Month: June 2012

FLASHBACK POP MUSIC HISTORY: JUNE 21

From the MCRFB news archives:

Events on this date: JUNE 21

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1962: As part of manager Brian Epstein’s plan to get the band wider exposure by having them open for established acts, the Beatles open for Bruce Chanel of “Hey Baby!” fame at the Tower Ballroom in New Brighton, England.

The Stones in 1966. (Click on image for larger view).

1966: The Rolling Stones sue fourteen New York City hotels who have refused to admit the band during their North American tour, disingenuously accusing them of “discrimination on account of national origin.”

1967: San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park celebrates the Summer Solstice with a free concert with entertainment by the Grateful Dead, Big Brother and the Holding Company, and Quicksilver Messenger Service.

1968: Influenced by the recent assassination of Robert F. Kennedy, Steve Binder, director of Elvis Presley upcoming NBC-TV special, asks musical director Bones Howe to write a “socially conscience” song for Elvis’ closing number, which had been slated to be the standard, “I’ll Be Home For Christmas.” Howe writes the replacement song, “If I Can Dream,” that afternoon; after hearing it a half-dozen times, Elvis agrees the end with it.

1970: Who guitarist Pete Townsend, while waiting for his flight in Memphis, likens the band’s latest album, Tommy, to the atomic bomb, causing officials who misheard the remark to search the facilities for a real bomb.

1973: The band Bread, already having decided to break up, play their last live gig ever in Salt Lake City after one of its tour trucks flips over and destroys most of its gear and sound equipment.

1975: Deep Purple guitarist Ritchie Blackmore leaves the rock band to form Rainbow.

1981: After a number of lawsuits, deaths, and accidents, the band Steely Dan break up, not to fully reform onstage until 2000.

1988: The Rascals reunite onstage for the first time since 1970.

1990: Little Richard is awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame at 6840 Hollywood Blvd. in Los Angeles.

2003: Johnny Cash makes a surprise appearance live on stage in Hiltons, Virginia, near the birthplace of his recently-deceased wife June Carter Cash, saying “I don’t hardly know what to say tonight about being up here without her… the pain is so severe, there’s no way in describing it.”

2007: After dating her for a full eighteen years, Tony Bennett marries teacher Susan Crow.

 

Deaths: 1980: Bert Kaempfert; 2001: John Lee Hooker.

Releases: 1955: “Hey Porter,” Johnny Cash. 1958: “Splish Splash,” Bobby Darin.

Recordings: 1961: “Take Good Care Of My Baby,” Bobby Vee. 1966: “She Said She Said,” Beatles. 1967: “He’s Your Uncle, Not Your Dad,” Elvis Presley. 1968: “Revolution 1,” Beatles. 1968: “It Hurts Me,” “Little Egypt,” “Trouble,” “Sometimes I Feel Like A Motherless Child, “Where Could I Go But To The Lord?,” Elvis Presley.

Charts: 1975: “Love Will Keep Us Together,” Captain and Tennille hits No. 1.

Certifications: 1972: “Outta Space,” Billy Preston, is certified gold.

 

 

 

 

 

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

 

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FLASHBACK POP MUSIC HISTORY: JUNE 20

From the MCRFB music calendar:

Events on this date: JUNE 20

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Beatles “Butchered Cover” LP, Yesterday And Today; 1966.

1966: Capitol Records executives made the decision to replace the original “butcher cover” of the US album Yesterday And Today — which featured the Fab Four posing with decapitated dolls and raw meat, to the horror of Beatles fans and record retailers — with a more tranquil, traditional band pose for their new LP.

1968: At Hollywood’s Western Recorder, Elvis Presley records the song, “Nothingville,” “Let Yourself Go,” Guitar Man,” and “Big Boss Man.” He will use these as guides for his upcoming NBC prime-time “comeback” television special.

