1942 - This was the day, July 30, when the prolific Frank Sinatra recorded the last of 90 recordings with the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra. OK, dear reader, this is Tommy on with the musical audio, and the video is Frankie baby when his audience was comprised mainly of teenage girls screaming, dubbed bobby-soxers because of the short, white socks they wore, folded over at the ankles. Very cute. There's some other video there, too, along with Frank, Bing Crosby and Bob Hope - all very young men - entertaining the troops in the same year as Sinatra completed this marathon recording repertoire. This is a rare gem.
1954 - Elvis Presley made his professional debut in Memphis today, the show being his first advertised concert. This is a compilation of various so-called 'first concerts' with That's Alright Mama as the soundtrack. This footage is 57 years old.
1956 - Brenda Lee recorded her first hit, Jambalaya, aged just 14, today. She sang rockabilly, pop and country music, and had 37 US chart hits during the 1960s, a number surpassed only by Elvis Presley, The Beatles, Ray Charles and Connie Francis. She is best known for her 1960 hit I'm Sorry, and 1958's Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree, a song that became an American holiday standard for more than 50 years. standing at just 4 ft 9 inches tall, she received the nickname Little Miss Dynamite in 1957 after recording the song Dynamite, and was one of the earliest pop stars to have a major contemporary international following. I think she was one of the most underrated singers of her time, and without question was one of the first real child singing stars, and she did't fade away with age. She morphed her career into various stages at various ages in her life. Here's a very special *MUSICBACKTRACK*. Her biggest ever international hit was Sorry, and she was aged just 16. Following that we feature another of her hits, when she was just 14.
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1966 - This is the day The Troggs started a two week run at #1 on charts all over the world, with Wild Thing, a song later successfully covered by people such as Jimi Hendrix and Cold Chisel. The Troggs were an English rock band from the 1960s, originally called The Troglodytes. The Troggs formed in 1964 and were signed by the manager of The Kinks, Larry Page in 1965. They recorded on Page's Page One Records, and Page also leased them to CBS for their debut single Lost Girl. The group had many other hits, such as I Can't Control Myself, A Girl Like You, and Love is All Around, but their biggest hit was this one. Incidentally, Larry Page is one of our many international *MUSICBACKTRACK* subscribers. Hey Larry!
1968 - The Beatles' experimental retail store, Apple Boutique in London, closed after very heavy losses, helped out by the fact that they gave much of their stock away. The Beatles did so, so much with their fame, and were amongst the first groups to attempt to create alternative business models with their fame. This one didn't work, and here is BBC coverage of its closure, Mary Quanmt make-up and all.
1973 - Gary Glitter was at #1 on the UK singles chart with ''m The Leader Of The Gang (I Am), today, the singers first of three #1 hit records, and same day a year later Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band played The Troubadour in Los Angeles, California, on a double bill with Roger McGuinn from The Byrds. Four years latter, to the day, with the help of his famous big brothers, Andy Gibb started a four-week run at #1 on the US singles chart with I Just Wanna Be Your Everything' his first of three worldwide hit records. At this time, I was filming a documentary around the world about Austrralian musicians and their over seas success. The director, Paul Drane, and i tried very hard to interview Gibb, but his p;publicist kept telling us he had a cocaine problem and that he would be, likely as not, unable to meet our many organised-then-cancelled time slots for the interview.
1978, Glen Goine, singer and guitarist with Parliament Funkadelic died from Hodgkin's Lymphoma aged 24, and in the same year, same day, Fleetwood Mac and Steve Miller Band appeared at the JFK Stadium, Philadelphia. In 1986 Variety magazine reported that RCA had dropped John Denver from its roster after the release of his protest single, What Are We Making Weapons For. Variety said the song upset the record company's new owner, General Electric, one of the largest defence contractors in the world. you may not like denver's music, but thumbs up for his committed stance against war. this is a bona fide Denver bootleg from Siamsa Cois Lois Fair, Cork, Ireland, on 27th July 1986.
1998 - Brit soul wannabe Jamiroquai was at #1 on the UK singles chart with his song, Deeper Underground, the first single from his second album, Synkronized. The song was included in the soundtrack of the movie, Godzilla.
2003 - One of the true legends of rock'n'roll, Sam Phillips the founder of Sun Records, died today of respiratory failure at St. Francis Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee. In the 1940s, Phillips worked as a DJ for Muscle Shoals, Alabama, radio station WLAY. Phillips recorded what some consider to be the first rock and roll record, ‘Rocket 88’ by Jackie Brenston and his Delta Cats in 1951. He discovered Elvis Presley, worked with Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash, Roy Orbison, Ike Turner, B.B. King and Jerry Lee Lewis. He was one of the most important figures in trying to ensure black blues music moved into white mainstream. Following this interview we have the record they say was the very first rock'n'roll record. People involved in Fats Domino's Fat Man in 1949 may disagree.
