This Date in Rock Music History: April 17

1960: While touring in the U.K., 21-year-old Eddie Cochran was killed when the taxi he was taking crashed into a lamp post in Chippenham, Wiltshire, England.  Cochran died at a hospital in Bath, Somerset, England.  Singer Gene Vincent was also seriously injured but survived the crash.
1961:  Ray Charles landed the #1 R&B song with "One Mint Julep".
1961: "Blue Moon" was #1 for the second week in a row for the Marcels.  Del Shannon's classic "Runaway" was making its move at #2. The rest of the Top Five: "Mother-In-Law" by Ernie K-Doe was #3, Floyd Cramer had #4 with "On The Rebound" and Clarence Henry was at 5 with "But I Do".
1962: Tony Bennett began recording his first song, "Boulevard Of Broken Dreams".  (Note:  some websites claim he recorded the song on this date, as if he completed it in one day.  Bennett finished the song on April 20, according to the book 'All the Things You Are:  The Life of Tony Bennett' by David Evanier.)
1964: Van Morrison and Them made their first public appearance at the Maritime Hotel in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
1965: Bob Dylan's first album The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan topped the U.K. Album charts.
1965:  Roger Miller dominated the Easy Listening chart for a 10th week with "King Of The Road".

The Top 100 Songs of 1965--#40-31

Some great songs in here as we continue our countdown of The Top Songs of 1965*:

This Date in Rock Music History: April 16

1955:  Elvis Presley appeared at the Big D Jamboree at the Sportatorium in Dallas Texas.
1956:  Buddy Holly released his first single, "Blue Days, Black Nights".
1963:  The Beatles made their television debut on BBC-TV's The 625 Show.
1964:  Dean Martin recorded "Everybody Loves Somebody".
1964:  The Rolling Stones released their debut album in the U.K.

The Top 100 Songs of 1965--#50-41

Eighteen songs from 1965 made The Top 500 Songs of the Rock Era*.  But there's plenty in the stable for good, quality music that continues to get played and appreciated over 50 years later:

This Date in Rock Music History: April 15

1956:  Elvis Presley appeared at the Municipal Auditorium in San Antonio, Texas.
1958:  Buddy Holly's Fender Stratocaster guitar was stolen while the group was having lunch prior to a concert in St. Louis, Missouri.
1960:  The Dick Clark movie Because They're Young, featuring James Darren and Duane Eddy, opened in New York.

The Top 100 Songs of 1965--#60-51

These 10 songs will take you up to The Top 50 for a great year in music--1965:

#60:

  Ferry 'Cross The Mersey

Gerry & the Pacemakers

#59:

  Silhouettes

Herman's Hermits

#58:

 
  My Heart Has A Mind Of Its Own

Connie Francis

#57:

 
  Treat Her Right

Roy Head

#56:

Laugh, Laugh

Beau Brummels

#55:

  Rescue Me

Fontella Bass

#54:

  Let Me Be

Turtles

#53:

  For Your Love

Yardbirds

#52:

  The Tracks Of My Tears

Smokey Robinson & the Miracles

#51:

She's A Woman

Beatles

The Top 100 Songs of 1965--#70-61

If you glance at a "Top 100" list from 1965, you'll note quite a few differences from this list, compiled with up-to-the minute sales and airplay data.  And that's to be expected.  Some songs made a lot of noise at the time but turned out to be "flashes in the pan".  Others were ignored for one reason or another at the time, but should have been big hits, and data compiled in the last 51 years bears that out.

We began our salute to the current Top 100 Songs of 1965* yesterday, and continue right now with #70:

#70:

  The "In Crowd"

Ramsey Lewis Trio

#69:

  Dance, Dance, Dance

Beach Boys

#68:

 
Down In The Boondocks

Billy Joe Royal

#67:

 
  I'll Never Find Another You

Seekers

#66:

 
  Positively 4th Street

Bob Dylan

#65:

  1-2-3

Len Barry

#64:

   I'm Henry The VIII, I Am

Herman's Hermits

#63:

  Save Your Heart For Me

Gary Lewis & the Playboys

#62:

 
  Make It Easy On Yourself

Walker Brothers

#61:

 
  Shotgun

Jr. Walker & the All-Stars

This Date in Rock Music History: April 14

1956:  Bobby Helms ("Jingle Bell Rock") signed with Decca Records.
1958:  The Champs celebrated a third week at #1 on the R&B chart with "Tequila".

