1949
Look Magazine predicted that radio was doomed and that within three years, TV would overshadow radio completely.
1954
Billboard Magazine, the music industry trade publication, featured a headline that read: "Teenagers Demand Music with a Beat - Spur Rhythm and Blues." It was a sign of things to come. Within a year, R&B music by both black and white artists caught the public's fancy.
1956
Elvis Presley, accompanied by Bill Black and Scotty Moore, made his Las Vegas debut at the New Frontier Hotel when he opened for the Freddie Martin Orchestra and comedian Shecky Greene. Despite having "Heartbreak Hotel" at the top of the charts, Elvis was not well-received by the middle-aged audience. Management of the Frontier was so unimpressed, they gave Elvis his walking papers after one week of a two-week engagement. Presley wouldn't play Las Vegas again for almost 13 years.
1957
16 year old Ricky Nelson releases his first record, "Teenager's Romance" with his cover of Fats Domino's "I'm Walkin'" on the flip side. The disc sold nearly 60,00 copies within three days and eventually went over a million.
1959
Alan Freed premieres his last rock-and-roll move, Go Johnny Go, starring Chuck Berry, Ritchie Valens, Jackie Wilson, Eddie Cochran and the Flamingos
1960
John Lennon and Paul McCartney appeared as The Nerk Twins at The Fox And Hounds pub in Caversham, Berkshire.
Elvis Presley's first release since leaving the US Army, "Stuck On You" tops the Billboard chart. The record had been so highly anticipated, it sold over one million copies before it was even recorded. It reached #3 in the UK.
Production begins on Elvis Presley's first post-Army movie, G.I. Blues.
1962
Four days after his three year old son drowned in the family swimming pool, Jerry Lee Lewis' arrives in London to begin a tour of England. It has been four years since Lewis fled the UK because of the disclosure that he was married to his thirteen year old cousin, Myra Gale Brown. Lewis will perform thirty-two times and gross nearly ,000.
A song called "My Bonnie" by Tony Sheridan and The Beatles was released in America on the Decca label. It was the first commercial release anywhere in the world to carry The Beatles name. John Lennon would later say "It's just Tony Sheridan singing with us banging in the background. They're flogging it, but I wish they'd just shut up! It's terrible! It could be anybody." The mono 45 failed to chart on Billboard or Cashbox.
1963
Crooner Andy Williams had the top selling song in the US with "Can't Get Used To Losing You". Despite being surrounded by Rock 'n' Rollers, Williams had placed 14 songs on Billboard's Top 40 since 1956 and would add 13 more by 1972.
1964
In the UK, the President of the National Federation Of Hairdressers offered a free haircut to the next group to reach the top of the Pop chart. He was quoted as saying 'The Rolling Stones are the worst, one of them looks as if he's got a feather duster on his head.'
Peter and Gordon reach #1 on the UK pop chart with "World without Love", a song written by Paul McCartney.
1967
The Beatles recorded the song "Magical Mystery Tour" at Abbey Road studios in London.
1968
The Broadway Musical Hair opened in New York for its first performance. The show featured songs that would become Rock and Roll standards like "Aquarius / Let the Sunshine In", "Good Morning Starshine", "Easy to Be Hard" and the title song. The production ran for 1,729 performances, finally closing on July 1st, 1972.
The Beatles refuse to perform for the Queen of England at a British Olympic Appeal Fund show. Ringo Starr would later explain, "Our decision would be the same no matter what the cause. We don't do benefits."
A survey by the Confederation of British Industry shows that listening on the job to Radio 1, the major Pop and Rock station of the BBC, makes workers less productive.
Louis Armstrong was at #1 in the UK with the single "What A Wonderful World". At 66 years of age, it made him the oldest act ever to score a UK #1. The song stalled at #32 in the US, but Louis is also the oldest person to reach #1 on the Billboard chart, a feat he accomplished in 1964 with "Hello Dolly".
1969
John Winston Lennon legally changed his name to John Ono Lennon during a short ceremony on the roof of the Apple Records building in London.
