Tuesday, November 11, 2008

This Date In Music History-November 11

Birthdays:

Birthday wishes to Vanilla Fudge guitarist Vince Martell.

Yardbirds guitarist Chris Dreja was born in Surbiton, England in 1945.

Jesse Colin Young of the Youngbloods ("Get Together") turns 64.

Jim Peterik of the Ides of March ("Vehicle") and Survivor ("Eye Of The Tiger") is 58.

Happy birthday to Paul Cowsill of the Cowsills ("Hair").

Power pop purveyor Marshall Crenshaw was born in Detroit in 1953.

History:

In 1963, in Birmingham, England, the Beatles dressed up as policemen in order to escape a crowd of fans.

Hank Ballard and the Midnighters recorded the original version of "The Twist" in 1958. It was issued as the B side of the Gospel style ballad "Teardrops On Your Letter" and although it reached #16 on the R&B chart, Ballard's version of "The Twist" wouldn't appear on the Billboard Pop chart until just after Chubby Checker's version took off two years later.

In 1969, John Lennon and Yoko Ono released their "Two Virgins" album with a nude picture of themselves on the cover.

In 1972, Allman Brother Berry Oakley was killed after his motorcycle plowed into a bus in Macon, Ga. The fatal accident occurred only three blocks from where Allman Brothers guitarist Duane Allman was killed in a motorcycle accident just over a year ago.

No. 1 on the soul chart today in 1978 was Chaka Khan's "I'm Every Woman." No. 1 on the pop chart was Donna Summer's epic take on "MacArthur Park,” which stayed at #1 for three weeks.

Kate Smith first sang Irving Berlin's "God Bless America" on network radio in 1938.

In 1965, the Velvet Underground made its performance debut at a high school dance in Summit, NJ.

Billboard Magazine published the results of its annual disc jockey poll in 1955. The most played R&B single was Johnny Ace's "Pledging My Love", the most promising artist was Chuck Berry, the favorite R&B artist was Fats Domino and Elvis Presley was voted the most promising Country & Western artist.

Billboard also introduced "The Top 100" format in 1955, which would combine record sales with radio and jukebox play to arrive at the standings. The Four Aces "Love Is A Many Splendored Thing" had the distinction of being the first number one record using the new calculation method.

Buddy Holly's "Peggy Sue" was released in the US in 1957, where it rose to #3 and stayed on the chart for sixteen weeks.

In 1964, 24-year-old Tom Jones recorded "It's Not Unusual" for Britain's Decca Records. The song, originally offered to-but turned down by Sandie Shaw, would become Jones' breakthrough hit, reaching #1 in the UK and #10 in the US.

Marvin Gaye's "Sexual Healing" became his 13th and final #1 hit on the Billboard R&B chart in 1982. The song reached #3 on the Pop chart and #4 in the UK early the next year.

The late LaVern Baker was born in 1929. Her biggest hit was "I Cried a Tear" (#6 in 1958).

More trouble for Jim: In 1969, the Doors' Jim Morrison was arrested for allegedly attacking a stewardess during a flight from Los Angeles to Phoenix. He was charged with public drunkenness and interfering with the flight of an aircraft. The stewardess later withdrew her evidence and the charges were dropped.

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