A HARD DAYS’ NIGHT * THE BEATLES * UA PICTURES ’64
Posted March 16, 2012: this exhibit has been updated. Three new videos added!
HELP! * THE BEATLES * A UNITED ARTIST RELEASE ’65
Posted March 21, 2012: this exhibit has been updated. On new video added!
— OR FOR MORE —
Go to ‘CATEGORIES‘ on the left panel and click Beatles.
From the MCRFB music calendar:
Events on this date: August 14
1956: Washington DC deejay Bob Rickman forms the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Elvis Presley after reading too many articles that made Presley out to be a hick and / or a threat to teen society.
1958: At approximately 3:00 a.m, Gladys Presley, mother of Elvis, succumbs at age 46 from a heart attack brought on by hepatitis. His father, Vernon, calls Elvis immediately and he rushes to her bedside, wailing loudly and praying over her lifeless body. Elvis refuses an autopsy. Gladys’ body is transported to Graceland and will lie in state there for two days, with her son simply starring at her, until his father, Vernon, insisted that she be buried.
1962: With producer George Martin unhappy with his drumming (and, some say, the group was unhappy with his teen-idol looks), Pete Best is officially let go from the Beatles. Manager Brian Epstein tells him about three days later, however, after one more performance at the Cavern Club, giving him no real reason for the sacking and cutting off all contact from the other members of the group. (Lennon went on to admit to the group’s “cowardly” handling of the event in a later interview). All sights were on Ringo Starr instead, then-drummer for a Liverpool band named Rory Storm and the Hurricanes, who was then asked if he would like to join the group. Starr accepted.
1966: The Catholic Herald of London runs an editorial describing John Lennon’s recent remarks the Beatles were “bigger that Jesus” as “arrogant,” while admitting the controversy associated with the quote was a generally accurate statement. However, the Vatican paper of record, L ‘Osservatore Romano, accepts Lennon’s public apology he had made a few days earlier.
1970: After he was found crawling along a motel hallway in La Jolla, California, incoherent and “combative,” Stephen Stills of Crosby, Stills and Nash is arrested for possession of cocaine and barbiturates.
1971: Diana Ross becomes the proud mother of her first child, Rhonda Suzanne Silberstein; Ross soon marries her manager, Robert Ellis Silberstein, a few days later to mask the fact that the baby is actually the child of Motown’s current married founder, Berry Gordy.
1981: Four years after his untimely death, a Memphis judge rules that the Elvis Presley estate is no longer financially ensconced to his manager, “Colonel” Tom Parker.
1985: Acting on the advice of his good friend Paul McCartney to invest his Thriller money in music publishing, Michael Jackson makes a secret winning-bid of $47 million for the rights to over 250 Lennon-McCartney Beatles songs owned by ATV Publishing. When he finds out about the transaction, McCartney is livid, saying “I think it’s dodgy to do things like that. To be someone’s friend and then buy the rug they’re standing on.”
1995: The Grateful Dead meet and decide to break up after the recent tragedy of founder/leader Jerry Garcia’s death.
1999: Former teen idol Leif Garrett pleads guilty to drug possession in Los Angeles and is ordered into rehab upon the advice of his attorney.
Deaths: Johnny Burnett; 1964. Charles Fizer (The Olympics); 1965. Roy Buchanan; 1988. Tony Williams; 1992.
Releases: “Hang On Sloopy,” The McCoys; 1965. “Maggie May,” Rod Stewart; 1971. “So It Goes,” Nick Lowe; 1976. “Rock ‘N Me,” Steve Miller Band; 1976.
Recordings: “I’m A Loser,” “Mr. Moonlight,” The Beatles; 1964. “Yer Blues,” The Beatles; 1968. “Indian Sunset,” “Rotten Peaches,” “Madman Across The Water,” Elton John; 1971.
