Sunday, December 10, 2017

This Date in Rock Music History: November 17


1957:  Gene Vincent and the Blue Caps appeared on national television for the first time on The Ed Sullivan Show(Note:  numerous other "timeline" websites and other sites show that this date was November 25.  In the first place, The Ed Sullivan Show aired on Sunday nights, not Monday, and in 1957, Sunday fell on November 3, 10, 17 and 24th.  According to the book 'Handbook of Texas Music' by Laurie E. Jasinski, as well as the book 'Race with the Devil:  Gene Vincent's Life in the Fast Lane' by Susan VanHecke, as well as 'TV.com' and other television history sites, the correct date is November 17.)
1958:  Duane Eddy roared up the chart from 71 to 25 with "Cannonball".
1958:  The Kingston Trio hit #1 with "Tom Dooley".  
1961:  The Beatles played a lunch show at the Cavern Club in Liverpool, then ventured to the Village Hall, Knotty Ash for a nighttime concert.
1962:  "Big Girls Don't Cry" was the new #1 song on the R&B chart for the 4 Seasons.




1962:  The 4 Seasons blasted into the #1 position with "Big Girls Don't Cry".  Elvis Presley edged up with "Return To Sender" while the Crystals' former #1 "He's A Rebel" was third.
1963:  Nancy Sinatra was on The Ed Sullivan Show.
1966:  "Good Vibrations" by the Beach Boys was #1 in the U.K.
1967:  Davy Jones, lead singer of the Monkees, opened his clothing boutique Zilch (named after a song on the Headquarters album) in Greenwich Village, New York.
1970:  Elton John recorded a show at A&R Recording Studios in New York City for live broadcast on radio station WABC-FM that was later released as the 11-17-70 album.
1973:  Billy Preston's "Space Race" took over the #1 spot on the R&B chart.
1973:  Helen Reddy moved from 59 to 29 with "Leave Me Alone (Ruby Red Dress)".
                Ringo captured the moment...

1973:  Eddie Kendricks maintained with "Keep On Truckin'" at #1 while the previous #1 "Midnight Train To Georgia" by Gladys Knight & the Pips was still #2.  The DeFranco Family surprisingly had song #3--"Heartbeat - It's A Lovebeat", Ringo Starr was up to 4 with "Photograph" and Billy Preston's instrumental "Space Race" was at #5.  The rest of the Top 10:  Marie Osmond with "Paper Roses", the Carpenters had their 14th hit in just three years with "Top Of The World", the Rolling Stones tumbled with "Angie", Chicago had their seventh Top 10 with "Just You 'N' Me" and the late Jim Croce entered the list with "I Got A Name".






1973:  Elton John had the top album with Goodbye Yellow Brick RoadGoats Head Soup was second by the Rolling Stones and Brothers and Sisters by the Allman Brothers was awarded the #3 position.  The Who were up from 24 to 4 in their second week with Quadrophenia
1974:  ABBA ventured out of their native Sweden for the first time.  But not too far--just on a tour of Europe, which began at the Falkonercentret in Copenhagen, Denmark.
1976:  A Very Special Olivia Newton-John was shown on ABC television.
1976:  The Carpenters played two sold-out concerts at the Playhouse in Edinburgh, Scotland.





1977:  Neil Diamond released the single "Desiree".
1978:  Led Zeppelin recorded two takes of "All My Love" at ABBA's Polar Studios in Stockholm, Sweden for Led Zep's forthcoming album In Through the Out Door.
1979:  John Glascock, bassist of Jethro Tull in the studio, died at the age of 28 of a congenital heart valve defect in London.  (Note:  some websites show that Glascock died at age 26--he was 28 as reported by the 'BBC'.)






1979:  ABBA was verified by the Guinness Book of World Records as the top-selling group in recording history.
1979:  ABBA had their fifth #1 album in the U.K. with Greatest Hits, Volume 2.
1979:  Kool & the Gang stood on top of the R&B chart for the third week with "Ladies Night".






 1979:  "You're Only Lonely" by J.D. Souther became the new #1 song on the Adult Contemporary chart.

1979:  The Commodores enjoyed their second #1 song with "Still".
1979:  The Eagles had a stranglehold on the #1 album with their great release The Long Run.  Led Zeppelin was second with In Through the Out Door, Styx's Cornerstone was third and Tusk by Fleetwood Mac moved to 4.  The rest of the Top 10:  On the Radio--Greatest Hits Volumes I & II by Donna Summer, Midnight Magic from the Commodores, Herb Alpert's Rise was #7, Barbra Streisand edged up with Wet, One Voice from Barry Manilow captured the #9 spot and Bee Gees Greatest, a two-album set, debuted way up at #10.




1980:  John Lennon released the album Double Fantasy.









