This Day in Rock Music History: May 20

    1954:  The landmark single "Rock Around the Clock" was released by Bill Haley & the Comets.  The song wouldn't officially begin the Rock Era until it first charted a year later after being featured in the movie The Blackboard Jungle.
    1957:  Frank Sinatra recorded "Witchcraft".
    1957:  Andy Williams had the #1 U.K. song with "Butterfly".





    1957:  The Everly Brothers debuted with the first hit of their careers and they picked a good song to start out with.  "Bye Bye Love" was that song with gave the Brothers their start on this date, and it eventually reached #2 for four weeks.
    1960:  Johnny & the Moondogs changed their name to the Silver Beetles.  The group toured Scotland.  The lineup at that time was John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Stuart Sutcliffe.  The latter three used the pseudonyms Paul Ramon, Carl Harrison and Stuart de Stael.
    1961:  Cliff Richard made his first appearance on television on the U.K. ITV show "Thank Your Lucky Stars".
    1964:  Rudy Lewis of the Drifters died of a brain seizure brought on by drugs.
    1966:  John Entwistle and Keith Moon were late arriving for a Who concert at the Ricky Tick Club in Windsor, England, so bandmates Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey began performing without them along with the bassist and drummer of the local group who opened the show.  When Moon and Entwistle finally got there, a fight broke out and Townshend actually hit Moon over the head with his guitar.  Moon and Entwistle quit the band but rejoined a week later.
    1966:  On a more peaceful front, George Harrison visited Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.
    1967:  Frankie Valli released "Can't Take My Eyes Off You".
    1967:  Jimi Hendrix signed a recording contract with Reprise Records.
    1967:  The Turtles moved nothing like their name--88 to 58 with "She'd Rather Be With Me".
    1967:  "Groovin'" from the Young Rascals took over #1 in only its fifth week on the chart.  The Supremes fell with "The Happening" followed by Arthur Conley's "Sweet Soul Music" and "Somethin' Stupid" from Frank & Nancy Sinatra.  The rest of the Top Ten:  Aretha Franklin shot up from 14 to 5 with her future #1 "Respect", the Happenings had #6 with "I Got Rhythm", Engelbert Humperdinck had #7 with "Release Me", Peaches & Herb were stuck at #8 with "Close Your Eyes", the Buckinghams were on their way down with "Don't You Care" and the Dave Clark Five had song #10--"You Got What It Takes".
    1967:  The album More of the Monkees set a record at the time with its 15th week at #1 on the album chart.
    1968:  Pete Townshend married Karen Astley.
    1968:  Following their return from India, the Beatles met at George Harrison's home in Esher, Surrey and taped 23 new songs.  Many of those would find their way to the White Album and Abbey Road, including "Cry Baby Cry", "Revolution", "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" and "Blackbird".
    1970:  The Beatles' last movie Let It Be premiered worldwide.
    1970:  ZZ Top debuted on the charts with their first hit "Francene", which eventually hit #69.
    1972:  Jethro Tull released the album Thick as a Brick.
    1972:  "The Candy Man" became the new #1 song for Sammy Davis, Jr.
    1972:  First Take was the #1 album from Roberta Flack, holding off Neil Young's Harvest.  America was #3 with the Graham Nash/David Crosby collaboration at #4.  The rest of the Top Ten:  Manassas from Stephen Stills at #5, Eat a Peach by the Allman Brothers Band edging up to #6, Fragile from Yes falling to #7, Tapestry, still in the Top Ten for Carole King, Smokin' by Humble Pie at #9 and Let's Stay Together by Al Green entering the Top Ten.
    1972:  Roberta Flack dominated the chart for the sixth straight week with "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face", one of the Top Songs of the Rock Era*.  At that time, only 20 songs in the Rock Era had been #1 for more weeks than her smash.
    1978:  "Too Much, Too Little, Too Late" from Johnny Mathis and Deniece Williams was the #1 song on the Adult Contemporary chart.  The hit came 15 years after Mathis last had a Top Ten hit and 21 years after his only other #1 song "Chances Are".
    1978:  Saturday Night Fever spent an 18th week at #1 on the album chart.  
    1979:  Elton John performed in Leningrad, Soviet Union.





