Category: Flashbacks

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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FLASHBACK POP MUSIC HISTORY: MARCH 26

From the MCRFB music calendar:

Events on this date: MARCH 26

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1962: Elvis Presley begins filming his 11th motion picture, titled Girls! Girls! Girls!

Barbra Streisand’s Columbia Records 1964 hit, “People.”

1963: Funny Girl, opens on Broadway today, starring Barbra Streisand. It features the hits, “Don’t Rain On My Parade” and the song that would become her signature-song in popularity, “People.”

1964: Tonight on the CBS-TV’s I’ve Got A Secret panel show as guest, is former Beatles drummer Pete Best, whose “secret” is almost guessed immediately. When show-host Gary Moore asks Best why he left the group (Best was fired), he replied, “I thought I’d like to start a group of my own.”

1965: The Walker Brothers make their first UK television appearance, performing on ITV’s Ready Steady Go!

1969: Pat Boone guest-stars as himself on tonight’s Beverly Hillbillies episode, titled, Collard Greens An’ Fatback on the CBS Televison Network.

Peter, Paul and Mary. Formed in 1961, they disbanded in 1970. Mary Travers died of cancer at 72, in 2009.

1970: Just days after winning a Grammy for Best Recording For Children with their album Peter, Paul, And Mommy, Peter, Paul and Mary are scandalously rocked when group leader Peter Yarrow is arrested in Washington D.C., for allegedly “taking immoral liberties” with a minor, a fourteen-year-old girl. He would serve three months and would later be given clemency by President Jimmy Carter.

1975: In London, the rock musical Tommy, based on the Who album bearing the same title name, makes it premier film debut today. Directed by Ken Russell, Who lead-singer Roger Daltry is cast in the title role, and co-starring are American actors Jack Nicholson and Ann Margaret. Guest stars includes Tina Turner and Elton John.

1976: Keith Richards and model-girlfriend Anita Pallenberg becomes the proud parents of a son, Tara. Sadly, he would die ten weeks later of pneumonia.

1976: Riding near the scene of a multi-car pileup in Memphis, Elvis Presley jumps out of his limo, displays his honorary Captain’s police badge given to him by the city, and attempts to help the victims until police and paramedics arrive.

1980: Pink Floyd’s landmark 1973 LP Dark Side Of The Moon surpasses Carole King’s Tapestry as the album with the longest consecutive stay on the Billboard 200 album chart. It would remain on the chart until 1988.

1985: After Stevie Wonder’s Oscar acceptance speech the previous night, at which he dedicated his Best Song Award to Nelson Mandela, South Africa bans all Stevie Wonder records from playing on it’s nation’s airwaves in response (oops).

Deaths: Little Willie John (of “Fever” fame) 1968; Duster Bennett (British blues singer; member John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers) 1976; Jon-Jon Paulos (The Buckinghams) 1980; Jan Berry (of Jan and Dean); 2004.

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

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FOUR TOPS’ ’67 CLUB SCENE . . . SEPTEMBER 23, 1967

From the MCRFB news archive: 1967

Room At The Top, Motown’s Own Four Tops Customizing Song Selections For Nightclub Acts

 

 

 

 

Hollywood — The Four Tops, who closed their first booking at the Cocoanut Grove with a live LP recording, have learned to custom-tailor their repertoire to suit the level of the room audience. Four years ago the Detroit quartet was still hustling around the “chitlin’ circuit.”

The Four Tops.

Today, the male vocalists are a top Motown act and a new find for such rooms as the Grove and New York’s Copa, Washington D.C.’s Shoreham, Cherry Hill, New Jersey’s Latin Casino, and Hollywood, Miami’s own Diplomat — all forthcoming bookings.

On recordings, the quartet sings the pop love songs of Eddie Holland-Brian Holland and Lamont Dozier. On stage, they dip into the Broadway and film repertoire for adult-oriented tunes which fit the Tops’ pleasant harmonies.

“We try to keep the composer’s beauty in the material,” explains Renaldo Benson, who along with Levi Stubbs, Jr., Lawrence Payton, and Abdul (Duke) Fakir formed the group thirteen-years ago.

During their Grove engagement the quartet included an Academy Award medley as its customizing salute to the film-oriented audience. Wade Marcus, the group’s musical director, along with Payton produced the live LP, for which Motown’s chief engineer was flown here for the special event.

The Four Tops circa 1966.

Benson, the “philosopher” in the group, feels that as a result of the Grove appearance, the group sought a wider musical scope in selections of other songs they were to perform. “For the last four years we’ve been playing rock concerts where sounds are really not that important. Here, we have to truly work to stimulate the audience.” Benson says they never “jive the audience” because they’ve been through the scuffling bit and appreciate the opportunity to work in the big time.

The Tops’ troupe numbers nine (including rhythm section) which involves a healthy weekly pay, but they are earning substantially more than their “chitlin’ circuits” salaries of from $1,000 to $1,500.

Two months ago the artists worked the Whisky A Go-Go on the Sunset Strip, where their repertoire was more tuned to their Motown singles hits. Their booking into the downtown prestige room here in Los Angeles was so soon after the Whiskey exposure, that it was a surprising bit of scheduling for the Tops.

 

When they play for colleges, the students ask for the single hits. This fall the quartet is planning a new act for the Ivy circuit, which also considerably pays better than the “chitlin'” clubs they frequented just five-years earlier.

The Tops now plan to begin producing records, which is a characteristic of the Motown operation where executives are artists, and where writers are the artists as well. END

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(Information and news source: Billboard; September 23, 1967)

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DARIN DOES ‘ROOSTERTAIL’ . . . SEPTEMBER 23, 1967

From the MCRFB NEWS archive: 1967

Darin Darling of Detroit in Nightclub Bow

 

 

 

 

DETROIT — Bobby Darin opened at the Roostertail on Thursday, September 21, with an act that had the club audience shouting for more with a standing ovation.

Bobby Darin.

Everything about Darin’s act is contemporary. Even when he does a standard like “I’ve Got You Under My Skin,” it has a big beat band arrangement. He isn’t bogged down by nostalgia but knows exactly what’s happening today with the music scene.

Darin put his heart into “Drown In My Own Tears,” and also his version of “The Work Song,” which added tremendous emotional impact, while mesmerizing the Detroit audience by his presence on stage.

Darin’s act paced beautifully as he wrapped up the evening playing on the piano, electrifying the crowd with a swinging version of “What’d I Say.” END

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A MCRFB Note: Lorraine Alterman also was the teen-editor for the Detroit Free Press’ ‘Teen Beat’ column which appeared in print in the daily newspaper then, every Friday, in 1966.

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(Information and news source: Billboard; September 23, 1967)

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