1960:  Berry Gordy merged Tamla Records and Motown Records to form the famous Motown Record corporation.  (Note:  some websites claim Motown was founded on April 14, 1959.  Gordy founded Tamla on January 12, 1959 with an $800 loan from his family, according to the official website for the Motown Museum.  He started Motown records in September of 1959, according to many sources, including the book 'African-American Business Leaders:  A Biographical Dictionary' by John N. Ingham and Lynne B. Feldman, then merged the two together on this date in 1960, according to many sources, including the book 'Michael Jackson King of Pop' by Jean-Pierre Hombach.) 1962:  "Johnny Angel" spent a second week at #1 on this date; it was the big hit for Shelley Fabares.

1963:  The Beatles met the Rolling Stones for the first time after the latter gave a concert at the Crawdaddy Club at the Station Hotel (1 Kew Road) in Richmond, Surrey, England.

The Top 100 Songs of 1965--#80-71

Keep in mind that these rankings aren't a recap of the way the songs ranked in 1965.  Rather, they reflect how well those songs have stood the test of time; i.e. have they continued to sell?  How well do their albums do?  Do they continue to receive significant airplay in the 51 years that have gone by?  Enjoy 10 more from the great year 1965:

#80:

 
Baby, I'm Yours

Barbara Lewis

#79:

 
  Count Me In

Gary Lewis & the Playboys

#78:

 
  Keep On Dancing

Gentrys

#77:

  How Sweet It Is To Be Loved By You

Marvin Gaye

#76:

 
  Catch The Wind

Donovan

#75:

  Tell Her No

Zombies

#74:

 
  Catch Us If You Can

Dave Clark Five

#73:

  Tired Of Waiting For You

Kinks

#72:

 
  What's New, Pussycat?

Tom Jones

#71:

Yes, I'm Ready

Barbara Mason

The Top 100 Songs of 1965--#90-81

If you have The Top 500 Songs of the Rock Era* book, you already know what the top 18 songs of 1965 are, because that's how many qualified for the elite 500.  But there's a lot of other great tunes from the year, as you shall see.  Here are 10 more of The Top 100 Songs of 1965*:

#90:

The Birds And The Bees

Jewel Akens

#89:

  Nowhere To Run

Martha & the Vandellas

#88:

  A Taste Of Honey

Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass

#87:

If I Were A Carpenter

Four Tops

The Top 100 Songs of 1965--#100-91

1965 was a great year in music, so good that over 100 songs make The Top 5000 Songs of the Rock Era (1955-2015)*.  Here are the first 10 songs in The Top 100 for the year:

Songs Just Outside The Top 100 for 1965...

A year so great that these songs don't get into The Top 100:

I Got You (I Feel Good)

James Brown

 
  Just A Little

Beau Brummels

 
Liar, Liar

Castaways

  I'm A Man

Yardbirds

 
  Here Comes The Night

Them

 
  Heart Of Stone

Rolling Stones

More Songs from the Prelude to The Top 100 Songs of 1965

1965 was such a great year in music that there are numerous songs that are worth featuring that did not make The Top 100 Songs* for the year.  Here's more of them!

  My Kind Of Town

Frank Sinatra

  Goldfinger

Shirley Bassey

 
Where Have All The Flowers Gone

Johnny Rivers

 
Steppin' Out

Paul Revere & the Raiders

  Red Roses For A Blue Lady

Bert Kaempfert

  Everybody Loves A Clown

Gary Lewis & the Playboys

 
The "In" Crowd

Dobie Gray












  Heart Full Of Soul
Yardbirds

The Top Songs of 1965

Here's more songs from 1965 that didn't make The Top 100* for the year:

