Rock 'n' Roll History for
November 16


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1959 - ClassicBands.com

November 16
After topping the Hot 100 with "Come Softly To Me" the previous April, The Fleetwoods enjoyed their second number one song with "Mr. Blue". Somehow, the song charted at #3 on the Billboard Hot R&B Sides chart.

1960 - ClassicBands.com

November 16
After Brenda Lee had turned it down for being "too Country", Patsy Cline records "I Fall To Pieces" for Decca Records at the Bradley Film and Recording Studio in Nashville, Tennessee. The song will enter the U.S. charts the following summer, rising to #12 on the Hot 100, #6 on the Adult Contemporary chart, and #1 on the Billboard Country chart.


1963 - ClassicBands.com

November 16
The brother and sister team of Nino Tempo and April Stevens hit the top of the Billboard chart with "Deep Purple", a song that they recorded in just two takes. In the UK, it reached #27. First published in 1933, the song became a huge hit for Larry Clinton And His Orchestra when it was number one on the U.S. popular music charts for nine consecutive weeks in 1939.

1964 - ClassicBands.com

November 16
Jay And The Americans record "Let's Lock The Door", which will reach #11 on the Billboard chart and #10 on the Cashbox Best Sellers list early the next year.

November 16
The Animals record their rendition of "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood". It would reach #3 on the UK Official Chart and #15 on the Billboard Hot 100. Lead singer Eric Burdon would later say of the song, "It was never considered Pop material, but it somehow got passed on to us and we fell in love with it immediately."

1968 - ClassicBands.com

November 16
"Electric Ladyland" by The Jimi Hendrix Experience hits the top of the Billboard 200 album chart for the first of a two week stay. The LP features a cover of Bob Dylan's "All Along the Watchtower", which would become the band's best-selling single, reaching #6 in the UK and #20 in America. Rolling Stone listed the album at #53 on its "500 Greatest Albums Of All Time" in 2020.

1970 - ClassicBands.com

November 16
Stephen Stills releases his self-titled, debut, solo album in the U.S. on Atlantic Records. It would reach #8 in Great Britain and #3 in America, yielding two hit singles, "Love The One You're With" (US #14, UK #37) and "Sit Yourself Down" (US #37). The LP would be certified Gold in the USA just eight days later, on November 24th, 1970.

1973 - ClassicBands.com

November 16
David Bowie's first British TV special, 1980 Floor Show aired on NBC as an episode of Midnight Special. His guests were Marianne Faithful and The Troggs.


1974 - ClassicBands.com

November 16
John Lennon had his only solo, number one hit in the US during his lifetime when "Whatever Gets You Through the Night" hit the top. In his homeland, it could do no better than #36. His girl friend, May Pang, would later recall that John got the inspiration for the song when he saw TV evangelist Reverend Ike utter the phrase "Let me tell you guys, it doesn't matter, it's whatever gets you through the night."

1978 - ClassicBands.com

November 16
The Bee Gees, Billy Preston and Peter Frampton make their acting debuts as their movie Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band opens. The film proves to be a box office disaster, with most major movie critics bashing it. Rolling Stone said that Frampton had "absolutely no future in Hollywood" and Newsweek dismissed Sgt. Pepper as "a film with a dangerous resemblance to wallpaper." It even received a nomination for Worst Picture at the 1978 Stinkers Bad Movie Awards. The movie was, however, a minor commercial success, earning $20.4 million against the production budget of $13 million.

November 16
A concert by Queen at New York's Madison Square Garden featured a row of semi-nude, over-weight women on bicycles to promote the band's current single, "Fat-Bottomed Girls".

1985 - ClassicBands.com

November 16
With Grace Slick and Mickey Thomas sharing lead vocals, Starship enjoy their first number one record with "We Built This City", an honor that previous incarnations of the band, Jefferson Airplane and Jefferson Starship could not accomplish. Despite the song's success, it has often been the target of music critics, including Blender Magazine, who named it their "worst song ever" in April, 2004. Their readers disagreed with the editors however, choosing "Achy Breaky Heart" by Billy Ray Cyrus as their least favorite by a wide margin.

1998 - ClassicBands.com

November 16
J.D. Sumner, the bass voice of The Stamps Quartet died at the age of 73. He is most often remembered for accompanying Elvis Presley on recordings and in live performances and can be heard prominently on Presley's 1977 #18 hit, "Way Down" where he hit double low C at the end of the song.


2001 - ClassicBands.com

November 16
A six-minute recording of a Beatles interview bought for $5 at a flea market, sold for $10,400 at an online auction. The winning bidder was simply described as "an avid record and music memorabilia collector" from the US.

November 16
A life-sized statue of Sonny Bono is unveiled in downtown Palm Springs, California, where he was once mayor.

2006 - ClassicBands.com

November 16
In a poll compiled by the Official UK Charts Company, "Queen's Greatest Hits" was named as the most popular album of all time in Britain. According to the list, the album has sold around 5.4 million copies, beating the Beatles' "Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band", which has sold 4.8 million copies. .

2007 - ClassicBands.com

November 16
The RIAA sent another wave of pre-litigation settlement letters on behalf of major labels to college administrators in connection with illegal music files shared over the university computer networks. The 417 letters went to 16 universities.

November 16
The Police reunion tour was the big winner at the fourth annual Billboard Touring Awards, held at the Roosevelt Hotel in New York.

2010 - ClassicBands.com

November 16
The Gospel Music Hall Of Fame announced that Johnny Cash would be inducted next January in Hendersonville, Tennessee.

2012 - ClassicBands.com

November 16
The soundtrack to the James Bond film Skyfall reached #100 on the Billboard 200 chart, becoming the highest charting album in the film franchise since A View to a Kill went to #38 in July, 1985.


2016 - ClassicBands.com

November 16
United States President Barack Obama awarded the 2016 Presidential Medal of Freedom, America's top civilian honor, to twenty-one recipients, including Diana Ross and Bruce Springsteen. The honorees, from the worlds of acting, athletics, music, and science, were acknowledged for their contributions to America.

2018 - ClassicBands.com

November 16
Songwriter Scott English died in England at the age of 81, due to complications from hip surgery. Among the hit songs he wrote were "Bend Me, Shape Me" by The American Breed and "Mandy" by Barry Manilow.

2019 - ClassicBands.com

November 16
Donny and Marie Osmond perform their last show at the Flamingo Hotel And Casino in Las Vegas, where they started their residency in 2008. The brother and sister duo logged 1,730 performances at the venue.

2023 - ClassicBands.com

November 16
Julien's Auctions in Nashville sold Eric Clapton's custom painted Gibson SG guitar, dubbed "The Fool", for a whopping $1.27 million (£1.03 million).



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