Today in Oldies Music History: July 28

Today In Oldies Music History: July 28

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Births

1901: Rudy Vallee
1915: Frankie Yankovic
1937: Peter Duchin
1938: George Cummings (Dr. Hook)
1943: Mike Bloomfield
1945: Rick Wright (Pink Floyd)
1946: Jonathan Edwards
1949: Simon Kirke (Free, Bad Company)
1949: Peter Doyle (The New Seekers)
1949: Steve Took (T. Rex)
1962: Rachel Sweet

Deaths

1996: Marge Ganser (The Shangri-Las)
2000: Jerome Smith (KC and the Sunshine Band)
2004: George Williams (The Tymes)

Events

1933: The first singing telegram is sent -- to a popular singer, crooner Rudy Vallee, on the occasion of his 32nd birthday.
1954: Elvis Presley gets his first interview, with an article published in his hometown paper, the Memphis Press-Scimitar.
1956: Gene Vincent makes his first national TV appearance, singing "Be-Bop-A-Lula" on NBC's The Perry Como Show.
1957: Jerry Lee Lewis makes his first national TV appearance, singing "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On" on NBC's The Steve Allen Show.
1968: The Beatles hold their "Mad Day Out," an all-day group photography session across London, which produces most of their well-known latter-day photographs, including the cover of Life and the inside gatefold of their Beatles 1967-1970 album.
1969: After a Moscow magazine explains how to turn an acoustic guitar into an electric one using only parts from a telephone, police report that thousands of the city's phone booths have been stripped.
1970: The Rolling Stones' Mick Jagger makes his acting debut in Ned Kelly, a film about the legendary Australian outlaw, which makes his debut in Kelly's own hometown of Glenrowan.
1973: One of the last of the great outdoor rock festivals was held at Watkins Glen racetrack in New York, with over 600,000 attending a "Summer Jam" featuring the Grateful Dead, the Allman Brothers, and The Band. This was the largest human gathering ever assembled at the time.
1985: Portland, OR, declares today "Kingsmen Day" in honor of their garage-rock native sons, who scored a legendary hit with their version of "Louie Louie."
1987: The Beatles' company, Apple, sues shoemaker Nike, Capitol Records, EMI, and Wieden+Kennedy advertising agency for $15 million for unauthorized use of the Beatles' song "Revolution" in one of their "Nike Air" TV ads. Nike claimed it had paid their US label, Capitol, $250,000 for the rights, and also that Yoko Ono had given her blessing. The suit was eventually settled out of court for an undisclosed amount.
1989: Anne Murray opens the Anne Murray Centre, a multimedia museum of her career, in her hometown of Springhill, Nova Scotia.
1992: Patti Labelle walks offstage during her concert in Warwick, RI, having complained to the audience about the catering backstage.
1995: After decades of legal wrangling, James Al Hendrix, surviving father of Jimi, is once again granted legal use of his son's name and likeness for merchandising.

Releases

1973: Grand Funk Railroad, "We're An American Band"

Recording

1939: Judy Garland, "Over The Rainbow"
1961: The Tokens, "The Lion Sleeps Tonight"
1969: The Beatles: "Polythene Pam," "She Came In Through The Bathroom Window"

Charts

1951: Rosemary Clooney's "Come On-A My House" hits #1
1954: The Crew Cuts' "Sh-Boom" hits #1
1956: Elvis Presley's "I Want You, I Need You, I Love You" hits #1
1958: Doris Day's "Everybody Loves A Lover" enters the charts
1958: The Poni Tails' "Born Too Late" enters the charts
1958: The Elegants' "Little Star" enters the charts
1962: Tommy Roe's "Sheila" enters the charts
1973: Chicago's Chicago IV LP hits #1

Certifications

1976: The Steve Miller Band's Fly Like An Eagle LP is certified gold