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This Week In
Rock and Roll History

July 18th to July 24th

Classic Rockers In The News - Rock & Roll Birthdays - Number One Records



1940 - ClassicBands.com

July 20
Billboard's first Music Popularity Chart is published. The magazine had previously printed best-seller lists submitted by the individual record companies, but the new chart combined the top sellers from all major labels. Their first number one song was "I'll Never Smile Again" by Frank Sinatra and the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra.

1946 - ClassicBands.com

July 20
13 year old Petula Clark made her first appearance on British TV on a BBC variety show called Cabaret Cartoons, which would lead to her being signed to host her own afternoon series, titled simply Petula Clark.

1953 - ClassicBands.com

July 18
18 year-old Elvis Presley visited the Memphis Recording Service to record "My Happiness" as a gift for his mother. The so-called vanity disc, which cost Presley $3.98, was his first recording. It would surface 37 years later as part of an RCA compilation called "Elvis - the Great Performances".

1954 - ClassicBands.com

July 19
Sun Records releases the first Elvis Presley single, "That's All Right", a cover of Arthur Crudup's 1946 tune "That's All Right, Mama". Only about 7,000 original copies were pressed, but the disc became a local hit in Memphis. After the session, Bill Black was said to have remarked, "Damn. Get that on the radio and they'll run us out of town."

July 20
Elvis Presley performed on one what was probably the smallest stage of his career when he appeared on the back of a flatbed truck outside a Memphis drugstore for its grand opening. Elvis was then a member of The Blue Moon Boys trio with Bill Black and Scotty Moore, who took their name from a song they had recorded just two weeks previously, "Blue Moon of Kentucky".

1955 - ClassicBands.com

July 23
Slim Whitman's "Rose Marie" rose to the top of the UK singles chart where it would stay for 11 weeks. It was a record that would last 36 years until Bryan Adams spent 16 weeks at the top with "(Everything I Do) I Do It for You".

1956 - ClassicBands.com

July 21
Billboard Magazine calls Elvis Presley "the most controversial entertainer since Liberace." The article also notes that Ed Sullivan, who once said Presley would never appear on his show, just signed the singer for three appearances.

July 22
While a song from his first recording session called "Blue Days, Black Nights" is receiving airplay in the UK, Buddy Holly heads back to a studio in Nashville to lay down additional tracks. He is currently appearing at live gigs billed as Buddy Holly and The Three Tunes.

1958 - ClassicBands.com

July 21
"Hard Headed Woman" by Elvis Presley was the top tune on the Billboard chart. At the time, the King was in Fort Hood Texas, doing basic training in the US Army.

1960 - ClassicBands.com

July 18
Roy Orbison saw his first record, "Only The Lonely" climb into the Top 5 in the United States after The Everly Brothers and Elvis both turned the song down. Over the next six years, The Big O would have 22 Top 40 hits.

July 18
15 year old Brenda Lee had the number one song in the US with "I'm Sorry", a tune that was recorded in the last ten minutes of a session and originally meant to be the "B" side of "That's All You Gotta Do". The record reached #12 in the UK.

1961 - ClassicBands.com

July 21
Following his success as a songwriter, penning Bobby Vee's "Rubber Ball" and Rick Nelson's "Hello Mary Lou", Gene Pitney makes his first appearance on American Bandstand, singing "Every Breath I Take".

1963 - ClassicBands.com

July 19
Frank Ifield had the #1 single on the UK chart with "Confessin", his fourth and final chart topper.

July 20
Jan and Dean's "Surf City" tops Billboard's singles chart just two weeks after its release. The pair had recorded the song in a converted garage underneath their apartment in Bel Air, California. The single reached #26 in the UK.

July 20
Lesley Gore released "Judy's Turn To Cry", the follow up to her number one hit, "It's My Party". The record was a continuation of the original story and it too became a Top 5 hit in the US.

July 22
The Beatles' first US album, "Introducing The Beatles" was pressed by Vee-Jay Records. When it was finally released in January, 1964, Capitol Records hit Vee Jay with an injunction against manufacturing, distributing, advertising, or otherwise disposing of records by the Beatles.