1980:  Dolly Parton released the single "9 To 5".
1980:  Aretha Franklin and Sammy Davis, Jr. performed for Queen Elizabeth in London.
1984:  The exciting Chaka Kahn had the top R&B song with "I Feel For You".






1984:  Giuffria had one of the fastest-moving songs as "Call To The Heart" climbed from 82 to 66.









     
               Sheena Easton changed her image...

1984:  Wham! moved up to #1 with "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go".  Prince peaked at #2 with "Purple Rain" and Billy Ocean's first #1 song "Caribbean Queen" was down to #3.  Chaka Khan had song #4 with "I Feel For You" and Stevie Wonder's former #1--"I Just Called To Say I Love You" was fifth.  The rest of the Top 10:  Hall & Oates were stuck on 6 with "Out Of Touch", Tina Turner and "Better Be Good To Me", Sheena Easton had her 12th hit with "Strut", Cyndi Lauper moved in with "All Through The Night" and Lionel Richie's "Penny Lover" was #10.
1984:  Lionel Richie was making history with his seventh #1 song on the AC chart out of eight releases.  "Penny Lover" took over at the top.

1985:  Wham!  led the way on the U.K. Album chart with Make It Big.
1987:  Madonna released her compilation You Can Dance(Note:  some websites report the date of release as November 18--according to Madonna's official website, it was November 17.)
1990:  David Crosby broke his left leg, ankle and shoulder in an accident on his motorcycle in Los Angeles.

1990:  Debbie Gibson was the honorary chairperson at the seventh annual Music Industry Tennis Party to benefit the T.J. Martell Foundation at the National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadow, New York.
1990:  The Rhythm of the Saints by Paul Simon moved from 11-5 on the Album chart, the only new entry in the Top 10.






1990:  Bette Midler continued her momentum as "From A Distance" remained #1 on the Adult Contemporary chart for the third week.









1990:  Mariah Carey remained at #1 with "Love Takes Time".  M.C. Hammer was sitting back with "Pray" and Alias moved up to #3 with their great song "More Than Words Can Say".  Deee-Lite had song #4--"Groove Is In The Heart".  The rest of the Top 10:  Whitney Houston moved from 13 to 5 with "I'm Your Baby Tonight", her 11th Top 10 song in 13 tries, Vanilla Ice cooled off with "Ice Ice Baby", Poison and "Something To Believe In", newcomer Stevie B moved from 15-8 with "Because I Love You (The Postman Song)", James Ingram with "I Don't Have The Heart" and Bette Midler moved into the Top 10 with "From A Distance".
1992:  In what was becoming a trend, Jimmy Merchant and Herman Santiago of Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers received $4 million in back payments from the song "Why Do Fools Fall in Love".  What?  Corporations doing something evil by withholding money from employees?  Shocking.
1997:  Metallica released their album Reload.
1998:  Mariah Carey released the album #1's
1998:  Jewel released the album Spirit.
2000:  The two-hour documentary The Beatles Revolution was shown on ABC-TV.
2000:  Cher was a guest star on the show Will & Grace on NBC-TV.
2003:  Britney Spears (21 years old) became the youngest singer to get a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.  In other words, they give one to anyone these days.
2003:  Arthur Conley ("Sweet Soul Music" in 1967) died of intestinal cancer in Ruurlo, The Netherlands at age 57.

2007:  The Eagles' great album Long Road out of Eden was #1.
2010  Legendary songwriters Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff had a street in front of their Philadelphia International studios named after them.

Born This Day:
1937:  Gerry McGee, guitarist of the Ventures, was born in Eunice, Louisiana.

1938:  Gordon Lightfoot was born in Orillia, Ontario, Canada.









1942:  Bob Gaudio, of the Royal Teens ("Short Shorts" from 1958) and who wrote many of the hits for the 4 Seasons with Bob Crewe and also produced several Neil Diamond albums, was born in The Bronx, New York.







1944:  Gene Clark, songwriter and guitarist for the New Christy Minstrels, the Byrds and later McGuinn, Clark & Hillman, was born in Tipton, Missouri; died of a heart attack at the age of 47 brought on by years of consumption of alcohol and drugs on May 24, 1991 in Sherman Oaks, California.







1946:  Martin Barre, lead guitarist of Jethro Tull, was born in King's Heath, Birmingham, England.
1947:  Rod Clements of Lindisfarne was born in North Shields, England.
1947:  Robert "Stewkey" Antoni, vocalist and keyboard player for the Nazz and Utopia
1955:  Peter Cox of Go West was born in Kingston, Surrey, England.
1957:  Jim Babjak, lead guitarist and founding member of the Smithereens, was born in Cartaret, New Jersey.
1967:  Ronnie Devoe of New Edition and Bell Biv Devoe was born in Boston, Massachusetts.
1967:  Ben Wilson, keyboardist of Blues Traveler, was born in Chicago, Illinois
1980:  Isaac Hanson of the group Hanson was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

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