Rock 'n' Roll History for
September 3


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1955 - ClassicBands.com

September 3
Billboard magazine reports that independent record manufacturers are continuing to expand at an unprecedented rate. They took in $20 million last year.

September 3
Band leader Mitch Miller had the number one tune on the Billboard pop chart with "The Yellow Rose Of Texas", a song that was written in 1853. Although he was a powerful A&R man and a brilliant producer, Miller made no secret of the fact that he hated Rock 'n' Roll.

September 3
"Moments To Remember" by The Four Lads becomes the first of their twelve Billboard chart entries and will prove to be their biggest hit, reaching #2 and staying on the chart for an amazing 25 weeks. It was a rare accomplishment for a Canadian vocal group in the 1950s.


1965 - ClassicBands.com

September 3
Lou Christie records "Lightin' Strikes" at Olmstead Studios in New York City. The song, which featured backing vocals from Bernadette Carroll, Peggy Santiglia and Denise Ferri of The Delicates, would go on to top the Billboard Hot 100 and the Cashbox Best Sellers chart the following February. Peggy Santiglis was also a member of The Angels, who scored a US #1 hit with "My Boyfriend's Back" in 1963.

1966 - ClassicBands.com

September 3
Donovan enjoyed his only US number one hit, "Sunshine Superman", which featured then Yardbird and future Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page. The single wouldn't be released in the UK for another five months, but when it was, it rose to number 3.

September 3
A New Jersey quartet called The Happenings saw their first Billboard chart entry, "See You In September", peak at #3. They would enjoy three more Top 40 hits, including "I Got Rhythm", which also climbed to #3 in 1967.

September 3
The last episode of The Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet, with son Rick Nelson, is shown on ABC. The series ran from October 10th, 1952, until April 23rd, 1966, which made it the first scripted, prime-time series on American television to reach the ten-year milestone.

September 3
Question Mark And The Mysterians' "96 Tears" makes its debut on Billboard's Hot 100, where it will hit number one on October 29th.


1968 - ClassicBands.com

September 3
After a two week absence, Ringo Starr rejoins The Beatles. He had quit the band when he found out that Paul McCartney had been erasing his drum tracks for "The White Album" and replacing them with his own. Upon Ringo's return to the studio, he found his drum kit covered with flowers to welcome him back.

1970 - ClassicBands.com

September 3
England's Dave Clark Five announce that they are disbanding. The group placed seventeen songs on Billboard's Top 40 between 1963 and 1967, and nineteen hits on the UK's Official Chart between 1963 and 1970.

September 3
While his band mates wait for him at Los Angeles Airport, Canned Heat's vocalist and harmonica player Al Wilson committed suicide in Topanga Canyon, California when it turned out that he couldn't save a redwood forest from being cut by a timber company. The 27-year-old sang lead on the band's hits "On The Road Again" (US #16 in 1965) and "Going Up The Country" (US #11 in 1969).

September 3
At the Palermo Pop '70 Festival in Italy, Arthur Brown is arrested and put in solitary confinement for four days after he set fire to his helmet and stripped naked during his stage performance. The audience threw all sorts of things at him. While in solitary, he was given a note signed by over 200 locals telling him to get out of Italy and stay out.

1977 - ClassicBands.com

September 3
Just weeks after his death, record buyers in Great Britain were scooping up Elvis Presley discs. The king had the number one album, "Moody Blue" and the number one single, "Way Down", as well as 26 other albums and 8 more singles in the Top 100.

1981 - ClassicBands.com

September 3
The Techno-Pop duo of Marc Almond and David Ball, who call themselves Soft Cell, perform their current UK #1 hit "Tainted Love" on Top Of The Pops. In the US, the tune will reach #8 and spend a total of 43 weeks on the charts.


1982 - ClassicBands.com

September 3
Steve Wozniak, the founder of the Apple Computer Company, sponsors a three day music Festival in San Bernardino, California, featuring The Grateful Dead, Jackson Browne, Eddie Money, Talking Heads, Fleetwood Mac, Dave Edmunds, Santana, the B-52's, The Kinks, The Police, The Cars, Tom Petty and others. Even though the event was attended by over 400,000 people and took in $10 million, the concert still ended up losing money.

1991 - ClassicBands.com

September 3
Ike Turner was released from prison, having served eighteen months of a four year prison term. Ike had been arrested ten other times and in an interview with Variety magazine, he claimed to have spent over $11 million on cocaine.

1994 - ClassicBands.com

September 3
Major Lance, who had nineteen hits on the Billboard R&B chart, as well as placing twelve more on the Hot 100, died of heart failure at the age of 55. Hr is most often remembered for "Monkey Time" (#8 in 1963) and "Um, Um, Um, Um, Um, Um" (#5 in 1964).

2002 - ClassicBands.com

September 3
The original version of the peer to peer file swapping program Napster officially died on September 3rd when an attempted buyout by Bertelsmann Entertainment Group (BEG), which owns several record labels, including Arista Records, failed to go through bankruptcy court. Napster subsequently laid off all its employees and the website's home page sported the Napster logo with "Napster Was Here" written below. Napster later re-appeared in a pay-per-song format.

September 3
The longstanding battle between the sixties girl group The Ronettes and Rock 'n' Roll impresario Phil Spector was on the docket of New York State Court of Appeals in Albany. The Ronettes, led by Phil Spector's then-wife Ronnie Spector, recorded 28 songs for Spector from 1963 to 1967. Under a 1963 contract, they received a one-time payment of $14,482. Group members contend that the contract didn't cover the royalties for Ronettes' songs used in movies, TV shows and advertising. The Ronettes' big hit, "Be My Baby" was featured in the movie Dirty Dancing. In November 2001, a lower state court said the Ronettes were entitled to nearly $3 million. Spector's lawyers countered that the 1963 contract gives him ownership of all the group's recordings. The court battle between Spector and the Ronettes started in 1988.


2010 - ClassicBands.com

September 3
Mike Edwards, a founding member of The Electric Light Orchestra was killed while driving in southwest England when a 600-kilogram bale of hay rolled down a field and crushed his van. The 62-year-old cellist died instantly.

2013 - ClassicBands.com

September 3
The British Phonographic Industry announced that The Beatles' "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" would finally be certified Platinum in the United Kingdom. Although the album has sold over five million copies in Great Britain since it was issued in 1967, the Platinum designation has only been around since 1994 and requires sales of 300,000.

2015 - ClassicBands.com

September 3
Black Sabbath announced their final tour, "The End", was set to kick off in January 2016. Ozzy Osbourne, along with Tony Iommi and Geezer Butler were slated to participate, but drummer Bill Ward, who had an earlier falling out with the band, was not mentioned.

2017 - ClassicBands.com

September 3
Walter Becker, guitarist, bassist and co-founder of the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame-inducted band Steely Dan, passed away at the age of 67.

2022 - ClassicBands.com

September 3
The Beatles documentary series Get Back won five Emmy Awards at a ceremony in Los Angeles. Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, director Peter Jackson and producers Yoko Ono, Olivia Harrison, Clare Olssen and Jonathan Clyde, received a citation for Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Series. Peter Jackson also won Outstanding Directing for a Documentary or Nonfiction Program, and the production won for picture editing, sound editing and sound mixing.



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