1964 - ClassicBands.com

July 18
The Four Seasons scored their fourth US number one hit with "Rag Doll". Co-writer Bob Gaudio said that he got the inspiration for the song from a young girl in tattered clothes that cleaned his car windows at a stop light. The song reached #2 in the UK.

July 18
The Supremes' "Where Did Our Love Go?" is released and enters Billboard's Hot 100. It would stay on the chart for 14 weeks and becomes the group's first number one hit.

July 18
The Rolling Stones chart in the US for the first time when a cover of Buddy Holly's "Not Fade Away" peaks at #48.

July 24
A riot broke out during a The Rolling Stones gig at The Empress Ballroom in Blackpool, Lancashire. Keith Richards noticed a man with his hands on the stage exhorting the crowd to spit, and warned him, but the spitting continued. Richards is then reported to have stood on his hands and kicked him in the face, whereupon some of the 7000 fans in attendance started fighting, causing over £4,000 in damage. Blackpool City Council later voted to ban The Stones from playing in the city. 44 years later, the 2008 council voted to lift the ban, but a spokesman for the group said they had no plans to return.

1965 - ClassicBands.com

July 20
The Lovin' Spoonful release their first record, "Do You Believe in Magic". It will reach #9 on the US Pop chart.

July 20
Bob Dylan's "Like a Rolling Stone" is released by Columbia records. It turns out to be his biggest hit ever, climbing to number two in the US and number four in the UK.

July 22
Rolling Stones' Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and Bill Wyman appear in a London courtroom and are found guilty of "insulting behavior" for urinating against a London gas station wall. They argued that the owner had refused to give them the key to the men's room, but they are fined five pounds each.

July 24
The Beach Boys' "California Girls" is released in the US, where it will reach #3 in September.

July 24
The trio of Dino, Desi and Billy achieve their first US chart entry with "I'm A Fool", which will rise to #17. Dino, the son of Dean Martin, Desi, the son of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, along with Billy Hinsche would also crack the Top 40 with "Not The Lovin' Kind" later in the year.

1966 - ClassicBands.com

July 18
Bobby Fuller, who was still riding high on the success of "I Fought The Law", was found dead in his car in Hollywood. The incident is ruled a suicide but evidence suggests foul play, as his clothes and lungs contained gasoline. Fuller was just 22 years old.

July 19
51 year old Frank Sinatra marries 21 year old actress Mia Farrow. It was his third marriage, her first. Two years later, while Farrow was filming Roman Polanski's Rosemary's Baby, Sinatra sent his lawyer to the movie set to inform his wife that he was filing for divorce.

July 19
Johnny Rivers begins recording "Poor Side Of Town", which will become the tenth of his seventeen US Top 40 hits and his only number one.

July 19
The Monkees record the theme song to their TV show, which will begin airing next Fall. Although the tune appeared as an album track on their self-titled debut LP and got some AM radio play, it was not released as a single.

July 23
A recording engineer named Jerry Samuels, who billed himself as Napoleon XIV, hit the top of the Billboard chart with a novelty song called "They're Coming to Take me Away, Ha-Haaa!" The song was banned by many US radio stations because it seemed to make fun of the insane.

July 23
Frank Sinatra had the best selling album in the US with "Strangers In The Night".

July 23
Country star Roger Miller reaches Billboard's Hot 100 with a novelty tune called "You Can't Roller Skate in a Buffalo Herd". It will climb to #40.

July 23
"Sunny" by Bobby Hebb enters the Billboard charts, where it will reach #2 during an 11 week run. The song was written for Bobby's brother, who had been killed by a mugger in 1963, and started out as an album filler until it was picked for a single release. The record rose to #12 in the UK.

1967 - ClassicBands.com

July 22
The Doors perform "Crystal Ship" and "Light My Fire" on American Bandstand.

July 24
Jefferson Airplane's second album "Surrealistic Pillow" is certified Gold on the strength of the Top Ten hits, "Somebody to Love" and "White Rabbit".