Whipped Cream

Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass

Subterranean Homesick Blues

Bob Dylan

Here Comes The Night

Them

Everyone's Gone To The Moon

Jonathan King

I Knew You When

Billy Joe Royal

Heart Full Of Soul

Yardbirds

Crying Time

Ray Charles

Make The World Go Away

Eddy Arnold

Marie

Bachelors

The Top Songs of 1965

The year 1965 was a great year in music, just the second year since the Beatles officially became worldwide stars.  To give you an idea how great the year was, we're going to first feature songs that did not make The Top 100* (played in reverse order of how they rank in The Top 5000 Songs of the Rock Era*:

Super-cali-fragil-istic-expi-ali-docious

Julie Andrews & Dick Van Dyke

Midnight Special

Johnny Rivers

  Hurt So Bad

Little Anthony & the Imperials

  I Like It Like That

Dave Clark Five

  Bye Bye Baby

4 Seasons

  Do You Wanna' Dance

Beach Boys

  All I Really Want To Do
Cher

Top Track: Pink Floyd's "The Great Gig In The Sky"

While recognizing that these songs could never be "Top 10 material", Inside The Rock Era features great songs from albums of the Rock Era.  

Clare Torry sings the great vocal on this song and never gets enough credit.  Torry began a career in the 60's singing popular covers.  Famed producer Alan Parsons was familiar with her and asked Torry to sing the wordless lyrics on "The Great Gig In The Sky" for Pink Floyd's album Dark Side of the Moon.  Torry later sang backing vocals for Olivia Newton-John, the Alan Parsons Project  and Meat Loaf, among others.  She was masterful on this song:

This Week's Top 10 Countries on Inside The Rock Era

Each week, countries fight for position within the 10-most represented countries to view Inside The Rock Era.  The rankings change, but it is our goal to have everyone actively seek out new information on the site and to make it a "Favorite".

We strive to put out as much content per week as time allows, but remember there is now four years' worth of information, charts, lists and specials to immerse yourself in.  The content then, of course, will continue to grow in the months and years to come.

Here are the Top 10 countries this week:

1.    United States
2.    Japan (the strongest rank ever for Japan)
3.    Germany
4.    Russia
5.    United Kingdom
6.    France
7.    Canada
8.    Australia
9.    Mexico
10.  Netherlands

This Date in Rock Music History: April 13

1959:  The Fleetwoods had the #1 song with "Come Softly To Me".
1962:  The Beatles began performing at the Star Club in Hamburg, Germany, the city's newest rock & roll venue.  The band would play 3-4 hours a night for 48 days with one day off. 
1963:  Andy Williams grabbed the #1 spot on the Easy Listening chart with "Can't Get Used To Losing You".

  1963:  The Chiffons spent their third of four weeks at #1 with "He's So Fine".  Ruby & the Romantics were at #2 with "Our Day Will Come".  The rest of the Top Five--"The End Of The World" by Skeeter Davis remained at #3, the Orlons had #4 with "South Street" and Andy Williams shot up from 18 to 5 with "Can't Get Used To Losing You".

This Date in Rock Music History: April 12

1954:  Bill Haley & the Comets recorded (We're Gonna') Rock Around The Clock", the song that started the Rock Era, at the Pythian Temple Studios in New York City.











1961:  Dee Clark released the single "Raindrops" on Vee-Jay Records.
1963:  Bob Dylan appeared in concert for the first time at the Town Hall in New York City.
1964:  Chubby Checker and the former Miss World Catherina Lodders were married at the Temple Lutheran Church in Pennsauken, New Jersey. 

Bryan Adams Cancels Concert in Mississippi

Mississippi, already so poor it could be a third world nation, took another blow when Bryan Adams canceled a scheduled concert there due to the "religious freedom" bill signed into law recently.

Oh well, the rest of the country is still able to catch the great Bryan Adams in concert.  

The Top 100 #2 Songs of the Rock Era

Here is the complete list of The Top #2 Songs of the Rock Era* in order:

This Date in Rock Music History: April 11

1956:  James Brown made his debut on the R&B charts with "Please, Please, Please".
1960:  Dinah Washington & Brook Benton had the #1 R&B song for the 10th week--"Baby (You've Got What It Takes)".
1967:  The Elvis Presley song "Stuck On You" recorded the fourth biggest jump in rock history, moving from #84 to #17 on this date.