Rock 'n' Roll History for
June 27
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1956
- ClassicBands.com
June 27
Fats Domino records his rendition of "Blueberry Hill" at Master Recorders in Hollywood. Rising to #2 on Billboard's Top 100, it will prove to be the highest charting of his thirty-seven Top 40 hits. The tune had been recorded by at least six other popular artists in the 1940s.
1960
- ClassicBands.com
June 27
After twelve previous Top 40 records, "Everybody's Somebody's Fool" becomes
Connie Francis' first US number one hit. It marked the first time that a female recording artist topped the Billboard Hot 100. In the UK, it reached #5. Connie would later reveal that she recorded the song in just two takes.
1964
- ClassicBands.com
June 27
Peter And Gordon's "World Without Love" reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Paul McCartney wrote the song, but it was not credited to him on the disc to see if a McCartney tune would be successful even if no one knew he had written it. At the time he composed "World Without Love", McCartney was courting Jane Asher, the sister of the duo's
Peter Asher.
June 27
The Drifters' last Top 10 hit, "Under the Boardwalk" enters the Hot 100, where it will peak at #4. It made it to #1 for three non-consecutive weeks on Cashbox magazine's R&B chart.
1965
- ClassicBands.com
June 27
In a rare setback, The Beatles perform two shows in Rome which were both sparsely attended. An Italian newspaper commented that they were "no more than four ugly faces, four heads of long hair, four sublime idiots, four barefoot bums."
1966
- ClassicBands.com
June 27
Verve Records releases the debut album by Frank Zappa And The Mothers Of Invention, "Freak Out!" The LP is often cited as one of Rock music's first concept albums, as well as being one of the earliest double disc releases. Although it would only reach #130 on the Billboard 200 chart, it was honored with the Grammy Hall of Fame Award in 1999, and ranked at #246 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time in 2012.
1970
- ClassicBands.com
June 27
A band called Smile changes their name to
Queen and performs for the first time using that name.
June 27
The Jackson 5 became the first group in the Rock era to have their first three releases reach number one in the US when "The Love You Save" hits the top of both the Billboard Hot 100 and The Cash Box best sellers list. It made #7 in the UK.
June 27
The English quintet known as
Vanity Fare saw their second Billboard chart entry, "Hitchin' A Ride", peak at #5. A couple of months earlier, their first appearance, "Early In The Morning" had reached #12.
1971
- ClassicBands.com
June 27
New York's Rock and Roll venue, The Fillmore East, closed forever. The final show featured the
Allman Brothers,
Edgar Winter,
The Beach Boys, and
Country Joe McDonald. Because of its excellent acoustics, fifty-four live albums were recorded at the theater in just over three years.
1975
- ClassicBands.com
June 27
Sonny And Cher were divorced after eleven years of marriage. Four days later, Cher married Gregg Allman in a union that would last just three years.
June 27
ZZ Top earn their second Gold record for their fourth album, "Fandango" which includes the Top 20 hit, "Tush".
1976
- ClassicBands.com
June 27
John Lennon receives his "green card" from the US Department of Naturalization, which officially granted him permanent residency status in the United States. Due to his stance against the Vietnam War, Lennon had been under almost constant surveillance from the FBI and the Immigration & Neutralization Service since his arrival in the US in 1971.
1987
- ClassicBands.com
June 27
Whitney Houston becomes the first female artist to debut at #1 on the Billboard Hot 200 album chart when her self-titled CD reaches the top. At the same time, her single "I Wanna Dance With Somebody" led the Hot 100 singles list.
1988
- ClassicBands.com
June 27
MCA Records buys the legendary Motown Records for $61 million. Founded by Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on June 7th, 1958, Motown played an important role in the racial integration of popular music. The label was responsible for seventy-nine Top Ten hits on the Billboard Hot 100 between 1960 and 1969.
1989
- ClassicBands.com
June 27
Tom Jones is awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame. At the time, he had placed twenty-seven songs on the UK Top 40 chart and eighteen on the Billboard Top 40.
June 27
The Who perform the Rock opera "Tommy" in its entirety for the first time in seventeen years at New York's Radio City Music Hall. The show raised money for a children's charity as well as the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame.
