This Date in Rock Music History: October 16

1951:  Little Richard recorded for the first time in Atlanta, Georgia, recording "Every Hour", "Goin' To Get Rich Quick", "Taxi Blues", and "Why Did You Leave Me".
1954:  Elvis Presley made his famous first radio appearance on the Louisiana Hayride.

1961:  "Hit The Road Jack" from Ray Charles was #1 on the R&B chart for the third week.
1961:  Ray Charles had the #1 Popular song for the second week with "Hit The Road, Jack" but Jimmy Dean was on the move (17-8) with "Big Bad John".
1962:  Motown put together a tour that included the Supremes, Marvin Gaye, the Miracles, Mary Wells, and Little Stevie Wonder with their debut show in Washington, D.C.
1963:  The Beatles recorded performances of "I Saw Her Standing There","Love Me Do", "Please Please Me", "From Me to You", and  "She Loves You" for the BBC radio program Easy Beat, which was broadcast October 20.
1964:  The Beatles appeared on the British television show Ready Steady Go!

1965:  The Beatles received the Order of the British Empire from Queen Elizabeth.
1965:  The Beatles recorded "Day Tripper", based on a folk song that Lennon had written a month previous.









1965:  How about this for a signal of a hot song--The Rolling Stones moved up from 64 to 14 with "Get Off Of My Cloud".

1965:  The Beatles held on to #1 with "Yesterday" while Roy Head edged up with "Treat Her Right" and the former #1 from the McCoys ("Hang On Sloopy") was now at #3.  The Toys shot up from 19 to 4 with their great song "A Lover's Concerto" and the Gentrys had a nice 14-5 move with "Keep On Dancing".  The rest of the Top 10:  "The 'In' Crowd" from the Ramsey Lewis Trio, Herman's Hermits hit the Top 10 again with "Just A Little Bit Better", Sonny & Char at #8 with "Baby Don't Go", Lovin' Spoonful had song #9 with "Do You Believe In Magic" and "Eve Of Destruction" from Barry McGuire was #10.
1966:  Grace Slick performed for the first time as the new lead singer of Jefferson Airplane at the Fillmore in San Francisco, California.  Slick introduced fans to two new Airplane songs:  "White Rabbit" and "Somebody To Love".

1966:  Joan Baez and 118 other demonstrators who were protesting the military draft in the United States were arrested after they blocked the entrance of the Armed Forces Induction Center in Oakland, California.








1969:  The Supremes released the single "Someday We'll Be Together".  The record was actually Diana Ross with backing vocalists; the other members of the group did not sing on the song. Note: Many websites show the release as being in November, but according to 'soulfuldetroit.com', it was October 16.
1969:  Leonard Chess, the founder of Chess Records, died of a heart attack at the age of 52 in Chicago, Illinois.

 1971:  The Carpenters held on to #1 on the Easy Listening chart with "Superstar".









1971:  For the third week, Rod Stewart sat at #1 with "Maggie May".  The only new Top 10 song was Cher's "Gypsys, Tramps & Thieves", which moved up from 28 to 10.
1972:  A very sad day in the Rock Era--the members of one of the greatest groups in history--Creedence Clearwater Revival, announced they were breaking up.
1976:  The Eagles were in concert at the McKale Center at the University of Arizona in Tucson, Arizona.








1976:  ABBA reached #1 on the Easy Listening chart with "Fernando".
1976:  Stevie Wonder became the second solo artist of the Rock Era (Elton John was the first) to debut at #1 on the Album chart as Songs in the Key of Life entered at the top.  It did so ahead of some great albums:  Silk Degrees by Boz Scaggs, Peter Frampton's Frampton Comes Alive! fell after 10 weeks at #1, Fly Like An Eagle from Steve Miller Band was #4, Hasten Down the Wind by Linda Ronstadt was fifth and the self-titled Fleetwood Mac was #6 after 64 weeks of release.
1982:  Hall & Oates released the album H2O.









