1933: A man by the name of Vernon Presley married a woman by the name of Gladys Smith in Ponotoc, Mississippi. They would give berth to a son, Elvis, a year-and-a-half later.
1954: Danny Cedrone, guitarist who can be heard on the famous song "Rock Around The Clock", died 10 days after recording the record after falling down a staircase. (Note: some websites insist Danny died on July 17, 1954. The correct date of death is June 17, according to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the Rockabilly Hall of Fame, and the book 'Legends of Rock Guitar: The Essential Reference of Rock's Greatest Guitarists' by Pete Prown and Harvey P. Newquist.)
1955: The stars were aligned as Eddie Fisher married Debbie Reynolds ("Tammy"). The couple would give berth to Carrie Fisher (Princess Leia of "Star Wars" fame).
1955: Colonel Tom Parker took over as Elvis Presley's manager.
1964: The Elvis Presley movie Viva Las Vegas opened nationally in theaters.
1965: The Beatles completed work on the tracks "Yesterday" and "Act Naturally" at EMI Studios in London.
1965: The Kinks and Moody Blues arrived in New York City to start their first American tour at the Academy of Music.
1965: Elvis had the #1 song in the U.K.--"Crying In The Chapel".
1966: The Hollies released the single "Bus Stop".
1966: Paul McCartney bought the High Park Farm in Kintyre, Scotland. He would later write the Wings song "Mull Of Kintyre".
1966: Peter Green became the guitarist of John Mayall's Bluesbreakers.
1967: Barbra Steisand performed in front of 135,000 people at New York City's Central Park.
"Born Free" helped Andy Williams score a Top 10 album...
1967: Sounds Like was the new #1 album for Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass with Revenge from Bill Cosby moving to 2. I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You by Aretha Franklin fell to 3 and the former #1 album More of the Monkees was at 4. The rest of the Top 10: Born Free from Andy Williams was at #5, the Monkees moved from 197 to 6(!) with Headquarters, the Mamas & Papas Deliver was #7, Surrealistic Pillow came in eighth for Jefferson Airplane, Paul Revere & the Raiders from Boise, Idaho had the #9 album--Greatest Hits, and Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits barely made the Top 10.
1967: The 4 Seasons had the highest-climbing song as "C'mon Marianne" moved from 66 to 33.
1967: "Groovin'" by the Young Rascals entered the #1 position in its ninth week on the chart, taking over from Aretha Franklin's "Respect". The Turtles were moving with "She'd Rather Be With Me" but Engelbert Humperdinck was standing still with "Release Me" at #4. Jefferson Airplane's great song "Somebody To Love" came in fifth. The rest of the Top 10: "Little Bit O' Soul" from the Music Explosion, the Association shot up from 12 to 7 with "Windy", the Temptations had "All I Need" at 8, the Happenings fell to 9 with "I Got Rhythm" and Tommy James & the Shondells scored another Top 10 with "Mirage".
1968 - Mason Williams released the instrumental single "Classical Gas".
1972: Ron "Pigpen" McKernan played on the organ for the final time with the Grateful Dead at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles.
1972: Don McLean climbed to #1 in the U.K. with "Vincent".
1972: The Rolling Stones moved form 10 to 1 to take over the top spot on the Album chart with Exile on Main Street.
1972: Neil Diamond remained at #1 for the third week on the Easy Listening chart with "Song Sung Blue".
1977: Steve Winwood released his first solo album, Steve Winwood, three years after he left the group Traffic.
1977: Crosby, Stills & Nash were back to a trio--they mounted a comeback this time without Neil Young--with the album CSN, which they released on this date.
1977: The highly popular Midnight Special on television featured host Neil Sedaka with guests Fleetwood Mac, Kenny Rogers and Van Morrison.
1978: One of the great rock groups of the '70s and '80s first appeared on the charts as their single "Just What I Needed" debuted. It was the first of many hits for the group from Boston, Massachusetts--the Cars.
1978: "Bluer Than Blue" by Michael Johnson took over at #1 on the AC chart.
1978: "You're The One That I Want" by Olivia Newton-John & John Travolta began nine weeks at #1 on the U.K. chart.
The title track from 'City to City'...
