer had her fifth Top 10, this time with Brooklyn Dreams on "Heaven Knows", Chic's #1 smash "Le Freak", the Village People scared young boys everywhere with "Y.M.C.A.", Nicolette Larson and "Lotta' Love" and the Doobie Brothers cruised from 23 to 10 with "What A Fool Believes".



99 Red Balloons by 80s on Grooveshark
1984:  Nena's "99 Red Balloons" paced the U.K. chart.
1984:  Rockwell with considerable help from Michael Jackson had the new R&B #1--"Somebody's Watching Me".
1984:  Billy Joel scored an AC #1 with "An Innocent Man".









1984:  It was a historic day in the Rock Era as Thriller by Michael Jackson did what no one said could be done--tie the record of 31 weeks at #1 on the Album chart set by Fleetwood Mac's Rumours









1986:  Metallica released the great album Master of Puppets.
1990:  Paul McCartney played in the first of six sold-out shows at the Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Japan.








1990:  Janet Jackson had her eighth Top 10 in five years and "Escapade" took the final step to #1.  "Dangerous" from Roxette was second while Paula Abdul's previous #1 "Opposites Attract" was third.  Behind them, the B-52's and "Roam".  The rest of the Top 10:  "All or Nothing" from Milli Vanilli, Gloria Estefan with "Here We Are", Bad English and "Price Of Love" at #7, the Cover Girls with "We Can't Go Wrong", Alannah Myles entered the Top 10 with "Black Velvet" and Michel'le edged up with "No More Lies".
1990:  It had been four months, since their previous chart-topper but Linda Ronstadt & Aaron Neville had another #1 together on the Adult Contemporary chart with "All My Life".
1994:  Kurt Cobain of Nirvana fell into a coma in Italy after taking Valium with champagne.





Foo Fighters
1995:  The Foo Fighters performed live for the first time at the Satyricon in Portland, Oregon.
1995:  Bill Berry of R.E.M. had surgery in Switzerland to stop a brain hemorrhage.
1998:  Madonna released the album Ray of Light.
1998:  In today's episode of Dangerous Inmates Run Rap Music, C-BO was arrested for violating his parole by using lyrics that encouraged violence against police officers.  Sure, let's not have law and order, a system that has worked for thousands of years, let's let the Inmates run the asylum.
2002:  Will Green rose to #1 in the U.K. with "Anything Is Possible/Evergreen".
2002:  Jennifer Lopez had the new #1 song with "Ain't It Funny".




2008:  Norman Smith, engineer for the Beatles from 1962-1965 who also signed Pink Floyd and produced their early albums and had a Top 5 hit in 1972 with "Oh Babe, What Would You Say", died of cancer in East Sussex, England at age 85.
2009:  To celebrate the release of U2's new album, No Line on the Horizon, Michael Bloomberg, the Mayor of New York City temporarily renamed part of 53rd street in Midtown Manhattan as "U2 Way".
2012:  Katy Perry's "Part Of Me" became the 20th song in the Rock Era to debut at #1, and was her seventh consecutive Top 5 single.






2012:  Adele became the first female artist in the Rock Era to place three singles in the Top 10 simultaneously.  She accomplished the feat today as "Rolling In The Deep", "Someone Like You" and "Set Fire To The Rain" all made the Top 10.  Adele also became the first female artist to place two singles in the Top 5 simultaneously ("Rolling In The Deep" and "Set Fire To The Rain") and the first female artist to have two albums (19 and 21) in the Top 5 of the Album chart.
2013:  Bobby Rogers, original member of the Miracles, died in Detroit, Michigan from complications of diabetes at the age of 73.


Born This Day:
1942:  Mike Pender (real name Michael Prendergast), founding member and lead singer of the Searchers, was born in Liverpool, Lancashire, England.
1944: Jance Garfat, bassist of Dr. Hook; died November 6, 2006 in a motorcycle accident in San Francisco, California.  (Note:  there is much conflicting information on Jance's birth, with some sites saying March 20, others March 28, and some April 28.  There are no credible sources for any of the dates, nor are there photos of his gravestone, but our best information is that he was born on March 3.)


1947:  Jennifer Warnes was born in Seattle, Washington.  (Note:  several websites claim Jennifer was born in Anaheim, California, but Jennifer says on her official website that she was born in Seattle and raised in Anaheim.)
1948:  Snowy White (real name Terence Charles White), guitarist for Thin Lizzy, Pink Floyd and Roger Walters, was born in Barnstaple, Devon, England.
1950:  Re Styles (real name Shirley MacLeod), vocalist of the Tubes ("She's A Beauty")
1953:  Robyn Hitchcock, singer-songwriter and guitarist, was born in Paddington, London.  (Note:  some websites state that Hitchcock was born in London.  Paddington is now an area in the city of Westminster in the county of London.  However, prior to 1965, it was a metropolitan borough, and thus when Hitchcock was born, Paddington was its own city, not an area.)
1954:  Chris Hughes, drummer of Adam and the Ants and now a producer (Tears for Fears, among others; he also co-wrote "Everybody Wants To Rule the World"), was born in London.
1966:  Tone-Loc ("Wild Thing") was born in Compton, California.  (Note:  some websites say he was born in Los Angeles, but according to 'Last.fm', he was born in Compton.)
1977:  Ronan Keating, singer-songwriter of Boyzone, was born in Swords, Dublin, Ireland.

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