January 4, 1957 On NBC's Steve Allen Show, former heavyweight boxing champ Joe Louis introduces the world to singer Solomon Burke, who performs Louis' song "You Can Run, But You Can't Hide."
December 30, 1956 Country singer Suzy Bogguss is born in Aledo, Illinois. She starts her career in 1985 by performing at a Tennessee amusement park called Silver Dollar City, soon-to-be renamed Dollywood.
December 8, 1956 Warren Cuccurullo is born in Brooklyn, New York. He joins Duran Duran in 1985 to replace guitarist Andy Taylor. He learned of the vacancy while working on Taylor's solo album - before the rest of the band had been informed.
December 7, 1956 Rock! Rock! Rock!, one of the earliest Rock and Roll movies, opens in theaters. The film features the popular disc jockey Alan Freed along with Chuck Berry, Frankie Lymon & the Teenagers and LaVern Baker.
December 6, 1956 Guitarist Randy Rhoads is born in Santa Monica, California. An early member of Quiet Riot, he makes his biggest impact as Ozzy Osbourne's guitarist, supplying the electrifying riffs on songs like "Crazy Train" and "Mr. Crowley." He dies at 25 in an airplane accident.
December 4, 1956 At Sun Studio in Memphis, Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins and Jerry Lee Lewis jam together on a few tunes. Johnny Cash shows up later to get in the picture and complete what becomes known as the "Million Dollar Quartet."
November 15, 1956 Elvis Presley's first movie, Love Me Tender, premieres at the Paramount Theater in New York City. The film is a Civil War drama that was going to be called The Reno Brothers, but when Elvis became a major star during the shoot, it was re-titled after his hit song, with Elvis given top billing.
November 11, 1956 Ian Craig Marsh (keyboardist for The Human League) is born in Sheffield, Yorkshire, England.
November 10, 1956 Billboard magazine's DJ survey reveals that Elvis Presley is the country's number one male artist on both the pop and country charts.
November 3, 1956 "Love Me Tender" replaces "Don't Be Cruel"/"Hound Dog" on the Billboard chart, making Elvis Presley the first artist to knock himself out of the #1 position.
November 2, 1956 A riot breaks out at Fats Domino's show in Fayetteville, North Carolina, with police resorting to tear gas to break up the unruly crowd. Fats jumps out of a window to avoid the melee; he and two other band members are slightly injured.
October 28, 1956 Elvis Presley makes his second appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show. Unlike the first appearance, Sullivan himself is hosting. Elvis sings "Don't Be Cruel," "Love Me Tender," "Hound Dog" and "Love Me," and Ed presents Presley with a Gold record for "Love Me Tender."
October 23, 1956 Country singer Dwight Yoakam is born in Pikeville, Kentucky, but is raised in Columbus, Ohio. Aside from chart-topping hits like "Streets of Bakersfield" and "I Sang Dixie," Yoakam is also known for his roles in films like Sling Blade (1996) and Panic Room (2002).
October 21, 1956 Elvis Presley visits his favorite local movie theater, the Memphian, and is beset by an adoring crowd who, in the ensuing melee, scratch his new Cadillac. Thus begins Elvis' new habit of renting the entire theater whenever he wants to watch a movie.
September 26, 1956 Elvis Presley returns to his hometown of Tupelo, Mississippi, to play the Mississippi-Alabama Fair and Dairy Show. One of the many smitten teenage girls in the audience is Wynette Pugh, who goes on to stardom as Tammy Wynette. Security issues soon make small-time appearances like this impossible for Elvis.
September 22, 1956 Debby Boone is born in Hackensack, New Jersey, to Pat Boone and Shirley Foley Boone (daughter of country singer Red Foley). She is the third of their four children (all girls), and becomes part of their gospel group, The Boone Family. Debby becomes an actress and recording artist like her dad, and scores the biggest hit of 1977 with "You Light Up My Life."
September 9, 1956 Elvis Presley makes the first of three contracted appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show. Sullivan had previously announced he would never have such an act on, but ratings prevailed and Sullivan offered Elvis a record $50,000 for the three shows. Charles Laughton hosts, filling in for an ailing Sullivan as Elvis performs "Don't Be Cruel," "Love Me Tender," "Ready Teddy" and "Hound Dog" but is shot from the waist up only to avoid scandal. The show draws a staggering 54 million viewers.
September 7, 1956 Songwriter Diane Warren, whose many hits include Aerosmith's "I Don't Want To Miss A Thing" and Cher's "If I Could Turn Back Time," is born in Van Nuys, California.
September 2, 1956 Elvis Presley records "When My Blue Moon Turns To Gold Again," "Long Tall Sally," "Old Shep," "Paralyzed," "Too Much," and "Anyplace Is Paradise."
August 24, 1956 Buddy Holly is in the audience when Little Richard plays the Cotton Club in Lubbock, Texas.
August 14, 1956 Washington DC disc jockey Bob Rickman forms the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Elvis Presley after reading too many news articles that make him out to be a hick and/or a threat to society.
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 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 13, 1956 Elvis Presley releases "Hound Dog" and "Don't Be Cruel" as a double-A-side single. It sells four million copies to become the top-selling single of 1956, and makes Elvis a superstar. He's soon booked on every major variety show and launches a movie career.
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.
July 1, 1956 The family-friendly Steve Allen Show doesn't want Elvis Presley shaking his legendary pelvis, so he sings "Hound Dog" to a basset hound. Both Elvis and the pooch are dressed in formal wear.More
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 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.
June 5, 1956 Elvis Presley appears on The Milton Berle Show where the pair do a comedy bit performing Elvis' "Hound Dog" and "I Want You, I Need You, I Love You." It marks the first TV appearance of The Jordanaires backing up Elvis, and the last Milton Berle show for 10 years.
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