This Day in Rock History: April 2

    1955:  Elvis Presley, Johnny Horton and Floyd Cramer were featured on the famous Louisiana Hayride broadcast from Shreveport Auditorium.

    55 Years Ago Today--
    1956:  Les Baxter had the #1 song "The Poor People of Paris".

    1960:  Percy Faith was enjoying a long stay at #1 with "Theme From a Summer Place".

    50 Years Ago Today--
    1961:  The Marcels had the #1 song with "Blue Moon"

    1964:  The Beatles made it four #1 songs in the UK with "Can't Buy Me Love".  The single scored 2.1 million in advanced copies, still an all-time record.
    1964:  The Beach Boys recorded "I Get Around", which would soon become their first #1 song.
    1965:  The television show "Ready Steady Goes Live!" premiered in the UK.
    1965:  The Who made their debut on radio on the UK show "Joe Loss Pop Show".

    45 Years Ago Today--
    1966:  Sonny & Cher, the Turtles, the Mamas and the Papas, Donovan and Jan & Dean all appeared at a charity concert at the Hollywood Bowl.

    1967:  Steve Winwood left the Spencer Davis Group to form Traffic.

    1967:  The Rolling Stones had more trouble at their concerts when 154 Austrian fans were arrested after a riot broke out.
    1968:  Jimi Hendrix appeared in concert at the Paul Suave Arena in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
    1969:  Bruce Springsteen and his group Child appeared at the Pandemonium Club in Wanammasa, New Jersey.
    1970:  Phil Spector completed final editing and mixing for the Let It Be album.

    40 Years Ago Today--
    1971:  The Temptations had the #1 song "Just My Imagination".
    1971:  Ringo Starr released his first solo record "It Don't Come Easy".
    1971:  Janis Joplin was on top with the album Pearl.

    1972:  John Lennon and Yoko Ono held a press conference to discuss their side of the story in the Immigration Department's attempt to deport John.
    1975:  Minnie Riperton scored her biggest hit with the #1 "Lovin' You".
    1975:  The Bay City Rollers had the #1 UK song with their remake of the Four Seasons' song "Bye Bye Baby".  It would finish the year as the best-selling song.
    1977:  Stevie Wonder released "Sir Duke".
    1977:  Abba controlled the singles chart with their fifth #1 in the UK, "Knowing Me, Knowing You", a Top 10 song in over 15 countries.
    1977:  Fleetwood Mac enjoyed the first week of many at #1 with the landmark album Rumours.  The group began a seven-day tour of the UK at the Odeon in Birmingham, England.

    30 Years Ago Today--
    1981:  Blondie had the #1 song with "Rapture".
    1981:  CBS announced the "Nice Price" promotion of back catalog items.  Early LP's from Bob Dylan, Simon and Garfunkel, Billy Joel, Abba and Janis Joplin could be picked up for just  £2.99.

    1983:  Pink Floyd had the top album in the UK with The Final Cut.
    1987:  U2 began a North American tour to promote The Joshua Tree with a concert at the Arizona State Activity Center in Tempe.
    1990:  Eric Clapton was fined by Walton-on-Thames Magistrate Court after being arrested for speeding at 105 mph.
    1990:  Nirvana was busy working on demos of "In Bloom", "Sappy", "Dive", "Lithium", "Pay to Play", "Imodium" and "Polly" at Smart Studios in Madison, Wisconsin.

    20 Years Ago Today--
    1991:  Gloria Estefan had the #1 song "Coming Out of the Dark".
    1991:  LL Cool J donated a pair of sneakers to every student and teacher at The Thompson Middle School in Dorchester after the school won the "Foot Locker Cool School Video" contest.1993:  Roberta Flack appeared on the ABC soap opera, "Loving".

    1994:  Ace of Base had the #1 album with The Sign.
    1995:  2Pac began a four-week stay at #1 with the album Me Against the World.
    1997:  Joni Mitchell was reunited with Kilauren Gibb, the daughter she had given up for adoption in 1965.
    1998:  The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame opened a new wing in Cleveland, Ohio.
    1998:  Rob Pilatus of the ill-fated Milli Vanilli was found dead in Frankfurt, Germany after taking a deadly dose of drugs and alcohol.
    1998:  Metallica debuted the "Poor Re-Touring Me Tour" at the Newcastle Entertainment Centre in Newcastle, Australia.


    10 Years Ago Today--
    2001:  Crazy Town was #1 with "Butterfly".
    2001:  Mariah Carey signed the most lucrative recording deal in music history, signing with Virgin Records for $80 million, only to be paid off later not to do any more albums for them.

    2003:  R. Kelly announced he was recording a tribute to members of the military "Soldier's Heart".  Proceeds of the song went to families of the soldiers.
    2003:  Edwin Starr, who gave us the timeless classic "War" died at his British home at the age of 61.

    5 Years Ago Today--
    2006:  John Lennon's schoolbook containing the 12-year-old's drawing of the Lewis Carroll poem "The Walrus and the Carpenter" was auctioned off at the price of $239,733.  That poem was the inspiration for the 1967 hit "I Am the Walrus".

    2006:  Gnarls Barkley had one of the decade's top hits as "Crazy" began an eight-week stay at the top of the UK charts.


    Born This Day:
    1939:  Marvin Gaye, who was shot one day prior to his 45th birthday by his father.
    1941:  Dr. Demento, radio personality and creator of the "Funny Five"
    1941:  Leon Russell, who was recently inducted into the Rock Hall of Fame.
    1943:  Glen Dale, guitarist and vocalist with the Fortunes
    1946:  Kurt Winter of the Guess Who.  Winter died December 15, 1997.
    1947:  Leon Wilkeson, bassist for Lynyrd Skynyrd
    1953:  David Robinson of the Cars
    1956:  Gregory Abbott ("Shake You Down")
    1963:  Karen Woodward of Bananarama
    1967:  Greg Camp (Smash Mouth)
    1979:  Jesse Carmichael, keyboardist for Maroon 5
    1983:  Jasiel A. Robinson (Jung Joc)Source URL: http://acsblogrock.blogspot.com/2011/04/this-day-in-rock-history-april-2.html
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