A look at the birthdays and events that helped to create the soundtrack of our lives.

BIRTHDAYS

1940 – The late Alan Caddy (lead guitarist with The Tornados – ‘Telstar’) was born.

1941 – The late Cory Wells (vocalist with Three Dog Night – ‘Never Been To Spain’) was born.

1942 – Graham Nash was born and is celebrating his 74th birthday today.
Rock Factoid: His long career includes hits with The Hollies (‘Bus Stop’), Crosby & Nash (‘Out Of The Darkness’), Crosby, Stills & Nash (‘Marrakesh Express’), Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young (‘Our House’) and as a solo artist (‘Chicago’)

1946 – Howard Bellamy (The Bellamy Brothers – ‘Let Your Love Flow’) was born. He’s 70 today

1947 – The late Peter Lucia (drummer with Tommy James & The Shondells – ‘Crimson And Clover’ … which he co-wrote) was born.

1949 – Ross Valory (bass guitar with The Steve Miller Band – ‘Love Shock’ and Journey – ‘Open Arms’) was born. He’s 67 today

EVENTS

1932 – Duke Ellington & His Famous Orchestra recorded his soon-to-be classic composition ‘It Don’t Mean a Thing (If It Ain’t Got That Swing)’. It served to introduce the term “swing” into the national consciousness some three years before the swing era began.

1956 – The Coasters signed with Atlantic Records.

1956 – Perry Como recorded ‘Hot Diggity (Dog Ziggity Boom)’ at Webster Hall Studios in New York City. The nonsense phrase of the song’s title aside, it reached #1 on the Billboard charts and #4 on the UK Singles chart.

1957 – Dale Hawkins recorded ‘Susie-Q’.
Rock Factoid: The lead guitar on the song was played by James Burton, who would later play with Ricky Nelson and Elvis Presley. What makes his contribution to Hawkins song so significant is the fact that he was only 17 years old.
Rock Factoid #2: Despite its appeal over the years, Hawkins never received his rightful royalties for the tune during its dual heydays in the 50s and 60s. One explanation for the shorting is the fact that the original publishing paperwork he filled out was doctored. Two names were mysteriously added to Hawkins’ on the publishing sheet without his knowledge, effectively splitting the authorship of the song into thirds; Stanley J. Lewis, a record-store owner in Shreveport who carried Chess recordings and Eleanor Broadwater, the wife of a popular Nashville deejay, Gene Nobles, to whom Leonard Chess – owner of Checker Records, which released the song – owed favors.

1959 – For the admission price of $1.25, fans got to see Dion, Frankie Sardo, The Big Bopper, Ritchie Valens and Buddy Holly perform at the Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake, Iowa.
Rock Factoid: The last song played that night was Chuck Berry’s ‘Brown Eyed Handsome Man’, sung by the entire ensemble.
Rock Factoid #2: A 21-year-old pilot named Roger Peterson was called and agreed to fly Holly, Valens and the Big Bopper to Fargo, ND – the closest airport to Moorhead, MN, site of the next concert. The young pilot was fatigued from a 17-hour workday, but he agreed to fly the rock stars.
Rock Factoid #3: “(Roger) got the call to see if he wanted to take these rock and roll stars up to Fargo and obviously he was quite excited about that, and so he jumped out of bed, kissed his wife goodnight and said I’ll see you in the morning.” … Wayne Christgau, Surf Ballroom
Rock Factoid #4: Peterson was never told of two weather advisories that warned of an oncoming blizzard.

1959 – Frankie Avalon released ‘Venus’. It became his first #1 song on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, where it spent five weeks at the top. Billboard ranked it as the #4 song for 1959.

1960 – Bobby Darin recorded ‘(Won’t You Come Home) Bill Bailey’.
Rock Factoid: Darin had been anxious to show he was more than just a rock and roll singer, so in 1959, he recorded ‘Mack The Knife’, a 1928 standard from Kurt Weill’s ‘Threepenny Opera’, giving it a jazz-pop interpretation. The single was #1 for nine weeks.
He tried the jazz-pop combination again with ‘(Won’t You Come Home) Bill Bailey’, originally titled ‘Bill Bailey, Won’t You Please Come Home?’, a song published in 1902. It didn’t fare as well, peaking at #19.

1963 – The Beatles began their first British tour as a supporting act for Helen Shapiro.
Rock Factoid: The group was at the bottom of the six-act bill and played just six songs: ‘Please Please Me,’ ‘Chains,’ ‘Keep Your Hands Off My Baby’, ‘A Taste Of Honey’, ‘Love Me Do’ and ‘Please Please Me’.

1964 – Billy J. Kramer with The Dakotas recorded ‘Little Children’.

1965 – Donovan recorded ‘Catch The Wind’ at Peer Music in London.

1968 – Simon & Garfunkel recorded ‘Mrs. Robinson’ at Columbia Studio A in New York City.

1973 – The Midnight Special premiered on NBC. Helen Reddy was the first guest host.

1979 – Sid Vicious (born Simon Ritchie – bass guitar with The Sex Pistol (although he couldn’t really play the instrument) died at the age of 21 from a heroin overdose.
Rock Factoid: He was free on bail pending his trial for the murder of his former girlfriend, Nancy Spungen, in October 1978.

1982 – George Thorogood & The Delaware Destroyers recorded ‘Bad To The Bone’.

2007 – Joe Hunter (session pianist with Motown’s Funk Brothers – ‘Shop Around’, ‘Heat Wave’, ‘Pride And Joy’ and many more) died at the age of 79 from complications related to diabetes.

2007 – Billy Henderson (The Spinners – ‘Could It Be I’m Falling In Love’) died of complications from diabetes. He was 67.

Compiled by Ray Lemire ©2016 RayLemire.com. All Rights Reserved.