Author: Jim Feliciano

FLASHBACK POP MUSIC HISTORY: SEPTEMBER 21

From the MCRFB music calendar:

Events on this date: SEPTEMBER 21

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1957: Elvis Presley’s longtime guitarist Scotty Moore and bassist Bill Black leave the King’s band, dissatisfied over being denied pay raises by manager Colonel Tom Parker. Drummer D. J. Fontana stays on.

Dusty Springfield, formerly of the British group the Springfields, born Mary Isobel Catherine Bernadette O’Brien. (Click on image for larger view).

1962: A year and a half before the Beatles break in the United States, the Springfields’ “Silver Threads And Golden Needles” becomes the first British song to reach the top 20 in the U.S. Later, member Dusty Springfield would have several more solo hits of her own.

1965: Having signed with Beatles manager Brian Epstein, the Moody Blues play their first major gig , as part of the manager’s “Evening Of Popular Music” at Royal Albert Hall in London. Other acts include Manfred Mann, the Kinks, Gerry and the Pacemakers, and Georgie Fame and the Blue Flames.

1968: Janis Joplin announces her upcoming departure from her band Big Brother and the Holding Company, which observant listeners had decried as too amateurish for her talents.

 1980: Bob Marley, who had refused treatment for spreading melanoma due to his religious beliefs, collapses while jogging in New York’s Central Park and is hospitalized. Two nights later he performs the next date on his North American Tour, the Stanley Theater in Pittsburgh, but sadly it proves to be his last.

1980: Elton John leaves longtime label MCA and signs with David Geffen’s new label by signing a six-year contract.

1986: The US Department of Health and Human Services honors Dionne Warwick for “exceptional services as a leading health ambassador” in fighting the spread of AIDS.

The Status Quo. (Click on image for larger view).

1991: The Status Quo band (1968 hit: “Pictures Of Matchstick Men”) set a world record when they play four separate British arenas in one 11-hour period.

1999: While being searched at London’s Heathrow Airport, Diana Ross allegedly assaults the security guard in question and is detained for five hours.

2004: Cat Stevens, known as Yusaf Islam since the late Seventies, is stopped from entering the US after his name is erroneously found on a terrorist watch list.

 

Deaths: 1998: Oz Bach (Spanky and our Gang).

Releases: 1968: “All Along The Watchtower,” Jimi Hendrix. 1974: “You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet,” Bachman-Turner Overdrive.

Recording: NONE for this date —

Charts: 1955: “Only You,” The Platters; enters the charts. 1959: “Sleep Walk,” Santo and Johnny; hits No. 1 on the charts. 1963: “Blue Velvet,” Bobby Vinton; hit No. 1 on the charts. 1968: “Harper Valley P.T.A.,” Jeannie C. Riley; hits No. 1 on the charts. 1974: “Can’t Get Enough Of Your Love, Babe,” Barry White; hits No. 1 on the charts.

Certifications: 1971: “Another Day,” “Admiral Halsey,” Paul McCartney; certified gold by the RIAA. 1976: ‘Children Of The World,’ (LP) Bee Gees; 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….

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BEATLES RECORD-BREAKERS EARLY IN ’64 . . . MARCH 14, 1964

A MCRFB NEWS brief: 1964

CAPITOL CLAIMS BEATLES ‘REPEAT’

 

 

 

HOLLYWOOD — Capitol Records will release the Beatles’ second single, “Can’t Buy Me Love” and “You Can’t Do That,” tentative Monday, March 16, claiming advance orders will exceed 1,700,000 copies. The Capitol label plans asking the RIAA to certify the disk as a million-seller on the same date for release.

Both tunes were written by band members Paul McCartney and John Lennon and the songs were recorded in London on February 27, upon returning from their triumphant U. S. visit here. Capitol Records has three outside pressing plants working on the disk, in addition to its own two facilities. The disk is also slated to be released in Europe tentative Friday, March 20. END

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(Information and news source: Billboard; March 14, 1964)

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WEST COAST SECURITY STRETCHED PROTECTING FAB FOUR… AUGUST 29, 1964

From the MCRFB NEWS archive: 1964

Police Called On Special Duty; Beatle Antics Causes Headaches

 

 

 

HOLLYWOOD — The Beatles may be idols of teenage girls and the love of top 40 stations, but to California police, airport officials and hotel managers they spell trouble.

When the mop-topped British band arrived here last week for concerts at the San Francisco Cow Palace and Hollywood Bowl, they found their reservations at the Fairmont and Ambassador Hotel canceled because of management fears about what screaming hordes of teenagers would do to their property, stayed guests and jovial the quartet itself.

The group was scheduled to land at Lockheed Airport in Lockheed, California, for their concert Sunday (August 23)  at the Bowl, but officials nixed the idea, stating they didn’t want teenagers ruining their facilities.

