This Date in Rock Music History: October 10

1959:  We all have career choices to make.  On this date, Ken Brown decided to leave the Quarrymen, leaving John Lennon, Paul McCartney and George Harrison to fend for themselves.  (Don't worry about them; they were going to be fine...)  The group had played at the popular Casbah Coffee Club in Liverpool, England in a show that Brown was unable to perform due to a heavy cold.  McCartney felt that Brown should not get a share of the performance fee since he did not perform.  Lennon and Harrison sided with McCartney and so Brown quit the group.  

1959:  Brenda Lee was hospitalized with a thyroid deficiency in Nashville, Tennessee.
1963:  The Rolling Stones, the Everly Brothers, Little Richard and Bo Diddley performed at the Gaumont in Wolverhampton, England.
1964:  The Beatles were in concert with two shows at De Montfort Hall in Leicester, England.
1964:  Brian Epstein signed a contract to manage the New Christy Minstrels, which would in the next few years include Kenny Rogers, Kim Carnes and Barry McGuire among its members.



1964:  Manfred Mann grabbed the #1 position with "Do Wah Diddy Diddy".  Martha & the Vandellas moved up to challenge with "Dancing In The Street" while the previous #1 "Oh Pretty Woman" by Roy Orbison was #3.  Gale Garnett was up to 4 with "We'll Sing In The Sunshine" but a hot song from J. Frank Wilson & the Cavaliers ("Last Kiss") was up from 9-5.  The rest of the Top 10:  The Shangri-Las had song #6--"Remember ("Walkin' In The Sand)", Chad & Jeremy moved to #7 with "A Summer Song", Gene Pitney's "It Hurts To Be In Love", the Beach Boys scored another Top 10 with "When I Grow Up (To Be a Man)" and Betty Everett and Jerry Butler reached the list with "Let It Be Me".
1965:  The Supremes made their first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show.  Petula Clark was also on the show that night.





1966:  Simon and Garfunkel released the classic album Parsley, Sage, Rosemary & Thyme.










1966:  The Seekers released the great song "Georgy Girl" on Capitol Records.
1966:  Roger Williams remained at #1 on the Easy Listening chart with "Born Free".









1966:  The Beach Boys released the most expensive 45 ever produced to that time--the elaborate "Good Vibrations"--on Capitol Records.
1970:  Pink Floyd released the album Atom Heart Mother.  (Note:  some websites report the release as October 5, but according to the official Pink Floyd website, it was October 10.
1970:  Black Sabbath went to #1 on the U.K. Album chart with Paranoid.





1970:  A new duo took over at #1 on the Easy Listening chart--"We've Only Just Begun" was the name of their follow-up to their first hit "Close To You" from the Carpenters.
1970:  The Jackson 5 moved to #1 on the R&B chart with their first release--"I'll Be There".







1970:  Neil Diamond sipped his way to #1 with "Cracklin' Rosie" but the Jackson 5 were hot in pursuit with "I'll Be There".  "Candida" moved to #3 for Dawn while the previous #1 from Diana Ross--"Ain't No Mountain High Enough" came in fourth.  Newcomer Free was up from 10 to 5 with "All Right Now".  The rest of the Top 10:  "Julie, Do Ya Love Me" by Bobby Sherman, CCR's double sided "Lookin' Out My Back Door"/"Long As I Can See The Light", Sugarloaf had their song "Green-Eyed Lady" in the Top 10, the Carpenters moved from 18-9 with "We've Only Just Begun" and Rare Earth was at 10 with "(I Know) I'm Losing You".

1970:  CCR set the pace on the Album chart for the eighth straight week with Cosmo's Factory.  Mad Dogs & Englishmen by Joe Cocker was second with the Moody Blues making a healthy move (7-3) for their album A Question of Balance.  The "Woodstock" Soundtrack dropped to 4 and the Third Album from the Jackson 5 catapulted from 12 to 5.  The rest of the Top 10:  Tommy from the Who, Chicago II, Abraxas debuted at #8 for Santana, After the Gold Rush by Neil Young and James Taylor first hit it big with the album Sweet Baby James.







1977:  Paul Simon released the song "Slip Slidin' Away".













1979:  It was "Fleetwood Mac Day" in Los Angeles as the supergroup was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

1980:  The funeral for departed drummer John Bonham of Led Zeppelin took place at the Rushock Parish Church in Worcestershire, England.  Bonham was found dead at the age of 32 at the home of guitarist Jimmy Page, a victim of asphyxiation after excessive vodka consumption.  Among the 250 mourners were Paul McCartney, Phil Collins, Denny Laine (of Wings), Carl Palmer (of Emerson, Lake & Palmer), and Jeff Lynne, Roy Wood, and Bev Bevan of the Electric Light Orchestra.
1981:  A bright talent first appeared on the national scene as Luther Vandross debuted on the chart with his first single--"Never Too Much".
1981:  The Police patrolled the U.K. Album chart from their view on top with Ghost in the Machine.
1981:  The Four Tops were spinning as their song "When She Was My Girl" was the #1 Adult Contemporary song.
1981:  Christopher Cross held on to #1 on the Adult Contemporary chart with "Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do)".

