Today in Oldies Music History: March 28

Today In Oldies Music History: March 28

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Births

1895: Paul Whiteman
1915: Jay Livingston
1923: Thad Jones
1941: Charlie McCoy (Area Code 615)
1945: Chuck Portz (The Turtles)
1948: John Evans (Jethro Tull)
1948: Milan Williams (The Commodores)
1949: Sally Carr (Middle Of The Road)

Deaths

1958: W.C. Handy
1974: Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup
2003: Rusty Draper

Events

1957: Ral Donner, later to hit with the Elvis-soundalike "The Girl Of My Friend," sees Elvis for the first time, performing at the International Amphitheater in Chicago.
1958: Alan Freed's Big Beat Show tour kicks off the first of its 43 shows at the Brooklyn Paramount Theater with Buddy Holly, Jerry Lee Lewis, Chuck Berry, Danny and the Juniors, Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers, The Chantels, The Diamonds, Screaming Jay Hawkins, and more.
1964: Radio Caroline, the UK's first all-day English-language "pirate" radio station, begins broadcasting from the Fredericia, a former Danish ferry, in the North Sea.
1964: Madame Tussaud's famous Wax Museum in London unveils its four new statues of the Beatles -- the first of any rock star to be created and displayed there. The figures will eventually become even more famous when the Beatles decide to use them on the cover of their 1967 album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.
1975: Barbra Streisand attends tonight's Elvis Presley show in Vegas and meets the King backstage to discuss offering him the lead role in her latest film project: a remake of the classic A Star Is Born. Despite the fact that Streisand's boyfriend, stylist Jon Peters, is slated to produce and direct, Presley is said to be ecstatic about the project.
1982: After driving erratically due to a toxic shock from drug abuse, David Crosby is arrested in San Diego for driving under the influence and possession of Quaaludes, cocaine, drug paraphernalia, and an unlicensed .45 pistol. When cops ask why Crosby is carrying the gun, he says two words: "John Lennon."
1984: Mick Fleetwood, whose band, Fleetwood Mac, had the biggest-selling album of all time just seven years earlier, files for bankruptcy.
1985: At 10:15 am EST, 6,000 North American radio stations begin playing the all-star benefit single, "We Are The World," written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie and performed by a cast of 45 of music's biggest stars, including Ray Charles, Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Stevie Wonder, Paul Simon, Diana Ross, Billy Joel, Tina Turner, Dionne Warwick, Willie Nelson, and Daryl Hall. Proceeds from the sale of the single and related items -- some $38 million -- go to benefit victims of the recent Ethiopian famine.
1987: After hearing that Arizona Governor Evan Mecham would not honor the new national holiday Martin Luther King Day, the racially integrated Doobie Brothers move their upcoming show from Phoenix to Las Vegas.
1991: Eric Clapton quietly lays his son Conor, 4, to rest in England. The child, who had fallen from an apartment window a few days earlier, would later be the subject of Clapton's song "Tears In Heaven."
1996: Twenty years to the day after first appearing with them on stage as their new lead singer, Genesis frontman Phil Collins announces he is leaving the group.
2000: Led Zeppelin's Jimmy Page wins his libel lawsuit against Ministry, a UK magazine that claimed Page actually watched bandmate John Bonham choke to death while trying to revive him with Satanic spells.
2003: The recent SARS scare forces the Rolling Stones to cancel their upcoming series of shows in Hong Kong -- though they would later reschedule those shows and play them as a sign to visitors that China was safe to visit.
2005: On Rev. Jesse Jackson's internet radio show, Michael Jackson claims that his recent child-molestation charges are a racist conspiracy.

Releases

1960: Elvis Presley, "Stuck On You" b/w "Fame And Fortune"
1970: Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, "Woodstock"
1973: Led Zeppelin, Houses Of The Holy

Recording

1939: Hal Kemp, "Three Little Fishies"
1958: Eddie Cochran, "Summertime Blues"
1960: Brenda Lee, "I'm Sorry"
1961: Elvis Presley, "Moonlight Swim"
1962: Elvis Presley: "Mama," "Earth Boy," "Dainty Little Moonbeams," "I Don't Want To Be Tied," "Plantation Rock," "We'll Be Together"
1966: Gary Lewis and the Playboys, "Green Grass"
1967: Van Morrison, "Brown Eyed Girl"
1967: The Beatles, "Good Morning Good Morning," "Being For The Benefit Of Mr Kite!"
1972: Elvis Presley: "Burning Love," "Fool"

Charts

1964: The Beatles' "Can't Buy Me Love" enters the charts
1964: Jan and Dean's "Dead Man's Curve" enters the charts
1973: Pink Floyd's LP Dark Side Of The Moon hits #1

Certifications

1974: Blue Swede's "Hooked On A Feeling" is certified gold