Charts: 1961: “Right Or Wrong,” Wanda Jackson; enters the charts. 1965: “I Got You Babe,” Sonny and Cher; hits No. 1 on the charts. 1975: “Devil Woman,” Cliff Richard; enters the charts.
Certifications: 1970: “The Wonder Of You,” Elvis Presley; certified gold by the RIAA. 1974: “(You’re) Having My Baby,” Paul Anka; certified gold by the RIAA.
And that’s just a few of the events which took place in pop music history, on this day…. 
From the MCRFB archive files:
BILLBOARD AD 1964: The Beatles
From the MCRFB archive files:
BILLBOARD AD 1963: The Contours and The Supremes
From the MCRFB archive files:
BILLBOARD AD 1967: The Seeds
From the MCRFB news archives:
It’s What’s Going On In And Around The Music Scene In Detroit….
DETROIT — Robin Seymour, CKLW-TV personality here, is running an “Out And About” contest on his daily television show to tie in with the promotion visit of A&M recording artists Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart on Wednesday, July 26. The contest winner will spend the day with Boyce and Hart, who in addition, will appear on the Robin Seymour television show and will also set up an interview for the Scott Regen show for a later date broadcast on WKNR. The composer/singing team will also stop by and chat with J. P. McCarthy on his “Focus” show on WJR . . . . Terry Knight is writing the music for the movie “The Incident” which will star Ed McMahon. . . . WABX jazz disk jockey Jim Rockwell took the photograph which will appear on the cover of the RCA Father Vaughn jazz album. . . . Trini Lopez and the Dukes Of Dixieland will appear in concert at Cobo Arena Friday evening, August 4. . . . George Wein brings his Jazz Festival ’67 into Cobo Arena for Sunday night, August 13. Nina Simone, Miles Davis, Woody Herman, Herbie Mann, Dizzy Gillespie and Cannonball Adderley will perform. END.
Addendum: You can listen to Cannonball Adderley’s great jazz rendition of “Willow Weep For Me,” courtesy vimeo.com, here.
(Information and news source: Billboard; July 22, 1967).
From the MCRFB news archives:
Veteran DJ Exits Sparks ‘Formula Radio’ Furor; WXYZ Ace Fred Wolf Responds To Backlash
From the MCRFB Aircheck Library, featuring:
WXYZ-AM – Fred Wolf – 1961.mp3
WXYZ-AM – Fred Wolf – Part 2 – 1961 – With Dick Osgood.mp3
DETROIT — The No. 1 topic among record and radio executives continues to be “formula radio,” with the local press, jocks, distributors and broadcasting brass taking aggressive stands — both pro and con — on the subject.
The furor, of course, was sparked by the recent resignations of veteran deejays Ed McKenzie from WXYZ radio here, and Eddie Chase from CKLW radio in Windsor, across from the Detroit river. Both jocks blamed “formula radio” for their departure.
The local newspapers had a field day after the Chase resignation, with CKLW radio making public charges of prevarication on Chase’s part for reasons of his leaving. CKLW president J. E. Campeau issued statements to the Detroit Times that Chase designed his statements “to cash in on the subject of (the) so-called formula broadcasting.”
Campeau added in the Hearst publication story that, “the truth is, we insisted that Chase, whose ratings were sagging badly, return to live broadcasting from the studios…. instead of doing taped shows from the lobby of a local theater…. services such as time signals. weather reports, traffic conditions and other public services he could not provide on a taped show. In six months, his ratings became the highest in Detroit for most of the afternoon time segments.”
The station president claimed that Chase continued to view giving the public added station services as unnecessary. Chase refused to comment on Campeau’s statement and charges until he officially leaves the station.
Fred Wolf, disk-jockey star of WXYZ radio and television, however did not hesitate in an end-of-the-week climax denouncement of opposition to “formula radio” to label it as “”live, live, live!” Castigating “old-timers” for not wanting to move, Wolf explained “formula” as “fast-paced production, station identification, less talk, more music.” Admitting he couldn’t sincerely endorse straight formula, Wolf said identification is the big thing…. “It takes a good man with personality, get-up-and-go and a live program to get away with formula.”
