From the MCRFB news archives:
Events on this date: JUNE 27
1959: West Side Story closes on Broadway after a record 732 performances.
1959: Paul Anka, Frankie Avalon, and Eddie “Kookie” Byrnes are the musical guests on ABC-TV’s variety show Coke Time With Eddie Fisher.
1963: Brenda Lee signs a million-dollar contract with Decca Records.
1968: As part of his filming of his “68 Comeback” special, Elvis Presley and his band tape an informal jam session on center stage at NBC-TV’s Studio 4, a performance many consider his best of all time. However, Presley’s manager “Colonel” Tom Parker, unhappy with the direction of the show, withholds all tickets to the performance, forcing staffers to run into a nearby Bob’s Big Boy restaurant (4211 W. Riverside Drive, Burbank), and informs all patrons they are more than welcome to attend the Elvis Presley telecast, first come, first served. Two shows, one in the afternoon and the other in the evening, are performed.
1970: The UK band Smile, having recently changed their name, performs for the first time as Queen, playing the Truro City Hall in Cornwall, England.
1970: With their latest single, “The Love You Save,” The Jackson 5 becomes the first-ever group to score three consecutive No. 1 hits. They’d soon make it four straight with “I’ll Be There.”
1971: Legendary rock promoter Bill Graham closes the Fillmore East, the New York version of his legendary San Francisco “rock ballroom.” The Allman Brothers, The Edgar Winter Group, The Beach Boys, Country Joe McDonald are on the bill for the final show.
1976: After years of fighting deportation from a government that objected to his professed radicalism, John Lennon finally gets his “green card” allowing him to stay in the United States.
1978: Kansas, the band, is named the first musical Ambassadors of Goodwill by UNICEF.
1989: Tom Jones is awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame at 6608 Hollywood Blvd., in Los Angeles.
1989: The Who perform their rock opera Tommy for the first time in it’s entirety since 1972, performing for charity at the Radio City Music Hall in NYC.
1991: At the Liverpool Cathedral, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra perform Paul McCartney’s first classical composition, Liverpool Oratorio.
1991: Carlos Santana is arrested in Houston after airport security finds marijuana in his luggage.
1998: Gordon Lightfoot, Anne Murray and Bryan Adams become the first three honorees to be awarded a star on Canada’s new Walk Of Fame on Toronto’s King Street.
2000: The Rolling Stones are found in copyright of Robert Johnson’s “Love In Vain” and “Stop Breaking Down,” both of which the Stones had covered and incorrectly labeled as in the public domain.
2001: Cat Stevens is given a cash settlement by members of the Flaming Lips after they acknowledge their song “Flight Test” is similar to Stevens’ 1970 song Father And Son.”
Deaths: 2002: John Entwistle; The Who. 2008: Raymond LeFevre. 2009: Gale Storm. 2009: Fayette Pinkney; The Three Degrees.
Recordings: 1949: “Rudolf The Red-Nosed Reindeer,” Gene Autry. 1961: “Candy Man,” Roy Orbison. 1963: “Bad To Me,” Billy J. Kramer and The Dakotas. 1968: “Everybody’s Got Something To Hide Except Me And My Monkey,” The Beatles.
Releases: 1964: “The Little Old Lady from Pasadena,” Jan and Dean.
Charts: 1960: “Everybody’s Somebody’s Fool,” Connie Francis; hits No. 1. 1964: “A World Without Love,” Peter and Gordon; Hits No. 1. 1964: “Under The Boardwalk,” The Drifters; enters the charts. 1970: “The Love You Save,” Jackson 4; hits No. 15
Certifications: 1962: ZZ Top’s LP ‘Fandango!’ is certified gold by the RIAA.
And that’s just a few of the events which took place in pop music history, on this day…. JUNE 27.