1982:  John Cougar (Mellencamp) stayed on top with "Jack & Diane" for the third week. 
1986:  Linda Ronstadt, Eric Clapton, Keith Richard, Etta James and Robert Cray performed at an early birthday party for Chuck Berry (he was born on October 18) at the Fox Theater in St. Louis, Missouri.
1989:  Taylor Dayne released the single "With Every Beat Of My Heart".
1992:  Sinead O'Connor ("Nothing Compares to U (sic)") was booed off stage at Madison Square Garden in a show that was intended to honor Bob Dylan on his 30th anniversary in the music business.  O'Connor, who had torn up a photograph of Pope John Paul II on Saturday Night Live 13 days previous, dropped her scheduled Dylan song and reprised "War" by Bob Marley instead.  George Harrison, Eric Clapton, Tom Petty and Neil Young also performed.







 1993:  "Dreamlover" by Mariah Carey was #1 for the sixth consecutive week.  Ace of Base was making their move with "All That She Wants", up from 21 to 8.
2003:  Simon & Garfunkel kicked off their wildly successful reunion tour at the Wachovia Arena in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.







2003:  U2 donated money to the Irish branch of One in Four, a charity benefiting victims of sexual abuse that was facing closure due to a lack of funds.
2005:  The Sugababes not only had the #1 song in the U.K. with "Push the Button" but their album Taller in More Ways debuted at #1.


Born This Day:

1923:  Bert Kaempfert, prolific songwriter ("Strangers in the Night" for Frank Sinatra, "Spanish Eyes" by Al Martino, "Danke Schoen" for Wayne Newton, "L-O-V-E" by Nat King Cole, and many others), performer ("Wonderland By Night" from 1960) and the man who signed the Beatles to a recording contract, was born in Hamburg, Germany.
1938:  Nico (Christa Paffgen), singer-songwriter and vocalist of the Velvet Underground, was born in Cologne, Germany; died of a heart attack while on vacation in Ibiza July 18, 1988.

1943:  C.F. "Fred" Turner, bass guitarist of Bachman-Turner Overdrive, was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
1947:  Bob Weir, guitarist of Grateful Dead, was born in San Francisco, California.
1953:  Tony Carey, guitarist for Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow, was born in Turlock, California.
1959:  Gary Kemp of Spandau Ballet was born in Islington, London, England.
1962:  Flea (Michael Balzary), bassist of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, was born in Melbourne, Australia.

1969:  Wendy Wilson of Wilson Phillips, and daughter of Beach Boys founder Brian Wilson, was born in Bel Air, California.

This Date in Rock Music History: October 15

1955:  Fans were lucky to be at this show.  Buddy Holly opened for Elvis Presley in Lubbock, Texas.  Talent scout Eddie Crandall saw the show and afterwards, arranged for Holly to audition for Decca Records.

1955:  For the 11th week, "Maybelline" by Chuck Berry topped the R&B chart.  

1960:  Ringo Starr was the drummer for the Beatles, sitting in for Pete Best, as the group backed Lu Walters (real name Wally Eymond) at the Akustik studio in Hamburg, Germany.  The musicians recorded a version of George Gershwin's "Summertime" that featured the first time that John, Paul, George and Ringo recorded together.










1962:  The 4 Seasons released the single "Big Girls Don't Cry".
1965:  Jimi Hendrix signed his first recording contract that paid him $1 and 1% of the earnings on his recordings.
1965:  The San Francisco group Great Society, which included Grace Slick and her husband Darby, made their live debut at the Coffee Gallery in North Beach, California.  (Note:  most websites indicate the date as September 15, but the official Jefferson Airplane website says it was October 15.)
1966:  Signe Anderson, singer with Jefferson Airplane, made her final appearance with the group at the Fillmore in San Francisco, California.  Anderson left the group in order to devote attention to her new baby. 
1966:  The Temptations ruled the R&B chart for the fourth week with "Beauty Is Only Skin Deep".





1966:  The Four Tops took a turn at #1 with their great song "Reach Out I'll Be There".  "Cherish" by the Association finally relinquished after three great weeks at #1.  ? & the Mysterians were at 3 with "96 Tears" while the Monkees' first release "Last Train To Clarksville" was up to #4.  The rest of the Top 10:  "Psychotic Reaction" from Count Five, Neil Diamond's first Top 10 of a great career ("Cherry Cherry") was #6, the Left Banke flowed into the Top 10 with a 14-7 move for "Walk Away Renee", Jimmy Ruffin's solo hit "What Becomes of the Brokenhearted" entered the Top 10, "I've Got You Under My Skin" from the 4 Seasons was #9 and the Supremes closed out the list with their former #1--"You Can't Hurry Love".
1966:  Revolver by the Beatles was #1 for a sixth week on the Album chart.  The "Doctor Zhivago" Soundtrack remained at #2 with Somewhere My Love from Ray Conniff & Singers third.  Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass was fourth with What Now My Love while The Supremes A' Go-Go moved from 12 to 5.  The rest of the Top 10:  Whipped Cream & Other Delights from Herb Alpert's Tijuana Brass was #6 after 75 weeks, the amazing Soundtrack to "The Sound of Music" was finally on its way down after 83 weeks, the Mamas & the Papas moved from 21-8, Sinatra at the Sands came in at #9 and Aftermath by the Rolling Stones was down to 10 after 15 weeks.


