Today in Oldies Music History: July 9

Births

1925: Alan Dale
1927: Ed Ames
1927: Jim McReynolds (Jim & Jesse)
1929: Lee Hazlewood
1941: Don McPherson (Main Ingredient)
1946: Joe Micelli (John Fred and His Playboy Band)
1946: Bon Scott (AC/DC)
1947: John "Mitch" Mitchell (Jimi Hendrix Experience)
1954: Debbie Sledge (Sister Sledge)

Deaths

2006: Milan B. Williams (The Commodores)

Events

1955: Bill Haley and the Comets' "Rock Around The Clock," a minor hit the previous year, lands in the top spot after inclusion in the juvenile delinquent drama The Blackboard Jungle, officially kicking off the rock and roll era. That same day, crooner Pat Boone releases his watered-down version of Fats Domino's #1 R&B hit, "Ain't It A Shame" (now called "Ain't That A Shame").
1956: Dick Clark debuts as the host of Philadelphia's TV dance show on WFIL, then called simply Bandstand, after former host Bob Horn is arrested for DUI. The show, which would go national on ABC the following year, precipitating a name change to American Bandstand, would run for 37 years.
1957: Elvis Presley's second film, Loving You, has its US premiere.
1968: Co-lead Temptations singer David Ruffin leaves the group due to cocaine abuse, missed shows, financial wrangling with Motown head Berry Gordy, and the group's refusal to change their name to "David Ruffin and the Temptations." Ruffin would soon begin appearing unwanted at Temps concerts and taking the stage to sing the hits he made famous, forcing the group to tighten security.
1958: Upset by Sam Phillips' concentration on Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash leaves Sun Records to sign with Columbia.
1966: Rod Allen, lead vocalist and bassist for English group The Fortunes ("You've Got Your Troubles" and "Here Comes That Rainy Day Feeling Again"), is pulled from the stage by frenzied fans during a gig in Lincoln, NE, and sent to the hospital with minor injuries.
1978: After crashing legendary bluesman Willie Dixon's house in Chicago, Dixon takes the Rolling Stones to the local Quiet Night Club to join Muddy Waters and his band onstage and jam with them on several of their favorite Muddy songs, including "Mannish Boy."
1990: The Rolling Stones cancel upcoming performances for the first time in over 26 years after guitarist Keith Richards discovers his inflamed finger has become septic during a show in Glasgow, Scotland.
1999: Elton John checks into London's Wellington hospital to have a pacemaker installed due to an irregular heartbeat.
1999: Mick Jagger's common-law marriage to actress/supermodel Jerry Hall, conducted in Haiti back in 1990, is annulled.

Releases

None

Recording

1957: Bobby Helms, "My Special Angel"
1959: The Drifters, "Dance With Me"
1968: The Beatles, "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da"
1969: The Beatles, "Maxwell's Silver Hammer"

Charts

1955: Bill Haley and the Comets' "Rock Around the Clock" hits #1
1977: Alan O'Day's "(Undercover Angel" hits #1