1969: Northridge, California host the Newport Rock Festival, featuring Creedence Clearwater Revival, The Rascals, Ike & Tina Turner, Steppenwolf, Joe Cocker, Jethro Tull and Jimi Hendrix, whose $125,000 fee is the highest ever paid to a rock act for one show.

1972: The Tallahatchie Bridge in Sidon, Mississippi, made famous by Bobbi Gentry’s “Ode To Billie Joe,” collapses. Today, motorists uses the newer bridge on County Road 512 to cross over the river.

1973: American Bandstand airs it’s 20th anniversary special on ABC-TV, featuring Little Richard, Paul Revere & The Raiders, Three Dog Night, Johnny Mathis, Annette Funicello, and Cheech and Chong. The special also features the first appearance of his many huge “all- star” rock jams.

1981: A disco medley of oldies hits called “Stars On 45” hits No. 1 in the U.S., becoming a national phenomenon. The medley, which originated in Dutch dance clubs, begins with re-creations of the Shocking Blue’s “Venus,” and The Archies’ “Sugar Sugar,” before segueing into an expert mimic of early Beatles hits.

Paul McCartney performed live in concert in St. Petersburg, Russia, 2004. (Click on image for large view).

1983: Twang king guitarist Duane Eddy performs his first concert in fifteen years with a show in San Francisco.

1987: Teddy Pendergrass marries his first and only wife, Karen Still.

1994: Beatles fans learn that the three surviving members of the group are working on a “new” song for their upcoming Anthology projects, as they overdub themselves onto a 1970s John Lennon demo-song titled, “Free As A Bird.”

1995: A Los Angeles judge ruled that the Kingsmen, and not their label Scepter, are sole owners of their 1963 smash hit, “Louie Louie,” and are entitled to royalties due the band (from the record label) the court ruled in the final judgment.

2004: Paul McCartney plays his 3,000 professional concert, performing in the Palace Square in St. Petersburg, Russia.

2008: Surrey University in England awarded Led Zeppelin’s Jimmy Page an honorary Doctorate in Music.

 

Deaths: Bruce Tate, The Penguins; 1973. Lawrence Payton, The Four Tops; 1994. Claydes Charles Smith, Kool & The Gang; 2006.

Releases: Bob Dylan with The Band, “Before The Flood,” 1974.

Recordings: 1955: The Four Lads, “Moments To Remember.” 1962: Ricky Nelson, “Teenage Idol.” 1967: The Buckinghams, “Susan” and “Hey Baby They’re Playing Our Song.” 1968: Beatles, “Revolution 9.” 1969: David Bowie, “Space Oddity.”

 

 

 

 

 

And that’s just a few of the events which took place in pop music history, on this day…. JUNE 20.

 

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DICK CLARK RAPS BRITISH GROUPS… DECEMBER 26, 1964

From the MCRFB news archives:

DICK CLARK CITES GREED FOR BRITISH ACTS HERE

 

 

 

 

LOS ANGELES — “There’s nothing deader in Liverpool than the British beat sound and we’re sitting here hyping the hell out of it.” This is the impression Dick Clark has of the overlapping music-personal appearance business. The head of his own successful “Caravan Of Stars” teen show, Clark is irked about the supposedly successful impression left by visiting British rock and roll groups.

Take away the Beatles, and the “British imitators were never a box-office boom, although people thought they were,” Clark says. Clark’s desk is heavy with newspaper clippings of box-office disasters involving these British longhairs. He personally had felt the box-office bite twice, losing $9,000 on fiascos with the Animals in Columbus, Ohio and also in Norfolk, Virginia.

The apparent paradox of radio airplay strength and declining box-office appeal perplexes Clark. “These groups make the charts but audiences won’t pay to see them,” he charges. Business for Clark’s own operation was up 11 per cent this November over a corresponding period last year. While his shows continue their popularity with teen audiences, Clark feel the bad taste incurred by local promoters booking British groups hurt the entire road show business. “It’s been a blood bath for American promoters,” he says. Clark says the Pittsburgh promoter who handled his “Caravan” made $2,000 more than he did in handling the Beatles’ concert because of their great overhead and additional costs absorbed by the fine print for the U.S. tour bookings.

