Monday, May 29, 2017

This Date in Rock Music History: May 30

1955:  Elvis Presley was at the Fair Park Auditorium for two shows in Abilene, Texas.








1958:  Jerry Lee Lewis starred in the movie High School Confidential.  (Note:  some websites report that the movie opened on May 20, while others say the release date was May 29 or June 7.  According to Nick Tosches, in his book 'Country:  The Twisted Roots of Rock 'n' Roll', the newspaper 'The New York Times' contained an advertisement for the movie in its May 29, 1958 edition.  The advertisement promoted the film's opening the next day, May 30.)
1960:  One of the Top Instrumentals of the Rock Era*, "Because They're Young" from Duane Eddy was the biggest mover of the week, jumping up from 85 to 42.





1964:  "Love Me Do" gave the Beatles their fourth #1 song of the year.  "Chapel of Love" by the Dixie Cups was runner-up, followed by the former #1 "My Guy" from Mary Wells.







1966:  The Beatles released the single "Paperback Writer".
1966:  Dolly Parton married Carl Dean in Catoosa County, Georgia.
1966:  The Doors were at the Hullabaloo in West Hollywood, California.
1966:  The Who were in concert at the Sincil Bank Football Ground in Lincoln, England.
1966:  Jefferson Airplane performed in San Francisco, California at a benefit for the Haight-Ashbury Legal Organization.
1968:  The Beatles began to record the White Album, recording "Revolution" on this date.
1969:  Led Zeppelin appeared at the Fillmore East in New York City.
1970:  The Moments had the #1 R& song for the third week with "Love On a Two-Way Street".
1970:  The Temptations had a huge mover on the chart.  "Ball Of Confusion" shot up from 80 to 41 on this date.

1970:  Ray Stevens had the surprise new #1--"Everything Is Beautiful", finally unseating one of The Top 500 Songs of the Rock Era*--"American Woman" by the Guess Who.
1972:  Roxy Music got their first big gig at the Great Western Express Festival in England.
1975:  Joan Baez was the guest host on The Midnight Special with Kool & the Gang performing.

1977:  The Commodores released the single "Easy".
1977:  Elvis Presley performed at the Veteran's Memorial Coliseum in Jacksonville in what would turn out to be his last Florida concert.
1978:  Led Zeppelin began recording the great album In Through the Out Door.
1980:  The Temptations hosted The Midnight Special with guests Firefall and Robbie Dupree.
1980:  Carl Radle, bassist of Derek & the Dominos, died of a kidney ailment at the age of 37.
1981:  Kim Carnes had her first and only Top 10 album with Mistaken Identity.

1981:  Marty Balin was the voice behind the great songs of Jefferson Starship, and on his first solo effort, he had the week's fastest-rising song, moving from 86 to 62 with the great "Hearts".
1981:  Kim Carnes had an absolute smash, and "Bette Davis Eyes" posted a third week at #1.  Smokey Robinson was right behind with "Being With You" while the "Stars On 45" medley was third.  




1981:  Champaign reached #1 on the Adult Contemporary chart with the great song "How 'Bout Us".
1983:  Stevie Nicks, the Pretenders, U2, David Bowie, Quarterflash, Joe Walsh, Berlin, Missing Persons and Los Lobos performed at the US Festival at the Blockbuster Pavilion in San Bernardino, California.
1987:  "Head To Toe" by Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam was the new #1 on the R&B chart.




              DeBurgh slowed it down for a big hit...

1987:  The classic "With Or Without You" by U2 was #1 for a third week, holding off Kim Wilde's cover of "You Keep Me Hangin' On".  Chris DeBurgh was drawing attention with "The Lady In Red" at #3 and Atlantic Starr was moving towards the top with their classic "Always".  The rest of the Top 10:  "Big Love" from Fleetwood Mac, Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam were up from 15 to 6 with "Head To Toe", the Breakfast Club had their only Top 10 with "Right On Track" moving in, Bryan Adams had #8 with "Heat of the Night", Huey Lewis & the News scored another Top 10 with "I Know What I Like" from their great album Fore! and Bon Jovi moved into the Top 10 with "Wanted Dead Or Alive".


1987:  "Always" reached the top spot on the Adult Contemporary chart for Atlantic Starr.
1987:  Adam Horovitz of the Beastie Boys gave a good example of how not to act.  He was arrested in Liverpool, England for assaulting a female fan during a riot at a Beastie Boys concert.


1988:  We were about to be introduced to a woman whose biting lyrics would be acclaimed the world over.  On this date, Tracy Chapman released her first single--"Fast Car".



                 Midnight Oil had it right--the sooner we go to electric cars, the better


1990:  Midnight Oil played a protest concert in front of Exxon offices on 6th Avenue in New York City to protest the Exxon Valdez oil disaster.
1992:  Genesis remained #1 on the AC chart with "Hold On My Heart".
1992:  Mariah Carey's remake of the Jackson 5 classic "I'll Be There" debuted at #13.





1992:  Paul Simon married Edie Brickell.
1997:  West Arkeen, guitarist on the two Guns N' Roses Use Your Illusion albums, died of a drug overdose at the age of 36.
1998:  After debuting at #1 the previous week, The Limited Series by Garth Brooks held on to #1 on the album chart.  The Soundtrack to the great movie "City of Angels" was #2.




                Mickie Most had what it took


2003:  Famed producer Mickie Most, who produced songs for Herman's Hermits, the Animals and Hot Chocolate, among others, died at the age of 64.
2004:  Avril Lavigne took her album Under My Skin to #1 in the U.K.
2008:  Green Day reached #1 on the album chart with 21st Century Breakdown.
2009:  Little Richard was inducted into the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame.
2010:  Anita Humes, lead singer of Essex ("Easier Said Than Done) passed away at the age of 69.
2012:  Robert Nix, drummer with the Atlanta Rhythm Section, died at age 67.


Born This Day:
1944:  Lenny Davidson, guitarist of the Dave Clark Five, was born in Enfield, Middlesex, England.
1945:  Kathy Post, who with husband Jim formed the duo Friend and Lover ("Reach Out of the Darkness" in 1968), was born in Chicago, Illinois.
1955:  Nicky "Topper" Headon of the Clash was born in Bromley, England.
1958:  Marie Fredriksson of Roxette was born in Ossjo, Sweden.
1960:  Stephen Duffy, singer, songwriter and guitarist of Duran Duran, was born in Birmingham, England.
1964:  Tom Morello, elite guitarist of Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave, was born in Manhattan, New York.
1967:  Sven Pipien, bass guitarist of the Black Crowes, was born in Hanover, Germany.
1971:  Patrick Dalheimer, bass guitarist for Live, was born in York, Pennsylvania.

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