Pick a Day

Music History Events: TV Appearances

February 14, 1978 Married songwriters Kris Kristofferson and Rita Coolidge appear on The Muppet Show to perform "Song I Like to Sing" from their first album of duets, Full Moon.

October 19, 1977 Judy Collins appears on The Muppet Show, where she sings Sondheim's "Send in the Clowns."

September 14, 1977 Cheryl Lynn appears on the Gong Show, where she wows the judges with her version of "You Are So Beautiful." This earns her a deal with CBS Records, which issues "Got To Be Real" as her first single. The disco track is her only big Hot 100 hit, but she becomes a regular on the R&B chart.

July 19, 1977 Steve Martin appears on The Muppet Show, where he performs "Dueling Banjos" and makes balloon animals.

July 14, 1977 The BBC lifts their ban on The Sex Pistols, who appear on Top Of The Pops in a video clip performing their song "Pretty Vacant," which has become a surprise hit in the UK.

December 2, 1976 The British press is in an uproar the day after The Sex Pistols appeared on the Today programme on London regional TV and swore repeatedly. The front page headline of the Daily Mirror reads "THE FILTH AND THE FURY!"

May 17, 1975 Elton John plays "Bennie And The Jets" and "Philadelphia Freedom" on Soul Train, becoming just the third white performer to appear on the show, after Dennis Coffey and Gino Vannelli.

February 15, 1975 Performing "People Gotta Move," Gino Vannelli becomes the first white singer to perform on Soul Train, beating Elton John by a few months. The first white musician to play the show was guitarist Dennis Coffey with his instrumental hit "Scorpio" in 1972.

April 6, 1974 Al Green performs his hit "Here I Am (Come and Take Me)" on Soul Train. Green, who had broken an arm and is wearing a sling, performs the song live, which is rare on the show because live performances are expensive and complicated to produce.

December 7, 1973 Todd Rundgren performs his hit "Hello It's Me" on The Midnight Special wearing a bizarre, bird-like outfit. Rundgren wrote the song in 1968, and by the time it became a hit, he had moved on to a psychedelic/art rock phase, which explains the incongruent wardrobe selection.

November 3, 1973 Michael Jackson popularizes The Robot when he busts out some futuristic dance moves during a Jackson 5 performance of "Dancing Machine" on Soul Train.

September 13, 1973 The New York Dolls perform "Trash" and "Personality Crisis" on The Midnight Special television program.

January 8, 1972 Dennis Coffey becomes the first white performer on Soul Train, performing his hit "Scorpio."

December 10, 1971 Davy Jones of the Monkees guest stars on The Brady Bunch episode "Getting Davy Jones," where Marcia tries to get the dreamy singer to perform at her prom.More

November 4, 1971 Mott the Hoople's "The Moon Upstairs" is broadcast on Sounds Of The Seventies. Ian Hunter's vocal expletive in the final line is replaced by a humorous cough.

February 2, 1971 The Point!, an animated fable written by pop star Nilsson, makes its debut on ABC's Movie of the Week.

December 14, 1969 The Jackson 5 make their first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show, where they perform their debut Motown single "I Want You Back."

May 29, 1968 Al Stewart appears on John Peel's Nightride programme where he meets Pete Morgan, whose poem "My Enemies Have Sweet Voices" he sets to music.

October 4, 1967 George Harrison and John Lennon appear on David Frost's TV show, where they take the "pro" side in a debate over Transcendental Meditation. On the panel is the author Juan Mascaro, who later sends Harrison a book containing a translation of Chapter 47 of Tao Te Ching, which he uses as the lyric for the song "The Inner Light."

April 4, 1967 Jimi Hendrix guests on the first broadcast of the BBC show Dee Time, hosted by Simon Dee. Cat Stevens is also on the show.

November 27, 1966 Mia Farrow is the mystery guest on the popular game show What's My Line?, surprising her new husband Frank Sinatra, who sits blindfolded on the panel. Sinatra was a mystery guest earlier in the night.

February 13, 1966 The Rolling Stones appear in color on US TV for the first time when they make their third Ed Sullivan Show appearance.

November 6, 1965 Fontella Bass performs her hit "Rescue Me" on the ABC-TV program Shindig!

March 8, 1965 David Bowie makes his first TV appearance when his band The Manish Boys appears on the British show Gadzooks! At the time, he's still known as David Jones.

November 12, 1964 David Bowie (then known as David Jones) appears on the BBC program Tonight as leader of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Long Haired Men.

June 2, 1964 The day after arriving in America for their first US tour, The Rolling Stones appear on American TV for the first time when they are interviewed on The Les Crane Show. When Crane asks if they are excited to be making their first US TV appearance, Keith Richards sarcastically replies, "Yeah, it knocks me out."

November 23, 1963 On the BBC program That Was The Week That Was, Millicent Martin performs "In The Summer Of His Years," which was written in haste after the assassination of John F. Kennedy.

October 4, 1963 Dusty Springfield interviews The Beatles when they appear on the British TV show Ready, Steady, Go.

February 1, 1962 Shelley Fabares debuts her hit single "Johnny Angel" on The Donna Reed Show episode "Donna's Prima Donna." Fabares plays daughter Mary Stone on the sitcom.

March 6, 1961 A pre-Monkees Davy Jones makes his acting debut on the British soap opera Coronation Street, playing Colin Lomax.