1968 - ClassicBands.com

July 20
Iron Butterfly's classic album, "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" entered Billboard's Hot 200 chart at #117. It was the band's second LP and contained the 17 minute title track that filled the entire second side of the disc. A shortened, single version of the song only made it to number 30, but the album climbed to number 4 and went on to sell over four million copies in the US alone. A remastered edition was released by Rhino Records in 1995 that contains the single version as well as a live version of "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida".

July 20
Jane Asher announces on a national British TV show, Dee Time, that her engagement to Paul McCartney was off. Paul reportedly was watching at a friend's home and was surprised by the news. She was said to have inspired many of McCartney's songs, such as "All My Loving", "And I Love Her", "I'm Looking Through You", "You Won't See Me", "We Can Work It Out", "Here, There and Everywhere", and "For No One". Jane went on to have a career in films and television as well as becoming a successful author and business woman.

July 20
Hugh Masakela's instrumental rendition of "Grazing In The Grass" reached the top of the Billboard Hot 100. A year later, The Friends Of Distinction would take a vocal version of the song to number 3.

July 24
James Drake, who billed himself as Nervous Norvus for his 1956, #8 US hit "Transfusion", a novelty tune about bloody accidents, died of liver failure at the age of 56.

1969 - ClassicBands.com

July 19
The Spencer Davis Group announces their break-up. The band had reached the Billboard chart twice in 1967 with "Gimme Some Lovin" (#7) and "I'm A Man" (#10) and placed ten songs on the UK charts, including two number one hits, "Keep On Running" and "Somebody Help Me".

July 19
The Rolling Stones' "Honky Tonk Women" is released in the US, where it will become the fifth of their eight Billboard number one hits.

July 20
Roy Hamilton, whose version of "Unchained Melody" was the best-selling R&B record of 1955, died of a heart attack at the age of 40. He also scored hits with "Don't Let Go" in 1958 and "You Can Have Her" in 1961.

July 22
Aretha Franklin is arrested for disorderly conduct after creating a disturbance in a Detroit parking lot. After posting 50-dollars bail, she ran down a road sign while leaving the police station.

July 23
James Brown walks out of L.A. Mayor Sam Yorty's office when the mayor fails to show up at 10 a.m. as promised. Yorty was going to present Brown with a proclamation declaring James Brown Day.

1971 - ClassicBands.com

July 21
Carole King was having a very good week. Her single "It's Too Late" sat on top of Billboard's singles chart and she received a Gold album for "Tapestry". The LP, released four months earlier, was the number one album in the US for 15 weeks and would stay on Billboard's Top 200 album chart for 292 weeks.

July 22
Thirteen days after lead singer Jim Morrison passed away, The Doors are awarded a Gold album for "L.A. Woman". The L.P. included "Lover Her Madly" and "Riders on the Storm".

July 24
A cover version of "Indian Reservation", a number three hit in the UK by Don Fardon, went to number one in the US for The Raiders. The song was actually recorded by Mark Lindsay alone, but he chose to put the group's name on the label as a sign of friendship for his old buddy, Paul Revere.

1972 - ClassicBands.com

July 24
23-year-old Bobby Ramirez, drummer with Edger Winter's White Trash, was killed in a bar fight in Chicago after some redneck made a comment about the length of his hair. He died of head injuries after being kicked with steel-tipped shoes.

1973 - ClassicBands.com

July 21
Jim Croce's, "Bad Bad Leroy Brown" was the number 1 song in the US. It was taken from his second LP, "Life and Times". Jim said that the Leroy Brown character was inspired by a tough guy that he had met in the army a few years earlier.

1974 - ClassicBands.com

July 18
The US Justice Department ordered John Lennon out of the country by September 10th. The Immigration and Naturalization Service denied him an extension of his non-immigrant visa because of his guilty plea in England to a 1968 marijuana possession charge. The US Court of Appeal would overturn the deportation order in 1975 and Lennon was granted permanent resident status the following year.

1975 - ClassicBands.com

July 19
Orleans' "Dance With Me" is released. It would go on to climb to number six on Billboard's Hot 100 and has since been played on the radio over four million times.

July 19
Paul McCartney scores his fourth, post-Beatles chart topper in the US with "Listen To What The Man Said".