1978: Interesting that two of the top-selling albums of all time were out at the exact same time. The Soundtrack to "Saturday Night Fever" took over from Rumours by Fleetwood Mac and that soundtrack remained at #1 for the 22nd consecutive week. Feels So Good by Chuck Mangione wasn't even close to the top even though it was #2, London Town from Wings was #3 and Showdown by the Isley Brothers came in fourth. The rest of the Top 10: Earth from Jefferson Starship, Gerry Rafferty moved from 14-6 with City to City, the Soundtrack to "FM" was 7, So Full of Love from the O'Jays entered the Top 10, Johnny Mathis had #9--You Light Up My Life and the Commodores had #10 with Natural High.
1978: Andy Gibb reached the pinnacle with "Shadow Dancing", becoming the first solo artist in history to reach #1 with his first three releases. It would remain as the #1 song for eight weeks. "You're The One That I Want" from Olivia Newton-John & John Travolta was second with Gerry Rafferty at 3 with "Baker Street". Bonnie Tyler climbed to 4 with "It's A Heartache" and "Too Much, Too Little, Too Late" from Johnny Mathis & Deniece Williams fell to #5. The rest of the Top 10: ABBA had another smash with "Take A Chance On Me", Chuck Mangione was on his way down with "Feels So Good", George Benson had #8--"On Broadway", Carly Simon climbed from 16 to 9 with "You Belong To Me" and Sweet enjoyed their fourth Top 10 hit with "Love Is Like Oxygen".
1980: Van Halen began a tour of the U.K. at the Newcastle City Hall.
1983: "Every Breath You Take" by the Police held down #1 in the U.K.
1984: Bob Dylan granted his first television interview in 19 years, agreeing to talk to Antoine de Caunes in Nice, France.
1985: Bob Dylan was heard on the radio show "Rockline" in which he shocked people by actually taking calls from regular people.
1989: Ringo Starr announced the newest All-Starr band with Joe Walsh, Billy Preston, Dr. John, Clarence Clemons, Rick Danko, Levon Helm and Nils Lofgren.
1989: New Kids on the Block moved to #1 with "I'll Be Loving You (Forever)".
1989: Def Leppard's album Hysteria tied Born in the U.S.A. by Bruce Springsteen with its 96th consecutive week in the Top 40 of the Album chart.
1995: Rod Stewart broke an attendance record at Wembley Stadium in London when he played before 90,000 fans. (Note: some websites claim the event occurred on July 17, but it was June 17, as reported by 'Billboard' magazine.)
1995: TLC had a smash hit with "Waterfalls", the Biggest Mover of the week, moving from 39 to 12.
Blessid Union of Souls scored a Top 10 hit...
1995: Bryan Adams owned the #1 song for the third week with "Have You Ever Really Loved A Woman?". Michael & Janet Jackson debuted at #5 with "Scream/Childhood". The rest of the Top 10: "This Is How We Do It" from Montell Jordan, "I'll Be There For You/You're All I Need To Get By" from Method Man & Mary J. Blige, Adina Howard had #8 with "Freak Like Me', Blessid Union of Souls was at #9 with "I Believe" and Hootie & the Blowfish remained at 10 with "Let Her Cry".
1997: Megadeth released the album Cryptic Writings on Capitol Records.
1997: Blink-182 released the album Dude Ranch.
1998: In today's "Dangerous Inmates Run Rap Music" segment, rapper DMX was arrested for rape, sodomy and unlawful imprisonment. (Note: some websites falsely say the arrest was on June 10. The arrest took place on June 17, according to 'MTV'.)
2000: In today's version of "Inmates R Rap Music", Nate Dogg, who appeared on the Warren G "song" "Regulate", was arrested for setting the car of his ex-girlfriend's mom on fire and kidnapping the ex-girlfriend. After the animal Dogg was cornered in Pomona, California, he was arrested with bond set at 1 million dollars.
2003: After playing a Las Vegas concert at the MGM Grand Arena (a bill shared by Christina Aguilera), Justin Timberlake continued the show at a tiny club, joined by former 'N Sync members Lance Bass and Joey Fatone. (Note: several websites insist the event happened on June 17. On June 17, Timberlake was a long way from Vegas--he played the second of three nights at the Staples Center in Los Angeles and did not arrive in Las Vegas until June 21, according to the newspaper 'The Las Vegas Sun'.)
2004: Madonna announced on the television show 20/20 that she was changing her name to Esther. That doesn't change the things she's done. You can run but you can't hide.
2005: Karl Mueller, founder and bass guitarist of Soul Asylum, died of complications from throat cancer at the age of 41 at his home in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
2006: Trouble continued for the Rolling Stones as Ron Wood entered a rehabilitation center for alcohol. But Wood was helpless as he went on a drinking binge with a 19-year-old Russian waitress in Ireland less than a month later.
