Motor City Radio Flashbacks

From the MCRFB music calendar:

Events on this date: MARCH 20

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1959: Philadelphia’s Dick Clark introduces Philadelphia’s own Bobby Rydell on American Bandstand. By then a singing protege after having first been discovered by Clark, the sensational Phillie teen-idol makes his first appearance on the ABC-TV national teen-dance show.

1961: Elvis Presley begins filming Blue Hawaii while on location there. It is Presley’s ninth movie thus far.

1964: The Beatles make their first appearance on the British television variety show Ready Steady Go! After singing three numbers on the show, “Can’t Buy Me Love,” ” It Won’t Be Long,” and “You Can’t Do That.” The band’s debut appearance on the show retains the highest ratings ever for the UK television program.

1965: The No. 1 song in the Britain Isles on this day is “The Last Time” by the Rolling Stones.

1965:  Motown’s very first British tour begins at Finsbury Park Astoria, in London. The UK entourage features many of the top Motown recording acts, such as the Supremes, Little Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, Martha and the Vandellas, and the Miracles.

1968: Eric Clapton is arrested in Los Angeles along with three members of the Buffalo Springfield, namely Neil Young, Jim Messina, and  Richie Furray. All four were charged with “being in a place where it is suspected marijuana was being used.” Clapton is later found innocent, while the Buffalo Springfield band members, their names disclosed, are all penalized with a small fine.

1969: John Lennon marries Yoko Ono at the Rock of Gibraltor, Spain, a parcel of land still owned by the English. Later, in the Beatles song, “The Ballad Of John And Yoko,” Lennon describes the location as “Gibraltor, near Spain,” setting off an international furor at the time, as England and Spain were currently at odds over ownership of the area.

1976: Alice Cooper marries his first and only wife, Sheryl Goddard, a-19-year-old dancer who was on his Welcome To My Nightmare Tour.

1977: T-Rex plays what is to be their last concert before the untimely death of lead singer Marc Bolan in an automobile accident, a gig at a club named The Locarno, situated in Portsmouth, England.

1989: After 37 years on the air, Dick Clark announces he will discontinue his creation for television, ABC-TV’s American Bandstand. The show continues with another host, but didn’t last too long after Clark had exited.

1991:  Eric Clapton’s son Conor, four years of age, dies after falling from the 53rd story window from his mother’s apartment in New York City. Clapton was staying at a hotel at the time not far away, having taken his son to a circus the night before. Clapton later writes his hit song “Tears In Heaven” as a way to help overcome his personal grief over his son’s tragic death.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

From the MCRFB music calendar:

Events on this date: MARCH 19

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1957: Although he wouldn’t finalize the deal in six more days, Elvis Presley puts down a deposit to secure the 14-acre estate with a two-story colonial at 3734 Highway 51 South, Memphis, Tennessee, later know as Graceland.

1958: As Tom and Jerry, Simon and Garfunkel release their third single, a ditty named, “Our Song.”

1964: British Prime Minister Harold Wilson, who would later be satirized in the band’s song “Taxman,” presents the Beatles for being “Show Business Personalities Of 1963” At the Variety Club of Great Britain Annual Show Business Award.

1965: Britain’s Tailor and Cutter runs an article by tie makers asking the Rolling Stones to start wearing ties with their suits, a fashion which had gone out of style among the youth. Mick Jagger responds, diplomatically, that ties would only give screaming female fans something else they can grab unto in a mob-crowd.

1966: The Walker Brothers’ Gary Lewis undergoes a fake abduction by college students as a charity stunt.

1966: Lesley Gore guest stars as herself on the final “Byline — Jeffrey Stone” episode of ABC-TV’s The Donna Reed Show.

1968: Donovan goes to India to study under the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. Dean Martin’s Reprise’ album Houston is certified gold.

1970: David Bowie marries his first wife, model Angela Barnett, in Kent, England, who became the eventual subject of the Rolling Stone’s 1974 titled hit, “Angie.”

1974: Jefferson Airplane reforms with their core of original members, although this time they renamed the group as Jefferson Starship.

1980: Elvis Presley’s autopsy is entered into proceedings held by the Tennessee Board of Medical Examiners against Dr. George Nichopoulos, better known to his clients — including Elvis — as “Dr. Nick.” The doctor will eventually be found guilty of over-prescribing the drugs that led to Presley’s death and will have his license revoked, even though he repeatedly took measures to help cure Elvis of his addiction through prescribed detoxification.

