Calendar Search Results: u i a song
September 15, 1960 Mitch Dorge (drummer/percussionist for Crash Test Dummies) is born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
September 13, 1960 A movement to ban Ray Peterson's new single "Tell Laura I Love Her" begins in the UK when it is feared that the song's powerful story of a stock-car driver who dies young while racing for his girl's love will inspire a "death cult" amongst teens.
September 8, 1960 Singer-songwriter Aimee Mann is born in Bon Air, Virginia. With her group 'Til Tuesday, she has a hit with "Voices Carry," and later embarks on a successful solo career.
September 4, 1960 Kim Thayil (lead guitarist for Soundgarden) is born in Seattle, Washington. He would be raised near Chicago in Park Forest, Illinois.
September 3, 1960 Perry Bamonte (keyboardist/guitarist for The Cure) is born in London, England.
August 28, 1960 A 17-year-old Barry White completes his four-month prison term for stealing 300 tires from a Cadillac dealership. Having heard Elvis sing "It's Now Or Never" in prison, he leaves determined to make music his life.
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.
August 15, 1960 Elvis Presley's "It's Now Or Never," with a melody based on the Italian song "O Sole Mio," hits #1 in America for the first of five weeks, bumping off "Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny Yellow Polka Dot Bikini" by Brian Hyland.
August 8, 1960 Decca Records in England refuses to release Ray Peterson's latest single, "Tell Laura I Love Her," going so far as to throw away 25,000 pressings of the teen-tragedy song, which they feel is "too tasteless and vulgar for the English sensibility." A cover by Ricky Valance proves them wrong by going straight to #1. (The grisly song, in which a stock-car driver mutters the title words before he dies, ironically only reaches #7 in America.)
August 7, 1960 Jacquie O'Sullivan of Bananarama is born in Hendon, London, England.
August 6, 1960 Chubby Checker performs "The Twist" for the first time on TV when he does it on Dick Clark's Saturday Night Beechnut Show. The song goes to #1 and starts a huge dance craze.
July 3, 1960 Synth-pop innovator Vince Clarke is born Vincent John Martin in South Woodford, England. An early member of Depeche Mode, he writes the group's breakthrough hit, "Just Can't Get Enough," before forming Yazoo ("Only You," "Situation") and Erasure ("A Little Respect," "Chains of Love").
July 3, 1960 Muddy Waters brings the blues to a wider audience with a riveting performance at the Newport Jazz Festival punctuated by his rendition of "Got My Mojo Working."
July 1, 1960 The Shadows release the instrumental call-to-arms "Apache," which goes to #1 in the UK and is a US hit the next year for Jorgen Ingmann. Variations of the song are later sampled on a number of hip-hop tracks.
June 20, 1960 John Taylor (bassist for Duran Duran) is born Nigel John Taylor in Solihull, Warwickshire, England. As well as co-founding Duran Duran he later achieves a second round of success in rock supergroup The Power Station.
June 8, 1960 Mick Hucknall (lead singer of Simply Red) is born in Manchester, England.
June 6, 1960 The RIAA gives Bing Crosby a special platinum record to signify career sales of 200 million records, many of them "White Christmas."
June 1, 1960 Jesse Johnson (guitarist of The Time) is born in Rock Island, Illinois.
May 30, 1960 Stephen Duffy is born in Alum Rock, Birmingham, England. A founding member of Duran Duran, he leaves the band shortly before they are signed to EMI. He later finds moderate success as a solo artist under the name Stephen "Tin Tin" Duffy with the song "Kiss Me."
May 23, 1960 The Everly Brothers' "Cathy's Clown" hits #1 in America for the first of five weeks. In the UK, it has been at #1 since May 11, making it the first song to top both charts at the same time.
May 13, 1960 The juvenile delinquent movie Platinum High School, starring Conway Twitty, opens in New York.
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
May 2, 1960 Dick Clark testifies before Congress on the matter of payola.More
May 2, 1960 Production begins on Elvis Presley's first post-Army movie, G.I. Blues.
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.
April 17, 1960 "Summertime Blues" singer Eddie Cochran dies in England when the taxi he is riding in crashes. He is just 21.
April 17, 1960 Gene Vincent is seriously injured in a Wiltshire, England, car crash in which Eddie Cochran dies.
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