Calendar Search Results: na songs
October 29, 1961 Randy Jackson (of The Jackson 5) is born Steven Randall Jackson in Gary, Indiana. As the ninth child, he's both the youngest Jackson brother and youngest child in the family until baby sister Janet is born in 1966.
October 18, 1961 Mirisch Pictures releases the film version of the Broadway musical West Side Story, starring Natalie Wood, Richard Beymer, and Rita Moreno. The soundtrack features music by Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim - including the song "Somewhere," later recorded by Tom Waits, Aretha Franklin, Josh Groban, Kylie Minogue, and others.
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
August 25, 1961 Billy Ray Cyrus is born in Flatwoods, Kentucky. The "Achy Breaky Heart" singer is also known as dad to Hannah Montana alum Miley Cyrus.
June 14, 1961 Patsy Cline gets in a nasty car accident in Nashville, when she is thrown through the windshield. She is hospitalized for about a month, during which time she is visited by the woman who will become her protégé: Loretta Lynn.
April 25, 1961 Performing at Bloch Arena in Hawaii, Elvis Presley makes his last stage appearance for nearly eight years.
April 24, 1961 Bob Dylan makes his professional recording debut when he plays harmonica on the Harry Belafonte recording of "Midnight Special." Dylan makes $50 for the session.
April 13, 1961 Hiro Yamamoto (original bass player for Soundgarden) is born in Park Forest, Illinois.
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 24, 1960 Beryl Ingham Formby, wife and manager of George Formby, dies of leukemia at age 59.
October 27, 1960 Tina Turner gives birth to Ronald Renelle Turner, her second child, while touring in Los Angeles. The father, Ike Turner, is not present at the birth.
September 24, 1960 Hank Ballard and the Midnighters' "Let's Go, Let's Go, Let's Go" enters the Hot 100, joining their songs "Finger Poppin' Time" and "The Twist" (the original version) on the chart. It's the first time an act has had three songs on the Hot 100 at the same time.
September 19, 1960 Chubby Checker's version of "The Twist" goes to #1 in America, while the original version by Hank Ballard & The Midnighters reaches its peak chart position of #28. Checker's version tops the chart again in 1962.
August 26, 1960 Jazz saxophonist Branford Marsalis is born in Breaux Bridge, Louisiana, to a family of musicians. He played sax and miscellaneous percussion on Sting's 1985 solo debut, The Dream of the Blue Turtles.
August 17, 1960 The Beatles start their run at the Indra Club in Hamburg, Germany, honing their skills with four-hour sets where they play lots of R&B covers along with their original songs.
June 8, 1960 Mick Hucknall (lead singer of Simply Red) is born in Manchester, England.
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
May 9, 1960 The birth control pill is introduced in the US, inspiring Loretta Lynn to sing a song about it.More
April 10, 1960 Katrina Leskanich of Katrina & the Waves is born in Topeka, Kansas.
April 3, 1960 Working at RCA's Studio B in Nashville, Elvis Presley pulls an all-nighter, recording nine songs, finishing with "Are You Lonesome Tonight" in the wee hours of the morning. The mournful song becomes one of his biggest hits, going to #1 in America for six weeks.
March 25, 1960 In Nashville, Roy Orbison records "Only The Lonely." His first big hit, it sets the stage for more heart-rending songs from Orbison like "Crying" and "In Dreams."
February 3, 1960 Frank Sinatra launches the first fully artist-owned label, Reprise Records (pronounced "repreeze"), so he can own his own masters. Some of his cohorts, including Dean Martin and Rosemary Clooney, join the label, which is sold to Warner Brothers in 1963, where it becomes home to a number of famous acts, including Jimi Hendrix, Joni Mitchell and Green Day.
January 5, 1960 Phil Thornalley, "Torn" songwriter and producer of The Cure's Pornography album, is born in Worlington, near Mildenhall, Suffolk, England.
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.
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 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 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
August 13, 1959 Danny Bonaduce (of The Partridge Family) is born in Broomall, Pennsylvania.
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