1988: Michael Jackson begins construction on his 2,800-acre ranch and private amusement park in Santa Barbara, California. Jackson will name it “Neverland,” namely after a fantasy location he had taken while reading his favorite book , Peter Pan, and according to the book, it is a place where children will never grow up.

2004: After she had an allergic reaction to prescribed antibiotics, Aretha Franklin is admitted to Detroit’s Sinai-Grace Hospital.

 

 

 

 

 

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

From the MCRFB music calendar:

Events on this date: MARCH 18

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1958: Jerry Lee Lewis becomes the first musician to appear on American Bandstand actually singing and not lip-synching through his performance. Singing “Great Balls Of Fire,” “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin On,” and “Breathless” live, he also becomes the first guest to perform three songs on the D.C. program.

1959: EMI announces its intentions to halt productions of 78 rpm records.

1965: In a scandal that further marred their reputations as a “bad boys” band,  the Rolling Stones are arrested for publicly urinating on a side wall of a gas station after a concert in Essex, England.

1967: The Beatles “Penny Lane” spends its sole week at No. 1 in the U.S.

1970: Brook Benton is certified gold by the RIAA for his (over) one million-selling hit, “A Rainy Night In Georgia.”

1972: Ringo Starr, in his first directing role, is behind the camera filming tonight’s T-Rex concert in Wembley, for his upcoming Marc Boland documentary Born To Boogie.

1973: At Earl’s Court in London, Pink Floyd perform their just-released album On The Dark Side Of The Moon in its entirety for the first time.

1975: The Who is immortalized on stage by the band’s movie version of Tommy. The play premiered in New York City in “Quintophonic Sound.”

1978: Barry Gibb of the Bee Gees occupies the top three spots on the Billboard charts as a writer and producer: Samantha Sang’s “Emotion” at No. 3, younger brother’s Andy Gibb’s “(Love Is) Thicker Than Water” No. 2, and the Bee Gees’ own “Night Fever” is at the top spot at No. 1 for the first of eight solid weeks on the charts.

1982: Returning from a Philadelphia ’76ers basketball game, Teddy Pendergrass is permanently paralyzed from the waist down when the brakes on his Roll Royce fails, causing the vehicle to swerve unto oncoming traffic and crash into a tree. Miraculously, Pendergrass returns to the stage two years later in 1984.

1992: Donna Summers is awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame at 7000 Hollywood Blvd.

1994: Darryl Jones replaces longtime bassist Bill Wyman in the Rolling Stones.

2002: In New York, Issac Hayes, Brenda Lee, and Gene Pitney (among others) are inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And that’s just a few of the events which took place in pop music history, on this day . . . .  M  A  R  C  H   1  8

From the MCRFB music calendar:

Events on this date: MARCH 17

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1956: Carl Perkins made his television debut on the ABC-TV variety show Ozark Jamboree.

1957: Elvis Presley purchases Memphis’ Graceland mansion, featuring 23 rooms and 10,000 square feet of space on 13.8 acres, for $102,500.

1962: According to today’s edition of Billboard magazine, Ray Charles starts his own artist-owned record label, Tangerine Records.

1968: The Bee Gees make their first U. S. television appearance, performing “To Love Somebody” and “Words” on CBS-TV’s The Ed Sullivan Show.

1975: At the height of her popularity, Cher graces the cover of Time magazine on this date.

1976: Boxer Rubin “Hurricane” Carter murder case is re-opened, largely due to the attention brought to it by Bob Dylan’s recent hit song, “Hurricane.”

1990: That’s What Friends Are For, an AIDS benefit concert at the Radio City Music Hall that also serves to celebrate 15 years of the Arista record label, features perfomances by the label’s own Barry Manilow, Dionne Warwick, Daryl Hall and John Oates, and Whitney Houston.

2004: Ray Davis of the Kinks is awarded a Commander of the British Empire medal from Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace.

2006: Beset by legal and financial woes, Michael Jackson closes his Neverland Ranch in California.

2008: Eight years to the day their romance became public, model and activist Heather Mills is awarded $48.6 million in her divorce settlement from Paul McCartney.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And that’s just a few of the events which took place in pop music history, on this day . . . .  M  A  R  C  H   1  7