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May 21, 1955 Chuck Berry records his first single, "Maybellene," at Chess Records in Chicago.
May 14, 1955 Les Baxter's "Unchained Melody" hits #1 in America, the first of many renditions of the song to chart. The most enduring version is by The Righteous Brothers, which goes to #4 in 1965 and then to #13 in 1990 after featuring in the movie Ghost.
May 11, 1955 Electronic musician Jonathan "J.J." Jeczalik (of The Art of Noise) is born in Banbury, England.
May 10, 1955 Danny Kustow, guitarist in the Tom Robinson Band, is born in London.
May 1, 1955 A St. Louis guitarist named Chuck Berry is signed to Chess Records in Chicago after bluesman Muddy Waters recommends him to the label.
April 28, 1955 Eddie Jobson, violinist and synth player for Curved Air, Roxy Music, Frank Zappa, King Crimson, Jethro Tull and Yes, is born in Billingham, England.
April 17, 1955 Singer/guitarist Pete Shelley is born Peter McNeish in Leigh, Lancashire, England. In 1976 he forms the Buzzcocks, a pioneering band that melds pop and punk, influencing bands like The Smiths, Green Day, and even The Go-Go's.
April 16, 1955 Kool Herc is born in Kingston, Jamaica. Born Clive Campbell, his stage name is based on "Hercules," a nickname he earns for his strength. When he is 12, his family moves to the Bronx, where Herc becomes a DJ, throwing dance parties where MCs talk over extended breakbeats he creates with two turntables, one of the most important developments in hip-hop.
April 13, 1955 Louis Johnson (bass guitarist for The Brothers Johnson) is born in Los Angeles. Also a session musician, he plays on Michael Jackson's Thriller and Off The Wall albums.
March 31, 1955 Angus Young is born in Glasgow, Scotland. He later moves to Australia and forms AC/DC with his brother Malcolm.
March 25, 1955 The movie Blackboard Jungle is released, giving new exposure to the song "Rock Around The Clock," which is featured in the film. A few months later, the song becomes the first ever #1 rock song.
March 15, 1955 Dee Snider (lead singer of Twisted Sister) is born in Astoria, Queens, New York.More
March 14, 1955 Popular country star Jimmy Dean interviews Elvis Presley on Dean's Washington, DC television show Town and Country Time. A nervous Elvis answers every question with "yep" and "nope."
March 10, 1955 Trumpeting their new signing, RCA Victor places a half-page ad in Billboard announcing Elvis Presley as the "new singing rage."
January 28, 1955 The "Top 10 R&B Show" package tour kicks off its 42-date, 60-day national excursion in New York City, featuring The Clovers, Faye Adams, The Charms, Joe Turner, The Moonglows, Lowell Fulson, and The Bill Doggett Trio.
January 26, 1955 Eddie Van Halen is born in Amsterdam. His family eventually settles in Pasadena, California, where he forms Van Halen with his brother, Alex, and quickly becomes one of the most acclaimed and influential guitarists in rock history.
January 17, 1955 Steve Earle is born on a military base in Hampton, Virginia, but he's raised in Texas. In 1975 he moves to Nashville, where he has a number of near-misses as a songwriter and artist before releasing his debut album, the Americana landmark Guitar Town, in 1986.
January 10, 1955 Rock guitarist Michael Schenker (of Scorpions and UFO) is born in West Germany.
January 7, 1955 Marian Anderson is the first African-American singer to appear at the Metropolitan Opera. Her performance as Ulrica in Giuseppe Verdi's Un ballo in maschera breaks barriers for black artists in the States.
January 2, 1955 In Memphis, the funeral is held for Blues star Johnny Ace, who accidentally shot himself on December 25, 1954. His pallbearers include Junior Parker and Roscoe Gordon.
December 25, 1954 Robin Campbell (lead guitarist for UB40) is born in Birmingham, England.
December 25, 1954 Annie Lennox is born in Aberdeen, Scotland. In 1980 she forms Eurythmics with her ex-boyfriend Dave Stewart, and in 1992 she releases her first solo album, Diva, with the hits "Why" and "Walking On Broken Glass."
December 25, 1954 Up-and-coming R&B star Johnny Ace, age 25, is killed when he shoots himself backstage at a concert in Houston, possibly while playing Russian Roulette. His song "Pledging My Love" becomes a hit after his death.
December 17, 1954 Bill Haley and his Comets' "Shake, Rattle and Roll" (originally recorded by Big Joe Turner) becomes the first rock song to hit the UK chart, where it lands at #4.
December 1, 1954 Fred Rose, country music songwriter and publisher, dies in Nashville, Tennessee, in his mid-50's. Started the first Nashville-based music publishing company with Roy Acuff. Among many others, known for writing the songs "Crazy Heart" and "Take These Chains From My Heart" for Hank Williams and "Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain," made famous by Willie Nelson.
November 23, 1954 Singer-songwriter Bruce Hornsby is born in Williamsburg, Virginia. He has a string of hits in the late '80s, including "The Valley Road" and the chart-topper "The Way It Is." From 1990-1992 he tours with the Grateful Dead as a keyboard player.
November 22, 1954 Craig Huxley, film and soundtrack producer, is born Craig Hundley in Hollywood, California. He starts his career as a child actor with guest roles on Star Trek, Bewitched, and The Brady Bunch. As a producer and arranger, he works with scores of artists, including Michael Jackson, Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder.
November 19, 1954 While driving from Vegas to Los Angeles, Sammy Davis, Jr. crashes into another car on Route 66 in San Bernardino, California, and three days later, permanently loses use of his left eye. While in the hospital, friend Eddie Cantor tells Davis about the twin struggles of the Jewish and African-Americans, leading Davis to convert to Judaism. (The accident, paradoxically, increased his popularity.)
November 15, 1954 Tony Thompson (drummer for The Power Station and Chic) is born in Queens, New York City.
November 15, 1954 Joan Weber sings "Let Me Go, Lover" on the CBS Studio One variety show, sending the song up the charts to #1 in America.
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