Monday, December 19, 2016

This Date in Rock Music History: December 20

1957: Elvis Presley received his draft notice from the United States Army.
1958:  John Lennon, Paul McCartney and George Harrison appeared as The Quarrymen at the wedding reception of Harrison's older brother Harry.  The reception was at the Harrison family home at 25 Upton Green, Speke, Liverpool.
1962: The Osmond Brothers made their television debut on The Andy Williams Show on NBC.
1966:  Otis Redding was in concert at the Fillmore Auditorium in San Francisco.





1967: Singer Ian Anderson formed Jethro Tull with bassist Glenn Cornick in Blackpool, England.  No, there is no one named Jethro Tull in the group; the name is from an 18th century inventor of farming tools. 
1967:  The Beatles recorded harmonies and bells for the song "When I'm Sixty-Four".
1967:  Joan Baez was sentenced to 45 days in prison for her role in anti-war demonstrations.
1969:  The Rolling Stones reached #1 on the U.K. album chart with Let It Bleed.
1969:  Before she left the Supremes, Diana Ross gave us this great song--"Someday We'll Be Together", #1 for a third week on the R&B chart.  The other Supremes did not appear on the song--it was all Ross.
1969:  For the third week, "Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head" was #1 on the Adult chart.



1969:  The Shocking Blue were startling listeners with their amazing new song "Venus", up from #77 to #31.









          
        Diamond with one of his great early hits...

1969:  "Leaving On A Jet Plane", the final hit for Peter, Paul & Mary, rose to #1.  Diana Ross & the Supremes were closing with "Someday We'll Be Together" in a dynamite Top 10.  CCR had a single so good it generated two hits--"Down On The Corner"/"Fortunate Son" was up to 3 while the previous #1 from Steam--"(Na Na Hey Hey) Kiss Him Goodbye" was #4.  B.J. Thomas was up from 9 to 5 with his new song "Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head" and the Beatles had a double-sided hit with "Come Together"/"Something".  The rest of the Top 10:  "Yester-Me, Yester-You, Yesterday" from Stevie Wonder, R. B. Greaves dictated the #8 hit "Take A Letter Maria", Neil Diamond scored his fourth Top 10 and 15th hit with "Holly Holy" and Blood, Sweat & Tears dropped with "And When I Die".




            "Long Time Gone" from CSN's debut...

1969:  The #1 album was Abbey Road by the Beatles, just as it had been for the previous seven weeks.  Led Zeppelin II was a distant second with Tom Jones Live In Las Vegas right behind them.  CCR remained fourth with Green River while Let It Bleed from the Rolling Stones moved from #29 to #5.  The rest of the Top 10:  Puzzle People by the Temptations, the self-titled Santana, Blood, Sweat & Tears moved back up with their amazing debut that had now been out for 47 weeks, the initial release from Crosby, Stills & Nash was #9 and the Soundtrack to "Easy Rider" remained 10th.
1971:  The Rolling Stones released their first compilation album Hot Rocks 1964-1971.




 
1972:  The O'Jays released the single "Love Train".







 


1972:  Led Zeppelin performed at the Brighton Dome in England.









1973:  Bobby Darin died at the age of 37 while undergoing seven hours of open-heart surgery.








1975: Elite guitarist Joe Walsh joined the Eagles, replacing original member Bernie Leadon, who left for a solo career.
1975:  There were all sorts of wild rumors going on about "Love Rollercoaster", and the Ohio Players rode the publicity to #1 on the R&B chart.
1975:  Though he had achieved success as the lead singer of the Raspberries, Eric Carmen debuted as a solo artist on this date with his first single "All By Myself".
1975:  Neil Sedaka had gone 12 years without a Top 10 hit, and now he was bidding for his third in the last two years as "Breaking Up Is Hard To Do" moved from 79 to 59.
 
The Bee Gees didn't know it but they were becoming one of the biggest acts in Rock history...

1975:  KC and the Sunshine Band reached #1 for the second time in their young careers with "That's the Way (I Like It)".  The Staple Singers couldn't budge with "Let's Do It Again" while the Silver Convention descended with "Fly, Robin, Fly".  The Bay City Rollers were an outfit on the move with "Saturday Night", the Ohio Players were causing a stir with "Love Rollercoaster" and Diana Ross reached #6 with her new song "Theme From 'Mahogany' (Do You Know Where You're Going To)".  The rest of the Top 10:  "Sky High" from Jigsaw, finally falling after 17 weeks, Barry Manilow collected his third Top 10 in four attempts with "I Write The Songs", Sweet was up to #9 with "Fox On The Run" and the Bee Gees' great new song "Nights On Broadway" was #10.



