15 DECEMBER
In Music History
1967 The Who release their third album, The Who Sell Out. There are fake radio jingles between songs, including one for the deodorant Odorono.
1967 In Paris, the members of The Beach Boys have their own audience with guru Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.
1965 At a demo session for Elektra Records, Neil Young records "Sugar Mountain" for the first time. This version later appears on The Archives Vol. 1 1963–1972.
1964 Glenn Yarbrough records "Baby the Rain Must Fall."
1962 The First Family, a comedy album by Vaughn Meader that envisions President John F. Kennedy in various everyman scenarios (like stopping at a gas station to fill up his 70-vehicle motorcade), hits #1 in the US, replacing novelty: My Son, the Folk Singer by Allan Sherman. Rock and Roll may not be dead, but is on life support.
1959 The Everly Brothers record "Let It Be Me" at Bell Studios in New York, their first session outside of Nashville.
1958 Billboard declares "Volare" by Domenico Modugno the best-selling single of 1958.
1957 Mitch Miller and Sammy Davis, Jr. blast rock and roll in a syndicated radio talk show hosted by Davis. However, MGM label president Arnold Maxim disagrees, stating he sees no end to the fad in the near future.
1955 Paul Simonon (bassist for The Clash) is born in Thornton Heath, Croydon, England.
1955 Johnny Cash releases "Folsom Prison Blues."
1949 The Birdland jazz club, named after Charlie Parker, opens in New York City. It quickly becomes a hotspot, with Parker, Miles Davis, John Coltrane and many other luminaries performing there until it closes in 1965.
1946 Drummer Carmine Appice of Vanilla Fudge is born in Brooklyn. He does a lot of work with Rod Stewart, co-writing his hit "Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?"
1946 R&B singer Harry Ray (of The Moments) is born in Long Branch, New Jersey.
1944 Glenn Miller, a world-famous bandleader who joined the Army in 1942 and has been entertaining troops with his Army Air Force Band, vanishes when the plane taking him from England to Paris disappears over the English Channel. The plane is never found; Miller, age 40, is presumed dead.
1943 Jazz pianist Fats Waller dies of pneumonia at age 39. Composed "Ain't Misbehavin'" and "Honeysuckle Rose."
John And Yoko Declare Peace
1969John Lennon and Yoko Ono launch the "War Is Over" campaign with billboards declaring peace around the world.
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Featured Events
2014 Little Big Town release "Girl Crush," a jealousy ballad in 6/8 time. The unusual song becomes a huge hit, going to #1 on the Country chart and winning the CMA Awards for Single of the Year and Song of the Year.
1992 Dr. Dre releases his debut solo album, The Chronic, a G-funk landmark featuring Snoop Doggy Dogg.More
1979 Pink Floyd's "Another Brick In The Wall (part II)" goes to #1 on the UK singles chart.
1979 The Buggles song "Video Killed The Radio Star" reaches its American chart peak of #40 (in the UK, it hit #1 in September). On August 1, 1981, it becomes the first music video played on MTV. Record stores in areas with high cable penetration are baffled when folks show up looking for the song.
1974 Young Frankenstein opens in theaters. When members of Aerosmith take a break from recording the Toys in the Attic album and see the film, they laugh hysterically at the scene where Igor (Marty Feldman) tells Dr. Frankenstein (Gene Wilder) to "walk this way," and the doctor imitates Igor's walk. Returning to the studio, they have the title to the track they've been working on.More
1921 Alan Freed is born in Johnstown, Pennsylvania. At the Cleveland radio station WJW, he becomes the first white disc jockey to play upbeat rhythm and blues records north of the Mason Dixon line. At the time, they are called "race" records, but Freed calls the music "rock and roll." Freed attracts a large following on WJW, and his late-night radio show, the Moondog Rock 'n' Roll Party, helps increase the popularity of rhythm and blues and makes Cleveland a trendsetter in Midwestern pop culture.
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