Rock 'n' Roll History for
October 7


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1938 - ClassicBands.com

October 7
Judy Garland records what will prove to be her signature song, "Over the Rainbow" on the MGM soundstage in Beverly Hills, California. She would perform the number during her live appearances for thirty years, exactly as she had sung it for the film.

1952 - ClassicBands.com

October 7
Bob Horn's Bandstand debuts on WFIL-TV in Philadelphia. Less than four years later the weekly show will be hosted by Dick Clark and will go on to be one of the most influential US music programs in Rock history.

1955 - ClassicBands.com

October 7
Jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald, trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie, and a handful of others were arrested by police backstage at The Music Hall in Houston, Texas. The group were registered and fined on charges of gambling, but many believed that the true motivation behind the arrests was the police department's unwillingness to accept new laws that allowed Black and White people to mix at events. Fortunately, the performers managed to make it back to the venue to perform the second set of the show without the audience ever knowing what had happened.

1957 - ClassicBands.com

October 7
RCA Victor has already received a half-million advanced orders for Elvis Presley's fourth LP, "Elvis' Christmas Album". So far only 200,000 copies have been pressed. Over the years the disc has sold over 17 million copies in the United States, making it the best-selling Christmas / holiday album of all time. It was the first Presley effort to receive Diamond certification by the RIAA.

October 7
Little Richard's "Keep A Knockin', featuring the wailing sax of Grady Gaines, enters the Billboard Top 40 on its way to #8 during a twelve week chart run. It was the seventh time Richard had reached the Pop chart in the last two years.


1958 - ClassicBands.com

October 7
Georgia Gibbs sings "The Hula-Hoop Song" on The Ed Sullivan Show, giving the hip-swinging craze an even further boost. Twenty-five million plastic hoops were sold in less than four months and in two years sales would reach more than 100 million units. Although many believe the toy was first popularized in the 1950s, references to it have been found from as early as 500 B.C.

1960 - ClassicBands.com

October 7
Elvis Presley records "Flaming Star" at Radio Recorders in Hollywood, California. The song, intended for use in the movie of the same name, would rise to #14 on the Billboard Hot 100 in May, 1961.

1963 - ClassicBands.com

October 7
Capitol Records releases "Little Deuce Coupe" by The Beach Boys. The LP would reach #4 on the Billboard chart during a 46 week stay and would eventually be certified Platinum by the RIAA.

1964 - ClassicBands.com

October 7
The Beatles appear on a taped episode of the American Rock 'n' Roll TV show Shindig!. From London, they perform "I'm a Loser", "Boys" and "Kansas City".

October 7
While driving his new Cadillac in Baton Rogue, Louisiana , Joe Tex becomes only the second man in America to be charged for driving while watching a TV on his dashboard.

1967 - ClassicBands.com

October 7
Cass Elliot of the Mamas And Papas spends the night in a London jail after a dispute over her hotel bill. The charges would be dropped the next day, however a TV and concert appearance had to be cancelled.

October 7
The Beatles reject an offer of $1 million from promoter Sid Bernstein to make a second appearance at New York's Shea Stadium . He originally brought the group to Shea in August 1965, but the group stopped touring a year later.

1968 - ClassicBands.com

October 7
Jose Feliciano performs a controversial version of The Star Spangled Banner before the fifth game of the World Series between the Detroit Tigers and the St. Louis Cardinals. As a result of his slow, Bluesy delivery, many radio stations refused to play his songs, and his career suffered.

1969 - ClassicBands.com

October 7
The Youngbloods receive Gold certification for their rendition of "Get Together" The song had been around for a number of years and was originally recorded as "Let's Get Together" by the Kingston Trio and used as an album track. We Five took it to #31 in 1965 as a follow-up to "You Were On My Mind". Jefferson Airplane included it on their 1966 debut album, "Jefferson Airplane Takes Off".

1971 - ClassicBands.com

October 7
Michael Jackson's first solo single, "Got To Be There", was released by Motown Records. The song would top the Cashbox Best Sellers list and reach #4 on the Billboard Hot 100. In the UK it rose to #5.

1975 - ClassicBands.com

October 7
John Lennon won his lengthy battle to stay in the US when the three judge panel of the US Court of Appeals in New York ruled that his 1968 arrest in Britain for possession of marijuana was "contrary to US ideas of due process and is invalid as a means of banishing the former Beatle from America."

1978 - ClassicBands.com

October 7
The Rolling Stones perform "Beast Of Burden" on NBC's Saturday Night Live, propelling it to its peak position of #8 on the Hot 100 a month later.

October 7
Billboard magazine reports that Marvin Gaye had twice filed for bankruptcy, with debts of seven million dollars.


1982 - ClassicBands.com

October 7
Led Zeppelin's guitarist Jimmy Page received a twelve month conditional discharge after being found guilty of cocaine possession.

1989 - ClassicBands.com

October 7
Jefferson Airplane play a concert where admission is a can of food for the San Francisco Food Bank.

1995 - ClassicBands.com

October 7
Alanis Morisette becomes the first Canadian female artist to top the Billboard album chart when "Jagged Little Pill" reaches #1. The CD will become a Platinum selling disc, nine times over.

1999 - ClassicBands.com

October 7
Eagles drummer Don Henley and Eagles Ltd. file a federal suit against a Sarasota, Florida-based Internet company called Lovearth. The action alleged that the company registered domain names that included the drummer's name as well as that of the band itself, and thereby committed copyright infringement.

2005 - ClassicBands.com

October 7
Culture Club vocalist Boy George was arrested on suspicion of possessing drugs and making a false police report after he called the emergency service number and said his home had been burglarized. Officers arrived on the scene and discovered a small amount of cocaine next to a computer.

2009 - ClassicBands.com

October 7
Monkees vocalist Davy Jones ruled out ever reuniting with his former band mates after launching a scathing attack on each of his old pals in The National Enquirer. "It's not a case of dollars and cents. It's a case of satisfying yourself. I don't have anything to prove. The Monkees proved it for me." A year later, Jones would announce plans to rejoin the group.

October 7
Barbra Streisand surprised many music industry watchers when she topped the Billboard Hot 200 for the ninth time with her latest album, "Love Is the Answer". The CD extended Streisand's lead as the female act with the most number one hits in the history of the chart. Nielsen SoundScan reported the unit sold 180,000 copies during its first week of release.


2014 - ClassicBands.com

October 7
On-line streaming service Spotify announced that it had secured the rights to John Lennon's solo catalog, including his eight proper solo albums and three official compilations.

2015 - ClassicBands.com

October 7
70-year-old Gail Zappa, wife of Frank Zappa and executrix of the Zappa Family Trust, passed away after a long battle with cancer. Since his passing in 1993, Gail put out dozens of posthumous albums by Frank and carefully licensed his image where she deemed appropriate.



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