Tuesday, August 4, 2015

This Date in Rock Music History: August 5

1956:  Doris Day enjoyed the #1 spot in the U.K. with "Whatever Will Be Will Be". 
1957:  It was the national debut of American Bandstand on ABC-TV, hosted by Dick Clark.  Clark had hosted the show locally in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania since 1952.


1957:  The Coasters racked up week #11 at #1 on the R&B chart with "Searchin'".
1958:  The Coasters performed "Yakety Yak" on the first anniversary of American Bandstand.
1959:  The Isley Brothers recorded "Shout" at RCA Victor's Music Center of the World in Manhattan, New York. 
1964:  The Beach Boys finished recording "When I Grow Up (To Be A Man)" at United Western Recorders in Hollywood, California.
1965:  Sonny & Cher made their British debut at the 100 Club in London.
1965:  Jan Berry of Jan and Dean was knocked off a camera car on the first day of filming a new movie Easy Come, Easy Go, breaking his leg.  Several others were hurt and Paramount Pictures canceled the movie.








1966:  The Beatles released the album Revolver in the U.K.  It would be released three days later in the United States.
1967:  Pink Floyd released their debut album Piper at the Gates of Dawn on EMI Records in the U.K. and Columbia in the United States.
1967:  The Animals and Gene Pitney appeared on the television show Piccadilly Palace.










                                                    The invaluable contribution of A Little Bit of Soul...

1967:  Magical times in music as the Doors held on to #1 with "Light My Fire".  Stevie Wonder was still at #2 with "I Was Made to Love Her" while the Beatles climbed from 29 to 3 with "All You Need Is Love".  The Association's classic "Windy" was still at #4 after falling from #1.  The rest of an almost unbelievable Top 10:  "A Whiter Shade Of Pale" from Procol Harum, "Can't Take My Eyes Off You" by Frankie Valli, "Mercy, Mercy, Mercy" by the Buckinghams, "White Rabbit" was stuck on 8 for Jefferson Airplane, the Monkees rose from 24 to 9 with "Pleasant Valley Sunday" and even the #10 song was a great one--"Little Bit O' Soul" by the Music Explosion.
1969:  George Harrison brought his Moog synthesizer (one of the first manufactured) into Abbey Road Studios and the Beatles finished recording the album Abbey Road (Note:  some websites say Harrison recorded his Moog on August 8, but according to three books--'The Beatles' Abbey Road Medley:  Extended Forms in Popular Music' by Thomas MacFarlane', 'Beatlesongs' by William J. Dowlding, and '100 Best Beatles Songs:  A Passionate Fan's Guide' by Stephen J. Spignesi and Michael Lewis, the Beatles finished overdubbing on August 5.)  
1972:  This Australian first charted on this date with the minor hit "Speak To The Sky", although he wouldn't score a big hit until the #1 "Jessie's Girl" nine years later--Rick Springfield.







1972:  CBS Records executive Clive Davis signed Aerosmith to a contract worth $125,000 after seeing them at Max's Kansas City in New York City.
1972:  Roberta Flack & Donny Hathaway rose to #1 on the R&B chart with "Where Is The Love".











1972:  Bread had one of the hottest songs as "The Guitar Man" climbed from #62 to #39.
1975:  Drummer Sandy West, guitarist Joan Jett and producer Kim Fowley formed the first all-female hard rock band called the Runaways.
1975:  Stevie Wonder signed a $13 million contract with Motown to record albums for seven years.
1976:  The Beach Boys appeared in a 15th anniversary television special The Beach Boys:  It's O.K. on NBC.
1977:  The Police and the Clash starred at the opening of the Mont-de Marsan-Punk festival in France, the Police's second concert of their career.
1978:  Pete Meaden, former manager and publicist of the Who, died of drugs at 36 years old in Edmonton, London.
1978:  "Boogie Oogie Oogie" by A Taste of Honey wore the crown on the R&B chart.







                                                    San Francisco's Pablo Cruise with one of their biggest...

1978:  "Miss You" by the Rolling Stones their 17th Top 10 hit and eighth #1.  The Commodores were closing fast with "Three Times A Lady" while Frankie Valli was up to 3 with "Grease".  Donna Summer was still standing with "Last Dance".  The rest of the Top 10:  "Shadow Dancing" from Andy Gibb finally fell after seven weeks at #1, Gerry Rafferty's "Baker Street" fell after six weeks at #2, the O'Jays were at 7 with "Use Ta Be My Girl", Foreigner entered the Top 10 with "Hot Blooded", Pablo Cruise had another hit with "Love Will Find A Way" and Bob Seger's Top 5 song "Still The Same" was at #10.
1979:  Def Leppard signed on with Phonogram Records for $180,000.
1980:  The Osmonds called it quits after 20 years.
 
 
 
 



1981:  Olivia Newton-John was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.











1985:  Bruce Springsteen performed at Robert F. Kennedy Stadium in Washington, D.C.  (Note:  some websites incorrectly say the show was August 6.  Springsteen was in D.C. on August 5, according to the newspaper 'The Sun-Sentinel'.)
1986:  Michael Rudetsky, keyboardist with Culture Club, was found dead of drugs at Boy George's London home in Hampstead, London.
1989:  Gloria Estefan reached #1 on the U.K. Album chart with Cuts Both Ways.









