This Date in Rock Music History: February 18

1956:  The Platters ruled the R&B chart for the seventh week with "The Great Pretender".
1959:  Elvis Presley performed after hours at the Lido Club in Paris, France while on leave from the United States Army.
1962:  While on leave from training in the United States Marines, the Everly Brothers appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show, in full uniform and cropped hair, singing "Crying In The Rain".

1963:  Peter, Paul & Mary released the single "Puff (The Magic Dragon)".  (Note:  several websites naively state the single was released on March 16.  "Puff" debuted on the Singles chart on March 16.  It is physically impossible for a record company to release a single to radio stations, have the song listened to and added to radio station playlists, reported by the radio station to the trade papers, and have the trade papers printed and published, all in the same day.  There are no reputable sources that state the exact day of release, but our best research uncovered a February 15, 1963 'Billboard' magazine that revealed that Peter, Paul & Mary would release "Puff (The Magic Dragon)" as their next single.)

1965:  The Beatles recorded two new songs--"You've Got To Hide Your Love Away" and "Tell Me What You See" at Abbey Road studios in London.

1965:  The Kinks topped the U.K. chart with "Tired Of Waiting For You".

1967:  Ed Ames had the #1 Easy Listening song for the third week with "My Cup Runneth Over".
1968:  Boise, Idaho's Paul Revere & the Raiders had the highest debut of the week, "Ups And Downs", at #77.







          The Spencer Davis Group gave us this great song...

1968:  The Buckinghams had the new #1 song with "Kind Of A Drag", ending seven weeks at the top for the Monkees' "I'm A Believer".  The Rolling Stones edged up with "Ruby Tuesday" while the former #2 smash "Georgy Girl" by the Seekers fell this week.  The rest of the Top 10:  "(We Ain't Got) Nothin' Yet" by Blues Magoos, the Supremes were back with "Love Is Here And Now You're Gone", Keith remained steady at "98.6", Aaron Neville and "Tell It Like It Is", Sonny & Cher were at #9 with "The Beat Goes On" and the Spencer Davis Group rolled up from 17 to 10 with "Gimme' Some Lovin'".

1968:  Pink Floyd fired frontman Syd Barrett.  After being released from a psychiatric hospital, Barrett went into seclusion.  (Note:  many websites claim Gilmour replaced Barrett on this date.  Not true.  Gilmour had already joined the band in December, 1967 as a fifth member, according to the book 'Pink Floyd- The Music and the Mystery' by Andy Mabbett.  Peter Buckley, in his book 'The Rough Guide to Rock' said that Gilmour joined in "early 1968".  In any case, Gilmour was already a member of the group by this time, as you can tell from the January, 1968 photo above.  What happened on this date was the firing of Barrett.) 

1969:  The Jimi Hendrix Experience were in concert at the Royal Albert Hall in London.

1969:  Maurice Gibb of the Bee Gees and Lulu ("To Sir With Love") were married at St. James' Church in Gerrard's Cross, England in front of over 3,000 guests.  
1974:  KISS released their self-titled debut album on Casablanca Records.
1974:  Yes performed at Madison Square Garden in New York City.








  
        The Trammps' "Disco Inferno" helped fuel 'Saturday Night Fever'...

1978:  The Soundtrack to "Saturday Night Fever" was the #1 album for a fifth week.  The Stranger from Billy Joel moved to challenge while Queen's News of the World was third.  Earth, Wind & Fire were at #4 with All 'N All and Rod Stewart dropped with Foot Loose & Fancy Free.  The rest of the Top 10:  Neil Diamond's I'm Glad You're Here With Me Tonight, Styx and The Grand Illusion, Jackson Browne edged up to #8 with Running On Empty, Randy Newman placed ninth with Little Criminals and Fleetwood Mac's Rumours was still in the Top 10 after 52 weeks.
1978:  Working off of two consecutive number ones, the Bee Gees positioned themselves well with another single--"Night Fever" moving from 32 to 17.





                           Dan Hill had himself a Top 5 song...

1978:  "Stayin' Alive" by the Bee Gees stayed at #1 for the third week.  The group had spent six of the last nine weeks at #1 counting their previous #1 "How Deep Is Your Love".  Brother Andy Gibb was now #2 with "(Love Is) Thicker Than Water", Billy Joel moved to #3 with "Just The Way You Are" and Queen's "We Are The Champions" remained fourth.  The rest of the Top 10:  "Sometimes When We Touch" by Dan Hill, Samantha Sang and the Bee Gees were up to 6 with "Emotion", Chic and "Dance, Dance, Dance (Yowsah, Yowsah, Yowsah)", Randy Newman dropped with "Short People", the former #1 "Baby Come Back" by Player and the Bee Gees were still at 10 after 22 weeks with their earlier #1 "How Deep Is Your Love".

1980:  Bob Seger released the single "Fire Lake".
1984:  Christopher Cross controlled the Adult Contemporary chart for a third week with "Think Of Laura".










                 
                            Newcomer Cyndi Lauper...

