Author: Jim Feliciano

THIS DAY IN POP MUSIC HISTORY: APRIL 6

From the MCRFB music calendar:

Events on this date: APRIL 6

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1956: Having impressed Paramount Studios with his screen test five days earlier, Elvis Presley is signed to a seven-year, three-picture deal worth nearly a half-million dollars.

The Everly Brothers, Phil and Don, performing here, debuts their act live on stage in NYC in 1959. (Click on image for larger view).

1960: The Everly Brothers begin their first European tour at London’s New Victoria Theater.

1962: The U.S.S.R’s official newspaper, Pravda, warns Soviet teens of the decadent dangers of the new “twist” dance craze.

1963: Fats Domino leaves Imperial Records and signs with ABC-Paramount Records.

1965: The Beach Boys commence studio session recordings for “California Girls.”

 

1968: Founding member Syd Barrett, already in a mental downward spiral from LSD abuse, leaves Pink Floyd.

1969: Bassist Pete Quaife announces that he’s quitting the Kinks.

The Rollings Stones unveil the band’s new logo in 1971 (also, commonly referred to as the “Mick the Lick” logo).

1971: The Rolling Stones unveil their new custom record label, Rolling Stones Records, which also features the group’s new logo, the infamous tongue-and-lips “pop art” drawing created by London graphic artist John Pasche.

1971: Carly Simon is introduced to James Taylor backstage after her performance at Los Angeles’ famous Troubadour nightclub. Instantly smitten, they would marry in November of 1972.

1974: Columbia Record’s Billy Joel cracks the Top 40 for the first time with “Piano Man.”

The official California Jam Concert Billboard; April 6, 1974.

1974: California’s biggest annual rock concert, the California Jam, has its debut in Ontario, CA, featuring stage acts by the Eagles, Earth, Wind, and Fire, Seals and Croft, Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, Emerson, Lake and Palmer, Rare Earth and Black Oak Arkansas performing for a crowd estimated well over 200,000 who attends.

1974: The Rolling Stones premier their concert film Ladies And Gentleman: The Rolling Stones, the first-ever such film with a quadrophonic soundtrack. The event premiers at the Ziegfeld Theater in NYC.

1979: Rod Stewart marries George Hamilton’s ex-wife, Alana Collins, in Beverley Hills, California. They would divorce in 1984.

1984: Guitarist Steve Van Zandt announces that he’s amicably leaving the E Street Band to pursue a solo career. He will return to the E. Street Band in 1995.

George Harrison performing live at the Royal Albert Hall in London, 1992. (Click on image for larger view).

1992: To benefit the Natural Law Party, George Harrison plays his first full-length live concert in London. It was his first live performance since the Beatles’s final performance in 1969.

1998: Chubby Checker, Lesley Gore, Fabian, and Dick Clark all guest-star as themselves in tonight’s “Opus One” episode of CBS-TV’s Murphy Brown.

Deaths: Ral Donner, 1984; Tammy Wynette, 1998; Niki Sullivan (band member of the Crickets); 2004.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And that’s just a few of the events which took place in pop music history, on this day….

 

 


 

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FLASHBACK POP MUSIC HISTORY: APRIL 5

From the MCRFB music calendar:

Events on this date: APRIL 5

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1955: Ray Charles marries his second wife, Della Beatrice Howard, in Houston, Texas.

1958: Johnny Mathis’ compilation album Johnny’s Greatest Hits, the first “greatest hits” LP, enters the Billboard charts, where it will stay for almost nine and a half years. Its a record that would only be broken in 1982 by Pink Floyd’s Dark Side Of The Moon LP.

1964: The Beatles film the famous opening scene from their first movie, A Hard Day’s Night, running away from several rabid female fans in pursuit of the Fab Four while at London’s Marylebone train station.

The Searchers performing on the Ed Sullivan Show on April 5, 1964.

1964: The Searchers make their U.S. television debut, singing “Needles And Pins” and “Ain’t That Just Like Me” on the Ed Sullivan Show on CBS-TV.

1967: Monkees fans march in London in protest of band member Davy Jones’ announced induction into the Army. The teen heartthrob is eventually exempted from duty for being his family’s main provider.

