Rock 'n' Roll History for
October 2


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1945 - ClassicBands.com

October 2
Ten year old Elvis Presley makes his first public appearance in a talent show at the Mississippi-Alabama Dairy Show singing "Old Shep". He wins second place and is awarded 5 dollars and free admission to the fairground rides.

1954 - ClassicBands.com

October 2
Vocalist Don Cornell had the top tune on the UK singles chart with "Hold My Hand", even though the song had been banned by the BBC for containing the words 'kingdom of heaven'.


1955 - ClassicBands.com

October 2
Elvis Presley's "I Forgot to Remember to Forget" hits #2 on the Memphis record charts. After being picked up by RCA Victor it would go on to reach #1 on the Billboard Country And Western chart in February, 1956 during a 39 week stay, and #4 on the Billboard Most Played by Jockeys chart. It was the first record to give Elvis national exposure.

1956 - ClassicBands.com

October 2
Starting at 7 A.M. Chicago radio station WAIT conducted a 12-hour marathon of Elvis records, broadcasting thirty-three of his songs over and over. Listeners phoned in with a variety of comments, including a woman who canceled her dentist appointment to stay home and listen. Another put off hanging her laundry so she wouldn't miss any of the broadcast. One woman said she hadn't missed work in more than two years, but was playing sick to stick near the radio. The mother of a 6-month old youngster said the baby usually cried all morning, but went to sleep peacefully as Elvis crooned.

1957 - ClassicBands.com

October 2
After a heated argument with her father, Connie Francis reluctantly records "Who's Sorry Now" in two takes. Although she doesn't like the song at all, record buyers feel differently and by the following March it would become her first hit, reaching number 4 in the US and number 1 in the UK.

1958 - ClassicBands.com

October 2
At a press conference in Germany, a reporter asks Elvis if he is afraid of being forgotten by music fans while he is in the Army. Presley responds "It makes you wonder, but if people forget me, I can't complain. I had it once."

1960 - ClassicBands.com

October 2
"Stay" by Maurice Williams And The Zodiacs enters the US chart on its way to number one. At just 1:37, it becomes the shortest US chart topper in Rock 'n' Roll history.

1965 - ClassicBands.com

October 2
A quartet from Ohio who called themselves The McCoys' had the #1 song on Billboard's singles chart with "Hang On Sloopy". The record was also a hit in the UK, where it went to #5.

October 2
The Who, The Four Tops and Gerry And The Pacemakers all appear on the US TV show, Shindig!.

1967 - ClassicBands.com

October 2
All six members of The Grateful Dead are busted by California narcotics agents for possession of marijuana at the group's 710 Ashbury Street House in San Francisco. After six hours, they are all released on bail.


1968 - ClassicBands.com

October 2
Motown Records files a $4 million lawsuit against the songwriting team of Holland-Dozier-Holland for failing to write any new material for the company for the past year. The trio was holding out for an increase in their royalty rate. They would eventually be released from the label and go on to start their own Invictus and Hot Wax labels.

1969 - ClassicBands.com

October 2
Bobby Darin appears on This Is Tom Jones, where he duets with the host on "Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In".

1970 - ClassicBands.com

October 2
Pink Floyd release their fifth studio album, "Atom Heart Mother" in the UK. It will become the band's first LP to reach #1 in Great Britain, while it climbed to #55 in the US, eventually going Gold there.

1971 - ClassicBands.com

October 2
Rod Stewart enjoyed a two sided, US number one record with "Maggie May / "Reason To Believe". Although Maggie May was not her real name, the song was co-written by Stewart about the first woman he had sex with. Rod later revealed that he was surprised by the song's success, saying, "I still can't see how the single is such a big hit. It has no melody." Rolling Stone magazine seemed to disagree when, in 2004, they ranked the song #131 on their list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

October 2
John Lennon's "Imagine" LP enters the Billboard Hot 200 album chart, where it will reach #3. Early editions included a postcard featuring a photo of Lennon holding a pig, in mockery of Paul McCartney's similar pose with a sheep on the cover of his album "Ram".

October 2
Soul Train, a new, weekly TV show that showcased current R&B artists, makes its debut in the US. The first broadcast featured Gladys Knight And The Pips, Eddie Kendricks and Honey Cone.

