This sort of thing would become routine about ten years later, but today in 1956 police used tear gas to control a rioting crowd at a Fats Domino show in Fayetteville, North Carolina. Fats and three members of his band suffered minor injuries in the early rock and roll mayhem. Now try to control yourself:
A pre-rock pop hit, It's All In The Game, went to number one in England today in 1958. It's remarkable in that white Brits were listening to African-American singers like Tommy Edwards then, while white Americans largely did not, and that though the words came later, the melody was written in 1911 by one Charles Dawes, who became Vice President of the United States of America under Calvin Coolidge in 1925, and won the Nobel Peace Prize for his work on the Dawes plan for WWI Reparations. Charles is the only VP to have a hit, though Nixon's Spiro Agnew would later inspire a few.
The Konrads played their first show in Croydon, England tonight in 1963. One of them would go on to become David Bowie, though he would quit before they recorded this:
The British were still buying singles today in 1967, and The Beatles were at Abbey Road putting the finishing touches on their latest, a Paul McCartney song Hello, Goodbye. The song selected as the B-side was a John Lennon composition that would have far more influence as one of the most psychedelic things ever: I Am the Walrus.
George Harrison became the first Beatle to go on a world solo tour in 1974 starting tonight up in Vancouver B.C. at the Pacific Coliseum. He'd be at the Seattle Center Coliseum two nights later, so he obviously spent some time here if your Mom claims George Harrison is your father and you were born somewhere around 9 months from now in 1975.
The Reverend Marvin Gaye Sr. was sentenced to five years on parole today in 1984 for the manslaughter of his son, musician Marvin Gaye. Sr. shot Jr. after a fight Jr. started with the aid of a mixture of Cocaine and PCP.
It doesn't seem right, but Eric Clapton was at Buckingham Palace today in 2004 being made a Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire for his services as one of rock's most awesome guitarists ever. The CBE is one rank below full-fledged Knight of the Round Table, but they give those to bass and piano players, while no drummer has ever made it past the third MBE level. Surprisingly Eric was not required by her majesty to play this song for her:
Led Zeppelin's highly anticipated reunion at the concert for Atlantic records founder Ahmet Ertegun was postponed today in 2007, as Jimmy Page had broken his finger and wasn't quite healed yet. Bumped back 2 weeks, it went off as planned at London's 02 Arena for 20,000 of the over a million who had applied (including several KZOK disc jockeys) for the privilege of paying £125 and travelling to Britain. The show raised money for scholarships in the UK, USA, and Ertegun's native Turkey. It was filmed and released in 2012 as "Celebration Day".
Ozzy Osbourne and his manager-wife Sharon fired off angry press releases today in 2007, furious that police in North Dakota where he was playing a show had sent bogus invitations to "Party With Ozzy" to 500 people with outstanding warrants for their arrest. A little over 30 of them showed up and were.
Rock and Roll Birthdays
The "Jimi Hendrix of the Organ" from The Nice and Emerson, Lake, and Palmer,Keith Emerson would be 76. He took his own life in 2016, suffering from severe depression over the fact that a hand injury had left him unable to play.
Chris Walla is 45. He's a guitarist-singer-songwriter originally from Bothell who started a band at Western Washington University in Bellingham that's been quite popular with the kids, with records on Warner, Atlantic, and Seattle's Sub Pop. They named it after the song The Bonzo Doo Dah Band played in The Beatles Magical Mystery Tour TV Special, Death Cab For Cutie.