 

1967: Elvis Presley’s 24th movie, Double Trouble, premieres in Hollywood.

Marvin Gaye’s father in Los Angeles police photograph after being strip-searched; April 5, 1984.

1982: Marvin Gaye’s funeral takes place at Forest Lawn cemetery in Los Angeles, drawing some very notable mourners, including Smokey Robinson, Stevie Wonder, Quincy Jones, and Berry Gordy. Gaye had been shot to death three days earlier by his father after he intervened in an argument between his parents.

1987: Buddy Rich’s funeral in Los Angeles also draws some very notable mourners, including Frank Sinatra, Artie Shaw, and Johnny Carson, just to name a few.

1990: After serving months of his sentence for drug possession, resisting arrest, and other related charges, James Brown is put on a work-release program. Brown is moved from his jail to South Carolina’s Lower Savannah Work Center, where he provides counseling for drug addicts. For his services there, James Brown is paid four dollars an hour.

James Brown takes his best shot for the cops and is then booked for drug possession; 1990.

Deaths: Bob “The Bear” Hite, member of Canned Heat; 1981; Cozy Powell, Black Sabbath, Rainbow; 1998; Gene Pitney; 2006.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And that’s just a few of the events which took place in pop music history, on this day….

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SHANNON’S SPOT ON CKLW-TV 9… OCTOBER 5, 1968

From the MCRFB news archives:

DETROIT’S NO. 1 DEEJAY DEBUTS NEW TEEN DANCE SHOW

 

 

 

 

 

DETROIT — “The Lively Spot,” hosted by CKLW deejay Tom Shannon, bowed here on CKLW-TV (channel 9) on Monday, September 30, replacing the Robin Seymour “Swingin’ Time” show.  The show will be seen 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and 6 to 7 p.m. Saturday when it will be known as “The Tom Shannon Show.”  He’ll continue his 6 to 9 p.m. on the CKLW radio station.

The Tom Shannon Show on CKLW-TV 9; newspaper ad from local newspaper TV guide; 1969. (Click on image for larger view).

Elmer Jasper, director of programming for CKLW-TV, predicts Shannon will become a great favorite of Detroit young people on TV. Shannon joined CKLW four years ago. A song-writer, he wrote the 1963 hit,  “Wild Weekend,” by the Rebel Rousers. He also wrote “Soul Clappin’,” a local hit currently playing in Detroit on the radio charts, as performed by the Buena Vistas on the Marquee record label. END.

 

(Information and news source: Billboard; October 5, 1968).

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CKLW CANCON PLAYLIST TRANSFORMS MORE INTO U.S. HITS… MAY 26, 1973

From the MCRFB news archives:

ARTIST CLAIMS CKLW’S KEEN INTEREST AFFECTS U.S. HITS IN POPULARITY AND IN SALES

 

 

 

By RITCHIE YORKE

 

TORONTO — The future evolution of Canadian-made music in the U.S. charts depends very much on a “continuing keen interest” by the programmers of Radio CKLW Windsor/Detroit, according to Edward Bear’s singer/writer, Larry Evoy.

Evoy credits CKLW with being “directly responsible” for the massive American success of his “Last Song” single on Capitol.

Since the introduction of Canadian content regulations on AM broadcasters in this country (January 18, 1971), CKLW has been required to devote 30 percent of its playlist to records with at least a minimum involvement of Canadiana.

Its Canadian location notwithstanding, CKLW caters primarily to an audience in excess to 90 percent Americans. It has been the top-rating teen station in Detroit for several years and also draws strong ratings in nearby cities such as Cleveland and Toledo.

CKLW is the only Canadian-owned station (TV or radio) with a significant U.S. audience. In addition, CKLW is widely regarded as one of the key breakout stations for new recorded hits in the United States. A recent Billboard survey revealed that more hit singles are broken from Detroit than any other major market in the country.

Capitol recording artist Edward Bear; 1973. (Click on image for larger view).