Wolf and station officials’ opinion on “formula” were clearly not shared by some others in the industry here. Decca branch manager John Schlee, Columbia’s Russ Yerge, Mercury and Dot distributors John Kaplan expressed themselves vigorously in the local press against “formula.” They frowned because their sales staff must spend more time with record dealers in order to get their records on the listings which the dealers give the disk jockeys as weekly hit tunes. They also dislike the “wearing-out” of a disk on radio DJ shows because they fear the public may lose some interest in buying their disk product, therefore possibly affecting any potential high volume return in sales. END.
(Information and news source: Billboard; March 30, 1959).
from the MCRFB music calendar:
Events on this day: August 8
1960: Decca Records in England refuses to release Ray Peterson’s latest single, “Tell Laura I Love Her,” going so far as to throwing away 25,000 pressings of the teen-tragedy song, reason being they felt was “too tasteless and vulgar for the English sensibility.” A cover by Rick Valance proves them wrong by going straight to No. 1.
1969: Photographer Iain MacMillan shoots the cover for what would be the Beatles’ last recorded album, Abbey Road, just outside the studios where the band recorded most of their classic songs. The photo, which merely shows the band crossing the street while walking away from the studio, has become iconic in its own right, and provides “Paul is dead” enthusiasts with several erroneous “clues” to his “death,” speculation aroused noting Paul is seen barefooted in the photo. (Supposedly, to some, this shoe-less posturing by Paul represents death, but McCartney doused on the theorists by stating it was a hot day). The shoot, which lasts ten minutes, produces six shots, from which Paul picked the shot for the LP cover.
1970: At Philadelphia’s Mount Lawn Cemetery, Janis Joplin purchases a headstone for her idol, Bessie Smith, the famous African-American blues singer who died from injuries suffered in a 1937 car crash – after being refused in a all-whites only hospital. (Bessie’s widower refused to purchase a head stone for her).
1975: Hank Williams, Jr., falls 500 feet down Ajax Mountain near Missoula, MT, sustaining critical injuries exposing a part of his brain and keeping him in and out of hospitals for the next two years. The resultant facial scars would inspire his trademark look, “hat, beard, and shades.”
1983: Herold Melvin and three members of the Blue Notes are arrested for cocaine, marijuana, and meth possession at Caesars Boardwalk Regency Hotel Casino in Atlanta City.
1986: David Crosby (The Byrds; Crosby, Stills and Nash fame) is released from prison after only serving only eight months of his original five-year sentence for cocaine and firearms possession.
2005: Two jurors in the Michael Jackson molestation trial tell NBC-TV’s Today that they have come to regret their ruling of “not guilty.”
Deaths: Cannonball Adderley; 1975.
Releases: ‘Revolver,’ (LP) Beatles; 1966. “Eleanor Rigby,” The Beatles; 1965. “Looking Out My Back Door,” Creedence Clearwater Revival; 1970.
Recording: “Blue Angel,” Roy Orbison; 1960. “I Want You (She’s So Heavy),” “The End,” The Beatles; 1969.
Charts: 1953: “Vaya Con Dios (May God Be With You),” Les Paul and Mary Ford; hits No. 1 on the chart. 1960: “Itsy Bitsy, Teenie Weenie, Yellow Polka Dot Bikini,” Brian Hyland; hits No. 1 on the chart. 1970: ‘Blood, Sweat & Tears 3,’ (LP) Blood, Sweat & Tears; hits No. 1 on the LP chart.
Certifications: 1974: ‘461 Ocean Boulevard,’ (LP) Eric Clapton; certified gold by the RIAA. 1974: “Feel Like Making Love,” Roberta Flack; certified gold by the RIAA.
And that just a few of the events which took place in pop music history, on this day… 