1975:  Chicago IX, the group's Greatest Hits package, remained at #1 on the Album chart but Earth, Wind & Fire were up from 7 to 2 with Gratitude.  History/America's Greatest Hits moved to #3 with the self-titled KC and the Sunshine Band fourth.  The rest of the Top 10:  Red Octopus from Jefferson Starship, Still Crazy After All These Years by Paul Simon at #6, Elton John slipped to 7 with Rock of the Westies, Windsong from John Denver was #8, Joni Mitchell climbed from 26 to 9 with The Hissing of Summer Lawns and Grover Washington, Jr. found the Top 10 with Feels So Good.









1977:  Fleetwood Mac released the single "Go Your Own Way".
1980:  Twelve days after his death, John Lennon's "(Just Like) Starting Over" was #1 in the U.K.







1980:  Leo Sayer had his biggest hit since "When I Need You" as "More Than I Can Say" rose to #1 on the Adult Contemporary chart.
1980:  Delbert McClinton had the fastest-rising song around--"Giving It Up for Your Love" moved from #69 to #38.







                        Air Supply had another smash....

1980:  Kenny Rogers had the #1 song for a sixth week with "Lady".  The only new entry in the Top 10 was "Every Woman In The World", the third consecutive Top 10 for Air Supply.
1981:  The play Dreamgirls, based on the Supremes, opened on Broadway in New York City.  (Note:  some websites say the date of opening was December 2, but the official playbill site shows the correct date as December 20.)
1986:  Newcomers Bon Jovi were up from 83 to 56 with "Livin' On A Prayer".








1986:  The Bangles reached the pinnacle with "Walk Like An Egyptian", one of The Top 100 Songs of the Rock Era*.  Bruce Hornsby & the Range surrendered with "The Way It Is" while Wang Chung partied up to #3 with "Everybody Have Fun Tonight".  Duran Duran were up to 4 with their latest--"Notorious" and Gregory Abbott had a big hit with "Shake You Down".  The rest of the Top 10:  Billy Idol's "To Be A Lover", Huey Lewis & the News slipped to 7 with "Hip to Be Square", Robbie Nevil moved from 14 to 8 with "C'est La Vie", Ben E. King was up to #9 with his big hit from 1960--"Stand By Me" (re-released from the movie of the same name) and Sun Valley, Idaho's Peter Cetera dropped with his former #1 with Amy Grant--"The Next Time I Fall".



1997:  "Candle In The Wind 1997" from Elton John passed both Debby Boone's "You Light Up My Life" and "Physical" from Olivia Newton-John with its 11th week at #1.  That enabled EJ to tie "Un-Break My Heart" from Toni Braxton, "I Swear" by All-4-One and "I'll Be Missing You" from Puff Daddy, Faith Evans and 112.  
2004: In today's episode of Dangerous Inmates Run Rap Music, a man was shot and another wounded at a party for Ja Rule in Peoria, Illinois. If this is what happens when they're happy, you don't want to have anything to do with them when they live their normal life as losers.
2008:  Circus by Britney Spears was the #1 album.

Born This Day:
1944:  Bobby Colomby, drummer of Blood, Sweat & Tears, was born in New York City.

1945:  Peter Criss, drummer of Kiss, was born in Brooklyn, New York.









1948:  Alan Parsons, engineer for the Beatles, musician, producer (Abbey Road and Let It Be for the Beatles and Dark Side of the Moon for Pink Floyd) and the leader of the Alan Parsons Project, was born in London.
1948:  Steven Wright, singer with the Easybeats ("Friday On My Mind") was born in Leeds, England.
1956:  Anita Ward ("Ring My Bell") was born in Memphis, Tennessee.
1956:  Guy Babylon, keyboardist with the Elton John Band, was born in New Windsor, Maryland; died September 2, 2009 of a heart attack while swimming in his pool in Thousand Oaks, California.  (Note:  some websites report he died in Los Angeles; according to the newspaper 'The Baltimore Sun', Babylon died in Thousand Oaks.)
1962:  Ray Coburn, keyboardist and songwriter with Honeymoon Suite ("New Girl Now")
1966:  Chris Robinson, lead singer of the Black Crowes, was born in Marietta, Georgia.  (Note:  some websites list his birthplace as Atlanta; according to the newspaper 'The Augusta Chronicle', Robinson was born in the Atlanta suburb of Marietta.)
1990:  JoJo was born in Brattleboro, Vermont.

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