Rock 'n' Roll History for
June 20


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1948 - ClassicBands.com

June 20
Toast Of The Town, which would later be called The Ed Sullivan Show, premiered on CBS-TV. The first telecast was produced on a meager budget of $1,375. Only $375 was allocated for talent and $200 of that was shared by the young stars of that night's program, Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis.

1960 - ClassicBands.com

June 20
17-year-old Annette Funicello entered the Billboard Pop chart with the Paul Anka penned "Train of Love". The song would become the fourth of her five Top 40 hits, eventually reaching #36. Between 1958 and 1967 she released thirty-three singles, with ten of them making the Hot 100.

1962 - ClassicBands.com

June 20
Backed by Joe Osborn on bass, James Burton on guitar, Richie Frost on drums and The Jordanaires on vocals, Ricky Nelson records "Teenage Idol". Released in August on Imperial Records, the song would reach #2 on the Adult Contemporary chart, #5 on the Billboard Hot 100, and #39 in the UK. The single's B-side, "I've Got My Eyes on You (And I Like What I See)", reached #105 on the Billboard chart.

1969 - ClassicBands.com

June 20
The three day Newport '69 Festival starts in Northridge, California. 150,000 people attend to hear Jimi Hendrix, Joe Cocker, CCR, Ike And Tina Turner, Jethro Tull, The Rascals, Steppenwolf and others. Hendrix receives $125,000 for his appearance. At the time it was the highest fee ever paid to a Rock act for a single performance.

June 20
David Bowie signs with Philips Records and then enters Trident Studios in London to record "Space Oddity", a song he wrote after seeing the 1968 Stanley Kubrick movie 2001: A Space Odyssey. The tune will top the UK chart in November, 1975 and reach #15 in America.

1972 - ClassicBands.com

June 20
The Tallahatchie Bridge, made famous in Bobbie Gentry's "Ode To Billie Joe", collapsed into the Yazoo River. Although an article which appeared in the November 1967 issue of Life magazine showed a picture of Bobbie walking across it, she later said that she didn't have any particular span in mind when she wrote the song. It's also worth noting that Chocktaw Ridge, which is also referred to in the song, is located a hundred miles away on the east side of the I-55, and not anywhere near the Tallahatchie River as it passes through Leflore County.

1973 - ClassicBands.com

June 20
Neil Diamond appeared on the 20th anniversary show of American Bandstand, along with Little Richard, Cheech And Chong, Paul Revere And The Raiders and Three Dog Night.

1975 - ClassicBands.com

June 20
Neil Young releases his 6th studio album, "Tonight's the Night". It would climb to #25 on the Billboard 200 chart and #48 on the UK Official Album Chart. In 2020 the LP was ranked at #302 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 Greatest Albums Of All Time.

1978 - ClassicBands.com

June 20
Foreigner release their second studio album, "Double Vision". Bolstered by the singles "Hot Blooded" (US #3, UK #42), "Double Vision" (US #2), and "Blue Morning, Blue Day" (US #15, UK #45), the LP would climb to #3 on the Billboard 200, and #32 in the UK, earning Platinum certification a week after its release. It has since been certified 7X Platinum.

1981 - ClassicBands.com

June 20
After topping record charts around the world, "Medley", a blend of hits credited to a group of studio musicians called Stars On 45, reaches number one in America. The record would remain at the top of the Hot 100 for five straight weeks. The group was assembled by producer Jaap Eggermont in Holland. He also produced a Beatles medley that went to #67 in America, and a Stevie Wonder tribute that made it to #28.

June 20
Gary (U.S.) Bonds reaches #11 on the Billboard Hot 100 with "This Little Girl", written for him by longtime admirer Bruce Springsteen. The last time Bonds reached the Top 40 was with "Seven Day Weekend" (#27) in 1962. He topped the chart in 1961 with "Quarter To Three".

1983 - ClassicBands.com

June 20
Duane Eddy performs in San Francisco, kicking off his first US tour in fifteen years. At the time, he had released twenty-one albums and fifty-six singles, but hadn't had a US Top 40 hit since since "Boss Guitar" reached #28 in 1963.

1990 - ClassicBands.com

June 20
46-year-old Antonio Martinez, founding member and guitarist for Los Bravos, was killed in a motorcycle accident while en route to his recording studio in Colmenar Viejo, Spain. The band reached #4 on the Hot 100 and #2 on the UK Official Chart in 1966 with "Black Is Black".

1995 - ClassicBands.com

June 20
A judge in Los Angeles awarded ownership of The Kingsmen's recordings to the group itself and away from Scepter-Wand Records. The court ruled that the company breached its contract by not paying The Kingsmen their proper royalties. The main song in question was "Louie, Louie", recorded in 1963.

1997 - ClassicBands.com

June 20
59-year-old Lawrence Payton of The Four Tops died of liver cancer at his home in Southfield, Michigan. He was inducted, with the rest of the group, into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990.

2000 - ClassicBands.com

June 20
Mick Jagger was forced to reveal his financial worth and income to a New York court during his child support battle with the mother of his last child, Brazilian model Luciana Morad.

2004 - ClassicBands.com

June 20
June 20th marked the 3000th time that Paul McCartney took to the stage as a professional musician. He had performed 2,535 concerts with The Quarrymen and The Beatles, 140 gigs with Wings and 325 solo shows.

2006 - ClassicBands.com

June 20
Claydes Charles Smith, co-founder and lead guitarist of Kool And The Gang, died after a long illness. He was 57. The band reached the Billboard Top 40 twenty-two times between 1973 and 1987, topping the chart in 1981 with "Celebration".

2008 - ClassicBands.com

June 20
Jimmy Buffett announced that his Margaritaville Holdings had paired with New York gambling company Coastal Marina to buy the Trump Marina Hotel Casino for $316 million. His vast business empire also included tequila, beer, frozen food, footwear, restaurants, a resort, a record label and a recording studio. In 2006, Rolling Stone magazine estimated Buffett's earnings, at $44 million, the seventh-most of any musician. Jimmy has been quoted as saying, "I don't apologize for being a businessman as well as being a performer."

2012 - ClassicBands.com

June 20
The Jacksons, Jackie, Jermaine, Marlon and Tito, hit the road together for the first time in almost three decades with a show at Casino Rama near Orillia, Ontario, about two hours north of Toronto. It was the first time they had performed as a group since 1984's Victory tour.

2013 - ClassicBands.com

June 20
Deep Purple's first studio album in eight years, "Now What", enters the Billboard 200 album chart where it would peak at #110. The LP fared better in Europe, reaching the Top Ten in nineteen countries.

2019 - ClassicBands.com

June 20
David Gilmour of Pink Floyd auctioned off 127 guitars from his collection. The auction, which took place at Christie's in New York, set several world records for sales of guitars, and raised a total of $21,490,750.

2020 - ClassicBands.com

June 20
The 1959 Martin D-18E guitar that Kurt Cobain played on Nirvana's 1993 MTV Unplugged performance sold for an eye-popping $6 million at an event run by Julien's Auctions in Beverly Hills, California.

2023 - ClassicBands.com

June 20
The digital music streaming service, Spotify announced that John Fogerty's 1969 song "Fortunate Son" had surpassed one million streams. In a press release, Fogerty summed up his feeling about the achievement by saying, "I wrote this song to express my outrage about the unequal treatment of people in our culture. These words came straight from my heart, and I still feel the same today. I am looking forward to celebrating this song with my fans."



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