July 9
1956 - Rock'n'roll music around the world changed 55 years ago today when a little Philadelphia television station decided to produce a weekly programme to promote the new music genre. The legendary Dick Clark made his debut as host of the new show they called Bandstand. The name of the show was changed to American Bandstand when it went to the ABC-TV network. Following is a very rare video of Gene Vincent on the new show, with introduction by Clark.
1958 - Future country music legend, Johnny Cash signed his very first record contract with Columbia Records today in 1958, and here' he is with a song called Get Rhythm. Following that, in the same year, we check out Cash impersonating Elvis Presley.
1972 - Former Beatle, Paul McCartney, appeared on stage for the first time since 1966, today when his group, Wings, opened at Chateauvillon in the south of France. In preparation for the tour, check out this gem of a home-made, uncut, bootleg video of Wings in rehearsal before the French concert, as they rehearsed the song they had a hit with that year, Give Ireland Back To The Irish. the song was subsequently banned by the BBC. This video shows not everything big stars do is brilliant all the time.
1974 - One of the great rock vocal harmony groups, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young started their reunion tour in Seattle today. Here is the great CSN & Y on that day.
1977 - It's now 34 years to the day since Elvis Costello quit his day job as a computer operator at a cosmetic factory. That same year, he appeared at a tiny little club in Liverpool called Eric's, and here is with his brilliant band, The Attractions. Great performance...this was at the same time as punk broke in London, but Elvis was so far above and beyond punk, as this proves.
1995 - It is already 16 years since the Grateful Dead gave their final concert with Jerry Garcia at the helm, at Chicago's famous Soldier Field. Sadly, this was the very final performance of Gerry Garcia with the band.
1998 - More than a decade after the inauguration of the first MTV station, based in New York, MTV Networks Europe announced today in London the launch of freeform music channel M2 Europe. At the time I was working as Entertainment Editor for London's backpacker magazine, TNT, and I attended the press conference, held in Camden, announcing the new network. MTV began in 1985. and this is a concert, held on July 10, 1985, of the band who will always be associated with MTV, Dire Straits, singing THAT song.
1998 - Janet Jackson? Love her to death. This is the night Janet Jackson set a gross concert revenue record of $875,000 at the MCI Center in Washington, DC. I think Janet Jackson is one of the most underrated female entertainers, a great influence on many. Here she is, same year, being interview by Larry King, and one of the phone-ins was General Colin Powell.
