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January 31, 1956 John Lydon is born in London. As Johnny Rotten, he fronts The Sex Pistols, a band that helps define British punk. When they break up in 1978 he forms Public Image Ltd., known for their songs "Rise" and "This Is Not a Love Song."
January 28, 1956 Elvis Presley makes his TV debut on the Dorsey Brothers Stage Show, where he sings "Blue Suede Shoes" and "Heartbreak Hotel."
January 25, 1956 Andy Cox (guitarist for Fine Young Cannibals) is born in Birmingham, England.
January 10, 1956 Folk singer Shawn Colvin is born in South Dakota. Her song "Sunny Came Home" (about a woman who burns her house down) wins the Grammy Awards for Record of the Year and Song of the Year in 1998.
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.
December 15, 1955 Paul Simonon (bassist for The Clash) is born in Thornton Heath, Croydon, England.
December 9, 1955 Elvis Presley performs at the B&I Club in Swifton, Arkansas, and introduces his new song, "Heartbreak Hotel," by claiming "It's gonna be my first hit."
December 5, 1955 The BMI Annual Awards in New York City score big for R&B, with rhythm and blues songs winning a record eleven awards.
November 24, 1955 Drummer Clement Burke (aka Elvis Ramone) (of the Ramones, Blondie) is born in Bayonne, New Jersey.
November 21, 1955 Peter Koppes (guitarist for The Church) is born in Canberra, Australia.
November 20, 1955 In the music equivalent to the Babe Ruth trade, Sun Records owner Sam Phillips sells Elvis Presley's contract to RCA for $35,000. It wasn't all bad for Phillips: Presley had just one year left on his contract, and Phillips invested the money in a local hotel chain called the Holiday Inn, which made him a bigger fortune than anything he did in music.
November 20, 1955 After agreeing to perform Tennessee Ernie Ford's hit "Sixteen Tons" on CBS-TV's Ed Sullivan Show, Bo Diddley instead plays the song he was actually there to promote, his own hit "Bo Diddley." A furious Sullivan blackballs Bo from ever appearing on the show again. The singer has claimed he was never paid for the performance.
October 29, 1955 Kevin DuBrow (lead singer of Quiet Riot) is born in Los Angeles, California.
October 25, 1955 Matthias Jabs (guitarist for Scorpions) is born in Hannover, Germany.
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 28, 1955 Louis Armstrong records "Mack the Knife," a song from the play The Threepenny Opera. Armstrong is the first to chart with a vocal version of the song; in 1959, Bobby Darin takes it to #1.
September 10, 1955 Chuck Berry's first hit, "Maybellene," reaches its peak chart position of #5 in the US.
September 8, 1955 In an attempt to hide the wrinkles in his suit, Chuck Berry does the duck walk for the first time.More
September 3, 1955 Steve Jones (lead guitarist for The Sex Pistols) is born in Hammersmith, London, England.
August 28, 1955 Fourteen-year-old Emmett Till is murdered by two white men in Money, Mississippi, for talking to a white woman. His story later inspires Bob Dylan's "The Death Of Emmett Till" and Emmylou Harris' "My Name Is Emmett Till."
August 17, 1955 Colin Moulding (bassist for XTC) is born in Swindon, Wiltshire, England.
August 2, 1955 Butch Vig is born in Viroqua, Wisconsin. He produces Nirvana's 1991 album Nevermind and forms the band Garbage in 1993.
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
June 26, 1955 Mick Jones (lead guitarist, vocalist of The Clash) is born in Wandsworth, London, England.
June 22, 1955 Walt Disney's Lady and the Tramp premieres in theaters. The canine cartoon features music from Peggy Lee, including "He's a Tramp," "La La Lu," and "The Siamese Cat Song." Lee also voices Darling (Lady's owner), Peg the dog, and the ornery Siamese cats.
June 13, 1955 Jorge Santana (guitarist for Malo), younger brother of Carlos Santana, is born in Autlán, Jalisco, Mexico.
June 7, 1955 Joey Scarbury is born in Ontario, California. Known for the 1981 hit "Believe It or Not," the theme from the popular TV series The Greatest American Hero.
June 2, 1955 Michael Steele (bass guitarist for The Bangles) is born Susan Nancy Thomas in Pasadena, California. She is an early member of The Runaways, an all-girl punk rock group.
May 29, 1955 Mike Porcaro, who will replace David Hungate as bassist for Toto, is born in Windsor, Connecticut.
May 22, 1955 John Grimaldi (guitarist for Argent) is born in St Albans, Hertfordshire, England.
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