Rock 'n' Roll History for
February 8


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1956 - ClassicBands.com

February 8
Bill Haley And His Comets enjoy their fourth Billboard Top 40 hit when "See You Later Alligator" peaks at #6. It reached the same height on the Cashbox Best Sellers chart and #7 in the UK, becoming Haley's third and final million-selling single.

1958 - ClassicBands.com

February 8
The Diamonds had the best selling record in the United States with their version of "The Stroll". The song also reached number four on the Billboard Pop chart and number five on the R&B chart.


1959 - ClassicBands.com

February 8
Johnny Cash performs his #1 Billboard Country chart hit, "Don't Take Your Guns To Town" on The Ed Sullivan Show. The song marked the fifth time Johnny topped that chart.

1960 - ClassicBands.com

February 8
Bobby Rydell's "Wild One" makes its debut on the Billboard chart, where it will reach number 2. It also made the Top 10 in the UK.

February 8
"Teen Angel" by Mark Dinning hit number 1 in the US. The song had been written for him by his sister Jean, who also recorded as one of The Dinning Sisters. Some radio stations banned the song and in the UK, where it barely made the top 40, it was called "the death record."

February 8
The "payola" hearings begin, as the US government cracks down on the practice of paying for airplay on radio stations. The committee is made up of five Democrats and four Republicans.

1963 - ClassicBands.com

February 8
The Four Tops are inked to Berry Gordy's Motown label and receive a $400 signing bonus. They will enjoy seventeen Billboard Top 40 hits before moving to Dunhill Records in 1972.

1965 - ClassicBands.com

February 8
The Dave Clark Five begin filming the movie Catch Us If You Can. Although they perform the soundtrack music, the members of the group (unlike The Beatles) do not play themselves, but appear as a team of freelance movie stuntmen and extras, led of course, by Dave Clark.

1967 - ClassicBands.com

February 8
After placing ten songs on the Billboard Top 40 between 1964 and 1967, the English duo Peter And Gordon announce their split up. Following a stint with Apple Records, Peter Asher moved to Los Angeles and produced songs for Diana Ross, Linda Ronstadt and Cher. He won Rolling Stone magazine's "Producer of the Year" award twice. Gordon Waller would turn to acting and played the part of Pharaoh in the musical Joseph and His Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. The duo would reunite on stage in August, 2005.


1969 - ClassicBands.com

February 8
George Harrison's tonsils are removed at London's University College Hospital and are then destroyed so that they can't be sold.

1971 - ClassicBands.com

February 8
Frank Zappa's concert at London's Royal Albert Hall is canceled after a representative of the venue found obscene lyrics in the score of "200 Motels". In 1975, Zappa lost a lawsuit against the Hall for breach of contract.

1975 - ClassicBands.com

February 8
The Ohio Players top the Billboard singles chart with "Fire" and the Hot 200 album chart with an LP of the same name.

February 8
Engelbert Humperdinck's "Greatest Hits" starts a three-week run at the top of the UK album chart. It stalled at #103 in America.

1980 - ClassicBands.com

February 8
David Bowie and his wife Angie are divorced after nearly ten years of marriage. David is awarded custody of their nine-year old son, Zowie (later known as Duncan Jones), while Angie received a £30,000 ($51,000) settlement. At the time of David's death in January, 2016, Angie admitted that she hadn't spoken to her son in over twenty-eight years, saying "He decided he didn't want to see me and that was that, no problem."

1988 - ClassicBands.com

February 8
The surviving members of The Who reunite for their 25th anniversary at the televised British Phonographic Industry Awards in London. Their three song medley of "My Generation / Substitute / Who Are You" runs past their time slot, forcing Rick Astley to accept his award for Best British Single, off the air.

1990 - ClassicBands.com

February 8
50 year old Del Shannon died of a self-inflicted gun shot wound at his home in Santa Clarita, California . He had just appeared at the annual Buddy Holly memorial concert in Fargo, North Dakota and had recently completed recording a new album with the help of Tom Petty and Jeff Lynne called "Rock On!" Shannon was rumored to take Roy Orbison's place in The Traveling Wilburys at the time of his death. He would be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame in 1999.


1993 - ClassicBands.com

February 8
Tom Jones guest stars on The Fresh Prince Of Bel Air, where he sings "It's Not Unusual" with Alfonso Ribeiro, whose character Carlton often danced to the song.

2005 - ClassicBands.com

February 8
Keith Knudsen, long-time Doobie Brothers drummer, died of pneumonia. The 56 year old had been battling cancer and had been in the hospital for more than a month. Knudsen was part of the band during their prime hit making years and recorded "Black Water", "Taking it to the Streets", "China Grove" and "Listen to the Music".

February 8
Burton Cummings and Randy Bachman, core members of The Guess Who, were inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall Of Fame. The band placed 13 songs in the Top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100 between 1965 and 1974. Cummings added 2 more as a solo artist and Bachman contributed 7 others with Bachman-Turner Overdrive.

2006 - ClassicBands.com

February 8
Sly Stone made his first major public appearance since his 1993 induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame when he appeared at the Grammy Awards in Los Angeles. The 61 year old Sly joined in briefly during a multi-artist tribute to his music.

2011 - ClassicBands.com

February 8
Nielsen SoundScan reported that since Steven Tyler started appearing on American Idol on January 19th, sales of Aerosmith's Greatest Hits collections have shot up more than 250%.

2013 - ClassicBands.com

February 8
Whitney Houston's mother Cissy blasted organizers of the Grammy Awards eve party for inviting her to the event. Whitney drowned in the bathtub of her Los Angeles hotel suite while she was getting ready for the bash last year and Cissy said it's "obscene" to think she'll celebrate the anniversary of her daughter's passing at the hotel where she died.

February 8
Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler appeared at a Hawaii legislative hearing to promote a bill that would give celebrities the power to sue paparazzi who take photos or video of their private lives in an offensive way. In early March, the bill would be passed by the Senate, but received no support from the House Of Representatives.

2015 - ClassicBands.com

February 8
At the 57th Grammy Awards, winners included Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga's "Cheek To Cheek" for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album, Glen Campbell and Julian Raymond's "I'm Not Gonna Miss You" for Best Country Song, Rosanne Cash's "A Feather's Not A Bird" for Best American Roots Performance, Best American Roots Song and Best Americana Album, Ziggy Marley's "Fly Rasta" for Best Reggae Album, Johnny Winter's "Step Back" for Best Blues Album, and 'Weird Al' Yankovic's "Mandatory Fun" for Best Comedy Album.

2021 - ClassicBands.com

February 8
Mary Wilson, one of the original Supremes, died in her sleep at the age of 76. Between 1963 and 1976, the group enjoyed 33 Billboard Top 40 hits.



2023 - ClassicBands.com

February 8
Grammy, Oscar and Tony-winning composer Burt Bacharach died at his home in Los Angeles of natural causes. He was 94. Over the course of his career, he wrote seventy-three US and fifty-two UK Top 40 hits. Songs that he co-wrote which have topped the Billboard Hot 100 include "This Guy's in Love with You" (1968), "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head" (1969), "(They Long to Be) Close to You" (1970), "Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do)" (1981), and "That's What Friends Are For" (1986).



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