Rock 'n' Roll History for
February 14


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1931 - ClassicBands.com

February 14
Ted Lewis' version of "Just A Gigolo" is the most popular tune in America. David Lee Roth would score a number 12 hit with the same song 54 years later in 1985.

1956 - ClassicBands.com

February 14
Actor Tab Hunter receives over 62,000 Valentines from a large following of female fans. A year later, he would have his first hit record with "Young Love".

1964 - ClassicBands.com

February 14
The UK singing duo Chad And Jeremy appeared on ABC-TV's Patty Duke Show as downtrodden, would-be British Invasion stars Nigel and Patrick. Patty gets them their big break and they repay her with a concert at her high school.

February 14
Columbia Records releases "Bits And Pieces" by The Dave Clark Five in the UK, where it will rise to #2. Some of the song's unique percussion was supplied by band members stomping on an exercise board, not always perfectly in time to the music.

1970 - ClassicBands.com

February 14
Billboard magazine reports that the Recording Industry Association of America is "Mounting Total War Against Tape Pirating of Pre-recorded Music."

1972 - ClassicBands.com

February 14
John Lennon and Yoko Ono begin a week long stint as guest hosts on US TV's Mike Douglas Show. For the next five days the pair will welcome the likes of Chuck Berry, The Chambers Brothers, activist Ralph Nader, comedian Louis Nye and the US Surgeon General.

February 14
After a farewell concert in Los Angeles, Steppenwolf announce that they are breaking up, saying, "We were locked into an image and style of music and there was nothing for us to look forward to." The group, which released six albums from 1968-1971, would get back together in 1974.

1973 - ClassicBands.com

February 14
A male fan tries to kiss David Bowie, who was wearing a white dress during his Valentine's Day show at the Radio City Music Hall in New York.

1974 - ClassicBands.com

February 14
Daryl Dragon and Toni Tennille, better known as Captain and Tennille, were married in Virginia City, Nevada. The duo would place nine singles on the Billboard Top 40 between 1975 and 1979, and host their own television variety series on ABC in 1976–77.

February 14
"Americans", a spoken word record by Byron McGregor, hit number one on the Cash Box Best Sellers Chart. McGregor was a newsman at Windsor, Ontario's CKLW radio and recorded an editorial that was written by Canadian journalist Gordon Sinclair. The record described how Americans donate food, medicine and millions of dollars to those in trouble around the world and are rewarded with protests and flag burnings in other nations.

1978 - ClassicBands.com

February 14
Dire Straits begin recording their first album, with former Spencer Davis Group bass man Muff Winwood serving as their producer.

1984 - ClassicBands.com

February 14
Rod Stewart and Olivia Newton-John are among the guests at Elton John's marriage to studio engineer, Renate Blauel, in Sydney, Australia. The couple stayed together for four years, although John later admitted he knew he was homosexual before the marriage.

1985 - ClassicBands.com

February 14
Whitney Houston's self titled, debut album is released by Arista Records on Valentine's Day. The LP will produce four giant Billboard hits, "You Give Good Love" (#3), "Saving All My Love For You" (#1), "How Will I Know" (#1), and "Greatest Love Of All" (#1).

1986 - ClassicBands.com

February 14
Frank Zappa appears on the TV show Miami Vice, playing a crime boss named Mr. Frankie who was pushing something called "weasel dust."

1987 - ClassicBands.com

February 14
Bon Jovi started a four week run at the top of the Billboard chart with "Livin' On A Prayer". It reached #4 in the UK. In 2013, the song was certified Triple Platinum for over 3 million digital downloads. The official music video reached 1 billion views on YouTube in January 2023.

1989 - ClassicBands.com

February 14
Vincent Crane, former keyboardist for The Crazy World of Arthur Brown, died of an overdose of pain killers. His work can be heard on Brown's biggest hit, "Fire".

1992 - ClassicBands.com

February 14
Wayne's World, the motion picture starring Mike Myers and Dana Carvey, opens in movie theaters across the US. The soundtrack includes cuts from Queen, Eric Clapton and Jimi Hendrix.

1993 - ClassicBands.com

February 14
Harry Nilsson suffers a heart attack. He recovers from this one, but another would kill him in January, 1994.

1996 - ClassicBands.com

February 14
37 year old Prince Rogers Nelson, The Artist Formerly Known as Prince, marries 22 year old backup singer Mayte Garcia. The couple divorced in 2000.

1999 - ClassicBands.com

February 14
Buddy Knox, who scored a #1 hit in 1957 with "Party Doll", died of cancer at the age of 65.

February 14
Elton John appears in animated form for a Valentine's Day episode of The Simpsons.

2002 - ClassicBands.com

February 14
Mick Tucker, drummer for Sweet, who hit #5 on Billboard's Hot 100 in 1975 with "Ballroom Blitz", died of leukemia. He was 53.

2009 - ClassicBands.com

February 14
Jazz drummer Louie Bellson died at age 84 of Parkinson's disease and complications from a broken hip. Often credited with pioneering the use of two bass drums, Bellson was in the same class as Buddy Rich when it came to drumming, and was inducted into the Modern Drummer Hall of Fame in 1985. He was married to singer Pearl Bailey from 1952 until her death in 1990. Although he preferred to be called "Louie", is real name was Luigi Paulino Alfredo Francesco Antonio Balassoni.

February 14
Bruce Springsteen topped the Billboard Hot 200 with "Working on a Dream", his 9th number one album.

2010 - ClassicBands.com

February 14
Doug Fieger, the lead singer for The Knack on their 1979 hit "My Sharona", died after a six-year battle with cancer. He was 57.

February 14
Dale Hawkins, a Rockabilly artist most often remembered for his 1957 hit "Susie-Q", lost his battle with colon cancer at the age of 73.

2011 - ClassicBands.com

February 14
Motley Crue's Vince Neil surrendered to Nevada authorities to start serving 15 days behind bars for a DUI charge. Neil told People.com, "I've already learned my lesson. I just have to move on and get past it and get it behind me."

2012 - ClassicBands.com

February 14
Whitney Houston, whose majestic voice helped her place 32 songs on the Billboard Pop chart between 1985 and 2001, passed away at the age of 48.

February 14
SOCA, a branch of UK law enforcement, closed down the illegal music download site RnBXclusive.com. Visitors to the page were told that "the individuals behind this website have been arrested for fraud" and also cautioned those who may have downloaded music, "you may be liable for prosecution..."

2022 - ClassicBands.com

February 14
Sandy Nelson, one of the most influential drummers of the early 1960s, passed away at the age of 83. As a session musician, he played drums on The Teddy Bears' "To Know Him Is To Love Him" (1958), The Hollywood Argyles' "Alley-Oop" (1960), and "A Thousand Stars" by Kathy Young And The Innocents (1960). His own instrumental single, "Teen Beat" rose to #4 on the Billboard Hot 100, selling a million copies in the process. He returned to the Top Ten in 1961 with "Let There Be Drums", and added a third Top 40 tune, "Drums Are My Beat" in 1962. Near the end of 1963 he was involved in a motorcycle accident that resulted in the amputation of his right foot and part of that leg. Nonetheless, Nelson continued to record into the early 1970s, releasing two or three albums a year, consisting of cover versions of popular hits plus a few original compositions.



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