Calendar Search Results: i he w
December 14, 1959 The Ohio State University Research Center issues a report showing that rock and roll is the overwhelming favorite music of people aged 14-18. However, most over the age of eighteen who were polled considered it their least favorite form of music.
December 14, 1959 Guy Mitchell's "Heartaches by the Number" hits #1 for the first of two weeks.
December 1, 1959 Chuck Berry meets a young lady named Janice Escalanti in Juarez, Mexico (his band has a show in El Paso that night). After learning she is a runaway, Berry invites her on the tour and takes her back to St. Louis to work at his restaurant. Bad move: she's just 14, which puts Berry in violation of a law against transporting minors across state lines. When their arrangement doesn't work out, she goes to the police, who arrest Berry. He ends up serving 20 months in jail.
November 30, 1959 Cherie Currie is born in Encino, California. As lead singer of The Runaways she is at the core of the LA party scene in the late 1970s, leading to a lifelong struggle with drug addiction.More
November 29, 1959 At the second Annual Grammy Awards, Bobby Darin wins for Best New Artist and also takes the award for Record of the Year for "Mack The Knife," which is still at #1 on the Hot 100. This is the first time the event is televised, and also the only time the ceremony is held at the end of the year instead of early the following year, meaning nothing in December 1959 is Grammy eligible. This faux pas is rectified with awards for 1960 given out in early 1961.
November 25, 1959 Jack Scott records "What In The World's Come Over You."
November 20, 1959 Alan Freed, who is an influential DJ on the radio station WABC and host of the TV show Alan Freed's Big Beat Party, is fired from both outlets when he refuses to sign a statement saying he took payola, which was the practice of record companies paying for airplay.
November 19, 1959 An unnamed RCA executive tells reporters that, when he returns from the Army, Elvis Presley's music will be very different than the rock and roll he performed previously. Manager Colonel Tom Parker rushes to issue an official denial to fans.
November 7, 1959 Smokey Robinson marries Claudette Rogers, a fellow member of The Miracles and the eventual inspiration for his song "My Girl," made famous by the Temptations. They divorce in 1985.
October 24, 1959 On his 23rd birthday, and still a year away from even buying his first bass guitar, The Rolling Stones' Bill Wyman marries his first wife, 18-year-old bank clerk Diane Corey.
October 23, 1959 "Weird Al" Yankovic is born Alfred Matthew Yankovic in Downey, California, and raised in Lynwood. He's an architecture student at California Polytechnic State University in 1979 when he gets the idea to spoof The Knack hit "My Sharona" as "My Bologna," leading to a career as the top parody artist in history.More
October 20, 1959 Patty Duke opens on Broadway in The Miracle Worker.
October 19, 1959 ABC airs The Frank Sinatra Timex Show, the first of four Timex-sponsored TV specials hosted by the singer. Bing Crosby, Dean Martin and Mitzi Gaynor sing "High Hopes" with Frank to open the show.
October 13, 1959 Marie Osmond is born Olive Marie Osmond in Ogden, Utah. Known for her 1973 country cover of "Paper Roses" and her collaboration with brother Donny for a TV variety show.
October 10, 1959 Singer Kirsty MacColl, known for her vocals on the Pogues song "Fairytale Of New York," is born in Croydon, Surrey, England. Her dad is the folk singer Ewan MacColl.
October 7, 1959 Singer/actor Mario Lanza dies at a weight loss clinic in Rome, possibly from a pulmonary embolism or a massive heart attack (no autopsy was performed). He was 38.
October 7, 1959 The detective show Hawaiian Eye debuts on ABC with Connie Stevens starring as Cricket Blake. The show lasts four seasons.
October 5, 1959 Bobby Darin's swinging version of "Mack the Knife," a song about a killer from The Threepenny Opera, hits #1 on the Hot 100 and stays there for an astonishing nine weeks. Darin, who is known for lighter fare like "Splish Splash," gains a more adult following, putting him on par with Frank Sinatra.More
October 5, 1959 Nina Simone's debut single, "I Loves You Porgy," peaks at #18 on the Hot 100, the highest she will ever place on the chart.
October 2, 1959 The Twilight Zone premieres on CBS-TV. The original orchestral opening used throughout Season One was composed by Bernard Herrmann, and was later replaced by the now-iconic theme from French composer Marius Constant.
September 21, 1959 Santo and Johnny's "Sleep Walk" hits #1 for the first of two weeks.
September 16, 1959 Dick Clark's first "Caravan of Stars" tour opens in New York, featuring The Coasters, The Drifters, Lloyd Price, LaVern Baker, Duane Eddy, Paul Anka and Annette Funicello.
September 16, 1959 Vicki Blue (Victory Tischler-Blue) is born in Newport Beach, California. In 1977 she joins The Runaways after bassist Jackie Fox leaves, and plays on their fourth album. After the breakup of the band, Blue goes on to forge a career as an actress: playing Cindy in the 1984 mockumentary movie This is Spinal Tap.
September 14, 1959 Morten Harket, lead singer of the synthpop group a-ha, is born in Kongsberg, Norway.
September 13, 1959 Elvis Presley meets his future wife Priscilla Beaulieu at a party at his house in Germany, where he is serving in the US Army. They hit it off that night, with Elvis playing her some songs on guitar.
August 24, 1959 The Browns' "The Three Bells" hits #1 for the first of four weeks.
August 10, 1959 The four male singers in The Platters are arrested in Cincinnati for aiding and abetting prostitution. They are acquitted of the charges, but the incident strains relations with their female singer Zola Taylor and gets them removed from some playlists.
August 9, 1959 Rapper Kurtis Blow is born Kurt Walker in The Bronx, New York.
August 6, 1959 In balmy Los Angeles, Dean Martin records the most famous version of the holiday classic "Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!." It's one of many popular Christmas songs with no mention of Christmas in the lyric.
August 5, 1959 The Isley Brothers record "Shout."
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