June 27
Eagles drummer Don Henley releases his third solo album, "The End Of The Innocence", which will spawn three Top 40 singles, "The End of the Innocence" (#8), "The Heart of the Matter" (#21), and "The Last Worthless Evening" (#21). The LP will reach #8 on the Billboard chart and sell over six million copies in the US alone.
1991
- ClassicBands.com
June 27
Paul McCartney's first Classical work, the semi-autobiographical "Liverpool Oratorio" is performed by the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra in Liverpool Cathedral.
1992
- ClassicBands.com
June 27
Michael Jackson kicked off his Dangerous world tour with a show before 70,000 fans in Munich, Germany. At the end of the show, Jackson wore a helmet and a fake rocket pack on his back and appeared to fly off stage.
2000
- ClassicBands.com
June 27
A San Francisco appeals court ruled that The Rolling Stones violated Robert Johnson's copyright of "Love in Vain" and "Stop Breakin' Down". The Stones' former record label had wrongly assumed that the songs were public domain.
2002
- ClassicBands.com
June 27
57-year-old John Entwistle, bassist for
The Who, was found dead of an apparent heart attack in a Las Vegas hotel room. Nicknamed "Thunderfingers", he was voted the greatest bassist of all time in a Rolling Stone reader's poll In 2011.
2006
- ClassicBands.com
June 27
Michael Jackson announced that he was moving to Europe to re-ignite a musical career stalled by his sex abuse trial.
June 27
Eileen Barton, a radio star from the 1930s and '40s, died of ovarian cancer at the age of 81. She is most often remembered for her 1950, US #1 hit, "If I Knew You Were Comin' I'd've Baked a Cake".
2007
- ClassicBands.com
June 27
At the Phil Spector murder trial, Dr. Vincent DiMaio, a noted forensic expert on gunshot wounds, testified for the defense that actress Lana Clarkson committed suicide by shooting herself in the mouth at the record producer's mansion. These hearings would later end in a mistrial, but Spector would be convicted in May, 2009 and sentenced to nineteen years to life in prison. He died in an outside hospital on January 16th, 2021 at the age of 81, three years before he would have been eligible for parole.
2009
- ClassicBands.com
June 27
Fayette Pinkney, an original member of
The Three Degrees, died of acute respiratory failure at the age of 61. Her voice can be heard on the 1974 hits "TSOP (The Sound Of Philadelphia)" (#1) and "When Will I See You Again?" (#2).
2011
- ClassicBands.com
June 27
Despite protests from local residents, a larger-than-life statue of
Chuck Berry was approved by University City Council. The initial objections stemmed from the singer's time behind bars for his 1962 conviction for illegally transporting a teenager across state lines.
2014
- ClassicBands.com
June 27
Bobby Womack, Soul singer and studio musician, died at the age of 70. He topped the Billboard R&B chart in 1974 with "Lookin' For A Love", placed it and three other tunes on the Pop chart Top 40, and played guitar on several of Aretha Franklin's albums.
2018
- ClassicBands.com
June 27
Joe Jackson, the father of Michael, Randy, Jermaine, Marlon, Tito, Jackie, LaToya, Hazel and Janet Jackson, died of cancer at the age of 89. It was Joe who first formed The Jackson 5 in 1966, and got them signed to Motown Records by 1969. From there they launched a string of hits including "I Want You Back", "ABC" and "I'll Be There". Over the years Joe became estranged from his children, who accused him of both physical and mental abuse. By 2005 he was no longer involved in his children's careers and was turned away from Michael's residence when he tried to visit his grandchildren. After Michael's death in 2009, Joe sued unsuccessfully when it was disclosed that he was left out of Michael's will. Michael's mother, Katherine, was given custody of his three children and the money to support them.
2020
- ClassicBands.com
June 27
Tom Finn, bassist and founding member of The Left Banke, passed away after a long illness. Although the band's biggest hit, "Walk Away Renee" was written about his then-girlfriend, Renee Fladen, Finn was replaced on the recording by another bassist, but does appear on backing vocals.
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