A Dick Clark “Caravan Of Stars” billboard from 1964. Some of the artists listed: Gene Pitney; Major Lance; Supremes; Brian Hyland; Shirelles; Crystals, and more. (Click on image for larger view).

Clark’s nightly guarantee is “under $5,000” and consists of a string of popular hit artists, all carefully polished to work as a single unit. The executive says the British tours have been hastily put together, featuring one or two headliners and using poorly rehearsed local acts to fill out the bill.

Clark thinks the reason people have “snowballed” by the Redcoats is plain greed. He says promoters saw the success of the Beatles and “the thought of that green led them to grasp at the Rolling Stones, Animals, Searchers, etc.”

One California disc jockey who promoted several British concerts has vowed to “never again” enter the fray, Clark was told.

On a brighter note, Clark reports the college market will be opening for his teen caravan. Last year he only played three college dates, but so far requests indicate a new market for American Top 40 performers such as the one he has been showcasing around the country for several years now. END.

 

(Information and news source: Billboard; December 26, 1964).

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FLASHBACK POP MUSIC HISTORY: JUNE 19

From the MCRFB music calendar:

Events on this date: JUNE 19

 

 

 

 

Buddy Holly circa 1958. (Click on image for larger view).

 

 

 

 

1958: Buddy Holly records his first solo songs, “Early In The Morning,” and “Now We’re One,” at Decca’s Pythian Temple Studios in New York City.

1960: At the height of the folk-music boom, the Kingston Trio premiered their own self-titled weekday show on the CBS Radio Network.

1963: For the first time, Ringo Starr uses his new Ludwig drum set, complete with the famous Beatles logo onstage as the group performs at the London Playhouse Theater.

1965: The Kinks and the Moody Blues make their U.S. stage debut in the same show, held at New York’s Academy of Music.

1967: Answering questions about a controversial interview he’d recently given to the Daily Mirror, Paul McCartney shocks the British public by admitting on BBC television that he had taken LSD four times.

1973: A strange musical ode to sci-fi and fifties kitsch starring Tim Curry, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, opens as a stage show at the Royal Court’s Theater Upstairs in London.

1973: Roberta Flack’s first (and last) television special, Roberta Flack… The First Time Ever, also starring the Blossoms and Seals and Croft, airs on ABC Television.

Fan pandemonium at a 1976 Bay City Rollers concert at Chicago’s Uptown Theater. (Click on image for larger view).

1976: “Rollermania” hits the U.S. as the Bay City Rollers begin their first-ever American tour with a concert in Atlanta City.

1980: David Geffen’s new self-titled record label signs it’s first artist, disco diva Donna Summers.

2000: At Bob Dylan’s concert in Portland, Oregon, British sign-language expert Professor Patrick Ladd “signs” the folk-rocker’s lyrics for the hearing impaired.

2009: North Wilkesboro, NC, holds a festival in honor of their late great native son, singer Oliver of “Good Morning Sunshine” fame.

 

Deaths: Bobby Helms; 1997.

Releases: “Long Tall Sally,” by the Beatles; U.K.

Recordings: 1961: “You Must Have Been A Beautiful Baby,” Bobby Darin. 1962: “Ramblin’ Rose,” Nat King Cole. 1967: “All You Need Is Love,” Beatles.

Charts: 1961: “Moody River,” by Pat Boone hits No. 1. 1965: “I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch) by The Four Tops hit No. 1. 1965: “You Turn Me On,” by Ian Whitcomb enters the charts. 1971: “It’s Too Late,” by Carole King hits No. 1.

Certifications: 1973: The Edgar Winter Group’s “Frankenstein” 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 19.

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