Tuesday, May 30, 2017

This Date in Rock Music History: May 31

 1956:  After seeing the movie The Searchers starring John Wayne, Buddy Holly was inspired to write "That'll Be The Day".
1961:  Chuck Berry opened Berry Park, an amusement park in Wentzville, Missouri.
1964:  The Dave Clark Five appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show.

1965:  Johnny Rivers released the single "Seventh Son".
1966:  Filming began for the Monkees on their television series.



1969:  John Lennon and Yoko Ono recorded "Give Peace A Chance" during their bed-in in Montreal.
1969:  The Supremes hosted the television show Hollywood Palace on ABC-TV.
1969:  The 5th Dimension released the album The Age of Aquarius.
1969:  The Rolling Stones recorded "Honky Tonk Women".
1969:  Elvis Presley had the biggest mover within the Top 10 with his great song "In The Ghetto".  It climbed from 17 to 9 on this date, giving Elvis 34 Top 10 songs.  The Beatles finished with 34 in their fabulous career, but Elvis would go on to register four more for the Rock Era record.
1973:  Robert Plant led the audience at the Felt Forum in Los Angeles, California in singing "Happy Birthday" to Led Zeppelin drummer John Bonham, who was 25.

1975:  America had the hottest song within the Top 10 with "Sister Golden Hair", which moved from 11-5.
1975:  Earth, Wind & Fire continued to have the #1 album with That's the Way of the World, while the Soundtrack to "Tommy" edged closer.  Straight Shooter from Bad Company was #3 with Chicago VIII on its way down to #4.  The rest of the Top 10:  Blow By Blow from Jeff Beck, Hearts by America, Alice Cooper's Welcome To My Nightmare at #7, Physical Graffiti by Led Zeppelin slipping to #8 in only its 12th week, Nuthin' Fancy from Lynyrd Skynyrd at #9 and Carly Simon moving to #10 with Playing Possum.



1976:  England Dan & John Ford Coley released the single "I'd Really Love to See You Tonight".








               We've got volume, yes we do.  We've got volume, how 'bout you?

1976:  The Who set a mark in the Guinness Book of World Records for the loudest rock band ever at a concert at the Charlton Athletic Grounds in England.  The concert was over 120 decibels.
1977:  The Police performed at the Railway Hotel in Putney, London.
1977:  Emerson, Lake & Palmer began a tour with a 70-piece orchestra.
1980:  We had officially arrived in "Funkytown" as Lipps, Inc. reached the summit.  Blondie had one of the Top Songs of the Rock Era* with "Call Me" but did not make it 7 weeks in a row.



1980:  Bette Midler's "The Rose" was #1 for the fourth week on the Adult Contemporary chart.
1980:  The great album Against the Wind from Bob Seger, which had moved The Wall aside earlier in the month, spent a fifth week at #1.  Glass Houses from Billy Joel was second while Pink Floyd had to settle for #3.  Just One Night by Eric Clapton came in fourth with Lipps, Inc. moving to #5 with Mouth To Mouth.  The rest of the Top 10:  Women and Children First from Van Halen at #6, Christopher Cross at 7, Go All the Way from the Isley Brothers, Mad Love by Linda Ronstadt on its way down at #9 and the ground-breaking Pretenders album at #10.



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1982:  R.E.M. signed a five-album record company contract with I.R.S. Records.












1983:  Bonnie Tyler released the single "Total Eclipse Of The Heart" in the United States. 
1986:  "On My Own" by Patti LaBelle and Michael McDonald was #1 on the R&B chart for a third week.  














                                                           Level 42 had a big hit...

1986:  "Greatest Love Of All" by Whitney Houston was #1 for a third week, holding off Madonna's "Live To Tell".  Michael McDonald & Patti LaBelle teamed for the third-rated song "On My Own" while Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark moved up with "If You Leave".  The rest of the Top 10:  "I Can't Wait" from Nu Shooz, Mike + the Mechanics moved from 10-6 with "All I Need Is A Miracle", Level 42 moved impressively from 12 to 7 with "Something About You", Mr. Mister scored their third Top 10 with "Is It Love", Journey entered the list with "Be Good To Yourself" and Janet Jackson tumbled with "What Have You Done For Me Lately".


1989:  Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones was given a Living Legend Award at the first International Rock Awards ceremony in New York City.
1993:  Jon Bon Jovi and wife Dorothea Hurley had their first daughter, Stephanie Rose, in Red Bank, New Jersey.
1994:  The Eagles performed at the Irvine Meadows Theater in Irvine, California during their fabulous reunion tour.
1996:  Elsbeary Hobbs, bassist for the Drifters, died of throat and lung cancer at the age of 59 in Manhattan, New York.  (Note:  some websites lazily say Hobbs died in New York City.  The city, of course, is made up of several independent boroughs, and according to the newspaper 'The New York Times', Elsbeary died in Manhattan.)
1997:  Bob Dylan left an English hospital after being treated for histoplasmosis, which is a potentially life-threatening fungal infection that causes swelling of the sac around the heart.  (Note:  several websites exist which claim Dylan was hospitalized in England and that he left the hospital on May 31, while other sites say he was released from a Los Angeles hospital.  The correct news is that Dylan had to cancel a two-week European tour before it started, and was hospitalized in New York City, according to the newspaper 'The Los Angeles Times'.  He was discharged on June 1, according to an exhibit and timeline in Dylan's hometown of Hibbing, Minnesota.)  