“Beatlemania” frenzy displayed in full force during the 1964 Beatles concert performance in San Francisco.

The quartet arrived with accustomed hysteria and confusion at Los Angeles International Airport Tuesday, August 18, en route to San Francisco. Over 500 screaming girls flocked to the Pan American terminal when word was leaked that the Beatles was passing through L. A. Extra police were called in to supplement the regular airport security force. The Beatles touched down at 4:15 p.m. and were airborne at 5:45 p.m., appearing at a hastily arraigned press conference which accomplished nothing.

Forty-five minutes later, when they arrived in San Francisco, a howling mob of 5,000 hysterical teenage girls were there to greet them. More than 100 San Mateo County sheriffs and police officers fought back the hysterical youngsters.

The four were taken to the Hilton Hotel, one of the few places willing to rent them rooms.

To secure maximum protection for the Bowl concert, which Capitol planned recording, producers Bob Eubanks, Reb Foster (both of KRLA) and night club owners Michael Brown and Bill Uttley obtained the services of 149 Los Angeles policemen, with the city picking up the tab for the coverage because the Bowl is county property. When events are held in private facilities, police are often hired by the producers.

San Francisco producer Paul Catalana paid the salaries for 100 policemen, hired especially for the concert at the Cow Palace, but San Mateo County faced an estimated $4,000 tab for additional protection at the airport. END

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(Information and news source: Billboard; August 29, 1964)

Police security in high-action during the Beatles performance at the Cow Palace in San Francisco. The date was August 19, 1964.
Fast-forward: September 14, 1964. The Cleveland police were heavily present posing as a security barrier from screaming female fans during the Beatles concert in Cleveland, sponsored by Top 40 WHK.

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WAY-BACK DETROIT RADIO PAGES: WJBK-AM… SEPTEMBER 7, 1946

From the MCRFB radio news scrapbook:

Hopkins Sell WJBK For 550 G; Price Was $3,000 In 1930

 

 

 

 

 

 DETROIT — August 31. Sale of 250-watt WJBK here for $550,000 to Fort Industry Corporation was confirmed by James F.Hopkins, for 16 years the owner. Deal brings back to Detroit George Storer, who formerly owned WGHP and CKOK (now CKLW) of Windsor, which is virtually a Detroit station in coverage. Fort Industry Corporation operates operates a string of seven stations; WSPD, Toledo; WMVA, Wheeling, W. Va.; WGBS, Miami; WAGA, Atlanta; WMMN, Fairmont, Pa.; WLOK, Lima, Ohio; and WHIZ; Zanesville.

Hopkins pointed out that the sale is subject to FCC approval, and that no action would be expected for some months, at least. Price of sale for the station, which is nearly tops for this power, is under the $700,000 deal for the same station discussed a couple of years ago when the United Automobile Workers considered buying it.

Permit for a 10 KW, FM station also goes with a the WJBK deal. Increase in value by the properties is shown by the fact that Hopkins bought WJBK back in 1930 for $3,000. END.

 

Billboard cover; September 7, 1946


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(Information and news source: Billboard; SEPTEMBER 7, 1946).

 

 

 

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ON RECORD: WXYZ SELL AD CLIENTS “GOOD LIFE” . . . MAY 6, 1967

From the MCRFB news archives:

WXYZ Single Promotes Station to Ad Prospects After Dropping Top 40

 

 

 

 

From the MCRFB Radio Jingles Archive, featuring:

WXYZ-AM 1967: The Good Life Jingles Package 1967

WXYZ-AM 1967: The Good Life Song (edit) 1967

WXYZ-AM 1967: The Good Life (Female) 1967

WXYZ-AM 1967: The Good Life (Male) 1967

 

DETROIT — WXYZ here is using a special record to showcase — for local clients as well as the Madison Avenue crowd — both its AM and FM sounds. One side of the 331/3 single heralds the Easy Listening music and the personalities — including Michelle and her sultry voice — on the FM stereo side. The flip side of the record showcase the personalities and the AM sound. Joe Bacarella, the station’s program director, describes “the sound of the good life” on WXYZ on the AM band.

The record, and a full-color brochure, is being hand-delivered to clients and potential advertising clients.

“Sound ideas sell,” is the first line in the brochure; it tells how the station tailored its identity jingles. Another section describes the “personality plus” side of the AM operation with photographs of the deejays, including a painting of the Martin and Howard duo deejay team newly on board, formerly out of Cleveland’s WKYC.

The FM side is promoted with a disclaimer as “entertainment with a flair” in the brochure. . . .  the greatest names in entertainment will be heard on WXYZ: Sinatra, Belafonte, Peggy Lee, Les Elgart, Count Basie, Mancini, Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass, Roger Miller.” END.

 

(Information and news source: Billboard; May 6, 1967).

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