It comes as no surprise then that CKLW has become the prime access route for Canadian record makers anxious to get their vinyl recorded wares onto the U.S. charts. In the early part of the Cancon era (acronym; Canadian context), CKLW demonstrated considerable reluctance in programming legitimately locally-made singles. Rather, the station searched out U.S. records with dubious Canadian connections (many a song written by Paul Anka, who left Canada fifteen-years ago, have found their way onto the ‘CK playlists) to avoid taking a chance on unknown Canadian artists.

But in the past six months or so, CKLW has gotten behind real Canadian records with unprecedented vengeance. At the same time, the station continues to make rating gains destroying the myth that CKLW could not fairly compete in Detroit with the Cancon millstone around its neck.

Edward Bear’s Larry Evoy is one of several key Canadian artists now singing the praises of the new ‘CK policy. “It seems that CKLW now listens to Canadian records seriously,” Evoy says. “They merely don’t dismiss them as inferior.”

Real Ear

“Last Song” by Edward Bear on Capitol Records; released 1973.

Evoy believes that CKLW music director Rosalie Trombley has a real ear for picking unproven hits. He cites the example of Skylark’s current U.S. top 10 hit, “Wildflower” as an example of this ability.

“I must say also, that she was tremendously important in breaking ‘Last Song.’ If it hadn’t been for her efforts, I doubt if we’d done anywhere near as well,” he said.

“Last Song” had sold some 1,250,000 copies in the U.S. and in excess of 100,000 in Canada, making it the biggest-selling domestically produced pop record ever on home soil.

The follow-up single “Close Your Eyes” was at No. 44 with a star on the Hot 100 last week. It moved from No. 24 to No. 20 at CKLW with top five requests reported. “Last Song” had previously reached the No. 1 spot at CKLW, becoming the first Canadian-made single to ever achieve that difficult feat in a predominately R&B market.

Evoy said he favors the CRTC Cancon laws, which made a record industry in Canada a reality. “I cannot see that the regulations have caused any hardship anywhere.”

Evoy also considers Canadian studios to be the equal of U.S. recording facilities. “I’m very high on the studios here. We cut both of our U.S. hits at Thunder Sound in Toronto. As far as sound goes, you can get what you want — it just depends on what you’re doing and who you’re doing it with.” END.

 

(Information and news source: Billboard; May 26, 1973).

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FLASHBACK POP MUSIC HISTORY: APRIL 4

From the MCRFB music calendar:

Events on this date: APRIL 4

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1960: RCA Victor decides to release all future singles — starting with Elvis Presley’s “Stuck On You” — in both mono and stereo versions.

1960: At tonight’s Academy Awards, Frank Sinatra’s “High Hopes” (from the comedy A Hole In The Head) wins an Oscar for Best Original Song.

1961: Former teen idol Fabian graduates from Philadelphia’s South Side High.

The Beatles break all American chart records sales in the singles and album categories in 1964.

1964: The Beatles break all American chart records when the latest Billboard chart shows them with the Top Five records in the country simultaneously (#5: “Please Please Me,” #4: “I Want To Hold Your Hand,” #3: “She Loves You,” #2: “Twist And Shout,” #1: “Can’t Buy Me Love”). Even more incredibly, nine other singles are scattered in various other positions around the Hot 100.

1964: A court orders the Trashmen of “Surfin’ Bird” fame to pay royalties to Beechwood Music, holder of the copyright for the Rivington’s 1962 hit, “Papa Oom Mow Mow,” which the Trashmen borrows heavily from.

1967: Paul McCartney advises Beatles PR man Derek Taylor, currently producer of the upcoming Monterey Pop Festival, to consider this new guitar phenomenon he’s seen who goes by the name Jimi Hendrix.

Boston councilman Tom Atkins and Mayor Kevin White confers with James Brown backstage at the Boston Gardens on April 5, 1968. (Click on image for larger view).

1968: After hearing about the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., in Memphis, riots break out in several major cities across the nation. In Boston, where James Brown is scheduled to perform, city mayor Kevin White asks the singer to call for calm on stage and ask Bostonians not to riot. Meanwhile, at new York City’s New Generation club, Jimi Hendrix, B.B. King, Al Kooper, Buddy Guy, Ted Nugent and Joni Mitchell respond by gathering for an all-night jam in tribute to the slain civil rights leader.

1970: Janis Joplin reunites with Big Brother and the Holding Company in San Francisco for a one-off reunion concert.