    1985:  The famous Apollo Theater in Harlem, New York reopened with a concert from Hall & Oates.
    1988:  Priscilla Presley held a news conference to deny that Elvis was still alive.  It won't work, Priscilla--those same people still think Obama was not born in the United States and they also still think the earth is flat.  And there's no such thing as global warming.  It's no use.
    1989:  "Second Chance" by .38 Special was #1 on the Adult Contemporary chart.
    1989:  Paula Abdul moved into the #1 spot with "Forever Your Girl".  "Real Love" from Jody Watley was #1 and the former #1 "I'll Be There For You" by Bon Jovi was #3.
    1995:  Don Henley married Sharon Summerall in Malibu, California.  Tony Bennett, Billy Joel, Bruce Springsteen and Sting performed at the wedding reception.
    1997:  It was chaos in Kansas City, Missouri.  U2 had paid for traffic control to close down five lanes of traffic so they could shoot the video "Last Night On Earth".  Traffic jams galore occurred and a Cadillac crashed into a plate glass window while swerving to miss a cameraman.
    1998:  Bill Ward, drummer from Black Sabbath, was rushed to a hospital in London after suffering a heart attack during rehearsal.
    1998:  Bob Dylan, who was always so good with words, had some nice things to say about Frank Sinatra at a funeral mass for the legendary singer in Beverly Hills, California.  Dylan said "Right from the beginning, he was there with the truth of things in his voice.  His music had an influence on me, whether I knew it or not.  He was one of the very few singers who sang without a mask.  It's a sad day."
    2000:  Superstar group the Guess Who reunited for a concert in Manitoba, Canada.
    2000:  In the Words Have Meaning Department:  Ted Nugent was dropped from the Muskegon Summer Celebration in Michigan after reportedly used racial slurs in a radio interview.
    2004:  Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails sued his former manager, alleging that he was cheated out of millions since first signing with J. Artist Management in 1989.
    2005:  The Beach Boys Historic Landmark was dedicated at the childhood home of Brian, Carl and Dennis Wilson.  The home was demolished in the mid-1980's (things aren't preserved in the United States like they are everywhere else in the world; they're torn down.)  






    2006:  Tool had the #1 album 10,000 Days.
    2007:  Rhianna began 10 weeks at the top of the U.K. Chart with her song "Umbrella".
    2008:  The United States Congress on this date passed a resolution designating May 13 as Frank Sinatra day to honor the legendary singer's contribution to our culture.





    2008:  Jimmy Dean ("Big Bad John") donated $1 million to Wayland Baptist University in Texas.


    Born This Day:
    1930:  Teddy Randazzo, who wrote many of Little Anthony's hits
    1940:  Shortly Long ("Here Comes the Judge") was born in Birmingham, Alabama
    1942:  Jill Jackson ("Paula" of Paul and Paula, who had the big hit "Hey Paula") was born in McCamey, Texas





    1944:  Joe Cocker was born in Sheffield, England





    1946:  Cher (Cherilyn Sarkasian) was born in El Centro, California
    1947:  Steve Currie of T. Rex was born in Grimsby, North East Lincolnshire, England
    1954:  Jimmie Henderson of Black Oak Arkansas
    1955:  Steve George of Mr. Mister
    1958:  Jane Wieldin, guitarist for the Go Go's, was born in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin
    1960:  Susan Cowsill of the Cowsills was born in Newport, Rhode Island
    1961:  Nick Heyward of Haircut 100 ("Love Plus One" in 1982) was born in Beckenham, Kent, England
    1961:  Dan Wilson, singer, songwriter and guitarist with Semisonic was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota
    1963:  Brian Nash, guitarist with Frankie Goes To Hollywood
    1964:  Patti Russo, the female lead vocalist with Meat Loaf
    1972:  Busta RhymesSource URL: http://acsblogrock.blogspot.com/2011/05/this-day-in-rock-music-history-may-20.html
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