October 31, 2014 – Motor City Radio Flashbacks

From the MCRFB music calendar:

Events on this date: OCTOBER 31

Johnnie Johnson 1952 *(click image for larger view).*

1952: When his original guitarist has a stroke just before a New Year’s Eve gig, popular St. Louis boogie-woogie pianist Johnnie Johnson hires for his group The Sir John’s Trio a 26-year old hairdresser named Chuck Berry.

1963: The Beatles return from a tour of Sweden to find 50,000 screaming fans waiting for them at London’s Heathrow Airport, the surest proof yet that Beatlemania is a national phenomenon. Waiting at the airport is American TV host Ed Sullivan, who notices the furor. “Who are those guys?” he asks a bystander, who tells him they are “England’s foremost singing group.” Having never heard them, Sullivan nevertheless immediately contacts manager Brian Epstein to book the band for three appearances on his CBS show early in 1964.

1963: In Detroit, low-rated radio station WKMH switches to a top 40 format with new calls, WKNR, “New Radio 13.” Ratings-wise, this transition would become known as the fastest turn-around ever in Detroit radio history — from bottom to No. 1 — within a scant ten week period.

Ray Charles Booked! October31 — Ray Charles booked! October 31

1964: Ray Charles is arrested at Boston’s Logan Airport for possession of heroin, his third drug since 1958. The singer is ordered to rehab in order to avoid jail time.
1964: For the first time since January 1964, the Beatles do not have a song currently on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. No less than 14 singles hit the charts in the previous ten months.
1964: Joan Baez sings three songs with Bob Dylan at tonight’s concert in New York: “Mama, You Been On My Mind,” “With God On Our Side,” and “It Ain’t Me, Babe.”