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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.
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 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 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.
June 30, 1956 Philip Adrian Wright (first Director of Visuals, then keyboardist for The Human League) is born in Wakefield, England.
June 27, 1956 At Master Recorders in Hollywood, Fats Domino records "Blueberry Hill," a song popularized by Gene Autry in 1940. Domino's version, with his famous piano intro, becomes his biggest hit and the definitive version of the song.
June 22, 1956 Derek Forbes (former bass guitarist for Simple Minds) is born in Glasgow, Scotland.
June 5, 1956 Richard Butler (lead singer of The Psychedelic Furs) is born in Kingston upon Thames, London, England.
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.
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 16, 1956 Doris Day introduces her signature song, "Que Sera, Sera (Whatever Will Be, Will Be)," in the Alfred Hitchcock thriller The Man Who Knew Too Much.More
April 27, 1956 Capitol Records signs Gene Vincent, intending to market him as the next Elvis.
April 21, 1956 Elvis Presley's breakout hit "Heartbreak Hotel" goes to #1 in America.
April 10, 1956 Performing to an all-white audience at a segregated show in Birmingham, Alabama, Nat King Cole is attacked by four members of the Ku Klux Klan who rush the stage to assault him. Cole suffers a back injury and is treated at the hospital, but returns that night to play his second show, this time to an all-black audience. The attackers receive the maximum sentence of 180 days in jail.
April 6, 1956 Having impressed Paramount Studios with his screen test five days earlier, Elvis Presley is signed to a seven-year, three-picture deal worth nearly half a million dollars.
April 6, 1956 The Capitol Tower, new home of Capitol Records, opens on the corner of Hollywood and Vine in Los Angeles. The 13-story building, which resembles a stack of records, houses three new recording studios where Frank Sinatra, Bobby Darin, Linda Ronstadt, and many other stars will lay down tracks. The building becomes an LA landmark, with the red light at the top flashing "HOLLYWOOD" in Morse Code.
April 2, 1956 Johnny Cash records "I Walk The Line" at Sun Studio in Memphis. His label boss, Sam Phillips, has him speed up the tempo, which is a good call: The song becomes Cash's first #1 Country hit.
March 31, 1956 Brenda Lee makes her US television debut, singing an unrehearsed version of Hank Williams' "Jambalaya (On The Bayou)" on ABC's Ozark Jubilee.
March 24, 1956 Billboard makes their periodic albums chart a weekly feature, with Belafonte by Harry Belafonte. at #1 The chart lists anywhere from 15-30 spots, but is gradually expanded, and in 1967 it grows to 200. The chart goes through several name changes before settling on The Billboard 200 in 1992.
March 23, 1956 Eleven teens are arrested at the "Rock & Roll Stage Show," featuring Frankie Lymon in Hartford, Connecticut.
March 22, 1956 Carl Perkins is injured in a car accident near Dover, Delaware, on his way to perform on NBC-TV's Perry Como Show. This stymies promotion for his single "Blue Suede Shoes," but the song still reaches #2 in May.
March 22, 1956 Mr. Wonderful opens on Broadway. Its star Sammy Davis, Jr. will soon become a top entertainer and member of the Rat Pack.
March 21, 1956 The movie Rock Around The Clock, about a concert promoter (played by DJ Alan Freed) who brings Rock and Roll to the masses, opens in theaters. The film stars Bill Haley and His Comets and is named after their hit song. It is one of the first movies based on rock music and aimed at teenagers.
March 12, 1956 Steve Harris is born in London, England. After giving up dreams of playing pro soccer, he forms Iron Maiden, becoming the group's bass player and a primary songwriter.
March 10, 1956 Bobby Darin makes his first television appearance, singing "Rock Island Line" on the Dorsey Brothers Stage Show. The budding entertainer is clearly nervous - he keeps glancing at his palms where he's written the song's lyrics.
February 19, 1956 Dave Wakeling of General Public and The English Beat is born in Birmingham, England.
February 19, 1956 The Five Satins record "In The Still Of The Nite" in the basement of Saint Bernadette Church in New Haven, Connecticut.More
February 4, 1956 Little Richard's "Tutti Frutti" reaches its US chart peak of #17, giving him his first hit. Pat Boone's version of the song outcharts him, making #12 two weeks later.
February 3, 1956 Lee Ranaldo (guitarist for Sonic Youth) is born in Glen Cove, Long Island, New York.
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