Calendar Search Results: i he w
January 1, 1958 Grandmaster Flash is born Joseph Saddler in Barbados. The name "Flash" came about because he had a friend named Gordon, so one of their buddies called him Flash so they would be "Flash Gordon," like the sci-fi superhero.
December 30, 1957 Bing Crosby's album Merry Christmas claims the #1 spot from Elvis Presley's Elvis' Christmas Album, but Elvis returns to the top spot a week later.
December 26, 1957 The Champs release "Train to Nowhere," which as the title implies, makes no impact. But DJs love the B-side, a saxy tune called "Tequila." Three months later, it's the #1 song in America.
December 25, 1957 Shane MacGowan is born in Pembury, Kent, England, to Irish parents. In 1982 he forms The Pogues, blending Celtic music with punk. Fittingly, their most famous tune is a Christmas song: "Fairytale of New York."
December 24, 1957 Ian Burden (keyboardist, bass guitarist for The Human League) is born in Newark-on-Trent, Nottinghamshire, England.
December 23, 1957 Simon & Garfunkel (then known as Tom & Jerry) release their first single.
December 16, 1957 Pat Boone's "April Love" hits #1 in the US for the first of six weeks. The song is from the movie of the same name starring Boone and Shirley Jones.
December 11, 1957 Mike Mesaros (bassist, vocalist for The Smithereens) is born in Carteret, New Jersey.
December 11, 1957 In what remains one of the most shocking celebrity scandals, Jerry Lee Lewis marries 13-year-old Myra Gale Brown, who was the daughter of his cousin (and bass player), J.W. Brown. The marriage lasts 14 years but seriously damages Lewis' career.More
December 9, 1957 Donny Osmond is born in Ogden, Utah. At age 5, he starts performing with his brothers in their group The Osmonds; by 13, he's the star of the group with his own solo career.
December 8, 1957 Def Leppard guitarist Phil Collen is born in Hackney, London, England. He joins the band in 1982 as a replacement for Pete Willis.
December 7, 1957 The movie Jamboree, featuring a scene where Jerry Lee Lewis performs "Great Balls of Fire," debuts in theaters. Also appearing in the film are Fats Domino, Carl Perkins, Frankie Avalon and Connie Francis.
December 2, 1957 Al Priddy, a disc jockey at the Portland, Oregon, radio station KEX, is fired for playing the Elvis Presley version of "White Christmas," which the station has banned, their program manager saying it "desecrates the Spirit of Christmas and transgresses the composer's intent." The story makes national news, but it turns out to be a brilliant publicity stunt - Priddy is back on the air two weeks later, with the station claiming letters were pouring in to support the DJ. As part of the stunt, Priddy recorded the GM calling in to "fire" him for playing the song and played the conversation on his show before he left.
December 2, 1957 Sam Cooke's "You Send Me" hits #1 for the first of three weeks.
December 1, 1957 It's a big night on Ed Sullivan Show: Buddy Holly and the Crickets (performing "That'll Be The Day"), Sam Cooke (performing "You Send Me"), and The Rays (performing "Silhouettes") all perform for the first time on national TV.
November 28, 1957 Harry Belafonte becomes the first black man to hit #1 in the UK when "Mary's Boy Child" tops the chart. The single stays at #1 for seven weeks and becomes a Christmas favorite.
November 25, 1957 An article in Billboard claims, perhaps presumptively, that the era of the "package tour" is dead, with rock and roll artists feeling they can take a bigger cut from individual "record hops."
November 24, 1957 Chris Hayes, lead guitarist for Huey Lewis & the News from 1979–2001, is born in Great Lakes, Illinois. He co-writes some of the band's biggest hits, including "I Want A New Drug" and "The Power of Love."
November 24, 1957 Harry Belafonte's "Mary's Boy Child" becomes the first single to sell a million copies in the UK. It stays at #1 for an unheard-of seven weeks and becomes a perennial UK Christmas favorite.
November 22, 1957 Simon & Garfunkel make their first appearance on ABC-TV's dance show American Bandstand -- in their earlier incarnation as Tom and Jerry, playing their minor hit "Hey Little Schoolgirl."
November 17, 1957 Gene Vincent and the Blue Caps make their US television debut, performing "Lotta Loving" and "Dance to the Bop" on The Ed Sullivan Show.
November 17, 1957 Jim Babjak (lead guitarist for The Smithereens) is born in Carteret, New Jersey, where he would meet bandmates Dennis Diken and Mike Mesaros in high school.
November 11, 1957 Shirley Bassey is held hostage at gunpoint in a London hotel by a deranged man who enters as she is approving dresses for her tour. After a three-hour standoff with police, he releases the singer.
November 8, 1957 Elvis Presley's third movie, Jailhouse Rock, opens nationally. It had a premiere a few weeks earlier at the Memphis theater where Elvis was once an usher.
November 7, 1957 Drummer John "Jellybean" Benitez is born in South Bronx, New York. Also a songwriter and producer, he works with Madonna, Whitney Houston, and Michael Jackson, among others.
November 3, 1957 CBS-TV's Ed Sullivan Show accidentally cuts off Sam Cooke mid-song when "You Send Me" isn't given enough time at the end of tonight's show. Sullivan invites the singer back the next month to make up for it.
October 31, 1957 Guided By Voices leader Robert Pollard is born in Dayton, Ohio, where he forms the band in 1983. He works as a school teacher until 1994, when the band signs with the Matador label and release their breakout album Bee Thousand.
October 29, 1957 In Nashville, Bobby Helms records "Jingle Bell Rock," which becomes the first rock and roll Christmas hit and a seasonal favorite.
October 27, 1957 Police in Oakland, California, inform Elvis Presley that he is not allowed to swivel his hips onstage in tonight's performance at the Oakland Auditorium; Elvis responds by sarcastically wiggling only his little finger while singing. The cops film the show anyway, just in case.
October 18, 1957 Paul McCartney and John Lennon perform together for the first time after Paul joins John's band the Quarrymen. The show takes place at New Clubmoor Hall in their hometown of Liverpool, and Paul plays guitar.
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