1973: A taped Elvis Presley concert entitled: Elvis: Aloha From Hawaii is telecast from NBC television and proves to be a huge success. The total worldwide audience for the show, the first commercial worldwide satellite broadcast, amounts to over a billion viewers who witnessed the telecast event from around the world.

1996: While on parole, Wilson Pickett is arrested for possession of two grams of cocaine at his home in Englewood, New Jersey.

1996: Grateful Dead leader Jerry Garcia’s ashes are scattered in the Ganges river in India by Dead guitarist Bob Weir and Garcia’s widow, Deborah.

Stoner Keith Richards in 2007.

2007: Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones retracts a statement he made to British music magazine New Musical Express a few days earlier to the effect he once snorted his dad’s ashes. Richards smugly calls the remark “an April Fool’s joke.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And that’s just a few of the events which took place in pop music history, on this day….

 


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EXCITEMENT IN R&B RADIO: WCHB 1440… JULY 2, 1966

From the MCRFB NEWS archive: 1966

WCHB Adds Own Excitement To Rhythm and Blues Format

 

 

 

WCHB Bell Broadcasting, Inc., 1966

DETROIT — R&B music is the most exciting music in the world now, believes WCHB program director Bill Curtis. That, plus a “lot of hard work,” is the foundation on which the R&B station has built its success.  Billboard’s latest Radio Response Ratings survey of this market, the fifth largest in the nation, showed the station as the major influence on sales of R&B records. Fifty per cent of the record dealers, distributors, one-stop operators, and local and national record executives voted in favor of the station over its competition in broadcasting in the Detroit area.

Detroit’s WCHB Super Soul Survey 40; March, 1966. (Click on image for larger view).

Although R&B music has grown increasingly so popular that Hot 100 stations are playing more and more of it, Curtis wasn’t worried. “We play more of it and we try to play it before they do. But it’s the most exciting music in the world right now, and nothing will ever take it’s place.”

The station has been responsible for giving many new R&B records that important initial exposure; in fact, the exposure has been so important that the power of the station has forced rock ‘n’ roll outlets in the city to play the records because of the sale created. An example is “Sunny” by Bobby Hebb, said Curtis. This was the flip side of a record, but during a listening session Curtis was impressed with the B side over the A side, “A Satisfied Mind.” “Just a fluke that I listened to it,” he said. “I don’t go around turning over a cat’s record.” But “Sunny,” which the station went on to play, went to No. 1 at local Hot 100 format stations.

Another record the R&B station broke in the market was “Open The Door To Your Heart” by Darryl Banks on the Detroit-based Revilot Records and Curtis predicted it would be “a big one.”

“I get a kick out of exposing a new recording product, helping it become a hit. At least you know you’re doing something worthwhile. Also, you get an indication of the power of your station and how much you can influence your listeners.” END

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(Information and news source: Billboard Magazine; July 2, 1966)

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DETROIT, L.A., FOR THE RECORD(S)… JULY 2, 1966

From the MCRFB news archives:

Detroit and L.A. Record Sales Are ‘Happening Places’

 

 

 

 

By CLAUDE HALL

 

“Cool Jerk” by the Capitols on Karen Records; 1966.

DETROIT — Detroit and Los Angeles are currently the best place in the nation in which to break a record. Both cities in the past six months, according to a special Billboard survey, have had eight records start there with a sales breakout, and have spread across the country to finally reach Billboard’s Top 100 Chart. In the case of Detroit, this include’s “Cool Jerk” by the Capitols on Karen Records, No. 7 this week, and “Oh, How Happy” by the Shades Of Blue on Impact Records which went to No. 12 and is No. 14 this week. Impact is a Detroit record label.

The eight-Detroit chart makers came from a total of 16 breakouts; the eight Los Angeles winners came from only 14. Chicago, New York and Detroit were the cities with the largest number of total breakouts — 16 each. But, of the New York and the Chicago breakouts, only six went on to reach the chart.

The Shades Of Blue on Impact Records; 1966

San Francisco, on the other hand, had seven records reach the chart from 15 original breakouts. San Francisco had the largest number of total breakouts — 20 — but five of these records happened first in other markets. Tying with New York and Chicago in number of breakout records that went on to reach the chart were Dallas, Miami and Pittsburgh.