1968:  Stevie Wonder released the single "For Once In My Life".
1971:  Pink Floyd began a tour at the Winterland Arena in San Francisco, California.
1971:  You have to wonder what was going through the fans' minds:  Rick Nelson was actually booed in Madison Square Garden in New York City when he performed a new song.  The experience was immortalized in Rick's single "Garden Party".



1973:  Elton John released the single "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road".
1973:  Keith Richards, guitarist of the Rolling Stones, was convicted of drug trafficking in Nice, France.
1977:  "It's Ecstasy When You Lay Down Next To Me" from Barry White was #1 on the R&B chart for the third straight week.
1977:  Carly Simon held on to #1 on the Easy Listening chart for the sixth week with "Nobody Does It Better".




1977:  It had been a pretty swift climb up and all signs pointed to a monster hit for Debby Boone's "You Light Up My Life", the new #1 song on this date.
1977:  Rumours by Fleetwood Mac was the #1 album for week #23.  Simple Dreams by Linda Ronstadt was #2, Shaun Cassidy held on to 3 with his debut and Moody Blue from the recently departed Elvis Presley was #4.  The rest of the Top 10:  Foreigner moved up with their self-titled release, Anytime...Anywhere by Rita Coolidge was #6, the Soundtrack to "Star Wars" was #7, JT by James Taylor, I Robot from the Alan Parsons Project was #9 and the Doobie Brothers slipped into the Top 10 with Livin' On the Fault Line.
1979:  Donna Summer released her double album greatest hits package On the Radio:  Volumes I & II.
1979:  John Lennon and wife Yoko Ono contributed $1,000 to a campaign to buy bulletproof vests for New York City policemen.

1979:  The Eagles played at the War Memorial Auditorium in Buffalo, New York.
1979:  ABBA played the first of their limited number of career concerts in North America at the Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
1980:  Bobby Lester, founding singer with the Moonglows, died in Louisville, Kentucky at the age of 50.  
1983:  Genesis had the top U.K. album with their self-titled release.




   
  The Police had another monster hit from Synchronicity

1983:  Bonnie Tyler logged a third week at #1 with "Total Eclipse of the Heart", topping a great Top 10.  Air Supply remained in the runner-up spot with "Making Love Out of Nothing At All".  The Police were stuck at three with "King of Pain", Spandau Ballet had the #4 song--"True" and Kenny Rogers & Dolly Parton combined for song #5--"Islands in the Stream".  The rest of the Top 10:  The Fixx with "One Thing Leads To Another", Lionel Richie was on the move with "All Night Long (All Night)", Men Without Hats were still in the Top 10 after 17 weeks with "The Safety Dance", Billy Joel's "Tell Her About It" and the Stray Cats were down with "(She's) Sexy + 17".
1987:  Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead began a series of solo performances on Broadway in New York City.

1988:  UB40 reached #1 with "Red Red Wine", taking over from Def Leppard's "Love Bites".

 

 

 

 

 

 

1988:  New Jersey by Bon Jovi moved to #1 on the Album chart, moving Appetite for Destruction by Guns N' Roses out after just three weeks.  Hysteria by Def Leppard was still third after 61 weeks of release with the "Cocktail" Soundtrack coming in fourth.  The rest of the Top 10:  Tracy Chapman with her debut, ...And Justice for All from Metallica at #6, Bobby McFerrin's Simple Pleasures, Roll With It from Steve Winwood, the great album Kick by INXS re-entered the Top 10 after 49 weeks and George Michael was hanging on to #10 after 48 weeks with Faith.

