Calendar Search Results: i was at
July 2, 1962 Jimi Hendrix is honorably discharged from the Army after serving a little over a year of his 3-year commitment. The reason for his discharge is "unsuitability," as his superiors agree he will never be a good soldier, in part because he's more interested in his guitar than his rifle.More
April 11, 1962 Elvis Presley's Follow That Dream movie premieres in Ocala, Florida, near where it was filmed (it opens nationally six weeks later).
December 18, 1961 "The Lion Sleeps Tonight," with a chorus in poorly translated Zulu, tops the Hot 100 for The Tokens.More
September 29, 1961 The New York Times publishes a glowing review of a Bob Dylan performance, giving the 20-year-old upstart his first press in a major publication.More
February 13, 1961 Henry Rollins is born Henry Garfield in Washington, DC. A die-hard punk fan from an early age, he becomes Black Flag's lead singer in 1981. When that group dissolves in 1986, he launches the Rollins Band and builds a second career as a writer, spoken-word artist, and actor (catch him on Season 2 of Sons of Anarchy).
January 29, 1961 Five days after arriving in New York from Minnesota, Bob Dylan meets his ailing folk hero, Woody Guthrie, tracking him down in East Orange, New Jersey. Dylan pays tribute with "Song To Woody," which appears on his first album the following year.More
January 19, 1961 The night before John F. Kennedy's inauguration, Frank Sinatra throws a star-studded gala to eradicate the Democratic Party's $2 million campaign debt. With the help of Peter Lawford, fellow Rat Packer and husband of JFK's sister Patricia, Sinatra enlists elite entertainers for the evening, including Nat King Cole, Harry Belafonte, Gene Kelly, Ethel Merman, and actors Laurence Olivier, Janet Leigh, Tony Curtis, and Bette Davis.More
December 28, 1960 The Connie Francis movie Where The Boys Are is released. The movie - risqué for its time - is about four college girls on Spring Break. It leads to a whole genre of Spring Break movies and popularizes Fort Lauderdale, Florida, where it was shot, as the destination of choice.
May 12, 1960 On Frank Sinatra's TV variety show, it's the Welcome Home Elvis special to honor The King, who was recently discharged from the US Army. The famous singers perform a medley of "Love Me Tender" and "Witchcraft" together.
May 10, 1960 Paul Hewson is born in Dublin. He shortens his nickname from Bono Vox (Latin for "good voice") to simply Bono and fronts the band U2.More
April 21, 1960 For about 20 years, it was common practice for record companies to pay DJs to play songs, but now the US government is cracking down on what they call "Payola." Dick Clark testifies before congress and admits that he took money and gifts to play records - estimating 27% of his playlist to be paid. Clark emerges more powerful than ever, selling off conflicting interests and expanding his music empire. On the other hand, another prominent DJ and TV host, Alan Freed, refuses to admit that he took payola, insisting that he was a consultant to the industry. His career never recovers despite his massive influence and success.
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 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.
February 3, 1959 Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and J.P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson are killed in a plane crash. Don McLean would call it "The Day the Music Died" in his 1971 hit "American Pie."More
January 1, 1959 Johnny Cash plays one of his first jailhouse shows when he performs at San Quentin prison in San Rafael, California. Among those in the captive audience is Merle Haggard, who is serving time for burglary.More
December 22, 1958 The Chipmunks hit #1 on the Hot 100 with the squeaky-clean festive favorite "The Chipmunk Song." It's the last Christmas song to top the chart until "All I Want For Christmas Is You" 61 years later in 2019.More
July 30, 1958 Kate Bush is born in Bexleyheath, Kent, England. At 19, she releases her debut single, "Wuthering Heights," which goes to #1 in the UK.More
May 3, 1958 The popular disc jockey Alan Freed hosts a rock concert at the Boston Arena (a hockey rink) that does not go well. The city doesn't host another rock concert until 1964.More
March 24, 1958 Elvis Presley goes to the Memphis Draft Board and enters the United States Army.More
March 17, 1958 The first "Greatest Hits" compilation is released, and it's by Johnny Mathis. It's a huge hit, and the format catches on quickly. The Mathis album stays in the Billboard 200 album chart for over nine years, a record not broken until Pink Floyd's Dark Side Of The Moon.More
September 12, 1957 Hans Zimmer is born in Frankfurt, Germany. Known for his innovative style of combining electronic and traditional instrumentation, he becomes one of the most sought-after film composers in Hollywood. He lands his breakthrough gig with the 1988 movie Rain Man, starring Tom Cruise and Dustin Hoffman, and writes the music on a Fairlight digital synthesizer. He goes on to score hit movies like Gladiator (2000), The Dark Knight (2008), The Lion King (1994), and Dune (2021), with the latter two earning him his first Academy Award wins for Best Original Score.More
November 26, 1956 Tommy Dorsey, jazz trombonist and bandleader, dies at age 51 when he chokes in his sleep (he was too sedated from sleeping pills to wake up).
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.
December 31, 1955 The first version of "Unchained Melody," recorded by Les Baxter, his Chorus and Orchestra, is named the top-selling single of 1955 by Billboard. Baxter's version was featured in the movie Unchained; The Righteous Brothers have a huge hit with the song in 1965.
September 30, 1955 James Dean is killed in a car accident at age 24. Dean dies around the same time rock and roll comes alive (the #1 song the day he dies: Pat Boone's cover of "Ain't That A Shame" - clearly America is at a crossroads).More
September 8, 1955 In an attempt to hide the wrinkles in his suit, Chuck Berry does the duck walk for the first time.More
July 9, 1955 Bill Haley & His Comets' "Rock Around The Clock" becomes the first Rock song to hit #1 on the Billboard Pop chart, where it stays for eight weeks. The song was originally released as a the B-side of "Thirteen Women," but became a massive hit after it appeared in the film Blackboard Jungle.More
March 5, 1953 America learns of Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin's death when Air Force Staff Sergeant Johnny Cash intercepts a coded message from Russia. Cash enlisted in 1950 after he turned 18 and was assigned to the 12th Radio Squadron Mobile of the US Air Force Security Service at Landsberg, West Germany, where he proved his skill as a Morse Code operator.
January 28, 1953 Derek Bentley is hanged for the murder of Police Constable Sidney Miles, who on November 2, 1952, was shot dead on a Croydon rooftop by 16-year-old Christopher Craig. Christopher Craig, too young to be executed, was paroled in 1963. The murder and trial later become the topic of the Ewan MacColl song "Ballad Of Derek Bentley."
April 11, 1952 Singin' In The Rain, starring Gene Kelly, Donald O'Connor and newcomer Debbie Reynolds, is released in the US, but barely makes a splash.More
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