July 19
The Bay City Rollers were at the top of the UK singles chart with "Give A Little Love", the group's second and final UK #1.

1976 - ClassicBands.com

July 19
Deep Purple announced that at the end of their current tour, they were splitting up. They would reform in 1984.

July 24
Elton John, who had already achieved stardom in the United States, had his first hit in the UK with "Don't Go Breaking My Heart", a duet with Kiki Dee.

July 24
Hall and Oates' "She's Gone" is released. The song was taken from their second album, "Abandoned Luncheonette" and would climb to number 10 in the US.

July 24
The Beach Boys' "20 Golden Greats" album started a ten week run at #1 on the UK chart.

1977 - ClassicBands.com

July 21
Despite protests, The Sex Pistols made their first appearance on the UK music show Top Of The Pops, where they lip-synched to their third single, "Pretty Vacant". The performance helped push the song up the charts to #7.

July 22
While on stage in Cohasset, Massachusetts, Tony Orlando shocked the crowd and his group, Dawn, by announcing his retirement from show business. Following a short illness, Tony was back at work two months later, but could never find the chart success he once enjoyed.

July 23
Led Zeppelin's drummer John Bonham was charged with assault after a concert at the Oakland Coliseum in California. Bonham and band manager Peter Grant had the help of their bodyguard in roughing up a security employee at the venue. After pleading guilty to misdemeanors, the accused settle out of court for two million dollars. The tour would eventually be cancelled after Robert Plant's son died a few days later.

July 23
Although it failed to catch on in the UK, "Looks Like We Made It" becomes Barry Manilow's third US chart topper. The song had been written by Richard Kerr, the same man who wrote the music for Manilow's first number one, "Mandy".

July 23
Donna Summer's Disco hit "I Feel Love" tops the UK chart in the first of a four week stay.

1978 - ClassicBands.com

July 18
John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John are awarded a Platinum record for their number one hit, "You're The One That I Want".

July 18
Gerry Rafferty, once a member of Stealers Wheel, earns a Gold record for "Baker Street", which reached #2 in the US and #3 in the UK.

July 20
Steve Martin's novelty tune "King Tut" became a Top Ten hit in the US. Some of the musicians on the track were members of The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band.

July 24
The movie Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, starring Peter Frampton and the Bee Gees, opens in New York City. It bombs at the box-office and the critics hate it.

1979 - ClassicBands.com

July 20
E.L.O. takes out advertisements in several US magazines dedicating the release of "Don't Bring Me Down" to NASA's Skylab project.

July 22
Little Richard, appearing as Reverend Richard Penniman, speaks at a revival meeting in North Richmond, CA. He warns the congregation about the evils of Rock 'n' Roll music and declares, "If God can save an old homosexual like me, he can save anybody."

July 23
The Ayatollah Khomenini bans all forms of Rock 'n' Roll in Iran, claiming it has a corrupting influence.

1980 - ClassicBands.com

July 19
Billy Joel scores his first number one hit in the US with "It's Still Rock and Roll To Me", which helped push his "Glass Houses" LP to over 5 million in sales.

July 19
Queen enjoy their third UK #1 album with "The Game", which featured the single "Another One Bites The Dust".

July 21
Keith Godchaux, former keyboards player with the Grateful Dead, was killed in a car accident in Marin County, California. Godchaux and his wife, Donna, a background vocalist, had been with the Dead from 1971 until 1979, when they were asked to leave.

July 24
Larry Graham, the former bass guitarist of Sly and the Family Stone, began his first solo tour by opening for the Isley Brothers in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Graham's "One in a Million You" was on its way up the charts at the time and would peak at number nine on the Billboard Hot 100.

1982 - ClassicBands.com

July 24
A Chicago quintet called Survivor started a six week run at #1 on the US singles chart with "Eye Of The Tiger". The song was also #1 in the UK. Over the next four years, the band would place six more songs on the Billboard Top 40.

1983 - ClassicBands.com

July 18
Abbey Road Studios in London is opened to the public, making it one of the city's most popular tourist attractions.

July 23
"Synchronicity" by The Police went to #1 on the Billboard album chart for the first of seventeen weeks.

