Category: Music

First, to continue a decades-long tradition: It’s a great day for groundhogs. Unless they see their shadow and predict six more weeks of winter, in which case they should be turned into ground groundhog.

(Back when I had radio ambitions, I came up with the idea of having a live remote from Sun Prairie where Jimmy the Groundhog would see his shadow and predict six more weeks of winter, then return to the station, only to dramatically go back to Sun Prairie to breathlessly report that someone assassinated Jimmy the Groundhog. It would work with Punxsutawney Phil too.)

Today in 1959, Buddy Holly, Richie Valens and the Big Bopper all appeared at the Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake, Iowa.

That would be their final concert appearance because of what happened after the concert.

(more…)

Today in 1949, RCA released the first 45-rpm record.

The seven-inch size of the 45, compared with the bigger 78, allowed the development of jukeboxes.

The number one single today in 1964:

The number one single today in 1969:

(more…)

Today in 1917, the first jazz record was recorded:

The number one British single today in 1959:

The number one single today in 1961 was the first number one for a girl group:

Today in 1969, the Beatles held their last concert, on the roof of their Apple Records building:

(more…)

Today in 1942 premiered what now is the second longest running program in the history of radio — the BBC’s “Desert Island Discs”:

What’s the longest running program in the history of radio? The Grand Ole Opry.

Today in 1968, the Doors appeared at the Pussy Cat a Go Go in Las Vegas. After the show, Jim Morrison pretended to light up a marijuana cigarette outside. The resulting fight with a security guard concluded with Morrison’s arrest for vagancy, public drunkenness, and failure to possess identification.

The number one British single today in 1969 was its only British number one:

(more…)

Today in 1956, Elvis Presley made his first national TV appearance on, of all places, Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey’s “Stage Show” on CBS.

The number one album on both sides of the Atlantic today in 1978 was Fleetwood Mac’s “Rumours”:

The number one single today in 1984 was banned by the BBC, which probably helped it stay on the charts for 48 weeks:

(more…)

The number one single today in 1962:

The number one single today in 1973:

The number one British single today in 1979 does not make one think of Pat Benatar:

Today in 1984, Michael Jackson recorded a commercial for the new flaming hair flavor of Pepsi:

(more…)

The number one single in Great Britain today in 1961 included a Shakespearean reference:

Eight years later came the live version …

… which included, instead of “Do you gaze at your doorstep and picture me there,” Presley’s impromptu “Do you gaze at your bald head and wish you had hair.” Which prompted a front-row concertgoer to remove his toupee and start swaying to the music.

Then backup singer Cissy Houston, mother of Whitney and aunt of Dionne Warwick, cracked up Presley further with singing what she was supposed to sing. Afterward Presley said, “Fourteen years down the drain right there.”

Five years after Presley’s death, the live version reached Britain’s top 30.

The number one single today in 1965 included Jimmy Page, later of Led Zeppelin, on guitar:

Today in 1970, John Lennon wrote, recorded and mixed a song all in one day, which may have made it an instant song:

(more…)

The number one album today in 1960, “The Sound of Music” Broadway soundtrack, spent 16 weeks at number one:

(more…)

The number one British single today in 1958 was the first in British chart history to start at the top:

Today in 1969, New Jersey authorities told record stores they would be charged with pornography if they sold the John Lennon and Yoko Ono album “Two Virgins,” whose cover showed all you could possibly see of John and Yoko.

The number one album today in 1976 was Bob Dylan’s “Desire”:

The number one single today in 1976:

(more…)