Calendar Search Results: i he w
September 9, 1956 Elvis Presley makes the first of three contracted appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show. Sullivan had previously announced he would never have such an act on, but ratings prevailed and Sullivan offered Elvis a record $50,000 for the three shows. Charles Laughton hosts, filling in for an ailing Sullivan as Elvis performs "Don't Be Cruel," "Love Me Tender," "Ready Teddy" and "Hound Dog" but is shot from the waist up only to avoid scandal. The show draws a staggering 54 million viewers.
September 7, 1956 Songwriter Diane Warren, whose many hits include Aerosmith's "I Don't Want To Miss A Thing" and Cher's "If I Could Turn Back Time," is born in Van Nuys, California.
September 2, 1956 Elvis Presley records "When My Blue Moon Turns To Gold Again," "Long Tall Sally," "Old Shep," "Paralyzed," "Too Much," and "Anyplace Is Paradise."
August 29, 1956 Underground rocker GG Allin is born in Lancaster, New Hampshire. He famously declares that he will end his life by committing suicide on stage, but ends up dying of a heroin overdose in 1993.
August 25, 1956 Matt Aitken of the songwriting team Stock Aitken Waterman is born in Coventry, England. Among their hits: "Never Gonna Give You Up" by Rick Astley.
August 24, 1956 Buddy Holly is in the audience when Little Richard plays the Cotton Club in Lubbock, Texas.
August 24, 1956 Elvis Presley records the ballad "Love Me Tender" on a soundstage in Hollywood where he's filming the movie of the same name.
August 15, 1956 "Colonel" Tom Parker, actually a Dutch immigrant who merely played at being a Southern aristocrat, becomes "special adviser" to Elvis Presley, effectively taking over management duties from Bob Neal, who knew managing the King was about to become a full-time job.
August 14, 1956 Sharon Bryant (of Atlantic Starr) is born in Westchester County, New York.
August 14, 1956 Washington DC disc jockey Bob Rickman forms the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Elvis Presley after reading too many news articles that make him out to be a hick and/or a threat to society.
August 11, 1956 Richard Goodman and Bull Buchanan, recording as Buchanan and Goodman, enter the charts with "Flying Saucer," the first song to use what's called the "Break In" technique, dropping in bits of other hit songs throughout. The song eventually peaks at #3.
August 4, 1956 The Platters' "My Prayer" hits #1 in America for the first of five weeks.
July 30, 1956 11-year-old Brenda Lee records her first single, "Jambalaya (On the Bayou)," at Owen Bradley Studio in Nashville.
July 28, 1956 Gene Vincent makes his first national TV appearance, singing "Be-Bop-a-Lula" on NBC's The Perry Como Show.
July 25, 1956 The Italian luxury liner Andrea Doria collides with the Swedish liner Stockholm, killing 52 instantly and sinking the Andrea Doria. On board is Mike Stoller, who becomes half of the famous Lieber-Stoller songwriting team.
July 24, 1956 Ten years to the day after their act began, Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis break up their wildly popular musical-comedy act after a farewell show at New York's Copacabana nightclub.
July 22, 1956 The Official UK Albums chart is published for the first time. The first #1 album on the survey is Frank Sinatra's Songs For Swingin' Lovers, featuring the pop standards "I've Got You Under My Skin" and "You Make Me Feel So Young."
July 15, 1956 Ian Curtis is born in Macclesfield, England. In 1976 he joins Joy Division, one of the most influential and critically acclaimed UK alternative bands. Following the singer's death in May 1980, the remaining members of the band continue to write and perform as New Order.
July 13, 1956 Elvis Presley releases "Hound Dog" and "Don't Be Cruel" as a double-A-side single. It sells four million copies to become the top-selling single of 1956, and makes Elvis a superstar. He's soon booked on every major variety show and launches a movie career.
July 9, 1956 In the broadcast equivalent of Lou Gehrig taking over for Wally Pipp at first base, Dick Clark replaces Bob Horn as host of the TV show Bandstand, which runs on the Philadelphia TV station WFIL. The show goes national the next year, with Clark hosting it until 1989.
July 7, 1956 With his song "I Walk The Line" climbing the charts, Johnny Cash makes his first appearance at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville. There, he meets his future wife, June Carter.
July 2, 1956 Elvis Presley records "Hound Dog" at the RCA studios in New York City. Needing a B-side, Elvis and his team listen to some demos and find a song called "Don't Be Cruel," which they also record in the session. The two songs are released 11 days later as a double-A-side single and set numerous records for sales and chart position.
July 1, 1956 The family-friendly Steve Allen Show doesn't want Elvis Presley shaking his legendary pelvis, so he sings "Hound Dog" to a basset hound. Both Elvis and the pooch are dressed in formal wear.More
June 30, 1956 Philip Adrian Wright (first Director of Visuals, then keyboardist for The Human League) is born in Wakefield, England.
June 29, 1956 Johnnie Ray records "Just Walkin' In The Rain."
June 16, 1956 Gogi Grant's "The Wayward Wind" hits #1 in America, where it stays for eight weeks.
June 5, 1956 Saxophone player Kenny G is born Kenneth Gorelick in Seattle, Washington. His instrumental hits "Songbird" and "Silhouette" usher in a new radio format in the '80s: Smooth Jazz. With at least 50 million albums sold, he lays claim to the title of best-selling instrumentalist in history.
June 5, 1956 Elvis Presley appears on The Milton Berle Show where the pair do a comedy bit performing Elvis' "Hound Dog" and "I Want You, I Need You, I Love You." It marks the first TV appearance of The Jordanaires backing up Elvis, and the last Milton Berle show for 10 years.
May 31, 1956 Buddy Holly sees the John Wayne film The Searchers. Wayne's line, "That'll be the day," inspires him to write a song with that title.
May 28, 1956 Woody Guthrie, homeless and suffering from Huntington's disease, is arrested for vagrancy in Morristown, New Jersey. He is sent to nearby Greystone Park Psychiatric hospital and spends the rest of his life in care facilities, passing away in 1967 at 55.
©2026 Songfacts®, LLC