1986 - ClassicBands.com

July 20
Santana celebrates their 20th anniversary at a concert in San Francisco that features a jam with all previous members of the band.

1987 - ClassicBands.com

July 19
Bruce Springsteen played his first ever show behind the Iron Curtain when he appeared in East Berlin in front of 180,000 people. The show was broadcast on East German TV.

July 22
A jury in New York ruled that Morris Albert's 1975 composition "Feelings" was plagiarized from "Pour Toi", a song written in 1956 by French composer Lou Lou Geste. The jury ruled that Geste was owed at least a half million dollars in royalties. Albert's rendition had reached #6 in the US and #4 in the UK in 1975.

July 24
The movie biography of Richie Valens called La Bamba opens in US theatres. The film starred Lou Diamond Phillips as Valens and Esai Morales as Ritchie's older brother Bob. The production had the full support of the Valenzuela family and Bob and Connie Valenzuela even came to the set to help the actors portray their characters correctly. The music was performed by Los Lobos.

1988 - ClassicBands.com

July 18
Ike Turner was sentenced in Santa Monica, California to one year in jail for possessing and transporting cocaine. Police had stopped Turner, former husband of Tina Turner, in August 1987 for driving erratically and found about six grams of rock cocaine in his car.

July 18
A California appeals court upholds a lower courts' decision to dismiss a case against Ozzy Osbourne and CBS Records. In 1984 a teenager allegedly killed himself after listening to Ozzy's "Suicide Solution".

July 21
A judge in Aiken, South Carolina ordered James Brown to hold a benefit concert for police and abused children as part of a sentence on drug and firearms charges. Brown called the sentence a back-door way of getting him to do a concert for free.

1989 - ClassicBands.com

July 19
James Brown was moved to a medium security cell at the Stevenson Correctional Institute after $40,000 in cash and cheques was discovered in his minimum security cell. The Godfather of Soul was serving a six year sentence for a variety of offences that included illegal gun possession, resisting arrest, assault and leading the authorities on a number of car chases. He was paroled in 1990 after serving two years.

July 23
Ringo Starr launched his first tour since the break-up of the Beatles with a show in Dallas. Starr began the concert with his 1971 hit "It Don't Come Easy". His backup band included guitarist Joe Walsh, organist Billy Preston and Bruce Springsteen's sax man Clarence Clemons.

1990 - ClassicBands.com

July 21
Pink Floyd's Roger Waters got a little help from his friends Joni Mitchell, Bryan Adams, The Scorpions, Cyndi Lauper, Van Morrison, Sinead O'Connor, The Band and others for a live performance of Pink Floyd's, "The Wall". The event was held on the west side of the Berlin wall and helped raise money for disaster relief. Over 200,000 fans attended the concert, which was released on CD and in video form later in the year.

July 21
BBC's Radio One apologizes to listeners after Madonna repeatedly cursed during a live concert broadcast.

1992 - ClassicBands.com

July 18
800 guests saw Whitney Houston, dressed in a $40,000 Marc Bouwer wedding gown, marry Bobby Brown at her New Jersey home. Those in attendance included Stevie Wonder, Gloria Estefan, Natalie Cole, Patti LaBelle and Freddie Jackson. After years of making tabloid headlines, she would file for divorce in September, 2006.

1994 - ClassicBands.com

July 22
More than 54,000 fans packed Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, as Billy Joel and Elton John performed the first of five concerts together.

July 23
The International Astronomical Union named an asteroid orbiting between Mars and Jupiter after Frank Zappa, who had died the previous December.

1995 - ClassicBands.com

July 19
Elvis Presley's former doctor, Dr. George Nichopoulous, loses his medical license for being "too liberal" in prescribing addictive drugs. Nichopoulos called the decision "idiotic" and suggested it stemmed from resentment over Presley's death in 1977.

July 21
A judge in Los Angeles threw out a lawsuit against Michael Jackson by five of his former security guards. The guards had claimed they were fired for knowing too much about night time visits by young boys to Jackson's estate. The singer denied any improprieties.