1989:  Richard Marx took over the top spot on the Adult Contemporary chart with "Right Here Waiting".
1990:  Madonna finished her Blond Ambition Tour at the Stade de L'Ouest in Nice, 
France.







1992:  Jeff Porcaro of Toto died of cardiac arrest from an allergic reaction when he sprayed insecticide in his Hidden Hills, California yard at the age of 38.
1993:  Randy Hobbs, bass guitarist with the McCoys, Edgar Winter Group and Montrose, died of drugs at his hotel room in Dayton, Ohio.  










                                                           Blues Traveler had an innovative sound...

1995:  The great "Waterfalls", one of The Top 500 Songs of the Rock Era*, was #1 for a fifth week by TLC. Monica moved to challenge with "Don't Take It Personal (just one of dem days)".  Seal was up to 4 with "Kiss From A Rose".  The rest of the Top 10:  Shaggy with "Boombastic/Summer Time", All-4-One remained at 6 with "I Can Love You Like That", Boyz II Men's former #1 "Water Runs Dry" was at #7, Blues Traveler had song #8--"Run-Around", Vanessa Williams reached the Top 10 with "Colors Of The Wind" and Jon B. and Babyface were at #10 with "Someone To Love".
1996:  Bruce Springsteen sued two London criminals who were illegally distributing an album they claimed Springsteen had recorded.
2001:  David Gray owned the top U.K. album with White Ladder.
2003:  Smash Mouth released the album Get the Picture?
2003:  The reformed Lynyrd Skynyrd canceled their tour after lead guitarist Gary Rossington was told by his doctor to take it easy.  Rossington had open heart surgery in February.
2003:  Dido topped the U.K. album chart with Life For Rent.






2005:  Mariah Carey remained at #1 for a tenth week with "We Belong Together".
2008:  Robert Hazard, who wrote "Girls Just Wanna' Have Fun" for Cyndi Lauper, died after surgery for pancreatic cancer.
2012:  Stephen Hill, singer and guitarist who worked with Dolly Parton, Don McLean, Marie Osmond, Nancy Sinatra, Lynn Anderson and others, died at age 55 from a heart attack in Lumberton, North Carolina.








2013:  George Duke, the visionary Grammy-Award winning artist who blended rock with jazz, R&B and funk, died of chronic lymphocytic leukemia in Santa Monica, California at the age of 67.  Duke teamed with Stanley Clarke for the song "Sweet Baby" and also played keyboardist and trombone for artists such as Michael Jackson, Phil Collins, Miles Davis, Frank Zappa, Regina Belle and Sheila E.  (Note:  'The Washington Post', 'Billboard', "USA Today', and 'The Boston Herald' all say Duke died in Los Angeles., while the newspaper 'The New York Daily News' and 'Spin' magazine correctly said George died in Santa Monica.  The discrepancy appears to be that the record label said he died in Los Angeles, and Duke's manager said he died in Santa Monica.  The latter is correct--Saint John's hospital is in Santa Monica.)

Born This Day:
1940:  Rick Huxley, co-founder and bassist of the Dave Clark Five,  was born in Dartford, Kent, England; died February 11, 2013 in Harlow, Essex, England after suffering from emphysema for several years after heaving smoking his entire life.  (Note:  The newspapers 'The New York Times' and 'The Express" report that Huxley was born in 1940, while the book 'The Billboard Book of Number One Hits' by Fred Bronson and the newspapers 'The Telegraph' and 'The Independent", as well as the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and 'MTV', state that Rick was born in 1942.  The New York Times is very rarely wrong, so that is what we're going with.  Some websites report he died on February 12)
1947:  Gregory Leskiw, guitarist of the Guess Who, was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.





1947:  Rick Derringer (Richard Zehringer) guitarist with the McCoy's ("Hang On Sloopy") and  the Edgar Winter Group and a solo performer, was born in Celina, Ohio.
1953:  Samantha Sang (real name Cheryl Gray) was born in Melbourne, Australia.
1955:  Eddie Ojeda, guitarist of Twisted Sister, was born in New York City.
1959:  Pat Smear (real name Georg Ruthenberg), formerly a guitarist of the Foo Fighters and Nirvana, was born in Los Angeles.
1959:  Pete Burns from Dead or Alive ("You Spin Me 'Round (Like A Record)") was born in Port Sunlight, Wirral, United Kingdom.
1960:  Stuart Croxford Neale, keyboaridst of Kajagoogoo ("Too Shy" from 1983)
1963:  Mike Nocito, bassist of Johnny Hates Jazz, was born in Wiesbaden, Germany.
1967:  MCA (Adam Yauch) of the Beastie Boys was born in Brooklyn, New York; died of cancer of the parotid gland on May 4, 2012 in New York City.
1965:  Jeff Coffin, saxophone player for Bela Fleck and the Flecktones and the Dave Matthews Band, was born in Marlboro, Massachusetts.

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