          
                                     Paula Cole with this provocative song...

1997:  As long as people chew bubblegum....Hanson could be #1 with "MMMBop".  "Hypnotize" by the Notorious B.I.G. was second followed by "Say You'll Be There" from the Spice Girls.  Mark Morrison dropped with "Return Of The Mack" and Jewel's great song "You Were Meant For Me" remained in the Top 10 after 27 weeks.  The rest of the Top 10:  Monica's "For You I Will" at #6, Rome with "I Belong To You", "The Freshmen" by the Verve Pipe at #8, Savage Garden with "I Want You" and Paula Cole slid to #10 with "Where Have All The Cowboys Gone?".

1997:  Spice continued to reign supreme as the #1 album for the Spice Girls.  Bob Carlisle had one of the most unexpected and meteoric rises of the Rock Era when he moved from 95 to 2 with Butterfly Kisses (Shades of Grace).
1998:  Simply Red had the #1 U.K. album with Blue.
1998:  Geri Halliwell left the Spice Girls.
2000:  Johnnie Taylor ("Disco Lady") died in Dallas, Texas of a heart attack at the age of 62.  (Note:  some websites claim Taylor died at the age of 66.  He was 62, according to the newspaper 'The New York Times'.)



2005:  The Salvation Army closed Strawberry Field, the children's home in Liverpool that had inspired the Beatles' song "Strawberry Fields Forever".
2006:  The Dixie Chicks had the #1 album with Taking the Long Way.


Born This Day:
1927:  Red Holloway, who played sax and harmonica for B.B. King, Aretha Franklin, Etta James, Billie Holliday, Muddy Waters, Chuck Berry and George Benson, was born in Helena, Arkansas; died February 25, 2012 of kidney failure complicated by several strokes in San Luis Obispo, California.
1938:  Peter Yarrow of Peter, Paul & Mary was born in Manhattan, New York.  (Note:  several websites lazily say Yarrow was born in New York City.  He was born in Manhattan, New York.)
1938:  Lenny Welch, who had a Top 5 song with "Since I Fell For You" in 1963, was born in Manhattan, New York. (Note:  many websites still insist Welch was born in Asbury Park, New Jersey, or lazily say he was born in New York City.  Welch was born in Harlem Hospital, which of course is in Manhattan, New York, according to the book 'Setting the Record Straight:  The Music and Careers of Recording Artists from the 1950s and Early 1960s...In Their Own Words' by Anthony M. Musso.)
1944: Mick Ralphs, guitarist and songwriter and founder of both Mott the Hoople and Bad Company, was born in Hereford, Herefordshire, England.  (Note:  several websites, including the notorious 'Allmusic.com', incorrectly say that Ralphs was born in Hereford, Hereford & Worcester, England.   Some websites claim he was born in Stoke Lacy, Herefordshire, England.  Historically, Hereford was included in the county of Herefordshire until the Local Government Act of 1972 which reformed local government in 1974 and changed the county name to Hereford & Worcester.  As Ralphs was born in 1944, it is thus impossible for him to have been born in a county called Hereford & Worcester, and you will never see that listed as his county of birth on his official birth certificate.  This correct birthplace is listed in the book 'Legends of Rock Guitar:  The Essential Reference of Rock's Greatest Guitarists' by Pete Prown and Harvey P. Newquist.)
1947: Junior Campbell, founding member, lead guitarist, pianist and singer with Marmalade ("Reflections Of My Life"), was born in Glasgow, Scotland.
1948:  John Bonham, drummer for Led Zeppelin, was born in Redditch, Worcestershire, England; died September 25, 1980 when he choked on his own vomit after consuming 1-1.25 liters of vodka the previous day while rehearsing for an upcoming U.S. tour at the home of Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page's house, the Old Mill House in Clewer, Windsor, England.  (Note:  some websites say Bonham was born in Birmingham, England.  He was born in Redditch, according to his official website and the 'BBC'.) 
1952:  Carl Bartos of Kraftwerk ("Autobahn" from 1975) was born in Berchtesgaden, Germany.








1954:  Vicki Sue Robinson ("Turn The Beat Around" from 1976) was born in Manhattan, New York; died of cancer in Wilton, Connecticut April 27, 2000.  (Note:  many websites make the mistake of saying Vicki Sue was born in Harlem.  Harlem is and has always been a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan, and a neighborhood will never be listed as the birthplace on an official birth certificate.)







1962:  Corey Hart was born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
1964:  Darryl McDaniels of Run-D.M.C. was born in Manhattan, New York.  (Note:  some websites say Darryl was born in Queens, New York while others say he was born in Harlem.  Originally, McDaniels believed he was born in Queens, but while he was researching information for his autobiography, he learned that he was born in the neighborhood of Harlem.  Harlem was not a city when he was born and never has been--the official birthplace is Manhattan.)
1965:  Steve White, drummer of the Style Council ("My Ever Changing Moods") was born in Southwark, London.  (Note:  some websites report that Steve was born in Bermondsey, London.  The borough of Bermondsey existed until the Greater London reorganisation (English spelling) of 1964, when it was absorbed into the London borough of Southwark.  White was born one year later, which makes his official birthplace as Southwark.)
1980:  Andrew John Hurley, drummer of Fall Out Boy, was born in Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin.

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