Rock 'n' Roll History for
December 27


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1957 - ClassicBands.com

December 27
20,000 fans begin lining up at 5:30 in the morning for Alan Freed's Christmas show at Brooklyn's Paramount Theatre, set to kick off at 9:00 AM. The average ticket price was $1.85.

1958 - ClassicBands.com

December 27
Buddy Holly makes his first appearance in his hometown of Lubbock, Texas since becoming a major star. Along with broadcasting live over KLLL radio from a fruit and vegetable store, he will return to the station's studios to record "You're The One", a song that station management challenged him to write in half an hour.


1960 - ClassicBands.com

December 27
The Beatles were a last minute addition to a show at the Litherland Town Hall Ballroom in Liverpool. Advertising posters were altered to read "Direct From Hamburg, The Beatles!", causing some to believe they were a German group. The band was still about twenty-two months away from breaking out in England with "Love Me Do".

1963 - ClassicBands.com

December 27
The music critics of the London Times name John Lennon and Paul McCartney as The Outstanding Composers of 1963. Two days later, the Sunday Times' music critic Richard Buckle proclaims the same two songwriters "the greatest composers since Beethoven."

1965 - ClassicBands.com

December 27
Davy Jones plays a junkie on the "If You Play Your Cards Right, You Too Can Be A Loser" episode of the medical drama Ben Casey. He had been hired the previous summer to appear in a new NBC comedy series that was still under development. That project turned out to be the TV show, The Monkees, which would start airing on September 12th, 1966.

1969 - ClassicBands.com

December 27
Led Zeppelin scored their first number one LP when "Led Zeppelin II" reached the top of the Billboard album chart. Released two months earlier, "Led Zeppelin II" knocked The Beatles' "Abbey Road" out of the top spot and went on to sell over 15 million copies worldwide. The collection would spawn just one single, "Whole Lotta Love", which rose to #4 on the Hot 100 and #2 on the Cash Box Best Sellers chart. The song was not released in the UK.

December 27
The Supremes' final single release with Diana Ross, "Someday We'll Be Together", becomes the last US number one song of the sixties. It made #13 in the UK.

1971 - ClassicBands.com

December 27
After a trial run as a summer replacement series, The Sonny And Cher Show begins its four and a half year run on CBS. During their time on the air, the duo will reach the Billboard Top 40 only twice, with "A Cowboy's Work Is Never Done" (#8 in 1972) and "When You Say Love" (#32 in 1972). Cher would achieve five solo hits on that chart over the same period of time, including two number one hits, "Half Breed" in 1973 and "Dark Lady" in 1974.

December 27
David Clayton-Thomas makes his final appearance with the original Blood, Sweat And Tears at the Anaheim Convention Center. He would return in 1975.

1975 - ClassicBands.com

December 27
Former Gospel group The Staple Singers score their second Billboard number one hit with "Let's Do It Again". They had topped the chart with "I'll Take You There" in 1972.


1978 - ClassicBands.com

December 27
Bob Luman, a Rockabilly artist who reached #7 on the Billboard chart in October, 1960 with "Let's Think About Livin'", died of of pneumonia at the age of 41. Later in his career he became a successful Country singer who scored several hits including "Lonely Women Make Good Lovers" (#4), "Neither One of Us" (#7) and "The Pay Phone" (#13).

1980 - ClassicBands.com

December 27
Nearly three weeks after John Lennon's murder, "(Just Like) Starting Over" is number one in the US and the UK simultaneously. The song had been chosen by Lennon for its October 20th release, not because he felt it was the best track on the album, but because it was the most appropriate following his five-year absence from the recording industry.

1983 - ClassicBands.com

December 27
Walter Scott, lead singer of Bob Kuban And The In-Men, who scored a 1966 hit with "The Cheater", is seen alive for the last time. On April 10th, 1987, his badly decomposed, bound body would be found floating face down in a cistern, shot in the back. Scott's second wife, Jo Ann (Calceterra), plead guilty to hindering prosecution in his murder. She received a five year sentence. Jo Ann's boyfriend (whom she married in 1986), James H. Williams Sr., was found guilty of two counts of capital murder in the deaths of Walter Scott as well as his previous wife, Sharon Williams. James Williams received two life terms without the possibility of parole. He would die at the Potosi Correctional Center in Missouri of natural causes on September 11th, 2011 at the age of 72.

1986 - ClassicBands.com

December 27
Jackie Wilson had his biggest hit in Great Britain when the re-release of "Reet Petite" hit number 1, almost three years after he died. The song, which first made the UK Top Ten 29 years earlier, would go on to sell over 700,000 copies.

2003 - ClassicBands.com

December 27
63-year-old Dick St. John, one half of the singing team of Dick And Dee Dee, died from complications suffered in a fall from the roof of his home two weeks earlier. The duo had recorded such hits as "The Mountain's High" (#2 in 1961), "Young And In Love" (#17 in 1963) and "Thou Shalt Not Steal" (#13 in 1965). St. John had continued to record and perform regularly until his death.

2008 - ClassicBands.com

December 27
Delaney Bramlett, the guitarist who gained renown in the late 1960s as part of the Rhythm And Blues combo Delaney And Bonnie And Friends, died following gallbladder surgery. He was 69. Bramlett's backing band would often contain the likes of Eric Clapton, George Harrison and Dave Mason. The ensemble achieved a pair of Billboard Top 40 hits in 1971: "Never Ending Song Of Love" (#13) and "Only You Know And I Know" (#20).


2011 - ClassicBands.com

December 27
Documents that reveal some of Janet Jackson's tour requirements were leaked on-line. Her performance contract was said to contain a rider that specified any comedian booked for her shows is forbidden from poking fun at her or her famous relatives.

2012 - ClassicBands.com

December 27
Elvis Presley and The Beatles topped the list of most-forged celebrity signatures in 2012, with less than half of their autographs for sale certified as genuine, according to memorabilia authenticators PSA/DNA. Astronaut Neil Armstrong landed at #3 on the list when fake signatures rose significantly after his death in July.

2015 - ClassicBands.com

December 27
Stevie Wright, lead singer of the Australian group The Easybeats, died at the age of 68. The band is most often remembered for their 1967 hit "Friday On My Mind" which climbed to #16 on the Hot 100, #6 in the UK and #1 in their home country.

2019 - ClassicBands.com

December 27
Sir Elton John and Dame Olivia Newton-John were among several who were given honors by the British government. Elton was upgraded to Companion of Honour for his contributions to music and charity. Newton-John received her damehood for her services to charity, cancer research and entertainment.



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