The Carpenters sign with A&M Records.
The Who give their first complete live performance of the rock opera "Tommy" at a show in Dolton, England.
1970
George Harrison tells reporters that the Beatles will reunite eventually and announces plans for his first post-Beatles solo LP.
Grace Slick of Jefferson Airplane is inadvertently invited to Tricia Nixon's White House party. Guards stop her escort, Chicago Seven defendant Abbie Hoffman, and both leave.
The Jackson Five achieve their second straight US #1 single with "ABC". It was also a Top Ten hit in the UK, topping out at #8.
1971
John Lennon, Ringo Starr and George Harrison officially end their plans to appeal Paul McCartney's efforts to legally dissolve The Beatles.
1972
One of John Lennon's most controversial singles, "Woman Is the Nigger of the World" is released. The song actually reaches #57 on Billboard's Hot 100, despite virtually every radio station in the country refusing to play it.
1974
Jim Morrison's 27 year old widow, Pam Morrison, dies in her Hollywood apartment. Police think she's been using heroin for about a year and speculate she died of an overdose.
The Beach Boys are streaked by members of their own road crew, during a concert.
1975
B.J. Thomas not only reached the top spot on both the Cash Box Best Sellers list and the Billboard Hot 100, he also set a record for the number one song with the longest title with "Hey Won't You Play Another Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song". The song was not a hit in the UK.
1976
Saturday Night Live producer Lorne Michaels makes an on-air offer to pay the Beatles 00 to reunite on the show. Lennon and McCartney were apparently watching the show together in New York and considered walking down to the studio to accept the check.
David Bowie was detained at the border between Poland and Russia while customs officials confiscated some Nazi memorabilia he had collected. Bowie claimed that the material was being used for research on a movie project about Nazi propaganda leader Joseph Paul Goebbels.
Wings' "At The Speed Of Sound" went to #1 on the US album chart. It was Paul McCartney's fifth #1 after he left The Beatles.
Led Zeppelin had their sixth UK #1 album when "Presence" went to the top.
1977
Elvis Presley makes what will be the last recordings of his life at a concert at the Saginaw, Michigan Civic Center. Three songs from the show will appear in heavily overdubbed mixes on the posthumously released Presley album, "Moody Blue".
1978
Bob Marley and the Wailers perform at the One Love Peace Concert in Jamaica. It was Marley's first public appearance in Jamaica since being wounded in an assassination attempt a year and a half earlier.
Ringo Starr's TV special, Ringo, a musical version of The Prince and the Pauper airs on American television. Ringo played both characters. George Harrison provides the narration, but the show still finishes 53rd out of 65 shows.
Queen's single "We Are the Champions" was certified platinum.
1979
The Rolling Stones played two concerts for the blind at the Civic Auditorium in Oshawa, Ontario. The shows were done in lieu of a jail sentence for guitarist Keith Richards, who was convicted of heroin possession in Toronto two years earlier.
Stevie Wonder makes a surprise appearance at a Duke Ellington tribute concert at UCLA's Royce Hall. He performs "Sir Duke" and Ellington's "C - Jam Blues".
1981
Two days after being released from a St. Paul, Minnesota hospital following a month-long treatment for bleeding ulcers, Eric Clapton is involved in a car accident and is hospitalized in Seattle, Washington, suffering bruised ribs and a lacerated shin.
On April 27th, Ringo Starr married Barbara Bach, a former James Bond girl. The pair met while filming the movie, Caveman, with Dennis Quaid and Shelley Long. In attendance at the wedding were George Harrison and Paul McCartney. Though the New York Post reported the trio "sounded as if they'd never been apart," the three ex-Beatles did not play together.
Paul McCartney, who is reluctant to tour because of death threats he was receiving in the wake of John Lennon's murder, decides to disband Wings.
1982
Rod Stewart was robbed of his ,000 Porsche on Hollywood Boulevard in Los Angeles. Stewart had recently released a remake of the 1975 hit by the band Ace, "How Long", which failed to crack the US Top 40.
Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder were at #1 on the UK singles chart with "Ebony And Ivory". This was McCartney's 24th #1 as a songwriter.
1984
48 year old Jerry Lee Lewis married wife number six, 22 year old Kerrie McCarver.
WWSH radio in Philadelphia advertises a No Michael Jackson Weekend in response to the singer's overwhelming popularity.
1987
Roy Orbison celebrated his 51st birthday by re-recording some of his biggest hits. Included were "Oh Pretty Woman", "Crying", "Only the Lonely", "Dream Baby", "Running Scared" and many others. These newer recordings are nowhere near the quality of the originals, so if you're in the market, make sure you buy the original hits, available from Sony Music and specialty labels like Rhino.
Carole King sues her record label for breach of contract, claiming that owner Lou Adler owes her over 0,000 in royalties. She also asks for rights to her old recordings.
1988
Roy Orbison celebrated his 52nd birthday at a Bruce Springsteen concert, during which the audience sang happy birthday to him.
A jury in White Plains, New York ruled that Mick Jagger did not pirate an unknown reggae musician's song and turn it into his 1985 hit, "Just Another Night". Patrick Alley of New York City had accused Jagger of copyright infringement.
1990
Singer Axl Rose of Guns N' Roses married Erin Everly, Don Everly's daughter. The couple would stay together for just 27 days.
The Fender Stratocaster that Jimi Hendrix used to perform the "Star Spangled Banner" at Woodstock is auctioned off in London for 5,000.
Jon Bon Jovi marries his high school sweetheart, Dorothea Hurley at the Graceland Wedding Chapel in Las Vegas.
The road crew for Roger Waters discovered an unexploded World War II bomb while constructing the set for The Wall concert in Potsdamer Platz, Germany.
1992
The Cleveland Orchestra sued Michael Jackson and his production company for seven million dollars. The orchestra claimed Jackson used 67 seconds from its recording of Beethoven's "Symphony Number Nine" on his "Dangerous" album without giving the orchestra credit or compensation.
1993
The Who's Rock Opera Tommy opened on Broadway.
About 40,000 people attend Farm Aid 6 in Ames, Iowa, that features Willie Nelson, John Cougar Mellencamp and Neil Young.
1994
The Eagles played the first of two shows where they recorded their "Hell Freezes Over" album. Don Henley, Glenn Frey, Joe Walsh, Don Felder and Timothy B. Schmit first got back together the previous December for the making of a Travis Tritt video of their song, "Take It Easy", that was included on an Eagles tribute CD. The video from Hell Freezes Over was later released in CD and DVD form and includes an excellent acoustic rendition of "Hotel California", as well as live versions of most of their hit songs. The name of the album was taken from an earlier quote by Glen Frey, who responded to the question "When will the Eagles get back together?"
1995
The Sunday Times of London reported that a Liverpool man, Peter Hodgson, had found a tape in his attic containing 16 of The Beatles' earliest recordings made in 1959. The session included "Hello Little Girl", a Lennon-McCartney composition that the Beatles never recorded commercially and Ray Charles' "Hallelujah, I Love Her So". The tape had been made on a reel-to-reel recorder that Hodgson's father had lent to Paul McCartney.
1997
ABC's telecast of "U2: A Year in POP" becomes the lowest-rated prime-time program in the history of major network television.
2002
Jerry Lee Lewis announced that he and his sixth wife, Kerrie, will be getting a divorce.
2003
Only days after Madonna tried to strike back at illegal sharing of songs from her "American Life" album by flooding the Internet with fake MP3s, her web site was hacked and real digital files of the songs were leaked.
Songwriter Felice Bryant died of cancer on April 22nd. Along with her husband Boudleaux, she wrote The Everly Brothers hits, "Bye Bye Love", "All I Have To Do Is Dream" and "Wake Up Little Susie". Other acts to record their songs include Buddy Holly, Bob Dylan, The Beatles, Tony Bennett, Simon & Garfunkel, Sarah Vaughan, the Grateful Dead, Dolly Parton, Elvis Presley, The Beach Boys, Roy Orbison, Elvis Costello, Count Basie, Dean Martin, Ruth Brown, Cher, R.E.M. and Ray Charles.
