Rock 'n' Roll History for
February 19


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1955 - ClassicBands.com

February 19
Rock 'n' Roll was still in its infancy when 25 year old Joni James entered the US charts with "How Important Can It Be?". The tune would climb all the way to #2 and become the first of her seven Top 40 entries.

1962 - ClassicBands.com

February 19
Chuck Berry begins serving a three year sentence in the Indiana Federal Penitentiary after being convicted the previous October of transporting a minor across state lines for immoral purposes. He would be released twenty months later.

1964 - ClassicBands.com

February 19
A British company shipped a half ton of Beatle wigs to the US. An American reporter later asked John Lennon, "How do you feel about teenagers imitating you with Beatle wigs?" John replied "They're not imitating us because we don't wear Beatle wigs."

1966 - ClassicBands.com

February 19
Lou Christie enjoys his only US number one record with "Lightnin' Strikes", a song that his record company, MGM, hated so much, they initially refused to release. Label head Lenny Shear actually threw the tape in the wastebasket and said it was "a piece of crap." After Christie's management team promoted the record themselves, it started to gain attention and three months later, Billboard magazine featured a picture of Shear presenting Christie with a Gold record. It became a #11 hit in the UK.

1967 - ClassicBands.com

February 19
The Spencer Davis Group enjoys their biggest US hit when "Gimme Some Lovin'" peaks at #7. The song reached #2 in the UK, where they placed a total of eleven singles and three albums on the Official Charts.

1968 - ClassicBands.com

February 19
Gerry Marsden of Gerry And The Pacemakers begins a 3 1/2 year run in the London stage production of Charlie Girl.

1970 - ClassicBands.com

February 19
Song writers, Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart guest-star on ABC-TV's Bewitched, where they sang "I'll Blow You a Kiss in the Wind".

1972 - ClassicBands.com

February 19
Paul McCartney releases "Give Ireland Back to the Irish", his commentary about the Britain-Ireland conflict. The song was immediately banned by the BBC, but the notoriety the song received from the banning only increased its popularity and the record soared into the UK Top 20.

February 19
Although he had written songs that were recorded by The Turtles, Rick Nelson, Blood Sweat And Tears, Lulu, The Monkees and Three Dog Night, Harry Nilsson had his only US number one hit with "Without You", a tune written by Pete Ham and Tom Evans of Badfinger.

1974 - ClassicBands.com

February 19
Smokey Robinson, Helen Reddy and Roger Miller are among the hosts at the very first American Music Awards. Created by TV veteran Dick Clark to compete with The Grammys, awards are presented based on record sales, airplay as well as votes. Among this year's winners are The Carpenters for Favorite Band, Jim Croce, Favorite Male Artist, and Tony Orlando And Dawn, Favorite Single for "Tie A Yellow Ribbon 'Round The Ole Oak Tree".

1976 - ClassicBands.com

February 19
Rich Stevens, former lead singer of Tower Of Power, was arrested in connection with the drug related murders of three men in San Jose, California. He and another person involved would be found guilty of the charges the following November. The singer would spend 36 years in prison before being paroled in 2012. He passed away on September 5th, 2017 at the age of 77.

1977 - ClassicBands.com

February 19
"Blinded By The Light" reached the top of the Billboard singles chart for Manfred Mann's Earth Band, although it had earlier been a commercial failure for the song's writer, Bruce Springsteen.

February 19
Leo Sayer had his only UK #1 single with "When I Need You". The chorus of the song is identical to part of the Leonard Cohen tune "Famous Blue Raincoat" and after a lawsuit was launched, Cohen received compensation.

1980 - ClassicBands.com

February 19
Bon Scott, vocalist for AC/DC, died of alcohol poisoning at the age of 33. The band reached #35 in the US and #38 in the UK in 1979 with "You Shook Me All Night Long".

1982 - ClassicBands.com

February 19
Ozzy Osbourne was arrested in San Antonio, Texas for urinating on a statue in front of the Alamo. After he made bail, the Black Sabbath singer skipped town. In November, 2015, he would make a return visit and formally apologize to city officials.

1985 - ClassicBands.com

February 19
Mick Jagger releases his first solo album, "She's The Boss". The lead single from the LP, "Just Another Night" would climb to #12 on the Billboard Hot 100, and the follow-up, "Lucky In Love" rose to #38. The album itself went to #6 in the UK and #3 in the US, where it went Platinum. Stones' guitarist Keith Richards, angry with Jagger for recording a solo effort, would later compare "She's the Boss" to Adolf Hitler's Mein Kampf (My Struggle): "Everybody had a copy, but nobody listened to it."

1995 - ClassicBands.com

February 19
Motley Crue drummer Tommy Lee marries Pamela Anderson from the TV show Baywatch, on a beach in Cancun. The bride wore a white bikini. Tommy Lee wore a smile.

1996 - ClassicBands.com

February 19
Pulp's Jarvis Cocker walked on stage during the BRIT Awards in an impromptu protest against Michael Jackson's performance. Jackson was singing "Earth Song" while surrounded by children and a rabbi and making 'Christ-like' poses. In the ensuing confusion, as security attempted to eject Cocker from the stage, three child performers received minor injuries. Cocker was questioned by police but later released without charges.

2009 - ClassicBands.com

February 19
Kelly Groucutt, bassist and co-lead vocalist for the Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) between 1974 and 1983, died following a heart attack that he suffered the previous day. He was 63.

2014 - ClassicBands.com

February 19
David Bowie was named best British male at the Brit Awards in London, England. It was the third time he has won such an award.

2015 - ClassicBands.com

February 19
After a further 15% decline in sales in 2014, Starbucks announced that they would stop selling CDs in their over 21,000 stores by the end of March, 2015.

2017 - ClassicBands.com

February 19
Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr met up at Ringo's home studio in Los Angeles to lay down some songs for a forthcoming Ringo album. The last time the pair of former Beatles recorded together was for Ringo's 2010 album "Y Not".

2021 - ClassicBands.com

February 19
James Burke, of the Chicago soul group The Five Stairsteps, died of pneumonia at the age of 70. The band scored a #8 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1970 with "O-o-o Child", and a second Top Ten hit on the R&B chart with "From Us to You" in 1976.

2022 - ClassicBands.com

February 19
Gary Brooker, singer, pianist and composer for Procol Harum died of cancer at the age of 76. Along with Keith Reid and Matthew Fisher, Brooker wrote the band's iconic, 1967 anthem, "A Whiter Shade of Pale", which has sold over ten million copies worldwide, and has been recognized as the most-played record of the past 70 years by British broadcasting.



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