Rock 'n' Roll History for
April 13


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1957 - ClassicBands.com

April 13
Elvis Presley's "All Shook Up" went to #1 on the Cash Box best seller list and The Billboard Top 100 chart, where it would stay for the next eight weeks.

April 13
After taking "Rock Island Line" to #6 during an eight month run on the UK charts in 1956, Lonnie Donegan pushes Skiffle to new heights when "Cumberland Gap" reaches #1. The song's title refers to a mountain pass in the Appalachian Mountains at the juncture of the states of Tennessee, Virginia, and Kentucky that was used by westward-bound migrants in the latter half of the 18th century.

1959 - ClassicBands.com

April 13
The Fleetwoods, a trio from Olympia, Washington, had the top tune on the Billboard chart with "Come Softly To Me". First written by the group as "Come Softly", producer Bob Reisdorff extended the title because he thought the original was too suggestive, even though the words "To Me" don't appear anywhere in the song.

April 13
Five weeks after it entered the Billboard Hot 100, "Pink Shoelaces" by 13 year old Dodie Stevens tops out at #3. She would go on to sing with Sergio Mendes and Brazil '77 as well as Mac Davis, but never had another Top 40 hit.

1962 - ClassicBands.com

April 13
The Beatles kicked off a 48 night booking at The Star Club in Hamburg, Germany. During their stay they will record two tracks with Tony Sheridan, "Sweet Georgia Brown" and "Swanee River", but whether these were the versions of Sheridan's songs that were eventually released is uncertain.

1964 - ClassicBands.com

April 13
At the 36th Academy Awards in Santa Monica, California, Bobby Darin is nominated for Best Supporting Actor for his role as a traumatized war hero, Corporal Jim Tompkins, in the drama Captain Newman, M.D. He lost to Melvyn Douglas in the Paul Newman Western, Hud.

1965 - ClassicBands.com

April 13
Roger Miller wins in five categories at the seventh annual Grammy Awards. His trophies included Best New Country & Western Artist, Best Country & Western Song ("Dang Me"), Best Country & Western Single ("Dang Me"), Best Country And Western Vocal Performance ("Dang Me") and Best Country And Western Album ("Dang Me" / "Chug-a-lug").

1967 - ClassicBands.com

April 13
Police in Poland use tear gas and batons to control several thousand teenagers who turned out to see The Rolling Stones' first show behind the Iron Curtain.

1968 - ClassicBands.com

April 13
Bobby Goldsboro's "Honey" hits #1 on the Billboard Hot 100. Although he had written many of his previous hits, such as "See The Funny Little Clown" (#9 in 1964), "Little Things" (#13 in 1965) and "It's Too Late" (#23 in 1966), he didn't write this one. It was penned by Bobby Russell, who also wrote O.C. Smith's hit, "Little Green Apples" (#2 in 1968), Brian Hyland's "The Joker Went Wild" (#20 in 1966) and "The Night The Lights Went Out In Georgia" for his then-wife, Vicki Lawrence (#1 in 1973).

1969 - ClassicBands.com

April 13
Diana Ross appears on The Dinah Shore Special: Like Hep, in a sketch called "The Fairy Godmother's Revenge." The bit casts Diana as Snow White contending with dwarfs on strike at the gold mine, and an angry Fairy Godmother.

1971 - ClassicBands.com

April 13
Cat Stevens' "Wild World" peaked at #11 on the Billboard Hot 100, marking the singer's first Top 40 hit. There was some speculation that much of the song was a message to Patti D'Arbanville, an actress he had been dating who inspired his song "Lady D'Arbanville". Stevens cleared this up on The Chris Isaak Hour in 2009, explaining that the song was about his own journey into the wild world. "It was not me writing about somebody specific, although other people may have informed the song, but it was more about me. It's talking about losing touch with home and reality... home especially." The 1970 LP "Tea For The Tillerman", which contains "Wild World", ended up selling three million copies in the US as many fans sought out his earlier work.

1974 - ClassicBands.com

April 13
Elton John reached the top spot on the Billboard singles chart for the second time with "Bennie and the Jets". It made #37 in the UK. The record had sold 2.8 million copies by August 1976 and was awarded Platinum status on September 13th, 1995 by the RIAA. Despite sounding as though it was recorded live, the song was actually taped in a studio in Chateau d'Hérouville, France, with live sound effects added in later.

April 13
Paul McCartney And Wing's third LP, "Band On The Run" topped the Billboard 200 chart. Although sales were slow out of the gate, the album's fortunes were aided by two hit singles, "Jet" (US #7, UK #7) and "Band on the Run" (US #1, UK #3). It went on to sell over six million copies world-wide.

1979 - ClassicBands.com

April 13
The Irish band, Thin Lizzy released their ninth studio album, "Black Rose". The LP would reach #2 on the UK Official Albums Chart, but without a US hit single to support it, the effort stalled at #81 on the Billboard 200.

1980 - ClassicBands.com

April 13
The 1950s musical Grease finally closes its Broadway show after 3,883 performances and earning over $8 million. The show ranked twelfth on Broadway's all-time appearance list.

