Day: March 20, 2012

From the MCRFB music calendar:

Events on this date: MARCH 20

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1959: Philadelphia’s Dick Clark introduces Philadelphia’s own Bobby Rydell on American Bandstand. By then a singing protege after having first been discovered by Clark, the sensational Phillie teen-idol makes his first appearance on the ABC-TV national teen-dance show.

1961: Elvis Presley begins filming Blue Hawaii while on location there. It is Presley’s ninth movie thus far.

1964: The Beatles make their first appearance on the British television variety show Ready Steady Go! After singing three numbers on the show, “Can’t Buy Me Love,” ” It Won’t Be Long,” and “You Can’t Do That.” The band’s debut appearance on the show retains the highest ratings ever for the UK television program.

1965: The No. 1 song in the Britain Isles on this day is “The Last Time” by the Rolling Stones.

1965:  Motown’s very first British tour begins at Finsbury Park Astoria, in London. The UK entourage features many of the top Motown recording acts, such as the Supremes, Little Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, Martha and the Vandellas, and the Miracles.

1968: Eric Clapton is arrested in Los Angeles along with three members of the Buffalo Springfield, namely Neil Young, Jim Messina, and  Richie Furray. All four were charged with “being in a place where it is suspected marijuana was being used.” Clapton is later found innocent, while the Buffalo Springfield band members, their names disclosed, are all penalized with a small fine.

1969: John Lennon marries Yoko Ono at the Rock of Gibraltor, Spain, a parcel of land still owned by the English. Later, in the Beatles song, “The Ballad Of John And Yoko,” Lennon describes the location as “Gibraltor, near Spain,” setting off an international furor at the time, as England and Spain were currently at odds over ownership of the area.

1976: Alice Cooper marries his first and only wife, Sheryl Goddard, a-19-year-old dancer who was on his Welcome To My Nightmare Tour.

1977: T-Rex plays what is to be their last concert before the untimely death of lead singer Marc Bolan in an automobile accident, a gig at a club named The Locarno, situated in Portsmouth, England.

1989: After 37 years on the air, Dick Clark announces he will discontinue his creation for television, ABC-TV’s American Bandstand. The show continues with another host, but didn’t last too long after Clark had exited.

1991:  Eric Clapton’s son Conor, four years of age, dies after falling from the 53rd story window from his mother’s apartment in New York City. Clapton was staying at a hotel at the time not far away, having taken his son to a circus the night before. Clapton later writes his hit song “Tears In Heaven” as a way to help overcome his personal grief over his son’s tragic death.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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