In a similar survey last year, New York took all honors, not only having the most original breakouts — 17 — but having the most that reached the chart — 19. San Francisco had been second with 18 breakout that reached the chart. That survey encompassed nine months.

During the past six months, Atlanta had five record breakouts that reached the chart, Houston four, Milwaukee and St. Louis three each.

In all, there were 182 different records which were listed as breakout singles in 22 different markets between Billboard’s January 1 and June 25 issues. Of these, 81 had made the Top 100 Chart as of the current July 2 issue, another 26 record singles made the Bubbling Under category. The percent of of breakout single records making the chart was 45.1.

“Time Won’t Let Me” by the Outsiders on Capitol Records; 1966.

These figures do not include the big name artists like the Beatles, whose records generally break nation-wide  immediately after release. Of the breakout singles, the two biggest hits to date have been “Elusive Butterfly” by Bob Lind on World Pacific Records, which started in Miami, and “Time Won’t Let Me” by the Outsiders on Capitol Records which started in Cleveland. Both records went to No. 5 on the chart. However, other records still moving up the chart like “Little Girl” (a San Francisco happening) by the Syndicate Of Sound on Bell Records, “Ain’t Too Proud To Beg” (Miami breakout) by the Temptations on Gordy Records, “Dirty Water” (a Miami breakout) by the Standells, on Tower Records, “Along Comes Mary” by the Association on Valiant Records (a Los Angeles breakout) still stand an excellent chance of doing as well on the charts. All four of these former regional breakouts are in Billboard’s top 20 with a star, indicating heavy current record disk sales.

“Sweet Pea” by Tommy Roe on ABC Records; 1966.

Without doubt, the crown for taking the longest to happen goes to “Sweet Pea” by Tommy Roe on ABC Records, appearing this week on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart at 37 with a star.  The record was first listed as a breakout in Atlanta in the February 19 issue. More than two months later, in the April 30 issue, it was a breakout in Miami. The May 21 issue showed it as a sales breakout in both the Dallas-Ft.Worth area and in Memphis as well. On June 4, it was a breakout in both Milwaukee and the Minneapolis-St. Paul area. All this before “Sweet Pea” finally began to happen big.

Some records, in spite of being sales breakouts in other markets, never really make it. “Second Hand Man” by the Back Porch Majority on Epic Records had sales breakouts in Houston, Dallas-Ft. Worth and Chicago, but only went as  high as No. 135 in the Bubbling Under category. “Don’t Stop Now” by Eddie Holman on Parkway Records broke out in sales in Los Angeles, New York and Pittsburgh, but failed to make it elsewhere in other major markets. “Mr. Moon” by the Coachmen on Bear Records broke in Minneapolis-St. Paul, Milwaukee and San Francisco but only went high as No. 114 in the Bubbling Under category. “I Dig You Baby” by Lorraine Ellison on Mercury Records had the same fate.

Some markets didn’t fare so well in ratio of success with breakouts. Although a total of 15 different records had sales breakouts in Baltimore — 13 of which happened there first — only two went on to make the 100 chart, one an Al Martino record which went as high as No. 30. END.

 

(Information and news source; Billboard Magazine; July 2, 1966).


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FLASHBACK POP MUSIC HISTORY: MARCH 29

From the MCRFB music calendar:

Events on this date: MARCH 29

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1958: New army recruit Elvis Presley arrives for boot camp at Ft. Hood, Texas. He is stationed there for six months and insists he performs KP and guard duty like any other soldier on the base. With a bank account larger than any other soldier on base, he is able to afford his own housing. His family later arrives and moves into an off-base trailer.

1966: During a concert in Marseilles, France, a rabid Stone fan throws a chair at Mick Jagger. The toss opens a gash on the singer’s forehead requiring eight stitches to close. In a totally separate incident, that same night in Cheshire, England, fans mobbing the Walker Brothers outside their hotel cause concussions in two of the three American band members.

Glen Campbell in 1967

1968: Glen Campbell becomes a television star overnight when the Smothers brothers make him the host of the Summer Replacement Variety Hour on CBS-TV.