October 2
Donny Osmond's remake of Steve Lawrence's 1962 #1 hit "Go Away Little Girl" tops the Cashbox Best Sellers chart.

1976 - ClassicBands.com

October 2
John Belushi joins Joe Cocker on Saturday Night Live during the performance of "Feeling Alright". Belushi performs his exaggeratedly spastic imitation of Cocker and the crowd goes wild. After the show, Cocker says he's happy with Belushi's impression of him.

October 2
Rod Stewart's "Tonight's The Night" is released. It will become his second US #1 hit and reach #5 in the UK. The song features whispers from Britt Ekland who was Stewart's girlfriend at the time.

1977 - ClassicBands.com

October 2
Following what appeared to be an attempt to steal the body of Elvis Presley from Forest Hill Cemetery a month earlier, Presley's remains and those of his mother Gladys are moved to Graceland.

October 2
Stephen Bishop's biggest hit, "On And On", peaks at #11 on the Hot 100 during its twenty-eight week stay on the chart. The song also reached #6 in Canada, but was not a hit in the UK.


1978 - ClassicBands.com

October 2
Gene Simmons receives a Platinum record for his solo LP, one of four released concurrently by the members of KISS. Simmons' charts the highest in the US, reaching #22.

1982 - ClassicBands.com

October 2
"Jack and Diane" by John Cougar led the Billboard singles chart, while his earlier release, "Hurts So Good" was still at number ten.

October 2
Peter Gabriel and Steve Hacket join their former band mates in Genesis for a one-time benefit performance at The Bowl in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England to help raise money for Gabriel's WOMAD project (World of Music, Arts and Dance).

1986 - ClassicBands.com

October 2
The Everly Brothers are awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame.

1993 - ClassicBands.com

October 2
Meat Loaf's "Bat Out of Hell II: Back Into Hell" enters the Billboard LP chart, where it will go on to reach number one. It also topped the charts in the UK and Australia and sold over 14 million copies worldwide.

1994 - ClassicBands.com

October 2
42 year-old John Mellencamp confirms he recently had a mild heart attack brought on by an 80-cigarettes-per-day habit and a cholesterol level of 300.

2000 - ClassicBands.com

October 2
Paul Anka files for divorce from his wife Anne. The couple had been married since 1963 and have five daughters.

2001 - ClassicBands.com

October 2
Actor Kevin Spacey hosts Come Together: A Night for John Lennon's Words and Music at New York's Radio City Music Hall. Performers include Marc Anthony, Alanis Morissette, Moby, Stone Temple Pilots and The Dave Mathews Band. The evening is closed with those present singing "Give Peace A Chance".

2004 - ClassicBands.com

October 2
55-year-old Billy Joel married 22-year-old cooking student Katie Lee, a woman who was just four years older than his daughter, Alexa. The pair would announce that they had split on June, 17th, 2009.


2013 - ClassicBands.com

October 2
Little Richard revealed that he had suffered a recent heart attack while at home with his family. The Rock 'n' Roll legend hadn't performed since nearly collapsing on stage during a gig in Washington, D.C. during the summer of 2012.

October 2
Michael Jackson's family lost their negligence case against concert promoters AEG Live over the death of the 50-year-old Pop star. A jury of six men and six women found that the doctor looking after Jackson ahead of his concert tour was not unfit for his job, and therefore AEG had not been negligent in hiring him.

October 2
Cher achieved her highest charting solo album ever when "Closer To The Truth" reached #3 in America. The only time she placed a record higher was in 1965 when she and Sonny Bono reached #2 with "Look At Us", an LP that featured the hit single "I Got You Babe".

2014 - ClassicBands.com

October 2
Rita Coolidge's sister Priscilla and her husband Michael Seibert were found dead in their home in Thousand Oaks, California from what police called a murder-suicide allegedly perpetrated by Seibert.

2017 - ClassicBands.com

October 2
Tom Petty, who achieved sixteen Billboard Top 40 hits between 1978 and 1995, died following multisystem organ failure at the age of 66. Three of his songs, "Don't Do Me Like That" (#10), "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around" (#3) (with Stevie Nicks) and "Free Fallin'" (#7) reached the Top 10.

2018 - ClassicBands.com

October 2
Geoff Emerick, the audio engineer who worked on several Beatles classics including "Sgt. Pepper" and "Abbey Road", suffered a fatal heart attack at the age of 72.



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