1954 - Elvis Presley made his professional debut in Memphis today, the show being his first advertised concert. This is a compilation of various so-called 'first concerts' with That's Alright Mama as the soundtrack. This footage is 57 years old.
1956 - Brenda Lee recorded her first hit, Jambalaya, aged just 14, today. She sang rockabilly, pop and country music, and had 37 US chart hits during the 1960s, a number surpassed only by Elvis Presley, The Beatles, Ray Charles and Connie Francis. She is best known for her 1960 hit I'm Sorry, and 1958's Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree, a song that became an American holiday standard for more than 50 years. standing at just 4 ft 9 inches tall, she received the nickname Little Miss Dynamite in 1957 after recording the song Dynamite, and was one of the earliest pop stars to have a major contemporary international following. I think she was one of the most underrated singers of her time, and without question was one of the first real child singing stars, and she did't fade away with age. She morphed her career into various stages at various ages in her life. Here's a very special *MUSICBACKTRACK*. Her biggest ever international hit was Sorry, and she was aged just 16. Following that we feature another of her hits, when she was just 14.
>p>
1966 - This is the day The Troggs started a two week run at #1 on charts all over the world, with Wild Thing, a song later successfully covered by people such as Jimi Hendrix and Cold Chisel. The Troggs were an English rock band from the 1960s, originally called The Troglodytes. The Troggs formed in 1964 and were signed by the manager of The Kinks, Larry Page in 1965. They recorded on Page's Page One Records, and Page also leased them to CBS for their debut single Lost Girl. The group had many other hits, such as I Can't Control Myself, A Girl Like You, and Love is All Around, but their biggest hit was this one. Incidentally, Larry Page is one of our many international *MUSICBACKTRACK* subscribers. Hey Larry!
1968 - The Beatles' experimental retail store, Apple Boutique in London, closed after very heavy losses, helped out by the fact that they gave much of their stock away. The Beatles did so, so much with their fame, and were amongst the first groups to attempt to create alternative business models with their fame. This one didn't work, and here is BBC coverage of its closure, Mary Quanmt make-up and all.
1973 - Gary Glitter was at #1 on the UK singles chart with ''m The Leader Of The Gang (I Am), today, the singers first of three #1 hit records, and same day a year later Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band played The Troubadour in Los Angeles, California, on a double bill with Roger McGuinn from The Byrds. Four years latter, to the day, with the help of his famous big brothers, Andy Gibb started a four-week run at #1 on the US singles chart with I Just Wanna Be Your Everything' his first of three worldwide hit records. At this time, I was filming a documentary around the world about Austrralian musicians and their over seas success. The director, Paul Drane, and i tried very hard to interview Gibb, but his p;publicist kept telling us he had a cocaine problem and that he would be, likely as not, unable to meet our many organised-then-cancelled time slots for the interview.
1978, Glen Goine, singer and guitarist with Parliament Funkadelic died from Hodgkin's Lymphoma aged 24, and in the same year, same day, Fleetwood Mac and Steve Miller Band appeared at the JFK Stadium, Philadelphia. In 1986 Variety magazine reported that RCA had dropped John Denver from its roster after the release of his protest single, What Are We Making Weapons For. Variety said the song upset the record company's new owner, General Electric, one of the largest defence contractors in the world. you may not like denver's music, but thumbs up for his committed stance against war. this is a bona fide Denver bootleg from Siamsa Cois Lois Fair, Cork, Ireland, on 27th July 1986.
1998 - Brit soul wannabe Jamiroquai was at #1 on the UK singles chart with his song, Deeper Underground, the first single from his second album, Synkronized. The song was included in the soundtrack of the movie, Godzilla.
2003 - One of the true legends of rock'n'roll, Sam Phillips the founder of Sun Records, died today of respiratory failure at St. Francis Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee. In the 1940s, Phillips worked as a DJ for Muscle Shoals, Alabama, radio station WLAY. Phillips recorded what some consider to be the first rock and roll record, ‘Rocket 88’ by Jackie Brenston and his Delta Cats in 1951. He discovered Elvis Presley, worked with Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash, Roy Orbison, Ike Turner, B.B. King and Jerry Lee Lewis. He was one of the most important figures in trying to ensure black blues music moved into white mainstream. Following this interview we have the record they say was the very first rock'n'roll record. People involved in Fats Domino's Fat Man in 1949 may disagree.