1990:  Whitney Houston released the single "I'm Your Baby Tonight".
1991:  John Fogerty and wife Julie celebrated the birth of son Shane.
1994:  Take That topped the U.K. chart with "Sure".
1994:  Monster from R.E.M. became the latest album to debut at #1.  Ho-hum.  II by Boyz II Men was second, and From the Cradle by Eric Clapton, which had debuted at #1 two weeks before, was now #3.  Rhythm of Love by Anita Baker, which had debuted at #3 a couple weeks before, was fourth followed by Songs from Luther Vandross, which had debuted at #5 the week before.  The rest of the Top 10:  "The Lion King" Soundtrack, Smash from Offspring, Slayer's Divine Intervention debuted at #8, Dookie from Green Day was #9 and The Concert by Barbra Streisand debuted at #10.  If you didn't know it, you'd say the competition this week was no better than when rock began in 1955.  And you'd be right.
1994:  "I'll Make Love To You", one of the Top Songs of the 1990's, was #1 for the ninth week on the R&B chart.

1994:  Boyz II Men had the #1 song for the eighth straight week with "I'll Make Love To You".
1997:  Michael Jackson concluded a highly successful HIStory Tour at King's Park Rugby Stadium in Durban, South Africa.  Jackson did 82 shows and performed before 4.5 million fans on the tour.
1999:  Terry Gilkyson, lead singer of the Easy Riders ("Marianne" in 1957) died while visiting family in Austin, Texas at the age of 83.  
2000:  Dave Edmunds ("I Hear You Knockin'") had triple heart bypass surgery at Cedars-Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles.
2000:  U2 earned the #1 song in the U.K. with "Beautiful Day".
2006:  My Chemical Romance had the top U.K. hit with "Welcome to the Black Parade".
2008:  It seemed no artist would give permission for Republicans to use their songs.  Jon Bon Jovi was the latest to tell presidential hopeful John McCain that he was illegally using his song "Who Says You Can't Go Home".  Heart, Jackson Browne and the Foo Fighters had all previously told McCain to cease using their material.
2008:  Madonna and Guy Ritchie announced that their seven-year marriage was over.


Born This Day:
1925:  Mickey Baker, who had a hit with Sylvia ("Love Is Strange") and worked with artists such as the Drifters, Ray Charles, Big Joe Turner and Ivory Joe Hunter, was born in Louisville, Kentucky; died of heart and kidney failure on November 27, 2012 in Montastruc-la-Conseillère, France.

1935:  Barry McGuire ("Eve of Destruction") was born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
1938:  Marv Johnson, who recorded the 45 "Come to Me", the first record released on Tamla Records, was born in Detroit, Michigan; died of a stroke at a concert in Columbia, South Carolina on May 16, 1993.
1942:  Don Stevenson, drummer of Moby Grape, was born in Seattle, Washington.






1946:  Richard Carpenter, the genius behind the best-selling duo the Carpenters, was born in New Haven, Connecticut.

 

 

 

 

 

1948:  Chris De Burgh was born in Venado Tuerto, Santa Fe Province, Argentina.
1953:  Tito Jackson of the Jackson 5 was born in Gary, Indiana.
1970:  Ginuwine was born in Washington, D.C.

New Featured Unknown/Underrated Song: Stonebolt and "I Will Still Love You"

This Canadian group first formed in 1969 under the name Perth Amboy.  They waited eight long years before their first major success, achieved with this song.  Even it only reached #31.  But it should have gone much higher and launched the group's career.  Since it didn't, we never heard from them again...

"I Will Still Love You"

by Stonebolt

Love 'em and leave 'em
Give them the air
Hurt and deceive them
Say you don't care
Break their hearts and let them fall
Like rain on your back stairs
Then call me up tomorrow
You know I'll still be there

When the moon disappears forever
And the sun shines electric blue
And the mountains and trees tumble into the sea
To rest there for eternity
No matter what you do
I will still love you

So if all your bridges go up in flames
And if all your lovers strike you too tame
Or some sad song of love you hear
Can make you call my name
I will be there in a minute
And you know I'll feel the same

When the moon disappears forever
And the sun shines electric blue
And the mountains and trees tumble into the sea
To rest there for eternity
No matter what you do
I will still love you

So the weary traveler
Tired of passing through
Stops to get his bearings
And stays on to wait for you

When the moon disappears forever
And the sun shines electric blue
And the mountains and trees tumble into the sea
To rest there for eternity
No matter what you do
I will still love you
I will still love you