2007: The Traveling Wilburys had the top U.K. album with Collection.
2008: George Michael began his North American tour at the San Diego Sports Arena in California.
Born This Day:
1916: Terry Gilkyson ("Marianne" from 1957) was born in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania; died October 15, 1999 in Austin, Texas while visiting family.
1930: Cliff Gallup, original lead guitarist for Gene Vincent; died of a heart attack October 9, 1988 in Norfolk, Virginia.
1942: Norman Kuhlke, drummer of the Swinging Blue Jeans, was born in Liverpool, Lancashire, England.
1944: Chris Spedding, whose guitar work is featured in music by Elton John, Nilsson and Tom Waits, was born in Staveley, Derbyshire, England. (Note: some websites claim Spedding was born in Sheffield, England. He was born in Staveley, Derbyshire, England but was raised in Sheffield by his adopted parents, according to his official website.)
1946: B.J. Cole, who played steel guitar for Elton John, Garth Brooks and Nazareth, among others, was born in Enfield, Middlesex, England. (Note: some websites report Cole was born in London. According to the newspaper 'The Independent', Cole is from Enfield. Enfield became part of the county of London in 1965, but that was 19 years after his birth, and you will never see London entered as his county of birth on his official birth certificate.)
1946: Barry Manilow was born in Brooklyn, New York.
1947: Gregg Rolie, keyboardist of Santana and Journey, was born in Seattle, Washington.
1947: Paul Young, singer with the Sad Cafe and Mike & the Mechanics and a solo artist, was born in Benchill, Wythenshawe, Manchester, England; died of a heart attack July 16, 2000 at his home in Trafford, Manchester, England. (Note: some websites claim Young died on July 15. 'MTV' reports that he was born in Manchester and died in Cheshire, England. Some websites report he was born in Benchill, Wythenshawe, England, and some websites report he died in Hale, Altrincham, England. Benchill is a district within the city of Wythenshawe. According to the website 'The Manchester Beat', Paul was born in Wythenshawe. Hale is a village within the borough of Trafford while Altrincham is a market town in the borough of Trafford in the county of Manchester. Trafford was historically in the county of Cheshire but as of April of 1974, it became part of the county of Manchester. According to the newspaper 'The Guardian' and 'MTV', he died on July 16.)
1969: Kevin Thornton of Color Me Badd
1954: Danny Cedrone, guitarist who can be heard on the famous song "Rock Around The Clock", died 10 days after recording the record after falling down a staircase. (Note: some websites insist Danny died on July 17, 1954. The correct date of death is June 17, according to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the Rockabilly Hall of Fame, and the book 'Legends of Rock Guitar: The Essential Reference of Rock's Greatest Guitarists' by Pete Prown and Harvey P. Newquist.)
1955: The stars were aligned as Eddie Fisher married Debbie Reynolds ("Tammy"). The couple would give berth to Carrie Fisher (Princess Leia of "Star Wars" fame).
1955: Colonel Tom Parker took over as Elvis Presley's manager.
1964: The Elvis Presley movie Viva Las Vegas opened nationally in theaters.
1965: The Beatles completed work on the tracks "Yesterday" and "Act Naturally" at EMI Studios in London.
1965: The Kinks and Moody Blues arrived in New York City to start their first American tour at the Academy of Music.
1965: Elvis had the #1 song in the U.K.--"Crying In The Chapel".
1966: The Hollies released the single "Bus Stop".
1966: Paul McCartney bought the High Park Farm in Kintyre, Scotland. He would later write the Wings song "Mull Of Kintyre".
1966: Peter Green became the guitarist of John Mayall's Bluesbreakers.
1967: Barbra Steisand performed in front of 135,000 people at New York City's Central Park.
"Born Free" helped Andy Williams score a Top 10 album...
1967: Sounds Like was the new #1 album for Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass with Revenge from Bill Cosby moving to 2. I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You by Aretha Franklin fell to 3 and the former #1 album More of the Monkees was at 4. The rest of the Top 10: Born Free from Andy Williams was at #5, the Monkees moved from 197 to 6(!) with Headquarters, the Mamas & Papas Deliver was #7, Surrealistic Pillow came in eighth for Jefferson Airplane, Paul Revere & the Raiders from Boise, Idaho had the #9 album--Greatest Hits, and Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits barely made the Top 10.
