09/23/2026
Happy Tuesday! Sorry for the late post! I've been traveling today. Happy first day of Fall btw!
Sept 22nd: TODAY IN ROCK N' ROLL HISTORY:
1956, Pat and Shirley Boone welcome daughter Debby, who grows up to be a star on her own.
1958, Elvis Presley gave a final press conference at Military Ocean Terminal in Brooklyn, with permission from the Army, before he joined the 3rd Armored Division on the USS Randall steaming for Bremerhaven, Germany.
1962, The Springfields featuring a young Dusty Springfield and her brother Tom, peak at #20 for the first of two weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 with "Silver Thread and Golden Needles!" It's the highest charting song by a UK group or artist to date on the American chart. Of course in 18-months Beatlemania and the British Invasion blow that out of the water, so consider this a warning shot.
1964, The musical, "Fiddler On The Roof" debuts on Broadway at the Imperial Theatre.
1964, Herman's Hermits hit #1 for the first of two weeks, on the Official UK Singles Chart with a Carole King/ Gerry Goffin hit, "I'm Into Something Good." The song is also the bands first hit in America, debuting on the Billboard Hot 100 on October 17th and peaking at #13, which doesn't end up being a bad omen for them at all as they follow it up with eleven Top 10 hits, eight of which go Top Five and out of those, two are #1!
1965, The Great Society ft. Grace Slick on vocals and her husband Jerry on drums; makes their live debut at the Coffee Gallery in North Beach CA! A few years later, Slick leaves her husband and takes his song, "Somebody To Love" and joins Jefferson Airplane following the exit of Signe Anderson. (Well, at least he gets royalties payments)
1965, The Supremes record "I Hear A Symphony." It debuts on the Billboard Hot 100 on the eve of Halloween, October 30th, and becomes their sixth #1 hit (in 15 months, mind you.) on November 20th for the first of two weeks!
1967, An abstract drawing of The Beatles is the cover of the new issue of Time magazine!
1967, The Doors play "People Are Strange" and "Light My Fire" on the Murray The K show on WPIX-TV in NYC!
1969, "The Music Scene" debuts on ABC-TV. It's around long enough for CSNY, Cass Elliot, Janis Joplin, Sly & the Family Stone, Stevie Wonder, Tom Jones and James Brown to perform on it.
1969, The Band, release their self-titled, second album! It debuts at #27 on October 18th and peaks at #9 for a week on February 7th, 1970, becoming their first Top Ten album.
1972, David Bowie brought his Ziggy Stardust tour to North America for the first time playing The Music Hall in Cleveland OH! The 191-date tour included an initial UK leg, a Japanese leg and two in the US!
1973, The Rolling Stones album, "Goats Head Soup," hits #1 in their native UK for the first of two weeks! It's their eighth UK #1 album. The album also peaks at #1 in the US, for the first of four weeks on October 13th and it's only their fourth #1 in America.
1973, "Let's Get It On" by Marvin Gaye returns to #1 on The Billboard Hot 100 for it's second non-consecutive week on the chart after having previously been #1 on September 8th!
1978, Singer/ actor, Leif Garrett makes an appearance on, "Wonder Woman," the ABC-TV drama, based on DC Comics character.
1979, Former James Gang guitar player, presently with The Eagles, Joe Walsh announces his first campaign to be President! Of course he doesn't win, but announces his candidacy every four years anyway.
1979, Def Leppard get their first live review for a show in Wolverhampton UK, in Melody Maker magazine! The review is positive and leads to a record deal!
1979, Gary Numans song, "Cars" hits #1 in the UK! The song peaks at #9 in the US on the Billboard Hot 100 the following year.
1980, Record executive, David Geffen forms Geffen Records!
1985, The first Farm Aid benefit concert is held at the University Of Illinois Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Illinois! Willie Nelson, John Mellencamp, Neil Young, Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, John Fogerty, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, Lou Reed, Bon Jovi, Charlie Daniel's, John Denver, Alabama, Bonnie Raitt and more performed! 80-thousand fans attend! The show raised $9-million dollars between tickets sold, broadcast rights and a compilation album! It becames an annual event!
1989, Famed composer and lyricist Irving Berlin dies at 101. Berlin wrote iconic songs like "A Pretty Girl Is Like A Melody," "Say It With Music" and "Alexander's Ragtime Band."
1991, Bryan Adam's "(Everything I Do) I Do It For You," is #1 for a record 12th week on the Official UK Singles Chart! It was already #1 for seven weeks on the Billboard Hot 100, back on July 27th!
1992, Def Leppard cancels two shows after their driver tried to rob a store and used their sound equipment truck for a getaway vehicle! The abandoned van was found later and the driver was charged with possession of drugs and causing damage!
1992, Bruce Springsteen records his MTV Unplugged concert, playing the first song acoustic, but plugging in and playing the rest of the set electric! When the show airs on 11/11, it's billed as MTV: Plugged!
1999, The day after allegedly assaulting a female security officer, during a routine, pre-boarding security check at Heathrow Airport in London, Diana Ross is arrested by police, cautioned and then released. Ross apparently reacted harshly when a female security officer touched her breasts. (Apparently).
2002, Sting wins an Emmy for his A&E documentary, "Sting In Tuscany: All This Time!"
2006, Beaumont Texas honors The Big Bopper, (finally) by posting a historical marker acknowledging the hometown hero who lost his life in a plane crash along with Buddy Holly and Richie Valens.
2007, Paul Rodgers, formerly of Bad Company and Free, marries former Miss Canada, Cynthia Kereluk.
2010, Singer/ actor, Eddie Fisher dies following hip surgery at 82.
2011, Paul McCartney's ballet, "Oceans Kingdom," is performed in NYC!
2015, The copyright on "Happy Birthday" expires and the song enters the public domain. (So, now we can all sing "Happy Birthday" at everyone's birthday party royalty free!)
2018, Paul Simon plays the final date of his "Farewell" tour in his hometown, Queens NYC! Retirement doesn't stick and he's back on the road in 2025.
2018, Paul McCartney's album, "Egypt Station," hits #1 in the US on the Billboard Top 200 Albums Chart!
ROCK N' ROLLERS BORN TODAY:
1922, Raymond Edwards, bass singer for doo-wop vocal group, The Silhouettes -from Philadelphia- (would be 104 in 2026)!
1942, Mike Patto, singer for Spooky Tooth (would be 84 in 2026)!
1943, Toni Basil, singer/ actress/ choreographer (83 in 2026)! [Trivia: Basil is best known for her 1982 #1 Hot 100 One hit wonder, "Mickey!" She also choreographed David Bowie's Diamond Dogs tour in 1974 and later, his Glass Spider tour in 1984, as well.]
1951, David Coverdale, singer for Deep Purple (73-76), Whitesnake (1977-90, 1994-present) and Coverdale/ Page (1993) (75 in 2026)!
1956, Doug Wimbash, bass for Living Colour (70 in 2026)!
1957, Johnette Napolitano, singer for Concrete Blonde (69 in 2026)!
1958, Joan Jett, singer-guitar player, originally with The Runaways before going solo (68 in 2026)! [Trivia: Jett is best known for her Billboard Hot 100 #1 Hit from 1982 "I Love Rock 'N' Roll" and her two other Billboard Top Ten's "Crimson And Clover" ( #7 in 1982) and "I Hate Myself For Loving You" ( #8 in 1988)!
Our chart is from today, September 22nd in 1973!
