08/01/2025
Happy Friday!
Aug 1st: TODAY IN ROCK N' ROLL HISTORY!
1934, Blues singer, Leadbelly, is released from prison, where he served a four-year sentence for attempted murder.
1942, The American Federation of Musicians goes on strike fearing that phonograph records will replace live music…it turns out audiences will do both and the strike ends after two years!
1958, Johnny Cash' contract with Sun Records expires, after which Cash moves to L.A. and signs to Columbia, which lasts until 1986.
1960, "The Twist" by Chubby Checker debuts on The Billboard Hot 100 at #49! Never has an artist gotten so much mileage from a song, that became a phenomenon, almost a genre unto itself! The song peaked at #1 on 9/19 and was followed by another "Twist" related song, "Let's Twist Again," in June 1961, before "The Twist" was released again, re-debuting on the Billboard Hot 100 in November 1961 and finally reaching #1 again in January 1962, this time for two more weeks! It was also followed by other "Twist" related songs by Chubby Checker, "Twistin' USA," "Slow Twistin'," "La Paloma Twist," and those were just in 1961 and '62! In 1988, Checker teamed-up with beat box rappers, The Fat Boys for another version of "The Twist!' Checker also had top ten hits with, The Hucklebuck," "Pony Time," "The Fly," and "Limbo Rock," but "The Twist" is the one song that defined him! It also helped him lose all that weight from performing the dance so much!
1960, Aretha Franklin makes her first attempt at secular recording for Columbia Records. She'd been signed to the label as a gospel recording artist, but she doesn't attempt it again until she started recording soul songs for Atlantic in 1967.
1963, Beatles Monthly Magazine debuts! It publishes every month for the next six years! At it's peak it sold 350-thousand copies a month!
1963, Elvis Presley hits #1 on the UK Singles Chart with "(You're The) Devil In Disguise!" It was "The King's" 14th #1 hit in the UK. The Beatles, John Lennon panned the song on BBC-TV's Juke Box Jury, saying Presley, "Sounded like Bing Crosby now." The song peaks only at #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 for the first of two weeks on August 10th!
1964, Both song and the album, "A Hard Days Night," by The Beatles are at #1 in America and the film won't even be released in the US for another ten days! The song tops the Billboard Hot 100 for the first of two weeks. It's also the bands fifth #1 hit in seven months and their 17th week at #1 in that time. As for the album, it tops the Billboard Top 200 album charts for the second week of 14 and is the third #1 album for the band in seven months and also marks the 18th week at the top of the album charts.
1964, Harmonica use in pop songs is at it's peak, as pointed out by an article in Billboard magazine that highlights the heyday of the harmonica, citing it's use by The Beatles, Bob Dylan, The Rolling Stones and Stevie Wonder.
1965, Marianne Faithful cancels her tour after she collapses onstage during a show in Lancashire, UK.
1966, The Chambers Brothers record "Time Has Come Today," at Columbia Records studios in Los Angeles. A severely edited 2:37 version of the 11-minute track is released. It flops, but the album version becomes a hit on freeform, FM Radio stations. The song is re-released as a single again in 1968, but this time, the run is re-adjusted to 4:45. It peaks at #11 on September 21st for the first of 5 weeks! This suggests that the song was "dayparted" by radio stations, meaning that it only aired at certain times of the day, instead of around the clock. It was probably kept strong by record store sales.
1969, Carl Wilson is indicted for failing to fulfill his community service, after he refused the draft. Wilson was supposed to perform janitorial duties at the L.A. County Hospital, but taught music classes there instead.
1969, The three-day Atlantic CIty Pop Festival begins at the Atlantic City Race Track! The line-up for the festival included B.B. King, Janis Joplin, Santana, Three Dog Night, Dr. John, Procol Harum, Arthur Brown, Iron Butterfly, Credence Clearwater Revival, Little Richard, Tim Buckley, The Byrds, Jefferson Airplay, The Mothers Of Invention, Canned Heat and Joni Mitchell, who was reduced to tears and ran off the stage after only a few songs because the audience wasn't into her music.
1970,The movie, "Performance" starring Mick Jagger of The Rolling Stones in his acting debut, finally premieres in London, after being shelved for two years due to graphic s*x and violence. Jagger's second movie, "Ned Kelly" was actually released first.
1971, Former Beatles guitar great, George Harrison hosts The Concert For Bangladesh! It's the first "charity concert" to help raise money for any cause, in this case, for the flood ravaged country. It also was the model for "Live Aid" in 1985! Among those who played the Concert For Bangladesh at Madison Square Garden were, Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, Billy Preston, Ravi Shankar, members of Badfinger and Ringo Starr! The concert was recorded and released as a triple album, which hit #1 in the UK and #2 in the US. It also won a Grammy.
1971, The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour debuts on CBS!
1972, The Eagles release "Witchy Woman," which debuts on The Billboard Hot 100 on September 9th at #78! The song becomes the bands first top ten hit, peaking at #9 on November 18th!
