This Date in Rock Music History: December 31

1955:  It's unusual for an artist's debut single to be a Christmas song, but on this date, a new group appeared on the chart for the first time with their version of "White Christmas", the first single for the Drifters.

1956:  Elvis Presley promoted Wink Martindale's upcoming charity concert on Wink's local television special in Memphis, Tennessee.
1961:  The Pendletons played under their their now more familiar name of the Beach Boys for the first time at a memorial concert for Ritchie Valens in Long Beach, California.





1961:  Janis Joplin performed for the first time at the Halfway House in Beaumont, Texas.
1962:  John and Michelle Phillips of the Mamas and the Papas married.
1966:  "That's Life" by Frank Sinatra was the new #1 song on the Easy Listening chart.
1966:  Petula Clark had one of the hottest songs out as "Color My World" jumped from 69 to 38.







1966:  The Monkees took the Neil Diamond song "I'm A Believer" to #1 in just their fourth week on the chart.  "Snoopy Vs. The Red Baron" moved from 7-2 in its third week.  That meant an end to the #1 reign of "Winchester Cathedral" by the New Vaudeville Band while Frank Sinatra placed "That's Life" one spot ahead of daughter Nancy's "Sugar Town".  The rest of the Top 10:  The #2 smash "Mellow Yellow" from Donovan, Aaron Neville jumped from 14 to 7 with "Tell It Like It Is", the Temptations were at #8 with "(I Know) I'm Losing You", Stevie Wonder and "A Place In The Sun" while Boise, Idaho's Paul Revere & the Raiders moved from 27 to 10 with "Good Thing".
1967:  Bert Berns, songwriter ("Twist And Shout" for the Beatles, "Hang On Sloopy" for the McCoys, "Piece Of My Heart" for Big Brother & the Holding Company), producer (Drifters ("Under The Boardwalk"), owner of Bang Records (which included Neil Diamond early in his career) and Shout Records, who helped convince Van Morrison to go solo, died of a heart attack in New York City at age 38.
1968:  Vanilla Fudge and the new group Led Zeppelin combined for a New Year's Eve show in Portland, Oregon.



1969:  The BBC in the U.K. named John Lennon the Man of the Decade.









1971:  David Clayton-Thomas, lead singer of Blood, Sweat & Tears, performed with the group for the last time until their brief reunion four years later.  (Note:  some websites claim that this concert was on December 27--according to the newspaper 'Independent Press-Telegram', the show was on New Year's Eve, December 31.)
1972:  The first Rockin' New Year's Eve was televised on ABC with Dick Clark.  The guests were Three Dog Night, Al Green and Blood, Sweat & Tears.
1973:  Having only recorded three songs for an album using only household objects, the creativity ended and Pink Floyd decided to record Wish You Were Here with traditional instruments.

1975:  Elvis Presley set a world record by earning $800,000 for his concert at the Silverdome in Pontiac, Michigan, that drew over 60,000 fans.
1976:  The Cars performed for the first time at Pease Air Force Base in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.
1977:  Earth, Wind & Fire controlled the R&B chart for a seventh week with "Serpentine Fire".
1977:  The Bee Gees held on to #1 on the Adult chart with "How Deep Is Your Love" for the sixth straight week.

1978:  In Europe, they hold on to tradition and preserve their heritage.  In the U.S., the tradition is gone forever.  On this date the famous Winterland Theater in San Francisco closed following a farewell show by the Grateful Dead and the Blues Brothers.
1979:  Jefferson Starship did a show at the X nightclub in San Francisco, California that was broadcast worldwide on radio.
1982:  Steve Van Zandt of the E Street Band married Maureen Santora in New York City.  Bruce Springsteen was the best man.  But wait, there's more...Little Richard, who presided over the ceremony, sang a duet with Percy Slege on "When A Man Loves a Woman" at the reception. 

1982:  Max's Kansas City club in New York City, whose performers included Bruce Springsteen and Devo, shut its doors.

1984:  Rick Allen, drummer of Def Leppard, lost his left arm in a tragic car accident near Sheffield, England.  His seat belt became undone, and his arm was severed as he was sent through the sunroof.  Doctors were able to reattach the arm at first, but it had to be amputated.  Rick bravely soldiered on, and through a specially constructed drum set, was able to play drums within three months of the accident.  Allen continues as drummer of the group to this day. 

