Today in Oldies Music History: May 19

Today In Oldies Music History: May 19

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Births

1919: Georgie Auld
1932: Alma Cogan
1940: Mickey Newbury
1945: Pete Townshend (The Who)
1947: Jerry Hyman (Blood Sweat and Tears)
1947: Steve Currie (T. Rex)
1947: Paul Brady
1948: Tom Scott
1949: Dusty Hill (ZZ Top)
1950: Mike Wedgwood (Curved Air)
1950: Romeo Challenger (Showaddywaddy)
1952: Barbara Joyce Lomas (B.T. Express)
1954: Phil Rudd (AC/DC)

Deaths

1969: Coleman Hawkins
1989: Ron Wilson (The Surfaris)
1991: Odia Coates
2001: Mike Sammes
2006: Freddie Garrity (Freddie and the Dreamers)
2007: Frank Guida

Events

1956: Skiffle comes to the US as Lonnie Donegan makes his US TV debut, singing his huge British hit "Rock Island Line" on NBC's Perry Como Show.
1958: The first single to be recorded on an 8-track console, Bobby Darin's "Splish Splash," is released.
1960: Massively influential DJ Alan Freed is officially indicted, along with seven others, in the "payola" scandal, charged with accepting over thirty thousand dollars from six different labels in order to play their songs.
1960: A 17-year-old Annette Funicello blows off her high school graduation ceremony in order to perform at Radio City Music Hall.
1961: The Everly Brothers form the Calliope label, the first artist-owned label to be formed by a rock group.
1963: For the first time, female Beatles fans attempt to sneak into the group's dressing room while they're supporting Roy Orbison at a gig in Hanley, England. The three girls, who used a ladder to get through the window, are caught but released without charges after the group signs a few autographs for them.
1965: Convinced that the lyrics to the Kingsmen's hit "Louie Louie" are as filthy as urban legends claim, the FBI visits Wand Records to ask a few questions. Eventually, they decide the group's version of the Richard Berry R&B classic is too garbled to make out, anyway.
1967: The release party for the Beatles' latest album, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, is held at manager Brian Epstein's home in the Belgravia section of London.
1973: After Elvis Presley's critically-savaged debut at the Sahara resort on Lake Tahoe, and several more cancellations due to "illness," manager Colonel Tom Parker and Elvis' father Vernon plead with Los Angeles lawyer Ed Hookstratten to look into Elvis' prescription drug use and identify his main suppliers. With Elvis unwilling to cooperate, however, the investigation dies a slow death.
1976: Keith Richards nods off while driving and crashes his Bentley into a highway divider just north of London. Unfortunately, police who come to his rescue also find marijuana and cocaine in the car.
1979: Jessi Colter and husband Waylon Jennings, outlaw country's first duo, become the proud parents of their only child together, son Wayne Albright Jennings.
1980: Ringo Starr and his fiancee, actress Barbra Bach, crash their car very near the spot where T. Rex's Marc Bolan lost his life in a similar crash, but despite totaling the car, both are uninjured.
1984: Pink Floyd's epochal Dark Side Of The Moon LP marks its tenth anniversary, having never left the Billboard album charts.
1985: Motown celebrates the 50th anniversary of the legendary Apollo Theater in Harlem with NBC-TV's special Motown Returns To The Apollo, featuring performances by James Brown, The Cadillacs, Joe Cocker, The Commodores, Sammy Davis Jr., The Drifters, The Four Tops, Al Green, Thelma Houston, Chuck Jackson, Patti Labelle, Little Richard, The Manhattans, Marilyn McCoo, Wilson Pickett, Billy Preston, Lou Rawls, Martha Reeves, Smokey Robinson, Diana Ross, Mavis Staples, Rod Stewart, The Temptations, Sarah Vaughn, Mary Wells, and Stevie Wonder.
1998: Sonny and Cher are awarded with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 7020 Hollywood Blvd.
1998: Peter, Paul and Mary begin their 40th anniversary tour with a three-night stint in Vegas.
2000: Guitarist and founder Dickey Betts leaves the Allman Brothers Band over "creative differences."

Releases

1973: Paul Simon, "Kodachrome"
1978: Dire Straits, "Sultans Of Swing"

Recording

1958: Ritchie Valens, "Come On, Let's Go"
1958: Peggy Lee, "Fever"
1960: The Drifters, "Save The Last Dance For Me"
1965: Elvis Presley, "Hard Luck"

Charts

1958: The original Broadway soundtrack to South Pacific hits #1
1962: Johnny Tillotson's "It Keeps Right On A-Hurtin'" enters the charts
1973: Stevie Wonder's "You Are The Sunshine Of My Life" hits #1
1979: Supertramp's Breakfast In America hits #1

Certifications

1964: Roger Miller's "King Of The Road" is certified gold
1969: The Beatles' "Get Back" is certified gold