1970: Tonight’s Ed Sullivan Show on CBS-TV features performances by Bobby Gentry and Gladys Knight and the Pips, broadcasting live from VA hospitals caring for veterans wounded in service in Vietnam.

1972: Led Zeppelin’s Jimmy Page and Robert Plant travel to Bombay (Mumbai), India, to record versions of the band’s songs “Friends” and “Four Sticks” with the city’s symphony orchestra. Musical and cultural differences make the project from being any success. Page and Plant will return two decades later recording those songs and many more for the MTV special Unledded.

Dr. Hook on the cover of the Rolling Stone in 1973 (click on image for larger view).

1973: More likely it was destined to happen, Dr. Hook appears on the cover of the Rolling Stone magazine after their recent novelty hit, in which they imagined just doing that while making Top 10 nationally on the record charts. As they had sung in their song, the band members bought five copies of the magazine each and in turn they gave them to their mothers.

1975: This week’s Billboard shows Led Zeppelin with all six of their studio albums currently present on the “Billboard 200” album chart, including a Number One with their latest, Physical Graffiti.

1978: Tina Turner is officially divorced from husband Ike Turner.

1985: Michael Jackson is honored with a wax statue at London’s famous Madame Tussaud’s museum.

1986: The Beatles records are officially licensed for sale in the Soviet Union.

1996: Phil Spector’s former bandmates in the Teddy Bears, Carol Connors and Marshall Lieb, sue the producer to collect royalties they claimed are still owned them from the group’s 1958 smash hit, “To Know Him Is To Love Him.”

2001:A three-hour musical tribute is held at New York City’s Radio Music Hall in honor of the Beach Boy’s guiding genius, Brian Wilson. Beach Boys song-cover performances were rendered that evening by Paul Simon (“Surfer Girl”), Elton John (“God Only Knows”), Billy Joel (“Don’t Worry Baby”), as well as Heart’s Ann and Nancy Wilson, the Go-Gos, Carly Simon, David Crosby, Wilson Philips, Aimee Mann, and songwriter Jimmy Webb. Wilson himself performs “Barbara Ann,” ” Fun, Fun, Fun,” and “Surfin’ U.S.A.”

2006: Tom Jones is knighted by Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace.

 

And that’s just a few of the events which took place in pop music history, on this day . . . .

 

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FLASHBACK POP MUSIC HISTORY: MARCH 28

From the MCRFB music calendar:

Events on this date: MARCH 28

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1957: Ral Donner, later to hit with Elvis-sound-alike “The Girl Of My Best Friend,” sees Elvis Presley for the first time performing at the International Amphitheater in Chicago.

Alan Freed’s ‘Big Beat Show’ at the Brooklyn Paramount in 1958.

1958: Alan Freed’s Big Beat Show tour kicks off the first of its 43 shows at the Brooklyn Paramount Theater with Buddy Holly, Jerry Lee Lewis, Chuck Berry, Danny and the Juniors, Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers, The Chantels, The Diamonds, Screamin’ Jay Hawkins, and more.

1964: Madame Tussuad’s famous Wax Museum in London unveils its four news statues of the Beatles — the first of any rock star to be created and displayed there. The figures will eventually become even more famous when the Beatles decide to use them on the cover of their 1967 album Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.

1975: Barbra Streisand attends tonight’s Elvis Presley show in Las Vegas and meets him backstage to discuss offering him the lead role in her latest film project, A Star Is Born. Despite the fact that Streisand’s boyfriend, Jon Peters, is slated to produce an direct, Presley is said to be ecstatic about the offer.

David Crosby makes the cover of People magazine, on April 27, 1987. (Click on image for larger view).

1982: After driving erratically due to a toxic shock from drug abuse, David Crosby (formerly of the Byrds) is arrested in San Diego for driving under the influence and possession of Quaaludes, cocaine, drug paraphernalia, and an unlicensed .45 pistol. When cops ask why Crosby carrying the gun, according to the police report he promptly replied, “John Lennon.”

1984: Mick Fleetwood, whose band, Fleetwood Mac, had the biggest-selling album of all time just seven years earlier, files for bankruptcy.