July 22
Canadian singer David Clayton-Thomas angered patrons at a Blood, Sweat and Tears concert in the heavily Jewish Detroit suburb of West Bloomfield. Halfway through the show, he remarked that the weather was "as hot as the last train car going to Auschwitz." Clayton-Thomas later apologized, saying he spoke "in the heat of the moment."

1996 - ClassicBands.com

July 22
Scottish folk singer Donovan was forced to postpone a comeback tour of the US because of a 30-year-old marijuana conviction in Britain. American authorities delayed granting him a waiver to enter the country. The tour was designed to promote Donovan's first album of new material in a dozen years.

1999 - ClassicBands.com

July 22
Gary "Gar" Samuelson, the drummer for Megadeth from 1984 through 1987, died of liver failure at the age of 41.

July 24
Actor Will Smith tops the Billboard Hot 100 with "Wild Wild West", on which he simply rapped over Stevie Wonder's "I Wish".

2001 - ClassicBands.com

July 18
The Kiss Kasket, an actual coffin featuring the faces of the four founding members of the band, went on sale. Also included were the Kiss logo and the words "Kiss Forever." Endorsing the item, Gene Simmons quipped, "I love livin', but this makes the alternative look pretty damn good."

July 23
59 year old Paul McCartney, who lost his first wife Linda to cancer three years ago, becomes engaged to 33 year old Heather Mills, an activist for the disabled. It will be the first marriage for the 33-year-old Mills, a former swimwear model whose left leg was amputated below the knee after she was run down by a police motorcyclist in 1993.

2002 - ClassicBands.com

July 18
The Rolling Stones crew chief, 54 year old Royden Magee, who had worked with the band for 30 years, died during a rehearsal in Toronto. A spokesman for the band said Magee had said that he wasn't feeling well and went to another room to take a nap. The Stones had just finished dinner and resumed rehearsing when they got word that Magee had collapsed and stopped breathing. He was taken by ambulance to nearby Sunnybrook Hospital with no vital signs after suffering an apparent heart attack. He was pronounced dead on arrival. The members of the band said they were devastated by his death.

2003 - ClassicBands.com

July 23
The Sun Records studio in Memphis was designated a national historic landmark.

July 23
James Brown announced that he was separating from his fourth wife by placing a notice in Variety magazine that showed a picture of himself, his wife Tomi Rae and their two-year-old son, James Brown II, posing with Goofy at Walt Disney World.

2004 - ClassicBands.com

July 19
Mark Tulin and James Lowe, two original members of the Electric Prunes, filed lawsuits against their record label and music publisher, alleging that the companies failed to pay them $1 million in royalties.

July 20
For the first time in his career, Jimmy Buffett had the number one album on Billboard's Hot 200 album chart when "License To Chill" debuted at the top spot during its first week of US sales, selling over 239,000 copies.

2005 - ClassicBands.com

July 21
British R&B artist Long John Baldry died after battling a chest infection for four months. He was 64. Baldry was one of the founding fathers of British Rock 'n' Roll in the '60s. Eric Clapton has stated many times that he was inspired to pick up the guitar after seeing Baldry perform.

July 22
Eugene Record, the lead singer of The Chi-lites, died of cancer at the age of 65. The group is most often remembered for the 1972 US #1 single "Oh Girl" and 1972 UK #3 single "Have You Seen Her".

2006 - ClassicBands.com

July 21
The Rolling Stones were the top touring band in the world for the first half of 2006, reporting $147.3 million in grosses from 45 shows in U.S. arenas and international stadiums.

2007 - ClassicBands.com

July 19
US sales figures were released that showed CD sales falling a further 11.7% since last year. In contrast, vinyl record collectors pushed the demand for 78 RPM platters up by 12.9%.

2008 - ClassicBands.com

July 18
Paul Simon filed a law suit against Rhythm USA Inc., a Georgia-based subsidiary of a Japanese firm, claiming the company never got his permission to sell wall clocks that play "Bridge Over Troubled Water". The suit claimed that as one of the best known songs throughout the world, a proper licensing agreement could command at least a $1 million licensing fee.

2009 - ClassicBands.com

July 18
Michael Jackson's nutritionist was served with a subpoena as L.A. police and the DEA tried to hunt down the singer's medical records.

