Yearly Archive: 2015

The late Charlie Rich (‘The Most Beautiful Girl’) was born in 1932

The late Johnny Moore (lead singer with The Drifters – ‘Under The Boardwalk’) was born in 1934

The late Gary Usher (songwriter/producer) was born in 1938
Rock Factoid: Usher – who died of cancer at the age of 51 in 1990 – co-wrote several Beach Boys songs, including ‘In My Room’ and ‘409’, and later wrote ‘Don’t Give In To Him’ for Gary Puckett & The Union Gap.
Rock Factoid #2: Usher’s initial success as a producer came with the Hondells (‘Little Honda’). Using studio musicians and vocalist Chuck Girard, Usher managed to create a surf band that never existed. When ‘Little Honda’ began to climb the charts, Usher simply assembled a band to tour under the group’s name. The practice was not at all uncommon in those days and the public was none the wiser.
Rock Factoid #3: On a more legitimate note, Usher later produced ‘My Back Pages’ and ‘So You Want to Be A Rock ‘n’ Roll Star’ for the Byrds, and ‘Painted Dayglow Smile’ for Chad & Jeremy.

Cliff Williams (bass guitar with AC/DC – ‘Highway To Hell‘) is 66

Joyce Vincent (Tony Orlando & Dawn – ‘Tie A Yellow Ribbon’) is 69

Jackie McAuley (guitarist with Them – ‘Gloria’ and Belfast Gypsies – ‘The Shadow Chasers’) is 69

Patty Duke (Academy Award winning actress – The Miracle Worker and television’s The Patty Duke Show, but mentioned here for her singing – ‘Don’t Just Stand There’) is 69

Frank Allen (bass guitar with The Searchers – ‘When You Walk In The Room’) is 72

A survey conducted by the Ohio State University Research Center concluded the favorite form of music for people 14-18 years old was rock & roll. The least favorite form of music for those over 18 was rock & roll—1959

Dinah Washington (‘What A Difference A Day Makes’) died (accidental overdose of alcohol and pills)—1963

Elvis Presley’s Spinout premiered—1966

John Lennon and Yoko Ono arrived at Hyde Park to protest on behalf of convicted (and by then executed) murderer James Hanratty while Hanratty’s father addressed the crowd—1969
Rock Factoid: Hanratty had been convicted of the murder of scientist Michael Gregsten in 1961. Gregsten’s mistress, Valerie Storie, aged 22, was raped, shot five times and left paralyzed.
His conviction, despite the fact he was seen by nearly a dozen people 200 miles from the scene of the crime, led to a petition signed by more than 30,000 people, asking for the execution to be stayed.
Hanratty was hanged on April 4, 1962, still protesting his innocence to the very end. The “A6 Defence Committee”, a self-appointed group of people including Lennon, attempted to disprove his conviction. They were instrumental in uncovering new evidence, but In 2002, DNA tests confirmed Hanratty’s guilt.

Elvis Presley recorded ‘Promised Land’ and ‘Your Love’s Been A Long Time Coming’—1973

Saturday Night Fever premiered in New York City—1977

A 10-minute silent vigil was held for John Lennon at 2PM (EST)—1980
Rock Factoid: Millions gathered around the world. 30,000 joined together in Liverpool, and the largest group – over 225,000 – converged in New York City, beginning outside Lennon’s Dakota Building home and spilling into Central Park. For those ten minutes, many radio stations in New York City, Chicago, Detroit, Los Angeles, and elsewhere, went completely silent.

Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band released ‘Shame On The Moon’—1982

Little Richard, Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen were among those who performed at a tribute to Frank Sinatra on Sinatra: 80 Years My Way—1995

Classified documents from the White House were released that revealed the FBI had spied on John Lennon and his anti-war activities from 1971-74 in an attempt to have Lennon deported—1995

Kurt Winter (guitarist with The Guess Who – ‘Hand Me Down World’) died (kidney failure related to years of alcohol abuse)—1997

Billy Preston pleaded guilty to insurance fraud—1998

Paul McCartney played at The Cavern in Liverpool for the first time since 1963. His band included guitarist David Gilmour (Pink Floyd) and drummer Ian Paice (Deep Purple)—1999
“I am going back for just one night as a nod to the music that has always and will ever thrill me. I can’t think of a better way to rock out the end of the century than with a rock ‘n’ roll party at the Cavern.” … Paul McCartney

Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II for his work with street children from Brazil—2005

Ahmet Ertegun (co-founder and chief executive of Atlantic records) died (he had slipped and hit his head backstage at a Rolling Stones performance in October 2006. Although he was initially in stable condition, Ahmet slipped into a coma from which he did not recover)—-2006

Billie Jo Spears (‘Blanket On The Ground’) died (cancer)—2011

Compiled by Ray Lemire ©2015 RayLemire.com. All Rights Reserved.