1983 - ClassicBands.com

April 13
Pete Farndon, bassist for The Pretenders on their US hits "Back On The Chain Gang" (#5 in 1983) and "Don't Get Me Wrong" (#10 in 1986, died of a drug overdose. He was 30 years old.

1985 - ClassicBands.com

April 13
"We Are The World", the Quincy Jones produced effort that raised millions to help feed starving people in Africa, topped the Billboard singles chart. The forty-five artists that recorded the effort on January 28th were asked to "check their egos at the door." With sales in excess of 20 million copies, it is the ninth-bestselling single of all time. Its awards include four Grammys, one American Music Award, and a People's Choice Award.

1993 - ClassicBands.com

April 13
Bruce Springsteen releases his second live album, "In Concert / MTV Unplugged". It would climb to #4 during a seven week stay on the UK Official Album Chart, but had less success in America, where it quit rising at #189.

1994 - ClassicBands.com

April 13
Billy Joel and Christie Brinkley announced they had separated after nine years of marriage. The divorce would become final the following August.

2002 - ClassicBands.com

April 13
Ravi Shankar's daughter, 23-year-old Norah Jones, makes her TV debut on CNN International's The Music Room. She would go on to win nine Grammy Awards and sell over 50 million albums worldwide. Billboard named her the top Jazz artist of the 2000 - 2009 decade.

2003 - ClassicBands.com

April 13
Madonna struck back at online peer-to-peer pirates of her new album, "American Life" by flooding file-sharing networks with decoy files. Those who download tracks from such services as KaZaA were greeted by the voice of Madonna asking, "What the fuck do you think you're doing?"

April 13
For the first time since Jimmy Carter was in the White House, Lynyrd Skynyrd had a hit single on the radio. Rock stations across the country played the band's "Red White and Blue", an anti-protest song that includes the line "If they don't like it, they can just get the hell out." The song peaked at #27 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock charts, and prompted the band to rush out their new album "Vicious Cycle" in May. That LP rose to #30 on the Hot 200.

2005 - ClassicBands.com

April 13
Johnnie Johnson, a Rock 'n' Roll pioneer who teamed with Chuck Berry on "School Days", "Roll Over Beethoven", "Carol", and "Nadine", died of natural causes at the age of 80. His collaborations with Berry led to his induction into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in the category "Sidemen", in 2001.

2008 - ClassicBands.com

April 13
Clifford Davies, drummer for Ted Nugent, who played on his trademark recording "Cat Scratch Fever", was found dead from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound in his suburban Atlanta home. He was 59.

2009 - ClassicBands.com

April 13
Phil Spector was convicted of second-degree murder in the shooting death of actress Lana Clarkson at his mansion six years before. The verdict would send the 69-year-old music producer to prison for at least eighteen years. His former wife Ronnie wrote in her book, Be My Baby, "When I was locked up in his mansion, there were many, many nights when I was sure I'd never get out of that house alive."

April 13
According to a chart compiled for the UK's BBC Radio 2, Procol Harum's "A Whiter Shade Of Pale" was the most played song in public places in the past seventy-five years. Rounding out the top ten were: #2 - "Bohemian Rhapsody" by Queen, #3 - "All I Have To Do Is Dream" by The Everly Brothers, #4 - "Love Is All Around" by Wet Wet Wet, #5 - ("Everything I Do) I Do It For You" by Bryan Adams, #6 - "Angels" by Robbie Williams, #7 - "All Shook Up" by Elvis Presley, #8 - "Dancing Queen" by ABBA, #9 - "Magic Moments" by Perry Como and #10 - "White Christmas" by Bing Crosby.

2011 - ClassicBands.com

April 13
After learning from the press that America's Internal Revenue Service had placed a lien on one of their Los Angeles-area residences, Ozzy and Sharron Osbourne moved quickly to pay off their $1.7 million US tax debt. Sharon pointed the finger directly at their financial advisors for not doing their job properly.

2012 - ClassicBands.com

April 13
A New York judge ordered Prince to pay $3.95 million to Revelations Perfume and Cosmetics for failing to promote the 3121 line of scents after indicating that he would do so.

April 13
TMZ.com reported that Lionel Richie owed $1.13 million in unpaid income tax from 2010. The debt was insignificant to Richie's bank balance, worth an estimated $200 million.

2023 - ClassicBands.com

April 13
The Library of Congress National Audio-Visual Conservation Center announced twenty-five new additions to the National Recording Registry. Among the Classic Rock selections were:
"Sherry" - The Four Seasons, (1962)
"What the World Needs Now is Love" - Jackie DeShannon (1965)
"Ode to Billie Joe" — Bobbie Gentry (1967)
"Deja Vu" — Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young (1970)
"Imagine" — John Lennon (1971)
"Stairway to Heaven" — Led Zeppelin (1971)
"Take Me Home, Country Roads" — John Denver (1971)
"Margaritaville" — Jimmy Buffett (1977)
"Flashdance... What a Feeling" — Irene Cara (1983)
"Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)" — Eurythmics (1983)
"Synchronicity" — The Police (1983)
"Like a Virgin" — Madonna (1984)



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