1967: The 4 Seasons had the highest-climbing song as "C'mon Marianne" moved from 66 to 33.
1967: "Groovin'" by the Young Rascals entered the #1 position in its ninth week on the chart, taking over from Aretha Franklin's "Respect". The Turtles were moving with "She'd Rather Be With Me" but Engelbert Humperdinck was standing still with "Release Me" at #4. Jefferson Airplane's great song "Somebody To Love" came in fifth. The rest of the Top 10: "Little Bit O' Soul" from the Music Explosion, the Association shot up from 12 to 7 with "Windy", the Temptations had "All I Need" at 8, the Happenings fell to 9 with "I Got Rhythm" and Tommy James & the Shondells scored another Top 10 with "Mirage".
1968 - Mason Williams released the instrumental single "Classical Gas".
1972: Ron "Pigpen" McKernan played on the organ for the final time with the Grateful Dead at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles.
1972: Don McLean climbed to #1 in the U.K. with "Vincent".
1972: The Rolling Stones moved form 10 to 1 to take over the top spot on the Album chart with Exile on Main Street.
1972: Neil Diamond remained at #1 for the third week on the Easy Listening chart with "Song Sung Blue".
1977: Steve Winwood released his first solo album, Steve Winwood, three years after he left the group Traffic.
1977: Crosby, Stills & Nash were back to a trio--they mounted a comeback this time without Neil Young--with the album CSN, which they released on this date.
1977: The highly popular Midnight Special on television featured host Neil Sedaka with guests Fleetwood Mac, Kenny Rogers and Van Morrison.
1978: One of the great rock groups of the '70s and '80s first appeared on the charts as their single "Just What I Needed" debuted. It was the first of many hits for the group from Boston, Massachusetts--the Cars.
1978: "Bluer Than Blue" by Michael Johnson took over at #1 on the AC chart.
1978: "You're The One That I Want" by Olivia Newton-John & John Travolta began nine weeks at #1 on the U.K. chart.
The title track from 'City to City'...
1978: Interesting that two of the top-selling albums of all time were out at the exact same time. The Soundtrack to "Saturday Night Fever" took over from Rumours by Fleetwood Mac and that soundtrack remained at #1 for the 22nd consecutive week. Feels So Good by Chuck Mangione wasn't even close to the top even though it was #2, London Town from Wings was #3 and Showdown by the Isley Brothers came in fourth. The rest of the Top 10: Earth from Jefferson Starship, Gerry Rafferty moved from 14-6 with City to City, the Soundtrack to "FM" was 7, So Full of Love from the O'Jays entered the Top 10, Johnny Mathis had #9--You Light Up My Life and the Commodores had #10 with Natural High.
1978: Andy Gibb reached the pinnacle with "Shadow Dancing", becoming the first solo artist in history to reach #1 with his first three releases. It would remain as the #1 song for eight weeks. "You're The One That I Want" from Olivia Newton-John & John Travolta was second with Gerry Rafferty at 3 with "Baker Street". Bonnie Tyler climbed to 4 with "It's A Heartache" and "Too Much, Too Little, Too Late" from Johnny Mathis & Deniece Williams fell to #5. The rest of the Top 10: ABBA had another smash with "Take A Chance On Me", Chuck Mangione was on his way down with "Feels So Good", George Benson had #8--"On Broadway", Carly Simon climbed from 16 to 9 with "You Belong To Me" and Sweet enjoyed their fourth Top 10 hit with "Love Is Like Oxygen".
1980: Van Halen began a tour of the U.K. at the Newcastle City Hall.
1983: "Every Breath You Take" by the Police held down #1 in the U.K.
1984: Bob Dylan granted his first television interview in 19 years, agreeing to talk to Antoine de Caunes in Nice, France.
1985: Bob Dylan was heard on the radio show "Rockline" in which he shocked people by actually taking calls from regular people.
1989: New Kids on the Block moved to #1 with "I'll Be Loving You (Forever)".
1989: Def Leppard's album Hysteria tied Born in the U.S.A. by Bruce Springsteen with its 96th consecutive week in the Top 40 of the Album chart.
1995: Rod Stewart broke an attendance record at Wembley Stadium in London when he played before 90,000 fans. (Note: some websites claim the event occurred on July 17, but it was June 17, as reported by 'Billboard' magazine.)
1995: TLC had a smash hit with "Waterfalls", the Biggest Mover of the week, moving from 39 to 12.
