Sunday, December 10, 2017

This Date in Rock Music History: October 18

1957:  Paul McCartney performed with the Quarrymen for the first time at the New Clubmoor Hall in Liverpool, England.  McCartney, who played lead guitar, didn't perform well in his solo, which eventually led to George Harrison being invited into the group and Paul switching to bass.



1957:  Peggy Sue Gerron first heard the song that was named for her when she went to see Buddy Holly & the Crickets in concert in Sacramento, California.  Gerron later married Crickets drummer Jerry Allison.
1963:  Chuck Berry was released from federal prison in Springfield, Missouri after serving 19 months for transporting a minor across state lines for an immoral purpose.

1964:  The Beatles recorded "I Feel Fine", "Eight Days A Week", "Kansas City/Hey Hey Hey Hey", "I'll Follow The Sun", "Mr. Moonlight", "Rock And Roll Music", "Everybody's Trying To Be My Baby" and "Words Of Love" in a marathon nine-hour recording session at the EMI Studios on Abbey Road in London.  The group was working to complete the songs on their upcoming Beatles for Sale album.  
1964:  The Animals set out on their first tour of the United Kingdom at the ABC in Manchester, England.  Carl Perkins, Gene Vincent and the Nashville Teens opened. 
1967:  The movie How I Won the War starring John Lennon premiered in theatres in London.





1967:  The Bee Gees topped the U.K. chart with "Massachusetts".
1968:  John Lennon and Yoko Ono were arrested for possession of marijuana when police raided Ringo Starr's apartment.
1969:  Rod Stewart joined the group Faces as its lead singer.
1969:  The Jackson 5 made their television debut on the show Hollywood Palace on ABC-TV.
1969:  The Temptations had the top song on the R&B chart for the third week with "I Can't Get Next To You".






 African-American artists have gone into an abyss lately but in 1969 the Temptations were amazing!

1969:  The Temptations rose to #1 with "I Can't Get Next To You".  Sly & the Family Stone had the #2 song with "Hot Fun In The Summertime" and after four weeks at #1, the Archies slipped with "Sugar, Sugar".  Oliver's "Jean" was #4 followed by "Little Woman" from Bobby Sherman.  The rest of the Top 10: The 111th hit for Elvis Presley--"Suspicious Minds", "That's The Way Love Is" by Marvin Gaye entered the Top 10, "Wedding Bell Blues" shot up from 25 to 8 for the 5th Dimension, Three Dog Night's big hit "Easy To Be Hard" was now #9 and "Tracy" by the Cuff Links came in #10.





1971:  Bread released their single "Baby I'm-a-Want You".  (Note:  one naive website claims the song was released October 23.  "Baby I'm-a-Want You" debuted on the Singles chart on October 23.  It is physically impossible for a record company to mail a 45, be received by radio stations, listened to and added to radio station playlists, reported to the trade papers, and printed and published by the trade papers, all in one day.)
1972:  The Diana Ross movie Lady Sings the Blues opened in theaters.  (Note:  some websites report the opening as October 8 or October 12, but according to the book 'If You Can't be Free, be a Mystery:  In Search of Billie Holliday', the film premiered at the Lowes State Theater in Manhattan New York on October 18.)
1974:  Mary Woodson threw a pot of boiling grits on her boyfriend, Al Green, when he was getting out of the bathtub, then shot herself.
1974:  Sweet Sensation owned the #1 song in the U.K.--"Sad Sweet Dreamer".
1975:  The Eagles performed at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania for the One of These Nights tour.




1975:  Simon and Garfunkel reunited on the second episode of Saturday Night Live on NBC-TV.
 1975:  Olivia Newton-John scored her fourth consecutive #1 and sixth straight Top 3 song on the Easy Listening chart with "Something Better To Do".







       
                            More soul than 1,000 rappers combined...

1975:  The Spinners reached #1 on the R&B chart with "Games People Play".
1975:  Silver Convention rose from 87 to 48 with "Fly, Robin, Fly".








                              The amazing 4 Seasons story wasn't over yet...

1975:  Neil Sedaka and Elton John remained at #1 with "Bad Blood" in an excellent Top 10.  John Denver held steady with "Calypso"/"I'm Sorry" and "Miracles" by Jefferson Starship moved up to #3.  The Eagles had their third Top 10 in a row with "Lyin' Eyes" which jumped up from 10 to 4 and Sweet climbed into the #5 spot with "Ballroom Blitz".  The rest of the Top 10:  Orleans and "Dance With Me", Morris Albert's "Feelings", Hellen Reddy couldn't budge with "Ain't No Way To Treat A Lady", the Spinners entered the Top 10 with "Games People Play" and, in an amazing Rock Era story, the 4 Seasons reached the Top 10 for the first time in eight years with the 43rd hit of their career--"Who Loves You".





1975:  The fine album Windsong by John Denver took over from Pink Floyd's Wish You Were Here as the top album.  Bruce Springsteen's Born to Run was third with Jefferson Airplane cruising in with Red Octopus.  The rest of the Top 10:  Win, Lose or Draw from the Allman Brothers Band, the Eagles' great album One of These Nights was at #6, Linda Ronstadt moved to 7 with Prisoner in Disguise, the Spinners and Pick of the Litter, Jethro Tull moved up with Minstrel in the Gallery and George Harrison's Extra Texture moved from 34-10.







1976:  Leo Sayer released the single "You Make Me Feel Like Dancing".
1979:  Elton John performed for the first of nine nights at the Palladium in New York City.