1984:  Culture Club remained at #1 with "Karma Chameleon".  "Jump" by Van Halen was #2 in an awesome Top 10.  Kool & the Gang were down with "Joanna", newcomer Nena's "99 Luftballoons" elevated from 12 to 4 and the Romantics were at #5 after 20 weeks with their biggest hit "Talking In Your Sleep".  The rest of the Top 10:  "That's All!"  from Genesis, Michael Jackson moved from 20 to 7 with "Thriller", Yes and "Owner Of A Lonely Heart", the first hit ever from Cyndi Lauper--"Girls Just Want To Have Fun" and Shannon entered the list with "Let the Music Play".
1984:  Thriller by Michael Jackson was #1 on the Album chart for the 29th week, just two shy of the Rock Era record set in 1977 by Fleetwood Mac's Rumours.





1985:  Simple Minds released the single "Don't You (Forget About Me)".  (Note:  some websites erroneously report the date of release as February 20.  The song debuted on the Singles chart on February 23, and the deadline for new releases to make the chart each week is Tuesday.  Tuesday in 1985 fell on February 18.)










1985:  Don Henley released the single "All She Wants To Do Is Dance".










1989: Sheriff grabbed the #1 spot on the AC chart with the great song "When I'm With You". 1989:  The Fine Young Cannibals owned the #1 album in the U.K. with The Raw and the Cooked.
1992:  Vince Neil, lead singer of Motley Crue for 11 years, quit the band.
1993:  Patrick Waite, founder of Musical Youth ("Pass The Dutchie" from 1982) died at age 24 of a hereditary heart condition.
1995:  Newcomers Hootie & the Blowfish scored their first Top 10 song as "Hold My Hand" reached #10.
1995:  TLC had the #1 song for a fourth week with "Creep".
2001:  James Taylor married his longtime girlfriend Caroline "Kim" Smedvig at Emmanuel Episcopal Church in Boston, Massachusetts.
2001:  Joe and Mystikal had the #1 song with "Stutter".
2006:  The Rolling Stones gave a free concert at Copacabana Beach in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil before one million people.

2007:  Norah Jones went to #1 on the Album chart with Not Too Late, her third consecutive #1.
2008:  Carpenters fans objected to plans to have the duo's former family home in Downey, California bulldozed.  The current owners said they objected to fans looking in the windows and leaving floral tributes.  You know what?  If you didn't want that, you shouldn't have bought the house.  Duh.  The United States does a horrible job of preserving history.
2012:  Otis "Damon" Harris, who joined the Temptations in 1971 at age 21 when original lead singer Eddie Kendricks left, died of prostate cancer at the age of 62 in a Baltimore hospice.

Born This Day:
1934:  Skip Battin, singer-songwriter and bassist of the Byrds, the New Riders of the Purple Sage and the Flying Burrito Brothers, was born in Gallipolis, Ohio; died July 6, 2003 from complications associated with Alzheimer's in Salem, Oregon.  (Note:  some websites list his birthplace as Gallipolis, West Virginia.  There isn't a Gallipolis in West Virginia--there is a Gallipolis Ferry, but Battin wasn't born there.  He was born in Ohio, according to the newspaper 'The Los Angeles Times'.)
1939:  Bobby Hart (real name Robert Harshman), singer-songwriter with Tommy Boyce ("I Wonder What She's Doing Tonight" from 1968), who also wrote "Last Train To Clarksville" and "I'm Not Your Stepping Stone" for the Monkees, was born in Phoenix, Arizona.

1941:  Irma Thomas ("Wish Someone Would Care" from 1964) was born in Ponchatoula, Louisiana.

1941:  Herman Santiago of Frankie Lymon & the Teenagers was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
1943:  Denny Zager of Zager & Evans ("In The Year 2525" from 1969) was born in Wymore, Nebraska.  (Note:  some websites list his birthday as February 15, 1944, but according to the official website for Zager Guitars, he was born in 1943.)

1947:  Dennis DeYoung, lead singer and keyboardist with Styx, was born in Chicago, Illinois.

1948:  Keith Knudsen, songwriter and drummer of the Doobie Brothers, was born in LeMars, Iowa; died February 8, 2005 of pneumonia.  (Note:  numerous websites incorrectly show Keith's date of birth as October 18, some show it as November 3, and many show his birth as being in Ames, Iowa.  According to "The LeMars Sentinel' newspaper and 'Allmusic.com', and the tombstone pictured above, Keith was born on February 18 in LeMars.)








1952:  Juice Newton was born in Virginia Beach, New Jersey.  (Note:  some websites claim she was born in Lakehurst, New Jersey--she was born in Virginia Beach, according to the newspaper 'The Los Angeles Times'.)
1953:  Robbie Bachman, drummer of BTO, was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
1953:  Derek Pellicci, co-founder and drummer of the Little River Band, was born in London.
1954:  John Travolta, movie superstar who teamed with Olivia Newton-John for the #1 song "You're the One That I Want" as well as the big hit "Summer Nights" and was also a solo artist ("Let Her In") was born in Englewood, New Jersey.
1965:  Dr. Dre (real name Andre Young) was born in Compton, California.