1985: At 10:15 am EST, 6,000 North American radio stations begin playing the all-star benefit single, “We Are The World,” written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie and performed by a cast of 45 of music’s biggest stars, including Ray Charles, Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Stevie Wonder, Paul Simon, Diana Ross, Billy Joel, Tina Turner, Dionne Warwick, Willie Nelson and Daryl Hall. Proceeds from the sale of the single and related items had raised nearly $38,000,000 for the victims of the Ethiopian famine.

The Doobie Brothers “Minute By Minute” 45 rpm record picture sleeve.

1987: After hearing that Arizona Governor Evan Mecham would not honor the new national holiday for Martin Luther King Day, the racially integrated Doobie Brothers, in protest, had removed and re-scheduled their Phoenix show over to Las Vegas instead.

2000: Led Zeppelin’s Jimmy Page wins his libel suit against Ministry, a UK magazine that claimed Page actually watched fellow-band member John Bonham choke to death while trying to revive him with Satanic spells.

2005: On Reverend Jesse Jackson’s internet radio show, Michael Jackson claims his recent child-molestation charges against him personally are a racist conspiracy.

And that’s just a few of the events which took place in pop music history, on this day….

 

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FLASHBACK POP MUSIC HISTORY: MARCH 27

From the MCRFB music calendar:

Events on this date: MARCH 27

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1955: In Memphis, Sam Phillips decides to form his own independent record label, known as Sun Records. This was due in part when Ike Turner could not find a record label to record the follow-up to his hit, Jackie Brenston’s “Rocket 88.” Within a matter of days, Sun will release it’s first single, Johnny London’s “Driving Slow” on Sun Records number 175.

CBS Records’ sound lab invented a new recording process sound by converting a single audio source into two-channel dimensional stereophonic separation in 1958.

1958: CBS Records announces it’s sound lab’s latest invention, stereophonic sound, which when played on a compatible phonograph will send sound through two channels instead of one.

1960:Representative Emanuel Celler (D-NY) introduces two bills designed to halt the practice of “Payola” — that is, deejays receiving cash or gifts to promote certain records. Celler, echoing the sentiments of his era, stated that “the cacophonous music called Rock and Roll” could not possibly have risen up the charts without the help of payola.

1965: P. J. Proby splits his tight pants while on stage in Hereford, England, a standard occurrence for the singer while on stage. On this occasion, as Proby donned more into the same ‘ole splits, the incident resulted in his concert being canceled.

1967: Fats Domino play his first UK gig at London’s Saville Theater, with a billing which included the Bee Gees and Gerry and the Pacemakers.

Grand Funk manager Terry Knight in 1970.

1972: Grand Funk Railroad fires producer/manager Terry Knight for alleged non-payment of royalties.

1973: Rolling Stone reports that Carlos Santana has become a devotee of Sri Chimnoy, and has therefore changed his name to “Devadip” which means “the lamp of the light of the Supreme” (or whatever).

1973: A routine speeding ticket for Grateful Dead band leader Jerry Garcia in New Jersey becomes more problematic when police search his car and find a significant quantity of LSD. Garcia is released on two-thousand dollar bail.

1979: Eric Clapton finally gets his “Layla” when he marries Pattie Boyd, the ex-wife of best friend George Harrison. Harrison attends the wedding in Tucson, Arizona, as do fellow Beatles Ringo Starr and Paul McCartney. Eric and Pattie would divorce in 1988.

Ronnie Lane with the Small Faces circa 1967.

1982: Ronnie Lane, former bassist for the (Small) Faces, is taken to the hospital for further treatment of Multiple Sclerosis. Lane dies from complications of the muscle-degenerating disease in 1997.

2003: The Rolling Stones postpone a planned series of concerts in Hong Kong, after the deadly SARS flu epidemic breaks out there. Ironically, the Stones would later perform a benefit concert at another date to show the city is safe to visit there.

2006: Victor Willis, the “policeman” in the Village People, is arrested in San Francisco for failing to appear at his trial for cocaine and gun possession. After agreeing to enter rehab his sentence is reduced to three years probation.

And that’s just a few of the events which took place in pop music history, on this day….

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