1981:  "Endless Love" from Diana Ross & Lionel Richie was #1 for the ninth week, 12th longest in the Rock Era.  Christopher Cross was poised with "Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do)" and "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around" by Stevie Nicks with Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers was a solid #3.  Journey remained the same with "Who's Crying Now" while Sheena Easton returned to the Top 10 with an 11-5 jump--"For Your Eyes Only".  The rest of the Top 10:  Eddie Rabbitt taking it "Step By Step", the Rolling Stones moved to #7 with "Start Me Up", Hall & Oates joined the group with "Private Eyes", Foreigner's 10th hit "Urgent" was on its way down while ELO held on with "Hold On Tight".





1983:  John Cougar Mellencamp released the single "Crumblin' Down", the first single release to include his real last name.

1983:  Culture Club released the single "Church Of The Poison Mind".

1983:  Wham! began a tour at the Capitol Center in Aberdeen, Scotland.
1987:  A new star first appeared on the chart as Taylor Dayne debuted with her first single "Tell It To My Heart".
1987:  Fleetwood Mac took over the top spot on the AC chart with "Little Lies".




1987:  Whitesnake had been duly patient and was rewarded with the #1 song "Here I Go Again".  










1987:  Bad by Michael Jackson was #1 on the Album chart for the third straight week, heading off Whitesnake and Whitney by Whitney Houston.  La Bamba from Los Lobos remained at 4 and Hysteria by Def Leppard was just getting started.  The rest of the Top 10:  The Lonesome Jubilee from John Cougar Mellencamp, the Soundtrack to "Dirty Dancing" jumped from 12 to 7, A Momentary Lapse of Reason from Pink Floyd entered the Top 10, The Joshua Tree by U2 was #9 and Heart's Bad Animals slipped to #10.
1988:  U2 released the live album Rattle and Hum.
1992:  Slash of Guns N' Roses married Renee Suran in Marina Del Rey, California.
1992:  R.E.M. landed at #1 on the U.K. Album chart with Automatic for the People.
1992:  Don Henley & Patty Smyth had the #1 AC song for the fourth straight week with "Sometimes Love Just Ain't Enough".
1998:  The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill by Lauryn Hill resumed its spot as the #1 album, now four weeks total for Hill.
1999:  The estate of Elvis Presley donated items for a charity auction at the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada.  A cigar box belonging to Presley sold for $25,000 a wristwatch brought in 25 grand, an autographed baseball fetched $19,000 and Elvis's 1956 Lincoln Continental sold for $250,000.
1999:  Christina Aguilera owned the top U.K. song with "Genie in a Bottle".
2001:  Trouble at the Paradise?  Dennis DeYoung of Styx sued the rest of the band for going on tour without him.

2004:  Robbie Williams had the top U.K. song with "Radio", his sixth #1 on that chart.
2004:  R.E.M. owned the top album in the U.K. with Around the Sun.
2007:  Art Todd, who enjoyed the hit "Chanson D'Amour" with wife Dotty, died at age 93 of congestive heart failure in Honolulu, Hawai'i.
2009:  Stephen Gately of Boyzone died at the age of 33 due to a pulmonary oedema – an accumulation of fluid on the lungs --  at his vacation home in Port d'Andratx, Majorca, Spain.
2010:  Solomon Burke ("Got to Get You Off My Mind" from 1965) died of natural causes on a plane that had just landed at Amsterdam International Airport from Los Angeles.


Born This Day:

1914:  Ivory Joe Hunter ("Since I Met You Baby" from 1956), who is estimated to have written over 7,000 songs, was born in Kirbyville, Texas; died November 8, 1974 of lung cancer in Memphis, Tennessee.
1934:  Jules Chaikin, trumpeter who worked with Chicago, the Carpenters, Kenny Rogers, Dionne Warwick, Aretha Franklin, Jefferson Airplane, the Turtles, Paul Anka, Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass, Johnny Mathis and Burt Bacharach, conductor for the Grammy Awards and the Greek Theater in Los Angeles, who also played music for the movie Star Wars, was born in Brooklyn, New York; died of heart failure November 23, 2012 in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.
1940:  Anita Humes of Essex ("Easier Said Than Done") was born in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania; died of natural causes on May 30, 2010.
1945:  Jerry Lacroix, saxophonist of Blood, Sweat & Tears, was born in Alexandria, Louisiana; died in a hospital in Lufkin, Texas.
1945:  Alan Cartwright, bassist with Procol Harum, was born in London.
1953:  Midge Ure of Ultravox and writer of the Live Aid Song "Do They Know It's Christmas?" was born in Cambuslang, Scotland.

1955:  David Lee Roth, the on again off again lead singer of Van Halen and a brief solo star, was born in Bloomington, Indiana.
1960:  Eric Martin, singer with Mr. Big ("To Be With You") was born in Long Island, New York.  (Note:  some websites report his birthplace as San Francisco, California.  Martin was born in Long Island, and later moved to San Francisco.)
1961:  Martin Kemp, bass guitarist of Spandau Ballet ("True" from 1983) was born in London, England.
1967:  Mike Malinin, drummer of the Goo Goo Dolls, was born in Washington, D.C.
1972:  Vincent Tattanelli, drummer of Nine Days, was born in Brooklyn, New York.

1979:  Mya was born in Washington, D.C.