Blessid Union of Souls scored a Top 10 hit...
1995: Bryan Adams owned the #1 song for the third week with "Have You Ever Really Loved A Woman?". Michael & Janet Jackson debuted at #5 with "Scream/Childhood". The rest of the Top 10: "This Is How We Do It" from Montell Jordan, "I'll Be There For You/You're All I Need To Get By" from Method Man & Mary J. Blige, Adina Howard had #8 with "Freak Like Me', Blessid Union of Souls was at #9 with "I Believe" and Hootie & the Blowfish remained at 10 with "Let Her Cry".
1997: Megadeth released the album Cryptic Writings on Capitol Records.
1997: Blink-182 released the album Dude Ranch.
1998: In today's "Dangerous Inmates Run Rap Music" segment, rapper DMX was arrested for rape, sodomy and unlawful imprisonment. (Note: some websites falsely say the arrest was on June 10. The arrest took place on June 17, according to 'MTV'.)
2000: In today's version of "Inmates R Rap Music", Nate Dogg, who appeared on the Warren G "song" "Regulate", was arrested for setting the car of his ex-girlfriend's mom on fire and kidnapping the ex-girlfriend. After the animal Dogg was cornered in Pomona, California, he was arrested with bond set at 1 million dollars.
2003: After playing a Las Vegas concert at the MGM Grand Arena (a bill shared by Christina Aguilera), Justin Timberlake continued the show at a tiny club, joined by former 'N Sync members Lance Bass and Joey Fatone. (Note: several websites insist the event happened on June 17. On June 17, Timberlake was a long way from Vegas--he played the second of three nights at the Staples Center in Los Angeles and did not arrive in Las Vegas until June 21, according to the newspaper 'The Las Vegas Sun'.)
2004: Madonna announced on the television show 20/20 that she was changing her name to Esther. That doesn't change the things she's done. You can run but you can't hide.
2005: Karl Mueller, founder and bass guitarist of Soul Asylum, died of complications from throat cancer at the age of 41 at his home in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
2006: Trouble continued for the Rolling Stones as Ron Wood entered a rehabilitation center for alcohol. But Wood was helpless as he went on a drinking binge with a 19-year-old Russian waitress in Ireland less than a month later.
2007: The Traveling Wilburys had the top U.K. album with Collection.
2008: George Michael began his North American tour at the San Diego Sports Arena in California.
Born This Day:
1916: Terry Gilkyson ("Marianne" from 1957) was born in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania; died October 15, 1999 in Austin, Texas while visiting family.
1930: Cliff Gallup, original lead guitarist for Gene Vincent; died of a heart attack October 9, 1988 in Norfolk, Virginia.
1942: Norman Kuhlke, drummer of the Swinging Blue Jeans, was born in Liverpool, Lancashire, England.
1944: Chris Spedding, whose guitar work is featured in music by Elton John, Nilsson and Tom Waits, was born in Staveley, Derbyshire, England. (Note: some websites claim Spedding was born in Sheffield, England. He was born in Staveley, Derbyshire, England but was raised in Sheffield by his adopted parents, according to his official website.)
1946: B.J. Cole, who played steel guitar for Elton John, Garth Brooks and Nazareth, among others, was born in Enfield, Middlesex, England. (Note: some websites report Cole was born in London. According to the newspaper 'The Independent', Cole is from Enfield. Enfield became part of the county of London in 1965, but that was 19 years after his birth, and you will never see London entered as his county of birth on his official birth certificate.)
1947: Paul Young, singer with the Sad Cafe and Mike & the Mechanics and a solo artist, was born in Benchill, Wythenshawe, Manchester, England; died of a heart attack July 16, 2000 at his home in Trafford, Manchester, England. (Note: some websites claim Young died on July 15. 'MTV' reports that he was born in Manchester and died in Cheshire, England. Some websites report he was born in Benchill, Wythenshawe, England, and some websites report he died in Hale, Altrincham, England. Benchill is a district within the city of Wythenshawe. According to the website 'The Manchester Beat', Paul was born in Wythenshawe. Hale is a village within the borough of Trafford while Altrincham is a market town in the borough of Trafford in the county of Manchester. Trafford was historically in the county of Cheshire but as of April of 1974, it became part of the county of Manchester. According to the newspaper 'The Guardian' and 'MTV', he died on July 16.)
1969: Kevin Thornton of Color Me Badd