1979:  The Buggles rose to #1 in the U.K. with "Video Killed The Radio Star".
1980:  The Game by Queen was #1 on the Album chart for the fifth week but Guilty from Barbra Streisand moved from 15 to 2.  Diana by Diana Ross came in third while the excellent "Xanadu" Soundtrack was #4.  The rest of the Top 10:  One Step Closer from the Doobie Brothers, Crimes of Passion by Pat Benatar remained at #6, Give Me the Night by George Benson, the Cars slipped with Panorama, Emotional Rescue by the Rolling Stones was #9 and AC/DC logged a third straight week at #10 with Back in Black.






1980:  Queen had the biggest hit of their career with "Another One Bites The Dust" which remained #1 for a third week.  Barbra Streisand was poised at #2 with "Woman In Love" while Diana Ross was at #3 with her 24th solo hit and 57th overall (counting the Supremes)--"Upside Down".  Air Supply was officially #4 with "All Out Of Love" even though it was a #1 song in most markets.  The rest of the Top 10:  The Pointer Sisters were up big (12-5) with "He's So Shy", the Doobie Brothers edged up with "Real Love", Kenny Loggins remained at #7 with "I'm Alright", Olivia Newton-John and ELO combined for "Xanadu", Eddie Rabbitt with "Drivin' My Life Away" and Paul Simon fell to 10 with "Late In The Evening".










1982:  Don Henley released one of The Most Important Songs of the Rock Era*--"Dirty Laundry", a seething satire on the media and specifically, television news.
1986:  Christine McVie married Eduardo Quintela.
1986:  Cameo owned the top song on the R&B chart for the third week with "Word Up".

1986:  Genesis had the top Adult Contemporary song again with "Throwing It All Away".
1986:  The great album Fore!  from Huey Lewis & the News was #1 but Slippery When Wet by Bon Jovi was a strong second.  The "Top Gun" Soundtrack fell to 3, Lionel Richie's Dancing on the Ceiling was in the #4 position and Raising Hell from Run-D.M.C. was 5.  The rest of the Top 10:  Back in the High Life from Steve Winwood, Madonna dropped with True Blue, Billy Joel's The Bridge, Invisible Touch from Genesis remained at #9 and Janet Jackson held on to #10 with Control.
1987:  The Smiths starred in a documentary shown on television in the U.K. filmed during the recording of Strangeways.





1988:  The Traveling Wilburys released the amazing album Volume One.
1989:  Axl Rose, lead singer of Guns N' Roses, announced to the crowd at the Coliseum in Los Angeles, California that he was quitting the group.







1994:  In 1980, the members of the supergroup the Eagles vowed they would get back together "when hell freezes over."  Here it was 14 years later and that is what happened, and the band jokingly called their album Hell Freezes Over.  It contained live tracks from an immensely successful tour and four new songs.  On this date, they released their first single in 14 years--"Get Over It".
1994:  Lee Allen, great saxophone player who played on such songs as "Tutti Frutti" by Little Richard, and "I'm Walking" by Fats Domino, who worked with the Rolling Stones, the Stray Cats, Etta James, and numerous others, died at the age of 67.
1997:  Hanson sang the U.S. national anthem at the opening game of the World Series in Florida.

1997:  "Candle In The Wind 1997" by Elton John, which had debuted at #1 the week before, remained in that spot. 
2000:  The New York State Supreme Court overturned a Court of Appeals ruling and ruled that the Ronettes did not have the right to share in money earned by producer Phil Spector from movies, television and advertising in using the group's songs.  The Court cited a 1963 contract in reaching their decision and ended a 15-year dispute.

2000:  Julie London ("Cry Me A River" from 1955), who had suffered a severe stroke in 1995, died in Encino, California at age 74.
2005:  Midge Ure of Ultravox and co-founder of Live Aid, earned an Order of the British Empire medal from the Queen at Buckingham Palace in London.
2008:  Adele appeared on Saturday Night Live on NBC-TV.
2008:  T.I. had the #1 album with Paper Trail.


Born This Day:
1926:  Chuck Berry was born in St. Louis, Missouri; died March 18, 2017 at his home near Wentzville, Missouri.








1937:  Cynthia Weil, lyricist for Don Kirshner's Aldon Music, who wrote such hits as "You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling" and "On Broadway", was born in New York City.
1938:  Ronnie Bright of the Coasters was born in New York City.
1943:  Russ Gugiere, guitarist and vocalist for the Association, was born in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.






1947:  Singer/songwriter Laura Nyro, whose songs "Wedding Bell Blues" and "Stoned Soul Picnic" were big hits for the 5th Dimension, and also wrote "Eli's Comin'" for Three Dog Night, "And When I Die" for Blood, Sweat & Tears, and "Stoney End" for Barbra Streisand, was born in The Bronx, New York; died of ovarian cancer in Danbury, Connecticut on April 8, 1997.
1949:  Gary Richrath, guitarist for REO Speedwagon, was born in Peoria, Illinois; died September 13, 2015.
1949:  Joe Egan, singer/songwriter and co-founder of Stealer's Wheel ("Stuck in the Middle With You" from 1973) was born in Paisley, Scotland.
1974:  Peter Svenson, main songwriter and guitarist of the Cardigans ("Lovefool"), was born in Jönköping, Sweden.
1975:  Baby Bash was born in Vallejo, California.
1982:  Ne-Yo was born in Camden, Arkansas.
1987:  Zachary Efron, singer from High School Musical and famous actor, was born in San Luis Obispo, California.

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