Sunday, December 10, 2017

This Date in Rock Music History: October 20


1955:  Harry Belafonte recorded "Day-O (The Banana Boat Song)".
1955:  Elvis Presley, Pat Boone and Bill Haley & the Comets filmed a performance at Brooklyn High School in Cleveland, Ohio in the afternoon and a concert at St. Michael's Hall at night.  (Note:  numerous sites show the date as the 19th, but the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame website shows it as October 20.) 
1956:  Elvis Presley entered the chart with "Love Me Tender".
1958:  Bobby Day enjoyed a third straight week at #1 on the R&B chart with "Rock-in Robin".
1959:  Patty Duke starred in the Broadway production of The Miracle Worker, which opened today. at the Playhouse Theatre
1960:  The Elvis Presley movie G.I. Blues premiered in theaters.  (Note:  the film premiered at the Majestic Theater in Dallas, Texas on August 18, and was shown on military bases beginning October 23, but the movie did not open nationally until November 23, according to numerous Elvis websites)




1960:  Roy Orbison hit #1 in the U.K. with "Only The Lonely"
1961:  The Beatles did their usual lunchtime show at the Cavern Club in Liverpool, England, then performed at night at the Knotty Ash Village Hall in Liverpool.
1961:  Bobby Rydell hosted the Miss Teenage America contest in Dallas, Texas.
1962:  We were introduced to a great new singer with a whole lot of soul, although most wouldn't come to know him until later.  Marvin Gaye's first single debuted on the charts on this date--"A Stubborn Kind Of Fellow".






1962:  The Contours had the #1 R&B song with "Do You Love Me".









1962:  Just in time for Halloween, "Monster Mash" spooked the other songs and took over the #1 spot for Bobby "Boris" Pickett".  "Sherry" was dethroned after five weeks to the disappointment of the 4 Seasons.  The Contours' great song "Do You Love Me" was third but the Crystals moved from 11-4 with "He's A Rebel".  The rest of the Top 10:  "I Remember You" by Frank Ifield, Dickey Lee's "Patches" at #6, Nat King Cole fell with "Ramblin' Rose", Gene Pitney moved from 13 to 8 with "Only Love Can Break A Heart", Booker T. & the M.G.'s "Green Onions" tumbled to #9 and Chris Montez closed the group with "Let's Dance".






1963:  The Beatles recorded a performance for the British program Thank Your Lucky Stars on ABC-TV at the Alpha Television Studios in Birmingham, England.  The show was broadcast on October 26.
1965:  The Beatles began recording "We Can Work It Out" in two four-plus hour sessions at Studio 2 at the EMI Studios in London.  The flip side to "Day Tripper", which had already been recorded, "We Can Work It Out" was finished on October 29.
1968:  Cream and Deep Purple appeared in concert at the San Diego Sports Arena.  What a show!






1969:  John Lennon released the single Cold Turkey.
1969:  The Who began the first of a six-night run at Fillmore East in New York City playing the rock opera Tommy in its entirety.
1972:  Joe Cocker was arrested for the second time in four days, this time for assault as well as resisting arrest in Melbourne, Australia and was deported.







1973:  One of the great soul songs of the 70's--"Midnight Train To Georgia" by Gladys Knight & the Pips was the new #1 R&B song.












1973:  A rock band from Boston was making noise and on this date, Aerosmith debuted with their first single release "Dream On".
1973:  Ringo Starr was on the move with "Photograph", climbing from 60 to 29.
1973:  The Rolling Stones reached #1 with "Angie".
1974:  Eric Burdon (Animals and War) and his wife Rose became the parents of daughter Mirage.
1976:  The Eagles performed at The Forum in Los Angeles.





1976:  The Led Zeppelin movie The Song Remains the Same premiered at Cinema 1 in New York City.










1977:  Ronnie Van Zant, Steve Gaines and Cassie Gaines of Lynyrd Skynyrd were killed along with group manager Dean Kilpatrick when their rented plane ran out of fuel and crashed in a densely-wooded area of a swamp in Gillsburg, Missouri.  The rest of the band and crew were seriously injured.
1978:  The Police made their debut in the United States with a show at C.B.G.B.s. in New York City.
1979:  Bob Dylan performed three songs from the album Slow Train Coming on Saturday Night Live.




         
                       The incomparable Donna Summer...

1979:  Herb Alpert enjoyed his second #1 song "Rise", 15 years after his first #1--"This Guy's In Love With You".  Michael Jackson slipped down with "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough", M was up to #3 with "Pop Muzik", the Commodores' great song "Sail On" remained fourth with Dionne Warwick in the #5 position with "I'll Never Love This Way Again".  The rest of an outstanding Top 10:  Donna Summer and "Dim All The Lights", Robert John with "Sad Eyes", the former #1 "My Sharona" from the Knack, the Eagles had their seventh Top 10 song out of their last nine releases ("Heartache Tonight", which moved from 15-9) and the Commodores were at warp speed with a 38-10 move for their new release "Still".  
1979:  The great album In Through the Out Door remained #1 for the sixth week for Led Zeppelin.  The Eagles were in rarefied air with a debut for The Long Run at #2, Get the Knack from the Knack fell to 3 and the Commodores were still at 4 with Midnight Magic.  The rest of the Top 10:  Off the Wall from Michael Jackson, Foreigner's Head Games was #6, Cheap Trick entered the Top 10 with Dream Police, Bob Dylan held position #8 with Slow Train Coming, Supertramp's landmark Breakfast In America was #9 and Styx moved from 21 to 10 with Cornerstone.
1980:  U2 released their fist album Boy in the U.K. and Europe.