July 20
Jackson Browne settled his lawsuit against U.S. Senator John McCain and the Republican Party after his 1977 hit "Running On Empty" was used without permission in a 2008 McCain presidential campaign ad that aired on TV and the Internet. McCain and the Republican Party apologized for using the song in the ad and said that McCain himself "had no knowledge of, or involvement in, the creation or distribution of the video."







Our Featured Interview


After two UK number one records
and two Billboard Top Ten hits
The Spencer Davis Group split up
this week in 1969.


Be sure to read Gary James'
Interview with Spencer Davis

In The News


    Creepy Elvis items not for sale

    Al Jarreau in critical condition in France

    John Lennon vies for spot on new U.K. coin

    Beach Boys reunite, Wilson unsure

    Ozzy, Iommi settle legal dispute

    Heart back to classic '70s sound

    Emerson, Lake and Palmer reform for anniversary show

    Neil Young’s new songs reviewed

    Elton John's Ariz. concert postponed

    Bob Geldof given honorary degree

    Steven Tyler opens up about rehab



Top


Rock and Roll Birthdays


July 18th - ClassicBands.com

1935 - Johnny Funches - lead singer for The Dells ("Stay In My Corner")
1939 - Dion DiMucci ("Abraham, Martin and John")
1939 - Brian Auger - keyboards for Brian Auger and Trinity ("This Wheel's On Fire")
1941 - Martha Reeves - lead singer for Martha & The Vandellas ("Heat Wave")
1943 - Robin McDonald - guitarist for Billy J. Kramer & The Dakotas) ("Little Children")
1945 - Danny McCullock - guitarist for The Animals ("House Of The Rising Sun")
1948 - Phil Harris - guitarist for Ace ("How Long")
1949 - Wally Bryson - guitarist for The Raspberries ("Go All The Way")
1950 - Glenn Hughes - the leather clad biker in The Village People ("Macho Man")

July 19th - ClassicBands.com

1926 - Sue Thompson ("Norman")
1941 - Vicki Carr ("It Must Be Him")
1944 - George Frayne - aka Commander Cody ("Hot Rod Lincoln")
1946 - Alan Gorrie - bass and vocals for The Average White Band ("Pick Up The Pieces")
1947 - Bernie Leadon - banjo / steel guitar for The Eagles ("Take It Easy")
1947 - Brian May - guitarist for Queen ("We Will Rock You")
1948 - Keith Godchaux - keyboard player for The Grateful Dead ("Working Man's Dead")
1952 - Allen Collins - lead guitarist for Lynyrd Skynyrd ("Sweet Home Alabama")

July 20th - ClassicBands.com

1933 - Buddy Knox ("Party Doll")
1943 - John Lodge - singer / guitarist for The Moody Blues ("Tuesday Afternoon")
1946 - Kim Carnes ("Bette Davis Eyes")
1947 - Tony Thorpe - vocalist for The Rubettes ("Sugar Baby Love")
1947 - Carlos Santana ("Evil Ways")
1956 - Paul Cook - drummer for The Sex Pistols ("God Save The Queen")
1958 - Michael McNeil - keyboards for Simple Minds ("Don't You Forget About Me")

July 21st - ClassicBands.com

1922 - Kay Starr ("Rock and Roll Waltz")
1945 - Rosie Hamlin of Rosie and the Originals ("Angel Baby")
1946 - Barry Whitwam - drummer for Herman's Hermits ("Henry VIII")
1948 - Cat Stevens ("Wild World")

July 22nd - ClassicBands.com

1940 - George Clinton - vocals / keyboards for The Parliaments ("I Wanna Testify")
1941 - Thomas Wayne ("Tragedy")
1943 - Bobby Sherman ("Little Woman")
1944 - Estelle Bennett - vocalist for The Ronettes ("Be My Baby")
1944 - Rick Davies - vocals and keyboards for Supertramp ("The Logical Song")
1947 - Don Henley - drummer for The Eagles ("Hotel California")