1972, "Burning Love," by Elvis Presley debuts on The Billboard Hot 100 at #90! The song peaks at #2 on October 26th for one week!
1978, George Harrison and his wife Olivia welcome their only child, Dhani.
1980, Def Leppard play their first show in America, opening for AC/DC in New York City on
Joe Elliots 21st birthday.
1980, George Harrison forms a movie company, Handmade Films, to produce "Monty Python's Life Of Brian," and it goes on to produce, "The Long Good Friday," "Time Bandits" and "Shanghai Surprise."
1981, "Jessie's Girl" by Rick Springfield hits #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for the first of two weeks! Springfield, an actor, played Dr. Noah Drake on the TV soap opera, General Hospital.
1981, MTV debuts on cable in most of America. The first video played was "Video Killed The Radio Star," by The Buggles.
1983, Neil Young forms "The Shocking Pinks" for a one-shot rockabilly album called, "Everybody's Rocking."
1984, Jermaine Jackson, formerly of The Jackson 5, makes an appearance on CBS-TV's, "As The World Turns."
1987, MTV Europe debuts! The first video was "Money For Nothing" by Dire Straits, because y'know, it has the lyrics "I want my MTV," of course!
1987, Los Lobos scored a #1 hit in the UK, with a cover of Ritchie Valens, "La Bamba!" The song wouldn't be #1 in the US until August 29th!
1987, Guns N' Roses shot the video for "Welcome To The Jungle" in Hollywood at the intersection of 450 South La Brea and Park Plaza.
1987, Dave Stewart of Eurythimcs and Shiobhan Fahey of Bananarama marry. It lasts until 1996.
1988, Cincinnati radio station, WCVG-AM becomes the first all-Elvis Presley all-the-time radio station! The move lasts for a year.
1989, The Rolling Stones release their album, "Steel Wheels!" The album debuts on The Billboard Top 200 chart on September 16th and peaks at #3!
1990, UB40 was deported from the Seychelle Islands after ma*****na is found in their hotel room. (Imagine that, a band that smokes pot!)
1990, Jon Bon Jovi makes his acting debut in "Young Gun II" as an inmate who gets shot. Bon Jovi also wrote the theme for the movie and music for and inspired by the film. The main theme, "Blaze Of Glory" peaks at #1 for a week on the Billboard Hot 100 on September 8th!
1994, The Rolling Stones begin their 134 date "Voodoo Lounge" tour in Washington DC! The tour finishes as the top money making tour of all time. The band also announces that they've politely refused an invitation to play at the White House for Bill Clinton. They do later play his 60th birthday party in 2006!
1994, Michael Jackson and Lisa Marie Presley announce that they got married eleven weeks ago in the Dominican Republic!
2000, Madonna moves the release date for her new single, "Music," up by two weeks, after it was leaked as an mp3 on the internet. Ah, the wild days of Napster…
2000, AC/DC kicked off their 140-show "Stiff Upper Lip" tour at the Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids Michigan!
2007, The Police played the first of two sold-out nights at Madison Square Garden in NYC as part of their reunion tour!
2007, Prince played the first night of a 21-night, sold out residency at the O2 Arena in London!
2014, "Guardians Of The Galaxy" opens in America and the retro soundtrack revives some 70's oldies, "Hooked On A Feeling" by Blue Swede and "Come And Get Your Love," by Redbone!
2015, Rush play their last show ever. It is the final show of the R40 tour, but Neil Peart's fight with cancer and arthritis isn't public knowledge yet.
2015, UK singer/ actress/ entertainer, Cilla Black dies at 72.
2023, Singer, Annette Williams from The Blossoms, aka The Crystals, dies. The Blossoms recorded "He's A Rebel" for Phil Spector, who changed their name for the release. She leaves behind her twin sister, Nanette, who was also a member of The Blossoms.
ROCK N' ROLLERS BORN TODAY:
1942, Jerry Garcia, singer/ songwriter/ guitar for The Grateful Dead, New Riders Of The Purple Sage, The Jerry Garcia Band and other projects. (would be 83 in 2025)!
1943, Denny Cordell, producer (82 in 2025)!
1946, Rick Coonce, drums for The Grass Roots (79 in 2025)!
1946, Boz Burrell, bass for Bad Company (would be 79 in 2025)!
1947, Rick Anderson, bass for The Tubes (would be 78 in 2025)!
1947, Prakash John, bass for Edgar Winter, Rick Derringer and Parliament/ Funkadelic (78 in 2025)!
1951, Tommy Bolin, guitar for The James Gang and Deep Purple (74 in 2025)!
1951, Tim Bachman, guitar and vocals for Bachman-Turner Overdrive (would be 74 in 2025)!
1953, Robert Cray, blues singer/ guitar (72 in 2025)!
1958, Michael Penn, singer/ songwriter, brother of actor Sean Penn (67 in 2025)!
1958, Robert Buck, from 10,000 Maniacs (would be 67 in 2025)!
1959, Joe Elliot, singer for Def Leppard (66 in 2025)!
Our chart is from today in August 1st, 1964!