1980:  Music Directors were thrilled to come back from the weekend and find some great 45's on their desk on this date.  John Lennon released the first single from his brand new Double Fantasy Album--"(Just Like) Starting Over" in the United States.  He released the single four days later in the U.K.
1984:  Wham! had the top song in the U.K.--"Freedom".
1984:  Stevie Wonder continued to have the #1 R&B song with "I Just Called To Say I Love You".





  
 Springsteen kept the hits coming from Born in the U.S.A....

1984:  Stevie Wonder remained at the top with his eighth #1 song--"I Just Called To Say I Love You".  Billy Ocean closed with "Caribbean Queen" and Chicago was up to #3 with "Hard Habit To Break".  The rest of the Top 10:  Madonna edged up with "Lucky Star", the Cars slipped into reverse with "Drive", the new one from Bruce Springsteen ("Cover Me") was up to #7, John Cafferty & the Beaver Brown Band got their first taste of the Top 10 with "On The Dark Side", Prince shot up from 18 to 9 with "Purple Rain" and the Pointer Sisters were feeling good about their new hit "I'm So Excited".
1984:  "I Just Called To Say I Love You" was #1 on the Adult Contemporary chart for Stevie Wonder.
1984:  Prince reigned for the 12th week on the Album chart with Purple Rain.  Born in the U.S.A. from Bruce Springsteen was second, followed by Private Dancer from Tina Turner, Sports from Huey Lewis & the News and Heartbeat City by the Cars.  It was the ninth consecutive week that those five releases held down the Top 5 albums, believed to be the only time in the Rock Era that the feat has occurred.


1987:  Genesis released the new single "Land Of Confusion".  (Note:  one naive website claims the single was released October 31.  "Land Of Confusion" debuted on the Singles chart on November 1.  It is physically impossible for a record company to mail a 45 to radio stations, be received and listened to by the radio stations, added to station playlists and reported to the trade papers, and printed and published by the trade papers, in two days.)  











1990:  James Ingram's great song "I Don't Have The Heart" took over at #1 with "Black Cat" from Janet Jackson leaping to #2.
1990:  The Razors Edge by AC/DC was one of three new albums in the Top 10.
1992:  Madonna released the album Erotica.
1994:  Bruce Springsteen and Neil Young joined Bob Dylan onstage at the Roseland Ballroom in New York City to perform "Rainy Day Women #12 & 35" and "Highway 61 Revisited".

1997:  Henry Vestine, guitarist of Canned Heat, was found dead from heart and respiratory failure in a hotel room in France at the age of 52.
1999:  Ricky Martin kicked off a tour at the Miami Arena in Florida.
2001:  Sir Paul McCartney, Sir Elton John, Michael Jackson, the Who, Aerosmith, Eric Clapton, Tom Petty, James Brown, P. Diddy, 'N Sync and David Bowie performed in concerts at Madison Square Garden in New York City and RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C. to raise millions for victims of the September 11 attacks.
2002:  Nelly and Kelly Rowland had the #1 song in the U.K. with "Dilemma".
2003:  Prince played a secret concert at Bennetts Lane Jazz Club in Melbourne, Australia.
2003:  Jimmy Cliff ("I Can See Clearly Now") was honored for his work in music and film with Jamaica's the Order of Merit.

2004:  Ricky Martin asked world leaders at the United Nations to help combat child sex tourism and child prostitution.
2004:  George Strait had the number one album with 50 Number Ones.
2005:  Kanye West had the #1 song for the seventh week with "Gold Digger".



Born This Day:
1937:  Wanda Jackson ("In the Middle of a Heartache" from 1961) was born in Maud, Oklahoma.
1939:  Ray Jones, bassist of the Dakotas until 1964, was born in Oldham, Lancashire, England; died January 20, 2000.
1939:  Jay Siegel of the Tokens, was born in Brooklyn, New York.
1945:  Ric Lee, drummer of Ten Years After ("I'd Love to Change The World"), was born in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England.

1950:  Tom Petty was born in Gainesville, Florida.









1951:  Al Greenwood, keyboardist with Foreigner, was born in New York City.
1958:  Mark King, bassist with Level 42, was born in Cowes, England.
1958:  Ricky Byrd of Joan Jett & the Blackhearts
1964:  Jim Sonefeld, one of the founding members of Hootie & the Blowfish, was born in Lansing, Michigan.
1964:  David Ryan, drummer of the Lemonheads
1971:  Snoop Dogg was born in Long Beach, California.
1978:  Paul Wilson, bass guitarist for Snow Patrol ("Chasing Cars") was born in Kinlochleven, Scotland.

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