This Date in Rock Music History: June 6

1960:  Tony Williams left the Platters to pursue a solo career.





1960:  Roy Orbison released the single "Only the Lonely".
1960:  The Silver Beatles and Gerry and the Pacemakers performed at the Grosvenor Ballroom in Liscard, Lancashire, England.
1962:  The Beatles auditioned for producer George Martin of EMI Records, playing "Love Me Do" and "Ask Me Why".






1964:  "Chapel of Love" moved into the #1 position for the Dixie Cups.  The Beatles were knocked off with "Love Me Do" while Mary Wells' former #1 "My Guy" remained in the #3 spot.  The Ray Charles Singers were there with "Love Me With All Your Heart" while Louis Armstrong made it four #1 songs in the Top 5 on this date, creating a logjam.  The rest of the Top 10:  "A World Without Love" from Peter & Gordon, Dionne Warwick rose from 10-7 with "Walk on By", "Little Children" from Billy J. Kramer, the Reflections fell with "(Just Like) Romeo & Juliet" and the Beatles added another Top 10 with "P.S. I Love You".
1965:  Herman's Hermits performed on The Ed Sullivan Show.

1966:  The Beatles released the single "Paperback Writer".













1966:  Bobby Hebb made sure radio stations had his new 45 "Sunny" on their desks Monday morning.

1968:  The Rolling Stones added new lyrics to their upcoming song "Sympathy For The Devil" following the assassination of Robert Kennedy.
1969:  Rod Stewart signed a solo recording contract with Mercury Records.
1970:  Christie had a #1 song in the U.K. with "Yellow River".
1970:  The Jackson 5 had another smash as "The Love You Save" vaulted from #45 to #15.
1970:  The album McCartney remained at #1 while the Beatles last studio album Let It Be rose from #104 to #2.

1971:  The final episode of The Ed Sullivan Show aired on television.  One of the most popular shows for 23 years (1948-1971) and 1,059 episodes, it was canceled.  Gladys Knight & the Pips were Ed's guests that night.
1975:  Pink Floyd performed in America but did not fare well after Roger Waters spat on the audience.





1977:  The Bee Gees released the live version of "Edge Of The Universe" as a single.  The song had been recorded at the group's show at the Los Angeles Forum on December 20, 1976 and included on the album Here at Last...Bee Gees...Live.








1977:  The Emotions released the single "Best Of My Love".
1977:  Queen appeared at Earl's Court in London.
1977:  Stevie Wonder gave an unannounced lecture to a UCLA class that was studying the record industry.  He also performed for the shocked but happy students.
1979:  Def Leppard appeared in concert at Crookes Workingman's Club in Sheffield, England, leading to a recording contract with Phonogram Records.







1981:  Champaign had the #1 Adult Contemporary song for a second week with "How 'Bout Us".
1981:  Kim Carnes continued to hold off everyone at #1 for the fourth week with "Bette Davis Eyes".  
1982:  Stevie Wonder, Linda Ronstadt, Tom Petty, Stevie Nicks, Bob Dylan, Crosby, Stills & Nash, Jackson Browne and Bonnie Raitt played at the Peace Sunday:  We Have a Dream concert for nuclear disarmament before 85,000 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California.
1986:  Bob Dylan performed at the Amnesty International concert at the Forum in Los Angeles.
1986:  Genesis released their great album Invisible Touch.
1987:  Simple Minds had the top U.K. album with Live in the City of Light.

1987:  Kim Wilde became the third artist to score a big hit with "You Keep Me Hangin' On" hitting #1, following the original by the Supremes and the remake from Vanilla Fudge.  Atlantic Starr closed with "Always" while Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam were right behind with "Head to Toe".  Chris DeBurgh's memorable song "The Lady in Red" dropped to #4.  The rest of the Top 10:  previous #1 "With or Without You" from U2, Genesis scored their fifth Top 10 in a row and 17th overall hit with "In Too Deep", Bon Jovi moved up with "Wanted Dead or Alive", Fleetwood Mac's "Big Love", Herb Alpert made a comeback with "Diamonds" and Whitney Houston bounced into the Top 10 after just four weeks with "I Wanna' Dance With Somebody".
1987:  The Joshua Tree by U2 remained as the #1 album.