July 23rd - ClassicBands.com

1935 - Cleveland Duncan - vocalist for The Penguins ("Earth Angel")
1942 - Madeline Bell ("I'm Gonna Make You Love Me")
1943 - Tony Joe White ("Polk Salad Annie")
1945 - Dino Danelli - drummer for The Rascals ("Good Lovin")
1947 - David Essex ("Rock On")
1950 - Blair Thornton - guitarist for Bachman Turner Overdrive ("You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet")
1950 - Ian Thomas ("Painted Ladies")
1952 - Janis Siegel - vocalist for Manhattan Transfer ("Boy From New York City")

July 24th - ClassicBands.com

1941 - Barbara Love - vocalist for The Friends Of Distinction ("Grazing In The Grass")
1942 - Heinz Burt - bass guitarist for The Tornados ("Telstar")
1947 - Alan Whitehead - drummer for Marmalade ("Reflections Of My Life")
1948 - Kim Berly - drummer for The Stampeders ("Sweet City Woman")






Who sang that song that you have stuck in your head?
How high did it climb on the charts and in what year?
You can find out in our Who Sang That Hit? Section 		Explore the facts behind the deaths
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This Week's Best Selling Singles

  In The USA  
July 18th to July 24th

Click The Titles In Red To Hear The Song
YearSongArtist
1956 The Wayward Wind Gogi Grant
1957 (Let Me Be Your) Teddy Bear Elvis Presley
1958 Yakety Yak The Coasters
1959 The Battle Of New Orleans Johnny Horton
1960 I'm Sorry Brenda Lee
1961 Tossin' and Turnin' Bobby Lewis
1962 Roses Are Red (My Love) Bobby Vinton
1963 Easier Said Than Done The Essex
1964 Rag Doll The Four Seasons
1965 (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction The Rolling Stones
1966 Wild Thing The Troggs
1967 Windy The Association
1968 Jumpin Jack Flash The Rolling Stones
1969 In The Year 2525 Zager and Evans
1970 Mama Told Me Not To Come Three Dog Night
1971 Indian Reservation The Raiders
1972 Lean On Me Bill Withers
1973 Shambala Three Dog Night
1974 Rock Your Baby George McCrae
1975 The Hustle Van McCoy And The Soul City Symphony
1976 Kiss And Say Goodbye The Manhattans
1977 I'm In You Peter Frampton
1978 Baker Street Gerry Rafferty
1979 Bad Girls Donna Summer
1980 It's Still Rock And Roll To Me Billy Joel
1981 The One That You Love Air Supply
1982 Hurts So Good John Cougar
1983 Every Breath You Take The Police
1984 When Doves Cry Prince
1985 Raspberry Beret Prince and The Revolution


  In The United Kingdom  

July 18th to July 24th

Click The Titles In Red To Hear The Song
1956 Why Do Fools Fall In Love Frankie Lymon and The Teenagers
1957 All Shook Up Elvis Presley
1958 All I Have To Do Is Dream The Everly Brothers
1959 Dream Lover Bobby Darin
1960 Good Timin' Jimmy Jones
1961 Temptation The Everly Brothers
1962 I Can't Stop Loving You Ray Charles
1963 Confessin' Frank Ifield
1964 It's All Over Now The Rolling Stones
1965 Mr. Tambourine Man The Byrds
1966 Get Away Georgie Fame And The Blue Flames
1967 All You Need Is Love The Beatles
1968 Baby Come Back The Equals
1969 Something In The Air Thunderclap Newman
1970 In The Summertime Mungo Jerry
1971 Get It On T Rex
1972 Puppy Love Donny Osmond
1973 Welcome Home Peters and Lee
1974 She Charles Aznavour
1975 Give A Little Love The Bay City Rollers
1976 Don't Go Breakin' My Heart Elton John and Kiki Dee
1977 I Feel Love Donna Summer
1978 You're The One That I Want John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John
1979 Are Friends Electric? Tubeway Army
1980 Xanadu Olvia Newton-John And The Electric Light Orchestra
1981 Ghost Town The Specials
1982 Fame Irene Cara
1983 Wherever I Lay My Hat Paul Young
1984 Two Tribes Frankie Goes To Hollywood
1985 Frankie Sister Sledge




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