Today in Oldies Music History: March 14

Today In Oldies Music History: March 14

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Births

1912: Les Brown
1931: Phil Phillips
1933: Quincy Jones
1934: Shirley Scott
1943: Jim Pons (The Turtles)
1945: Walter Parazaider (Chicago)
1945: Michael Martin Murphy
1950: Rick Dees

Deaths

1970: Mary Ann Ganser (The Shangri-Las)
1991: Doc Pomus

Events

1955: Popular country star Jimmy Dean interviews Elvis Presley on Dean's Washington, DC television show Town and Country Time. A nervous Elvis answers every question with "yep" and "nope."
1956: The Alan Freed film Rock Around The Clock, starring The Platters and, naturally, Bill Haley and His Comets, premieres in New York City.
1958: The RIAA awards its first-ever gold record for sales of a million copies, the honor going to Perry Como's "Catch A Falling Star."
1960: Sam Cooke begins an unprecedented tour of the West Indies with a concert in Jamaica's Montego Bay.
1963: Gerry Marsden of the Pacemakers sneaks a custom-made guitar purchased in Germany through British customs and is fined sixty pounds.
1964: Billboard Magazine reports that sales of Beatles singles account for a full sixty percent of that lucrative format.
1965: Petula Clark makes her American TV debut singing "Downtown" and "I Know A Place" on CBS-TV's Ed Sullivan Show.
1968: The BBC-TV program Top Of The Pops broadcasts the Beatles' new promotional video for "Lady Madonna," which, oddly enough, is made up entirely of clips from the band's recording of "Hey Bulldog."
1972: At tonight's Grammy Awards, Carole King's massively popular Tapestry LP is awarded Album of The Year.
1974: Stevie Wonder announces his intention to move to Ghana, Africa. He wouldn't actually move there for 21 years.
1980: On the occasion of his forty-seventh birthday, Quincy Jones is awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1500 Vine.
1981: Bleeding ulcers force Eric Clapton to cancel the remainder of his 60-date US tour and check himself into a hospital in St. Paul, MN.
1992: A phony bomb threat disrupts a Jay and the Americans concert in Long Island, New York.
2005: In New York City, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inducts Percy Sledge, The O'Jays, U2, Buddy Guy, and the Pretenders.
2008: In London, Ex-Foundations member Peter MacBeth is sentenced to six years on pedophilia and sexual assault charges.

Releases

none

Recording

1941: Xavier Cugat, "Babalu"

Charts

1959: Elvis Presley's LP For LP Fans Only enters the charts
1964: The Beatles' "Twist And Shout" enters the charts
1970: The Supremes' "Up the Ladder To The Roof" enters the charts
1970: John Lennon's "Instant Karma! (We All Shine On)" hits #1

Certifications

1958: Perry Como's "Catch A Falling Star" is certified gold