1985:  Rick Nelson and six others died in an airplane crash near DeKalb, Texas on their way to a New Year's Eve concert in Dallas.
1991:  Guns N' Roses performed at a New Year's Eve show at Joe Robbie Stadium in Miami, Florida.
1993:  Barbra Streisand performed her first paid concert in 22 years at the MGM in Las Vegas, Nevada.
1994:  TLC owned the #1 R&B song for a fourth week with "Creep".






1994:  Boyz II Men returned to #1 for a third week with "On Bended Knee".  With their smash "I'll Make Love To You" earlier in the year, that gave the group 17 weeks at #1 for the year.

1996:  Paul McCartney was named on the New Year's Eve Honours List of Queen Elizabeth II to be knighted.   McCartney became Sir Paul on March 11 of 1997.  (Note:  many websites make the mistake of reporting that McCartney was knighted on this date--as mentioned above, it was announced on this date that McCartney would be knighted; the ceremony took place March 11.)

1997:  Floyd Cramer ("Last Date") died of lung cancer in Nashville, Tennessee at the age of 64.

2002:  In today's episode of Dangerous Inmates Run Rap Music, 50 Cent was arrested and charged with two counts of criminal possession of a weapon.
2002:  Kevin MacMichael, guitarist with Cutting Crew "(I Just) Died In Your Arms"), died at age 51 of lung cancer in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.
2003:  The Strokes and Kings of Leon played a New Year's Eve show at Cox Pavilion in Las Vegas, Nevada.
2003:  Elton John, Aerosmith, Bon Jovi and Kiss performed on Dick Clark's 32nd annual New Year's Rockin' Eve.  Newlyweds Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey helped Clark count down to the New Year in New York City's Time Square.
2003:  Natalie Imbruglia ("Torn") married Daniel Johns of Silverchair at Thala Beach Lodge in Queensland, Australia.
2003:  Ray Davies of the Kinks and Eric Clapton were made Commanders of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II of England.
2003:  OutKast had the #1 album with Speakerboxxx/The Love Below.

2007:  Roger Daltrey, lead singer of the Who, received the honor of Commander of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II for his services to music and charity work.
2009:  Famed composer Burt Bacharach underwent back surgery in Los Angeles.

2016:  Natalie Cole, daughter of legendary Nat "King" Cole and a star in her own right, died in Los Angeles of congestive heart failure at age 65.

Born This Day:
1920:  Rex Allen ("Don't Go Near The Indians" from 1962) was born in Wilcox, Arizona; died December 17, 1999 in Tucson, Arizona, when he suffered a massive coronary and collapsed in his driveway.  Allen sustained additional injuries when his caretaker accidentally ran over him.

1942:  Andy Summers, guitarist of the Police and solo artist, was born in Poulton-Le-Fylde, Lancashire, England.

1943:  John Denver (real name Henry John Deutschendorf) was born in Roswell, New Mexico; died October 12, 1997 when his light plane he was flying crashed into the Pacific Ocean near Monterey, California.
1943:  Pete Quaife, founding member and bassist of the Kinks, was born in Tavistock, Devon, England; died June 10, 2010 from kidney failure in Copenhagen, Denmark.








1947:  Burton Cummings, lead singer, keyboardist and songwriter of the Guess Who and a solo artist ("Stand Tall" from 1976) was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.

1948:  Donna Summer (real name LaDonna Adriene Gaines) was born in Boston, Massachusetts; died of lung cancer May 17, 2012 in Naples, Florida.
1951:  Tom Hamilton, bassist of Aerosmith, was born in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
1951:  Fermin Goytisolo, percussionist with K.C. and the Sunshine Band, was born in Havana, Cuba.
1959:  Paul Westerberg, songwriter, lead singer and rhythm guitarist of the Replacements, was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
1963:  Scott Ian Rosenfeld, rhythm guitarist and the only remaining founding member of Anthrax, was born in Queens, New York.
1972:  Joe McIntyre of New Kids on the Block was born in Needham, Massachusetts.