1988:  Steve Winwood released the single "Roll With It".

1991:  Stan Getz, the great saxophonist who teamed with Joao Gilberto for the classic album Getz/Gilberto died of liver cancer in Malibu, California at the age of 64.
1992:  David Bowie married Iman in Florence, Italy.








1992:  Celine Dion had her third Top 10 song as "If You Asked Me To" moved from 12 to 9 on this date.

1995:  Seal released his breakthrough single "Kiss From A Rose" on this date.

1996:  William Palmer, inventor of the magnetic tape recorder, passed away.
1997:  When Phil Collins left for a highly successful solo career, Genesis announced that they were replacing him with Ray Wilson, formerly of Stiltskin.
1998:  In the U.K., B"Witched debuted at #1 with "C'est La Vie".




1998:  Brandy & Monica rose to #1 for the first of what would be 12 weeks at the top with "The Boy Is Mine".
1999:  The Backstreet Boys had the #1 album with Millennium, which is the #99 Album of All-Time in the Rock Era*.
2002:  It can happen to the best of people.  The best people will admit they have a problem and seek help.  On this date, Diana Ross entered a drug and alcohol rehabilitation center in Malibu, California.
2003:  The Eagles were in concert at the Savvis Center in St. Louis, Missouri.

2003:  Dave Rowberry of the Animals was found dead in his home in East London.  Rowberry was 62.
2004:  Metallica played without drummer Lars Ulrich, who had to miss a show.  Joey Jordison of Slipknot and Dave Lombardo from Slayer fill in at the Download Festival in England's Donington Park.
2004:  Performers at Eric Clapton's Crossroads Festival in Dallas, Texas included Santana, ZZ Top, James Taylor, John Mayer and host Clapton.
2004:  A photographer claimed that Britney Spears' mother ran over his foot with her SUV in 2004.  She may have not been guilty of that, but good motherly advice obviously hasn't been one of her strong suits.  (Note:  numerous websites incorrectly report that the suit was filed June 12.  The 'MTV' article was what appeared on June 12 and in it, a child of eight can plainly see that the suit was filed June 6.)
2004:  Mario Winans led the way on the U.K. Singles chart with "I Don't Wanna' Know".
2004:  Avril Lavigne had her second #1 album with Under My Skin.

2006:  Keyboard whiz Billy Preston died from kidney failure at the age of 59.
2010:  Marvin Isley, bass guitarist of the Isley Brothers, died at the age of 56.  He had stopped performing in 1996 due to problems with diabetes, which had robbed him of the use of his legs.




Born This Day:

1936:  Levi Stubbs, one of the great lead singers of the Rock Era for the Four Tops, was born in Detroit, Michigan.
1939:  Gary "U.S." Bonds (Gary Anderson) was born in Jacksonville, Florida.
1942:  Howie Kane of Jay and the Americans
1944:  Peter Albin of Big Brother and the Holding Company was born in San Francisco, California.
1947:  Terry Williams of the New Christy Minstrels and the First Edition, was born in Hollywood, California.
1947:  Tony Williams, drummer of Dire Straits, was born in Hollywood, California.
1951:  Dwight Twilley ("I'm on Fire" in 1975) was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

1960:  Elite guitarist Steve Vai, who played with Frank Zappa, David Lee Roth and Whitesnake, was born in Long Island, New York.
1961:  Terri Nunn, lead singer of Berlin ("No More Words" and "Take My Breath Away"), was born in Los Angeles, California.
1961: Tom Araya, bassist and vocalist of Slayer, was born in Viña del Mar, Chile.
1970: James Shaffer, guitarist of Korn, was born in Rosedale, California.1974:  Uncle Kracker (real name Matthew Shafer) was born in Mount Clemens, Michigan.