2004
Billy Joel lost control of his car on a rain-slicked road in Bayville, New York and crashed into a house. No one in the building was injured and the piano man walked away unscathed.
The Recording Industry Association of America filed 477 more lawsuits against accused file sharers. Sixty-nine of the accused have allegedly been using university networks to distribute music through peer-to-peer services.
2006
Sweden's tax authority accused former ABBA member Bjorn Ulvaeus of owing nearly million in back taxes, fees and interest. Ulvaeus' attorney denied the charges and said there was merely a misunderstanding over the musician's tax arrangements.
This Week's Best Selling Single
In The USA | Year | Song | Artist |
|---|---|---|
| 1956 | Heartbreak Hotel | Elvis Presley |
| 1957 | All Shook Up | Elvis Presley |
| 1958 | He's Got The Whole World (In His Hands) | Laurie London |
| 1959 | Come Softly To Me | The Fleetwoods |
| 1960 | Stuck On You | Elvis Presley |
| 1961 | Runaway | Del Shannon |
| 1962 | Mashed Potato Time | Dee Dee Sharp |
| 1963 | Can't Get Used To Losing You | Andy Williams |
| 1964 | Can't By Me Love | The Beatles |
| 1965 | The Game Of Love | Wayne Fontana and The Mindbenders |
| 1966 | (You're My) Soul And Inspiration | The Righteous Brothers |
| 1967 | A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You | The Monkees |
| 1968 | Honey | Bobby Goldsboro |
| 1969 | Aquarius / Let The Sunshine In | The Fifth Dimension |
| 1970 | ABC | The Jackson Five |
| 1971 | Joy To The World | Three Dog Night |
| 1972 | The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face | Roberta Flack |
| 1973 | Tie A Yellow Ribbon 'Round The Ole Oak Tree | Tony Orlando and Dawn |
| 1974 | TSOP (The Sound Of Philadelphia) | MFSB (Mother, Father, Sister, Brother) |
| 1975 | Another Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song | B.J. Thomas |
| 1976 | Right Back Where We Started From | Maxine Nightingale |
| 1977 | Hotel California | The Eagles |
| 1978 | Night Fever | The Bee Gees |
| 1979 | Heart Of Glass | Blondie |
| 1980 | Call Me | Blondie |
In The United Kingdom | 1956 | Poor People Of Paris | Winifred Atwell |
| 1957 | Cumberland Gap | Lonnie Donegan |
| 1958 | Whole Lotta Woman | Marvin Rainwater |
| 1959 | It Doesn't Matter Anymore | Buddy Holly |
| 1960 | Do You Mind? | Anthony Newley |
| 1961 | Wooden Heart | Elvis Presley |
| 1962 | Wonderful Land | The Shadows |
| 1963 | How Do You Do It? | Gerry & The Pacemakers |
| 1964 | World Without Love | Peter and Gordon |
| 1965 | Ticket To Ride | The Beatles |
| 1966 | You Don't Have To Say You Love Me | Dusty Springfield |
| 1967 | Puppet On A String | Sandie Shaw |
| 1968 | What A Wonderful World | Louis Armstrong |
| 1969 | Get Back | Beatles With Billy Preston |
| 1970 | Spirit In The Sky | Norman Greenbaum |
| 1971 | Hot Love | T Rex |
| 1972 | Amazing Grace | Royal Scots Dragoon Guards Band |
| 1973 | Tie A Yellow Ribbon Round The Ole Oak Tree | Dawn featuring Tony Orlando |
| 1974 | Waterloo | ABBA |
| 1975 | Bye Bye Baby | Bay City Rollers |
| 1976 | Save Your Kisses For Me | Brotherhood Of Man |
| 1977 | Knowing Me Knowing You | ABBA |
| 1978 | Night Fever | The Bee Gees |
| 1979 | Bright Eyes | Art Garfunkel |
| 1980 | Geno | Dexy's Midnight Runners |
